Another week flew by
and
with Hanukkah coming,
next week should feel even shorter!
attractive tourist destination
Jerusalem Knights Back in Saddle for Old City Festival
The Jerusalem Knights Festival is back again in the Old City.
Since attending the Jerusalem Knights first night,
I have tried to return each year to see what is new and different.
These trumpets and trumpeters greeted visitors
as they approached the Walls of the Old City at the Jaffa Gate.
Upon entering Jaffa Gate
the plaza was filled with dancing-girls and spectators.
Many actors were positioned along the route,
but this gladiator with his cell phone has to be my favorite photo.
Some costumes were unusual,
and others like these Medieval fashion show costumes
were hard to see, as crowds blocked the view of the stage.
Young children on shoulders have a distinct advantage at this event.
However, this man with a lit torch on top of the walls was easy to see,
everyone who looked up could see the fire show.
Many performances, like this clown act and jugglers,
entertained the thousands of young children who attended.
The route this year was both through and around the Armenian Quarter,
sparing the residents of the Christian and Jewish Quarters
the noise of four consecutive Thursday nights,
with thousands of people outside their windows late into the night.
These photo-ops were not just for the kids.
Medieval musical instruments
were featured at more than one site.
Movies screened on the walls of the Old City in Gan Habonim
could never have been predicted by Medieval seers.
There were live shows with plenty of tacky costumes,
but beautiful real horses.
There were also knights in not-so shining armor jousting,
colorful lights, the Gravita aerial-acrobats,
and a Knights’ Pub with a bar with real wine.
Though there are those who oppose the idea,
once again thousands and thousands of people
were out on the Jerusalem, Israel, streets, enjoying the experience.
The last night of Knights, is Thursday night, November 21.
Federation General Assembly Goes out in New Style
The 82nd Annual General Assembly of Jewish Federations of North America,
the GA, met in Jerusalem, Israel, over three days this week.
The first night Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was main speaker
at the Jerusalem International Convention Center – ICC.
I spent two days inside the ICC, following a program called
“The Global Jewish Shuk: A Marketplace of Dialogue and Debate,”
so it was great that the farewell ceremony was held outside.
These chairs and a small stage were set up for GA delegates
and many others in Kikar Safra, Safra Square.
Minister Naftali Bennett was the featured government speaker,
and he showed off his best English for the Anglo crowd.
Michael Siegal thanked Ronny Douek and
Susie and Michael Gelman for chairing the convention.
And then,
with Mayor Nir Barkat and Natan Sharansky at his side,
he led the crowd out of the government plaza
to the sounds of a real brass band.
With small US, Israeli and GA flags,
they walked along the Walls of the Old City,
past Jaffa Gate,
and up the narrow stone steps,
with more music and more flag waving along the route.
These children waiting to cross the street in the Old City parking lot
got an eyeful as colorful entertainers joined the GA participants.
The route took them to the new area at Robinson’s Arch.
My challenge is to share with you what it looks like now.
This metal platform is constructed up against the wall,
the same huge wall as the Kotel, the Western Wall.
These massive ancient stones have not been moved.
From this platform one can reach up to place a note in the wall
from an area where men and women are not separated and can pray together.
This is the new area, the large platform on the upper left,
that Naftali Bennett talked about at the farewell ceremony,
part of a temporay plan while Natan Sharansky
is trying to work out as a compromise
for Women of the Wall to have Rosh Chodesh singing
and other egalitarian prayer services.
A plaza open to the public was important for this group,
and the GA ended their conference here, as the sun was setting.
I passed thousands more tourists from around the world,
coming down the stairs to the Kotel, to the Western Wall,
to experience the ancient and holy place.
I started to walk home,
after two days of going to exhibit booths,
listening to speakers, meeting new people, running into friends,
and talking and talking, talking too much,
and taking way too many photos.
One woman told me as we were walking, and yes, more talking,
that once she got to Israel, she has not been afraid even once.
I am so glad she also got to know the real Jerusalem streets.