It’s raining in Jerusalem, Israel, a cold and grey Friday winter day.
But when the weather cleared on Wednesday evening, before all the world leaders arrived for the World Holocaust Forum on Thursday, I decided to walk home from Jaffa Gate.
Here for you to enjoy, two video projections on the Old City Wall opposite Mamilla Mall.
These scenes of Jerusalem were enhanced by the inclusion of music.
This flags video with welcome greetings is longer. See how many languages you know!
Good thing I decided to walk home that night.
The main streets were already closed near popular hotels.
What a week it was in Jerusalem with royalty and presidents and international heads of governments gathering to commemorate the Allies victory over the Nazis and 75th year of liberation of Auschwitz.
We remember. Never again.
A Hebrew blessing from the President of Germany to begin and end his speech!
Who could have imagined such scenes in Jerusalem 80 years ago when the British turned European Jews seeking refuge away from the shores of Mandate Palestine?
More next time, so much happened this week on the Jerusalem streets,
but now its time to start the challah and chicken soup for Shabbat.
Rising above a road out of Jerusalem are new housing projects of Ramat Shlomo.
To build many of the roads, large sections of the Judean Hills have to be blasted away.
When there is a tree to be saved, it is tagged for preservation.
Remember Kraft Stadium, the scene of countless night football games and the Woodstock Revival?
It is now only a memory as digging has begun on a massive municipal project.
The old Kraft Stadium was next to Jerusalem’s Gan Sacher, Sachar Park.
The new biking and walking path in Gan Sacher is now complete.
At night the path is well lit and much more pleasant to use.
However, the other side of Gan Sacher is one big construction site.
The clock is ticking for a new memorial to be ready in the park for its dedication with Vladimir Putin attending.
The Russian President is to arrive with 39 other world leaders for a special Holocaust commemoration at Yad Vashem on Thursday, January 23rd.
Jerusalem residents have been complaining and bracing for major traffic delays for days already.
Presidents, the King of Spain, and Prince Charles of Great Britain and their extended entourages are among the expected guests.
The President is hosting a major dinner reception in Beit Hanasi, the official Israeli President’s Residence, on Wednesday evening for the world leaders.
They even cleaned up the panels on the ceiling in the main hall.
The brightness of the colors so noticeable, I had to take a photo.
Jerusalem is famous for its cats, but a new bred of CATs are now all over the Jerusalem streets.
One of the new Jerusalem electric buses went by.
Drivers try to maneuver around closed intersections during the construction of new sidewalks.
Walking along Azza Street has been a challenge. With work done day and night and in the rain, even for emergency vehicles, it is challenging.
This bus stop was removed the next day, people had to stand and wait in the rain.
But while walking, I discovered an alternative use for those safety vests, a handy substitute for a Muslim prayer mat.
Oh, the new Jerusalem streets, and trying to keep them clean.
Feel good signs have been posted along the main street.
“Jerusalem is your home, keep it clean,” reminds the new bus stop sign.
Oh, there is more, the light rail construction has whole neighborhood streets dug up.
You never know what you will find next on Jerusalem streets – this fire dancer was new to see.
However, along Ben Yehudah Street and Zion Square – music, a common sight.
Also this year Hanukkah coincided with the Christmas holiday season.
Neutral lighting lined some of the major streets.
Hebrew University had no classes on December 25th.
Traffic volume plus street repairs created backups even when the sun was shining.
In the rain? Forget getting anywhere in the usual amount of time!
In the past inside the YMCA was a sure bet for finding a holiday tree and decorations.
This year the outside tree was decorated and additional lights placed at the entrance.
This year at First Station along with those Hanukkah donuts there was a Christmas tree.
The banner sign at First Station next to the Hanukkah menorah had greetings for Hanukkah and Christmas.
The lights at night in the Old City were bright inside of Jaffa Gate.
That Santa Claus was not out at night when I looked for him, but he appeared in his annual spot near Jaffa Gate the next day.
Inside the New Gate decorations greeted the holiday crowds to the Christian Quarter and churches.
Outside of the Old City walls, the lights on the St. Lous French Hospital brightened it up at night.
The holiday week crowds filled the narrow streets in the Armenian Quarter of the Old City.
It’s official. A record number of holiday tourists were on the Jerusalem streets this year.
At Beit Hanasi, the Israeli President’s residence, the Presidential cat was watching over the grounds at the annual New Year reception for the heads of the Christian denominations in Israel.
Inside at the reception guests posed and smiled for photos.
Israeli Minister of the Interior Aryeh Deri; the acting Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem; the representative of the Armenian Patriarchate; head of the Franciscan Order in Jerusalem, the Custos of the Holy Land; and the Melkite Greek Catholic Church Archeparch of Akka (Akko) were among the participants.
Greek Orthodox Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem spoke on behalf of the religious leaders.
In his remarks President Rivlin invited the Pope to the dedication ceremony for the Land of the Monasteries project in 2020, saying:
“We are about to finish clearing all of the mines from the Land of the Monasteries at the very beginning of the coming year. Already the number of Christian pilgrims to the Holy Land is increasing each year. Just this year, close to 900,000 pilgrims visited the Land of Monasteries. We are working hard to complete the development of the entire area by the end of 2020.”
As part of this initiative, land mines laid in the 1970s for security reasons, which prevented access to the area, have been cleared.
The process has been an ongoing project in the ancient area, which has been under development to a new tourist center for years.
The area is called Qasr-Al-Yahud where the Jordan River is divided between Jordan and Israel.
Minister of the Interior, Aryeh Deri: “Freedom of worship and religion in Jerusalem, the Holy City, will be preserved for all and we will continue to preserve Jerusalem as the Holy City for all religions. Unfortunately, we live in an era when antisemitism raises its head around the world, most recently in the terrible incident in Monsey, New York. We must all fight antisemitism wherever it occurs, and we must all reject and condemn it in a loud and clear voice against any outbreak of antisemitism and violence.”
In his remarks, the President once again repeated, “We must remember that we are not doomed to live together, we are destined to live together, and we, therefore, must advance initiatives which will benefit all of us.”
“In a few weeks, I will host leaders from around the world at Yad Vashem, to commemorate seventy-five years to the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, and to call on all humanity, to preserve the memory of the Holocaust, and fight antisemitism and hate.”
Antisemitism is becoming more blatant around the world.
Meanwhile, the Israeli leadership has become more “relaxed” and welcoming to religious diversity in Jerusalem with more neutral holiday lights and greetings, and enticing more Christian pilgrims to Qsar-Al-Yahud and other locations.
Some will find this very positive.
Others will find it the opposite.
The discussion of Israel, Jewish and democratic and diverse, will not cease with a new government.
But I will end with something new for me, I had to take out the video for this one.
