7 New Signs in Jerusalem

My father was born in the USA and served in the army during World War II.

  He would not let even a small item made in Germany into our house.

Chancellor Angela Merkel and her delegation of 16 German government ministers

just visited Jerusalem, Israel.

 Prime Minister Netanyahu welcomed her with the words 

“Israel and Germany have a unique bond forged of tragedy and hope,

and a great friendship and cooperation.”

Then she was awarded Israel’s Presidential Medal,

a sign of how much things have changed.

2. Anyone who knows a 6-year old, kita aleph  first grader,

image table with food, photo food for party, picture decorated table

knows that countless tables with piles of food,

like this one in Heichal Shlomo,

are the reward for sitting through hours of presentations.

image sidur party, photo mesibat siddur, picture decorated cake

This artistic creation is a sign of a siddur party,

only one of this week’s many extravaganzas,

where new readers receive their first prayer-book.

image new bus line, photo bus Jerusalem, picture Israel bus sign

3. New bus signs were up on Friday.

Time will tell whether all the route and number changes are improvements.

But new #15 bus took us straight to bus station in minutes!

 There was another new sign near the bus stop.

image British defense , photo security in Palestine, picture  Jerusalem

4. The “pillbox” got a new sign.

picture riots 1936, Palestine photo, image palestine, picture Palestine

Please read it carefully.

In Palestine, in 1936, Arabs were rioting against Jews.

Long before the State of Israel was established,

the British built these to protect and defend themselves against Arab attacks.

The new Cinema City had its grand opening this week.

There was a small protest because it is to be closed on Shabbat.

image poster in Hebrew, picture of activites in Jerusalem, photo of Hebrew poster

5. But also, this sign with many new Shabbat activities was posted.

imag Jerusalem marathon, photo Jerusalem marathon, Picture Jerusalem marathon

6. New signs for the Jerusalem Marathon seem to be popping up everywhere,

especially along the route of the March 21st race.

7. And to end with my favorite sign of spring,

image red flowers, picture anemoes, photo re flowers

the spring flowers blooming in the Valley of the Cross.

All photos available for purchase.

Jerusalem’s Changing Landscapes

Jerusalem’s Changing Landscapes

The landscape of Jerusalem, Israel, is constantly changing,

photo Jerusalem bus station, picture Jerusalem, image Jerusalem skyline bridge

with new structures

image Holyland, photo building Jerusalem, picture Jerusalem  Holyland

towering over the old.

image Cinema City Jerusalem, photo new cinema Jerusalem, picture Cinema City Jerusalem

Just before the bad weather began in December,

workers were busy on top of new Cinema City Complex.

image GAn SAcher, photo SAcker park, picture park

Remember the old photos of Gan Sacher, Sacher Park?

This is the scene now, 

photo Sacher park, image Jerusalem, picture Cinema City, image snow damage

with those large trees cut back to tall stumps.

But it does allow a clear view of the roof and foot bridge

and the future train station at the Cinema City Complex.

Israel has long been known as land “flowing of milk and honey,”

photo mulcher, image storm cleanup, photo snow damage Jerusalem

but Jerusalem now seems to have become the city of ‘flowing mulch.’

While the snow has finally melted, 

picture tree clean up, image after snow cleanup, photo tree trim

the mountains of tree trimmings are still being collected

and being churned up into mountains of mulch.

image firewood in truck, picture man collecting firewood. photo fire wood

However, no fire-wood logs seem to stay around for long.

picture protest banners. image signs for protest, photo banner out prime ministers house

The protesters of prisoner release have gone from the streets,

and their signs are removed.

image protesters Jerusalem, photo migrant protest, picture protesters Jerusalem

Bus loads of protesters have arrived from Tel Aviv to protest

the detention and deportation of illegal foreign workers.

The Jerusalem streets are constantly changing.