The sun is shining. Temperatures are rising.
Spring is a great time to be in Jerusalem, Israel.
שבת שלום
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current-events
New Signs of Spring in Israel
Pesach, Passover, the holiday of Freedom and the holiday of Spring,
begins two weeks into the Hebrew month of Nisan.
In Israel, spring is a time of green and of spring blooms of all colors popping up in the warm sun after the winter rain.
On a recent trip south toward the Negev, clouds billowed over the power lines.
All along the highway, green was the predominate color.
Fields of green vegetables are ready to pick for the holiday tables.
Our trip was to see a new vegetable packing plant in the Negev called חסלט Hasalat.
The facility was impressive on many levels.
The size and capacity are impressive. Those openings are for two large trucks filled with produce to be delivered.
Not all produce is accepted, and these crates with red stickers contained rejected produce.
Samples of deliveries are washed and rinsed and checked in the lab, through a series of fine filters.
The specially trained inspectors are looking for insects less than a millimeter in size.
They know how to tell tiny insects that are not easily washed away from those that are.
Once the produce has been checked and declared clean, it then to goes to the packers, who have to dress warmly, as the rooms are kept cool.
The cabbage checkers check and recheck for insects, before the cabbages are sent along to be put in plastic bags.
This is a large plant, with multiple rooms that process a variety of vegetables.
With Passover approaching, the demand for romaine lettuce will surge.
Ready-cut carrots, parsley and cabbage for salads will also be in great demand.
Along the road agricultural workers were working in the green fields.
These bomb shelters for farmers were built for protection as the rockets rained in from Gaza.
Now they are being used for storage, but if an alarm sounds, in the Negev there is no time to head home. Some workers have less than fifteen seconds to run to shelter.
After 12 years, Gush Katif produce, though no longer from Gush Katif, stands for quality and bug-free vegetables with low pesticide use, and some are grown organically.
Farmers are growing in special green houses in the Negev, sending their produce to be packed at Hasalat and then sent to stores in Israel and around the world.
Not all the farmers who left Gush Katif have permanent homes yet, so many years after they were expelled.
These are the housing plots for the new Shavei Darom community.
The JNF playground is built and ready, but there are no children yet to play there.
The community mikvah is state-of the-art with access for those with disabilities.
The Shavei Darom infrastructure is ready, but there are no homes built yet.
12 years after the destruction of Gush Katif, those expelled are still living in temporary residences.
Bomb shelters next to bus stops are real and ready.
But it was good to see that greener days are ahead for some of the former residents of Gush Katif.
It’s also good to see the new signs over the Jerusalem streets for Passover.
Chag Aviv Sameach Be Yerushaliyim
Happy Holiday of Spring in Jerusalem.
Best of Jerusalem Marathon 2018
The International Jerusalem Marathon 2018 has run its course. Over 30,000 people ran the various races, from the full-marathon to family-friendly short routes.
The short runs and half-marathon used this finish line which was set up next to Gan Sacher, Sacher Park, a couple of weeks ago.
The full-marathon track comes into the park and this is its finish line. Somehow so close, it looks so far away.
On Friday morning as we walked to the park, the security in front of the front runners of the full-marathon passed us. The streets were mostly deserted, except for the leading full-marathon runners.
Beatie Deutsch ran by so fast, I could only catch her back, as she raced by in pace with the leading men. A mother of five children, she won first place for Israeli Women in the full-marathon race.
Thousands ran the full-marathon route, with more Jerusalem residents participating than in the past.
International tourists also numbered in the thousands, and stopping to take a selfie was not uncommon.
Gan Sacher had activities for runners and their supporters, and exhibitions of sports items for sale.
The park had a synagogue near the information tent. Early starting times required many to get up before dawn. Some groups had organized prayer times.
By 9:00 am, the park was beginning to fill with this year’s official purple race shirts.
There are so many races going at once, it is impossible to be everywhere. For the Men’s half-marathon winner presentation, Mayoral hopeful Moshe Lion was on the stage with the winners, wearing running shorts.
This young woman won the Women’s 5K race and received a medal and flowers.
Instead of running up and down the park from one end to the other over and over doing a personal marathon, this year I waited for the full-marathon winners to arrive. The motorcycle went to the side, and the cyclists escorted Shadrack Kipkogey (27) of Kenya to the finish line.
Only as Kipkogey crossed the finish line for the second year in a row, winning first place in the Jerusalem Marathon, did his escort turn away.
The first place, full-marathon winners were photographed with Mayor Nir Barkat and special marathon guest, Olympic runner and World Champion long distance runner Haile Gebrselassie from Ethiopia.
But all the tens of thousands who ran the shorter races were also winners in my book.
The dozens of organizations who raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for good causes were also winners. OneFamily helps victims of terror, and their supporters included Druze families.
Another upside-down day in Jerusalem, Israel. With streets closed and traffic blocked all morning in parts of the city, not all were happy, and many left town the night before.
With so many people filling the streets and the park, multiple starting times and two finish lines, it was impossible to find family members without a set meeting time and location.
However, every year I seem to find one marathon runner more than once. This year the man in the sleeveless ice cream shirt was headed to the full marathon finish as I was heading home.
I had photographed same runner heading out in the morning on my way to the park.
Walking home was the only way to go. Many runners were going much slower after the race.
But these girls walking the 10K were not lacking in enthusiasm as they made their way to the finish line.
All runners or walkers who passed the finish line received a medal. All participants were winners.
The 8th Jerusalem International Marathon had serious security along the way.
It was a colorful, cool day.
More photos posted on Facebook can be found HERE
Like last year, one photo of people I did not know was posted on Facebook on Friday afternoon and within minutes, it was noticed and tagged and commented on.
“Pancreatic cancer is tough. So am I.”
Quite a wow message to end another year from the marathon on the streets of Jerusalem, Israel.