Jerusalem, Israel.
Sometimes it does not pay to try and find something new,
these photos tell the whole story.
The view from Mount Scopus,
as the sun was setting,
last night,
there are no better images for
שבת שלום
Shabbat Shalom.
current-events
Jerusalem More Than Dream
“Next year in Jerusalem”
has been for centuries,
the mantra of the Jewish people.
At the conclusion of the Passover seder
and at end of weddings by breaking a glass,
the destruction of Jerusalem was remembered.
From May 1948 to June 1967,
the years under Jordanian occupation,
reaching the Kotel, Western Wall or
walking near the Temple Mount,
was only for the imagination or in a dream.
A view from a look out at Notre Dame,
over a dangerous No Man’s Land,
was as close as a Jew could get.
For those under the age of 60,
the drama and trauma of the Six-Day War,
and the resulting victory are taken for granted.
The rush of feelings, of a miraculous deliverance
against giant Arab armies attacking on all sides is lost.
The significance of
Jerusalem 50 and its many celebrations are shrugged off,
for today tens of thousands can reach the Kotel Plaza to pray.
However, the Six-Day War,
also saw the return to Gush Etzion,
a distance 16 kilometers south of the Knesset.
And in the north,
the beautiful Kineret, Sea of Galilee,
had Syrians in those Golan Heights towering above.
Hadassah Hospital on Mount Scopus
was closed after a convoy of medical staff was ambushed
and 73 people were murdered in April 1948.
This memorial wall in the Mt. Scopus memorial garden
was backdrop for a reenactment of Hadassah getting its keys back
from Mayor Teddy Kollek, in June of 1967.
And the West Bank,
which was for centuries known as Judea and Samaria,
the land of Benjamin,
stretches as far as the eye can see,
and includes Tel Shilo,
which for 369 years was location of the Holy Ark,
before the time of King David and the Temple in Jerusalem.
50 years.
Half a century.
This is a wondrous time to be in Jerusalem, Israel.
The days of choking polluted air
from vehicles stuck in heavy traffic on Yaffa Road,
are vanishing memories, as the light rail trains run by.
50 years,
things are far from perfect,
but I would not want to go back to 51 years ago.
9 Jerusalem Summer Festivals
With all the activities and celebrations,
of Jerusalem Jubilee, 50 years since liberation and unification,
it was really hard to keep up with everything else that was happening.
There was the annual Street Ball in Liberty Bell Park.
“See the Sounds” Classical Music Festival began May 29,
and runs through June 24, with multiple performances
in locations inside the Israel Museum galleries and its gardens.
The Musrara Festival is June 6- 8 in the evenings,
and even more streets will be filled with
special disabled artistic performers from June 4- 11.
Not everyone is happy with all these new culture festivals.
However, the annual classic
the Hebrew Book Festival, is to be back from June 11-15,
in Jerusalem’s Takhana HaRishona, First Station.
Another Jerusalem annual long time event,
the Israel Festival is going from June 1- 18.
Also in June, there is Design Week,
and perhaps another Opera in the Sultan’s Pool.
July starts off with Maccabiah and tens of thousands of athletes coming
from around the world to participate in sporting events,
and new signs were painted on the streets.
The annual Light Festival is set for June 28 – July 6
with large signs posted,
and the International Film Festival is set for July 13-23.
These are a few of the upcoming happenings in Jerusalem.
Holidays are over and summer is here,
only worry is what to do first.
Hope we can rest up on Shabbat, so as to be ready for
another Jerusalem Festival Season.
שבת שלום