current-events – Page 6 – The Real Jerusalem Streets

Musical ending for KING DAVID at Tower of David Jerusalem Israel

On with the Show In Jerusalem

August 16, 2020Sharon A

Jerusalem in August is usually not the most popular place to be.

It’s hot. It gets humid at night in Jerusalem.

It’s summer vacation time when residents go north to find cool waterways and nature trails. In past years, tens of thousands of Israelis flew overseas to foreign destinations for a holiday. With COVID-19, nothing is usual this summer.

But even during a pandemic in Jerusalem, the attitude is that the show must go on.

The Western Wall Plaza is divided up to meet the latest prayer limit restrictions and, as you can see in this image taken after Shabbat, the sections were filled.

Families are doing their best to keep children busy and safe. With hats, sunglasses, and masks it can be difficult to recognize friends.

Last week the clouds over Jerusalem were impressive.

For two days in a row, there was no rain, just massive clouds over the city.

Those white billowing clouds can make for colorful images at sunset.

By day even weeds growing wild make for a colorful image.

These are the slow days or the end of summer. Instead of attending crowded festival events and conferences with hundreds of participants, walking these nature trails in Jerusalem has been a daily activity. There is a man sitting and reading alone in the distance. There are a few runners, occasionally a person sitting alone on a bench meditating, even a young couple sitting together, with the girl wearing a hijab covering her face with her hands.

I refrain from taking photos of people to respect their privacy. But this guy I had to get.

Days of walking slowly, not rushing to a scheduled meeting, one can look and see a bird perched.

Look up, there are building cranes in most directions over Jerusalem streets. These working on the National Library and Jerusalem Gateway seemed to be in sync.

Oops, the water company was on site for a water leak.

The next day it was repaired and all was back to normal.

However, not all is quiet. The protests near the Prime Minister’s Residence continue. Members of the IPO played a concert and various culture groups also joined protesters.

Theaters have not been allowed to reopen. However, the 59th Israel Festival, originally set for June, has rescheduled for September 3-12. The “show must go on” for the annual Jerusalem event with local and foreign artists, events, and performances.

The 2020 Jerusalem Jazz Festival is planned for September 8-10.

The Jerusalem Municipality is holding a series of events at Jerusalem’s bars and nightlife businesses. Every Monday, during the month of August, the Shaon Horef events are happening.

Jerusalem School of Rock student performers were out entertaining the public. One of the many Jerusalem street actors passed by and danced to the beat for a bit on his way up Hillel Street.

A warm-up for August 20-21, the two-day family-friendly smoke-free, second annual Jerusalem Community Woodstock event. Featuring the best of the Woodstock era bands with music, food, camping out

The jamming to the “greatest music in rock history” is planned at Silo, a vegetarian eatery, off the First Station parking lot. At this Jerusalem Woodstock, don’t expect to find mud, smoking, or drugs.

The Israel Museum finally reopened after being closed for months due to corona.

The first visitors came on Thursday with masks, tickets, and special security.

The water is back on and flowing over the Shrine of the Book.

The Bloomfield Science Museum is to reopen this week.

Planning for the future, The Jerusalem Theater opened its 2021 membership season.

Here are some on my favorite Jerusalem flowers, the בוגונויליה – Bougainvillea.

Want to get out of Jerusalem and see more Israeli flowers?

See the latest wildflower walking tours HERE.

And to end on a positive note, the night shows at the Tower of David were fully booked! So they added more. Only Friday nights the lights and sounds are silent.

Rosh Hodesh Elul is Thursday and Friday.

Only one more month in the Hebrew year תש”פ.

In Jerusalem, the streets and shows are slowly happening again.

Wherever you are headed this week take care and stay safe.

The skis are opening up to tourists.

Hoping to see more visitors again on the Jerusalem streets.

Jerusalem Riding the Waves of August

August 9, 2020Sharon A

From Jerusalem, there is good news and bad news.

Rollercoaster days with ups and downs.

Highs and lows with COVID-19.

Beautiful, happy weddings and sad, sad funerals.

Crazy times with closings and openings.

Yet 140 new Olim arrived from France. We know that others are arriving daily without a big reception, to go into a two-week quarantine, before starting their new lives in their new home.

The seasonal international tourists are missing from the Jerusalem streets.

The Pianos Festival went online this year.

However, the seasons and nature are consistent.

The days are growing shorter with the end of August rapidly approaching.

The well-watered grass in Gan Sacher, Sacher Park is ready for guests.

The Jerusalem Mayor’s office announced the removal of public telephones. But Jerusalem has added food trucks in various park locations. Friday morning, pizza was available in Gan Sacher.

Drive-in movies are being shown at the First Station parking lot. Regular theaters are still closed to Corona restrictions.

Shaon Horef, the Winter Noise Festival held on Jerusalem streets on Monday nights in February, got lost in the news of approaching novel coronavirus. Now Jerusalem is trying for Shaon Horef on August summer nights with music and performances on various streets.

The parks are sponsoring Sport and Fitness for retired folks.

Among the other options are biking, flower arranging, yoga and Pilates, and Segway tours.

Not sure who was having more fun here, the father controlling the flying toy or the kids who sat to watch.

Parties for the youth are planned in the Jerusalem parks.

And Jerusalem parks are, as always, perfect for a first date, another sign of this season.

The Jerusalem municipality has offered to host weddings at various scenic locations:

the Promenade at Armon Hanatziv,

the Bloomfield Gardens near the Montefiore Windmill,

and the Liberty Bell Park. They are also some of my favorite Jerusalem locations.

Protesters sitting on Jerusalem street near the Prime Minister's Residence — Photo credit: Shifra G

Those noisy protests near the Prime Minister’s Residence continue.

The Israel Museum was closed for months but there is some good news there.

Museum galleries are scheduled to open this Thursday. The employees protesting last week are to return to work.

From a distance I noticed the all-black covering put on the back of city promotional signs along Hazaz Street, part of the black shirt anti-government protest.

However, looking closer to the new landscaping along the street, there are new flowers emerging.

This pink sign is one of the Jerusalem promoting tourism which were covered in black. But I took this photo to share a sign of normalcy. Friday morning flowers were being sold for Shabbat.

The sun has risen and set.

The limes on the tree are growing and almost ready to pick.

I thought I had found a perfect rose for a closeup.

Only when I got home a saw there was an insect crawling on it.

Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Leon announced,”Following the global tourism crisis, we decided to advance the upgrade work and infrastructure related to tourist areas throughout the city. Upgrading King David Street is a complex upgrade project that affects transportation throughout central Jerusalem.”

The Israel National Library on Givat Ram announced, including their online sessions, will be closed for lack of funding.

But, construction on the new National Library is going strong. This is how the roof looked today.

So there you have it, not all good, part of what’s happening on the Jerusalem streets this week.

I miss attending events at Beit Hanasi, the Israeli President’s Residence. The very restricted number of programs now are limited to the Government Press Office only, not open to those of us with GPO cards.

Israeli President on phone — Photo credit: Mark Neyman

Today President Rivlin spoke on the telephone with people who have requested help via the coronavirus hotline opened by Beit HaNasi.

Let’s hope we can all ride these waves safely.

Jerusalem after Tisha B’Av: Mourning to Celebrating

August 2, 2020Sharon A

Oh, Jerusalem!

Jerusalem has just completed another Tisha B’Av.

Instead of past years with crowds of tens of thousands, there were 1,000 people allowed at the Kotel, the Western Wall, at night.

Sections were divided off and marked to permit the small groups allowed to follow the latest COVID-19 restrictions.

The women’s section which in the past was crowded with thousands had barriers also.

Reading Eicha, Lamentations, in Gan Haatzmaut, Independence Park, had a much smaller attendance.

Damascus Gate at night was quieter than usual as the 26th annual walk around the Old City Walls, limited this year to 50 participants, passed by.

On the other side of the street, the shops were all open late for Eid al-Adha preparations. The Muslim fast day coincided with Tisha B’Av this year, and at sunset they began a 3-day celebration.

Good news. The social workers and nurses are back to work after short strikes.

Israel Museum employees held a peaceful protest holding up signs to passing traffic.

The only loud noises were cars honking in support.

The Israel Museum has been closed since the coronavirus crisis began. On Thursday, museum director Ido Bruno announced a $4million donation from the American Friends of the Israel Museum. Plans to reopen are said to be underway.

On the hill below the Israel Museum, olives are on the trees.

Last week Jerusalem’s Gan Sacher, Sacher Park was empty.

The end of school year summer outings were not happening.

This morning, it was good to see children back in the Jerusalem park.

Jerusalem’s usual summer conferences have moved online, to Facebook and Zoom.

The annual Jerusalem sport event of Street Ball has been canceled.

Thousands of flags of the Jerusalem Parade will not fill the Jerusalem streets this year. The official cancellation was announced this week.

The day after Tisha B’Av, fifteen years ago, 8,500 Israeli citizens were forced out of 21 Jewish communities in the Gaza Strip and four communities in Samaria.

These beautiful homes were destroyed 15 years ago. The expulsion did not bring peace.

Instead, thousands of rockets, missiles, and destructive burning balloons.

I went to see the rebuilding starts of Gush Katif victim nine years ago

and the Gush Katif Museum five years ago.

That is an ongoing unpleasant chapter of Israeli history.

However, a much more pleasant story is what happened at the Hurva Synagogue 100 years ago. The historic and memorable first visit of the first British High Commissioner, Herbert Samuel, after his installation. Samuel was a knowledgeable Jew who participated in the Shabbat morning service.

Today at the rebuilt and re-inaugurated synagogue which was destroyed by Jordanian Legion in 1948, a special ceremony is to be held in honor of the centennial. However, attendance will be extremely limited due to COVID-19 restrictions.

Highs and lows. And new Corona signs have been posted.

New signs were up for “Leonardo da Vinci -The First Start-up entrepreneur,” the theme of a new exhibit at First Station for this summer.

The next day this sign – “Needed Now “Baseless Love” sign was posted.

The protests near the Prime Minister’s residence have gone on unabated.

They are loud and they disturb the residents well past the 11:00 pm noise curfew.

I think the police have used great restraint with these provocateurs.

On to much better news to share, a notice for יריד היין הגדול של ירושלים.

At First Station, the Jerusalem Wine Festival is planned for August 11– 13, 6 pm – 11:55 pm.

In local sports news, Israeli soccer is to return at the end of August.

Online tours galore can be found for those who are home-bound.

The National Library construction site had workers busy on the roof areas.

Now that Tisha B’Av is over, it’s almost Tu B’Av and time for celebrations and music.

Next Year in Jerusalem!