Izabella Tabarovsky

Jerusalem moving on with life but remembers the past

Sharon A

IRAN.

As I write this, the situation in Iran is tumultuous after nearly two weeks.

Will the people rising against the regime succeed in their protests this time?

Is there a comparison to the Soviet Refusniks?

In recent years, the Menachem Begin Heritage Center has hosted a diverse range of programs for English speakers, including book launches.

As most were also available on Zoom, I did not attend them all in person. You can find them on YouTube.

However, a special book launch in Jerusalem, Israel, on January 5, 2026, was for “Be a Refusnik” by Izabella Tabarovsky.

Here are the four panelists sitting together before the program, with David Hazony holding the book.

“Be a Refusenik: A Jewish Student’s Survival Guide” explores how Cold War-era Jewish resistance offers a roadmap for confronting modern anti-Zionism.

Tabarovsky traced the ideological lineage between Soviet anti-Zionism and the rhetoric now commonplace on Western campuses with young leaders.

After 1967, Soviet Jews refused to accept the idea that they had to live without a connection to the Jewish people. “It became a source of inspiration far beyond the Soviet Union, galvanizing Jews worldwide to campaign for their freedom,” she stated.

If you have not heard of Izabella or Rawan Osman, who was in the audience and joined the panelists after for a photo. Look up who they are and what they are doing now to support Israel with truth against the propaganda and lies.

Jerusalem-Theater-lobby-photos-grey-clouds

The Jerusalem Theater has featured many Israeli artists’ work on the walls of its multiple lobbies, which RJS has shared over the years.

This week, a new exhibit opened with vivid pieces made by enlarging high-resolution small images.

This opening event offered wine and a lecture along with the food. Visitors wanting to escape the stormy winter weather should know that the art exhibitons on the Jerusalem Theater walls are free to view. The wine is not.

One day, the sun was shining, and I walked into town. Each time is a wonder to see the construction and building changing in Jerusalem.

Jerusalem Mamilla Pool

Remember this old photo of Solomon’s Pool?

It’s across from Gan Haatzmaut, Independence Park, next to Mamilla Cemetery. The winter rain has turned it green.

Last week, the pool had some water and wooden scaffolding.

I could not get as close as in the past, but a few workers were on site.

The stones on the walls of the pool must be secured before the area is opened to the public.

It will be interesting to see how they restore Solomon’s Pool.

Yoel Solomon Street is one area that was renovated as a tourist attraction. The tourists are slowly returning. Hopefully, the threats from Iran will not see new barrages of ballistic missiles to keep them away.

We move on to launch books, produce art, and look into schools for children for next year. However, the war is not over. The threats and losses are real and still felt daily. A rocket was launched from Gaza last week, but fell short near a Gaza hospital. New signs and initiatives emerge in memory of fallen soldiers. The wounded still endure therapies. Reserve soldier families, soldier on.

Winter plants are filling the Jerusalem street flower beds.

I continue to wonder who benefits from the repeated plantings year after year?

January 11, 2026, is the World Cancer Walk – www.worldcancerwalk.com.

Participants from over 250 cities were given a one-hour time slot to go on a walk. The combination of the hours around the world will equal one full 24-hour day. Jerusalem, Israel, was from 11:00 to noon. I missed seeing this in time. However, we know cancer has no borders.

Wishing a healthy and good year in 2026.

Not next year, but time now to say “this year in Jerusalem!”

October in Jerusalem Ends with High and Lows

Sharon A

Oh, what week it was on the Jerusalem streets to end the months of October and Tishrei!

Many times this past year, RJS repeated it was a”roller coaster” and “up and down” week.

Exhausting and wearing are words that come to mind from the experience of getting up from the lows.

After a slow start to the last week in October, here are highlights from the Jerusalem streets.

The Bible Lands Museum Jerusalem hosted an academic symposium on October 29, 2024.

The ‘KUMA‘ exhibition that opened in May is closing soon. The legacy of the brilliant young artist Eitan Rosenzweig, hy”d, who fell in battle, should be shared worldwide.

The Jerusalem streets have been much quieter than the north and south of Israel, but the signs for shelters are posted in the museum.

A well-researched presentation by the impressive Dr. Izabella Tabarovsky at the Indigenous Embassy Jerusalem Academic Symposium focused on the Denial of Jewish Peoplehood and Jewish Connection to the Land of Israel in Late-Soviet Propaganda.

The former Soviet dissident who spent 9 years imprisoned by the Soviet authorities, Natan Sharansky was a keynote speaker.

He was highlighted along with Professor Gil Troy, who presented “The Promised Land versus “Settler Colonialism”: Land, Indigeneity, Identity and Creativity in Zionist Thought.” A study of how and by whom the term “settler-colonist” developed.

Maori Sheree Trotter, PhD in history from the University of Auckland, is a founder and co-director of the Indigenous Embassy of Jerusalem which had an impressive event in February.

Multiple speakers and delegates could not attend because of air travel cancelations.

Shadi Khalloul from Kfar Birem made his presentation on Zoom because of illness. An Israeli Aramaic Maronite born near the border of Lebanon who served in the IDF as the first Christian paratrooper in 1995, he founded the NGO – ICAA. Who knew that Aramaic is still being taught?

As the full-day program continued late in the afternoon, Dr Charles Asher Small spoke on “The Implications of Antisemites Defining the Jew: From Indigeneity to Colonial Settler.”

To close the day, co-convener Prof. Wayne Horowitz lectured on “Indigenous Narratives of Land and Sky-Modern and Ancient, Arctic Canada and the Land of Israel.” From this graphic of Abraham’s hometown of Ur, he developed the connection of Indigenous Peoples’ narratives to their land by song and dance.

Think of the Jewish agricultural holidays we recently celebrated and the words of “Hatikvah.”

It was a very thoughtfully presented program with much information and videos to be published.

On Wednesday night, at Beit Hanasi, the Israeli President’s Residence the first award ceremony for Civilian Heroes of October 7, 2023, was held.

A large screen and stage were constructed in the back garden. With the clock and season change, it was dark and colder than recent nights.

The President awarded cousins Ismail, D’Haish, Hamed, and Rafi Alkarnawi for their bravery in rescuing Israelis on October 7 under heavy fire from Hamas who had invaded Israel.

The set was elaborate and the program included musical interludes slow and solemn.

Most of the awards went to the relatives of deceased civilians who acted quickly on October 7 to save others, like Moshe and Eliyad Ohayon hy”d, from Ofakim.

The President wanted not only Jews, Druze, and Bedouin heroes honored, but children as well.

Former Supreme Court Justice Elyakim Rubenstein’s committee was tasked with investigating and selecting from 200 nominees down to 60 then 20 finalists.

One bright point of the evening were the young children present.

Their presence conveyed the feeling – Am Yisrael Chai – the People of Israel Live.

But always present is the yellow chair and the faces of the hostages still in Gaza for over a year.

On the Jerusalem streets, it is hard not to remember the 101 remaining hostages.

The Shiva of Rabbi Avi Goldberg hy”d concluded with thousands coming to pay condolences to the family of the latest Jerusalem resident fallen. They came all week and late into the night after Shabbat.

One woman who came to offer words of comfort to Rachel, the young widow, was Hadas Loewenstern, mother of six children under bar mitzvah age. Her husband Elisha Lowenstern hy”d was the 405th to fall in Gaza “fighting for our lives”. She has repeated her story in numerous recorded messages to give strength to others, especially those who have received the dreaded “knock on the door” from the IDF.

It’s a good day when “cleared for publication” is not the first item on the news, as the number of fallen rises toward 780.

A favorite sight this week on the Jerusalem streets was a young border policeman taking flowers home with his talit bag over his shoulder.

So as the sirens sound north and south, and Israelis run for shelter, in Jerusalem, Israel life moves along.

The new signs are posted for the end of November Jerusalem Oud Festival.

The oranges are full on the trees along the Jerusalem streets. And if you look closely you could even find Halloween decorations.

Oh, what a month October was!

Hoping November is a quieter, less rampageous month.