As the sun sets,
reflection on the walls of the Old City
turn to a golden hue.
Summer time
and Teddy Park below is filled with families.
שבת שלום
Shabbat shalom.
jerusalem israel
15 August Activities and Fun in Jerusalem
Tisha B’Av and the days of mourning have ended,
and the month of August is holiday time.
Jerusalem does not have a beach with a sunset view.
The new water activity in First Station
for children to play soccer under a water spray,
the Teddy Park Fountain
and Lion’s Fountain are poor substitutes for a dip in the water.
Lacking in water, Jerusalem compensates with
summer activities and festivals
during the long summer school holiday,
both for locals and the tourists arriving daily.
After years of construction,
the new Orient Hotel is open near First Station
and boutique hotels have popped up all over town.
Khuztot Hayozer, the annual international arts & crafts fair,
attracts thousands to the Sultan’s Pool, and opens next week.
The Bloomfield Science Museum has
a special bicycle exhibit and other popular activities.
Summer programs for children are advertised by the National Library.
The 26th International Puppet Festival is this week.
And again this summer,
free August admission for children at the Israel Museum.
The colorful and popular umbrellas over streets downtown
are back up for the summer,
as is this new giant radio on Ben Yehudah pedestrian mall.
Shakespeare in Motion opens on August 10
in Bloomfield Park near the Montefiore Windmill.
The Wine Festival and Beer Festival are popular,
night time adult only happenings.
There are also many Tu B’Av night happenings,
like this one on Emek Refaim Street.
Ice skating at Sports Arena in Malha goes until August 13.
Consider taking one of our Photo walks
which are so much better as evenings get cooler.
This is getting too long!
For more August happenings see:
or the special Summer Fun Guide
As I was slowing down in the August heat,
Mayor Nir Barkat sent a
“Welcome to Kitah Aleph” postcard message
to all incoming Jerusalem first graders.
I love how “Welcome to Kitah Aleph”
is bigger a deal than most Israeli university graduations!
Only in Israel!
I am getting exhausted thinking how to do everything,
still not enough happening for you,
check out this new video:
Jerusalem Streets, Below and from Above
It has been a hot and tense week
in Jerusalem, Israel.
On my visit to the Old City
I had to go through metal detectors.
They are at every entrance to the Western Wall Plaza.
These metal detectors have been in place for years
and they have not been removed.
Millions have passed through metal detectors,
often after waiting for long periods of time in line,
with no riots that I know of.
Last week during a heat wave,
while Muslims were protesting and rioting,
a group of African tourists came to the Kotel,
the Western Wall, as on any other regular day.
Over Jerusalem’s 3,000 year history,
it has been built and destroyed and rebuilt,
which is evident in the multiple layers found underground.
Notice the white fence in background of above photo?
Behind it archaeologists have carried out this excavation.
Dig down. You will find more history revealed.
While on the streets security was tense,
below in the Western Wall Tunnels
we saw a model of how the Second Temple
was constructed on a flat base over the foundation stone.
Thousands of people have come to see the tunnels.
Constant discoveries are being revealed,
such as a mikvah, ritual bath,
from the time of King Herod.
One large room shows multiple layers of stones
from various conquerors of Jerusalem over the centuries.
Jerusalem has so much history hidden under your feet.
Under what was once a parking lot near the Old City Walls
is today an excavation revealing what lay beneath the pavement.
Ir David, the City of David,
has posters for a new night-time show,
to be held in its new seating area.
The City of David is located just outside the walls of Old City.
This layer of blackened, destroyed homes
has been carbon dated to the time of the fall of the First Temple.
My friend got down to get a close up,
but I was more fascinated by this idol,
perhaps left over from the escape from Egypt,
which was found in the ruins.
So many coins and treasures, and history,
are hidden under these streets.
One day this street will be a major attraction.
The “stepped street” has not been open to the public.
It is the route of the ancient pilgrims bringing offerings
to the Holy Temple in Jerusalem,
and one day is to be
the new entrance to the Kotel, the Western Wall.
From the top of the Aish HaTorah building
we see above the Western Wall Plaza.
On the right is the Mughrabi Bridge,
the only entrance for non-Muslims to the Temple Mount,
where you will note,
security cameras are still very much in place.
Al-Aqsa Mosque was quiet that day,
though the calls to Muslim prayers filled the air.
Past a model of the Second Temple,
one can see the gold paint of the Dome of the Rock.
You may see photos of rioting on the streets,
but under the streets history is also unfolding.
Sometimes what you can not see is more encouraging
that what is happening above.