Art and Music Brighten Jerusalem Winter

Art and Music Brighten Jerusalem Winter

Weather.

What a wild week of weather!

It was so warm and sunny one day,

that after lunch at the Malha Tech Park,

people lounged at cafe tables in the mid-day sun,

reluctant to return to their offices.

Then,

rain in Jerusalem Israel

came the rain,

along the light rail line on Jaffa Road,

Yaffo in rain

at least this umbrella brightened the morning.

Yesterday, hail pounded down, along with high winds.

The challenge became to aim an umbrella so the wind

would not blow it away or inside out.

However, there is plenty

of music to brighten cold winter nights.

Art and Music in Jerusalem Israel

While restaurants come and go,

a new Art and Music Gallery opened on Yoel Salomon Street.

The Jerusalem Jazz Festival and the annual

 Hullegeb Festival of Ethiopian music, and more events are this week.

Plus it’s another December weekend of Hamshushalim,

Jerusalem winter festivals Hebrew signs

with dozens of entertainment and cultural options

at discounted prices, and many for free.

When it comes to discount options or free,

nothing tops the Yad Sarah organization.

“What’s  the catch? What’s the cost?” everyone asks.

 I took a tour this week.

The main equipment supply room

Yad Sarah disabilities

brims with medical assistance items,

24/7 emergency calls

the emergency hot line operates 24/7,

while the art therapy room has everything,

Old sewing machine at Yad Sarah art room

 from this vintage sewing machine

Patient art at Yad Sarah

to cabinets full of handmade pieces of art.

Thousands volunteer and are serviced by Yad Sarah,

its list of services and items is massive.

If their supply of hospital beds were piled up

it would be higher than Mount Everest!.

Tours are free, and recommended for all.

What’s the catch?

Yad Sarah has everything but adequate parking.

To end on an upbeat art note:

Besides the growing Bezalel Academy of Art and Design,

a new art center is to be built in downtown Jerusalem.

The $50 million complex is to be called

the Jerusalem Campus for the Arts.

I missed the rainbow yesterday morning,

but there is much happening to brighten

these Jerusalem streets.

29 November Celebrated in Jerusalem

November 29, 1947

Important enough to be the name of a Jerusalem street.

כט November street sign in Jerusalem for 29 November

It was the day the UN passed Resolution 181

to re-establish a Jewish State in our ancestral homeland.

“The UN Vote: Then and Now”

was the theme of a November 29th conference

AACI Israel forever foundation Danny Ayalon

featuring former Ambassador Danny Ayalon as the keynote speaker.

Workshops were held in the afternoon on topics

which included delegitimization, antisemitism,

Anti-Zionism, BDS, Hate Bias, and Jewish rights.

The morning panel on Public Diplomacy on Shaping Social Action

was moderated by former Jerusalem Post editor Steve Linde.

November 29 UN vote then and now

 Barry Shaw, Olga Deutsch, Avital Leibovich, Asher Fredman,

and Ashley Perry (left to right) spoke about current advocacy.

Zipporah Porath witness to November 29 in 1947

 Zipporah Porath gave her eyewitness account

of the excitement that filled the Jerusalem streets many years ago

when the UN made possibly its first and last pro-Israel proclamation.

The World Zionist Organization marked 70 years since the historic vote

29 November celebration Jerusalem

with music and Israeli dancing.

Zionist leaders were again on the balcony watching the proceedings.

29 November celebraton

That is Yaakov Hagoel and Avraham Dudevani on the left, Natan Sharansky in the middle,

and Theodore Herzl on the right side of this photo.

29 November at Jewish Agency buidling

Lights and visuals were projected on to the building.

Could Theodore Herzl imagine such a scene?

actor as Theodore Herzl at Jewish Agency

He certainly never imagined David Ben-Gurion taking a selfie

while standing there next to him.

The date of November 30, 1947, marked

 the beginning of the mass exodus of Jews from Arab countries,

the Jewish Nakba Day.

Most came to Eretz Yisrael,

and after many hardships, began new lives.

This year Sigd was celebrated on November 30.

After thousands of years of going to mountain tops

Sigd on Tayelet

and yearning to return to Jerusalem,

the Ethiopian holiday has become an official Israeli one.

November 30 at night is also Rosh Chodesh Kislev,

so besides Israeli and Ethiopian dancing,

Hanukkah donuts

the streets are beginning to be lined with suffganiot,

The Hanukkah donuts season has begun.

Chasing Supermoon in Jerusalem

Chasing Supermoon in Jerusalem

Supermoon, a very hyped supermoon,

was to be seen over Israel,

the largest since 1948.

Feeling much like Don Quixote,

I joined other photographers before dark,

Supermoon in Jerusalem Israel

all looking for the perfect vantage point

to get the best shot of the Supermoon rising

Kotel, Western Wall time for supermoon Jerusalem Israel

over the Kotel, the Western Wall.

Oops–the first glimpse of light

Nighttime view of Mount of Olives

was a tease, as it turned out to be hotel lights.

But there it really was,

Over the Western Wall supermoon

the Supermoon rising

Supermoon at Kotel

over the Kotel, covered by clouds.

Old City Jerusalem Kotel for supermoon

The clearest photo of the Supermoon rising

Kotel for supermoon photo Jerusalem, Israel

was hardly an epic photo.

Ktoel for supermoon from Kisgav Ledach Street Old city

Photographers packing up,

Street in Old City Jerusalem Israel

a couple walking on the dark streets of Old City,

Inside Jaffa Gate at night shoppers.

and the lights of the shops near Jaffa Gate,

all made for better photos

on the unusually warm November night.

Shaer Yafo for supermoon Old City Jerusalem

Finally, by the time I got to Jaffa Gate,

the clouds had cleared and the moon was high in the sky.

So as the Man from La Mancha chased his windmills,

Jaffa Gate, Old City, supermoon,

I chased around the walls of the Old City

Supermoon over Tower of David

to find the Supermoon

Walls of Old City lit at night from Jaffa Gate

 appearing over the walls.

It looked like it usually does,

every month on the night of a full moon.

Today on social media there are some epic photos,

plus #supermoondisappoint comments and pictures.

So here you have it,

Moon supermoon

my Supermoon over Jerusalem, Israel.

I would like to know how anyone got a good shot

without combining two photos.

I did not catch the moment.

post production of supermoon to make it look pink

Later at home,

 I was able to color my moon pink.

If anyone who wants one to look like blue cheese,

I can do that on request.

Lots of hype, lots of hopes,

but my advice is

  come visit us any month to see the full moon.

No need to wait for another Supermoon.