Jerusalem Open Houses

Favorite Purim Photos in Jerusalem and More

Sharon A

The weeks feel as if they are whizzing by, and standing still at the same time.

How can that be?

Live goes on while too many lives are stuck on October 7.

Downtown Jerusalem streets looked “normal” today with the sun shining and people shopping.

On Shushan Purim, Monday last week, the light rail was not running, there was a special Purim parade.

Call it an ‘Ad lo ya do‘ or Purim United – tens of thousands of people came out for the holiday celebration.

Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion and his wife with hostage family members were first carrying a banner stating ‘redemption of captives is a great mitzvah’ in a giant balloon yellow ribbon.

The weather was threatening some of the time and the pace moved slower than a turtle,

But there were large puppets and people lining the Jerusalem streets to watch.

Interesting displays held by numerous people

and some spectators dressed more colorfully than the parade items.

Families in coordinated costumes waited for the parade to move along.

But street actors were on the sidelines as well to entertain.

In the media we read complaints, but the people I saw were happy to smile for the camera.

Some had their cameras ready to capture the moment.

All of Jaffa Street was crowded and waiting for what was coming next.

Not everyone walked the route, these two women had a special place to sit and ride.

This lion got a lot of pre-Purim publicity, but I had trouble getting a good photo as it moved along.

In this upside-down world, this clown was appreciated.

But I got distracted by a family, in the Purim spirit dressed in coordinated leopard spots.

At the beginning of the Purim Unity parade was a clock with the time of hostages captive in Gaza.

The donkey float, on which the Moshiach is to arrive, was surrounded by Chabad flags.

More photos of the Purim Unity parade on Facebook HERE.

This was seen in traffic on a Jerusalem street on the way home, Purim was celebrated this year, even though a somewhat subdued Purim.

Ramadan and Muslim prayers midday have attracted large crowds for the third Friday in a row. Tales of restrictions were not evident at Jaffa Gate. It was also Good Friday, and Sunday Easter was celebrated.

New art is on display at Mamilla Mall, the Beatles on a Yellow Submarine caught my attention- All you need is love. Ah if it was only so simple.

OPEN HOUSE JERUSALEM 2024 This year’s festival includes hundreds of tours and houses connecting the past, present, and future on consecutive weekends, April 4-6 and April 11-13, 2024. Fascinating tours and activities throughout the capital are free, but some need prior registration.

I was in Tel Aviv this past week for a Jerusalem Post – Women Leaders Summit.

As the sun was setting, this caught my attention – Together we will succeed!

Time marches on.

In Jerusalem and Tel Aviv,

Purim is over, Passover is a month away.

Wonder what will be happening next on the Jerusalem streets, check back next week to see.

Jerusalem Inside Look at Open Houses

Sharon A

Time to get back to the Jerusalem streets! The past few weeks RJS posts shared the Samaritan life in Har Gerizim and Circassians in Kfar Kama.

Construction in Jerusalem, Israel, seems to be everywhere. The building up and down could be every week. Construction mess and dust are a constant. Tunnels are appearing now and going underground for new highways.

Plus mountains. Literally, mountains of the earth are being moved for new roads and the new light rail train extensions.

This week it’s time for – בתים מבפנים – Houses from Within or Open Houses.

Still, an impressive sight is Jaffa Gate when the lights go on as the sun sets.

What’s happening in the Tower of David is the #1 of 126 open house locations.

Work at the new entrance outside the Tower of David Museum is ongoing, but inside, new excavations have been exposed.

The new Nefesh BeNefesh Aliyah Campus had a grand opening on November 15 with food and drink and music and speeches, including one from Israeli President Isaac Herzog and too many dignitaries to list here.

Not on the official Open House list, but here is a peek inside one of the NBN office spaces.

Here is a look inside the gift box everyone was to take home – all products of companies of Olim.

Hansen House was my very first Open House – House from Within in 2010.

On the list as #55, Hansen has changed so much over the years and is now a site with tech and cultural events, no longer abandoned and neglected.

The current ‘Equalizing Matter’ exhibition attempts to bring outside inside.

I love the way new technologies are used in the Hansen old stone spaces.

Not on the tour, but how about the interest in this outside book shop?

This house had no sign. The garden gate was open, so we shrugged shoulders and followed each other into this open door.

A woman was showing off the house to the people who had ventured in.

How many times have I passed this closed gate?

And now I was able to see it from inside, from the other side.

At the next nearby open garden gate, I heard a voice. Oops, the house was not on any tour, but a man preparing a YouTube video of his weekly Torah portion.

And then there was this Open House off of Emek Refaim Street.

This was the kind most of us are familiar with, a real estate company open house. This is as far as I went, assuming it was not within my budget, and it was Friday, and I needed time to get home before it started raining and to cook for Shabbat.

Really wanted to get to see this one, but later when I checked the written program at home, I saw it was only open on Shabbat afternoon.

I would have liked to share more now, but this would get too long.

Winter is finally here. The Train Theater is opening before Hanukkah.

Plus, those new Hanukkah street lights are up, it’s disappointing that I have yet to get a good night shot.

And the long-awaited playground in Gan Sacher, Sacher Park, is to open on Tuesday afternoon with great fanfare, the Mayor, and balloons.

Jerusalem Israel playground in Jerusalem Park

Remember what it looked like before the area was leveled and redone?

A quick look inside Beit Hanasi where four new military judges were sworn in–they include a woman and a Haredi man, both significant appointments.

Israeli military judges have their ceremony in the main hall of the President’s Residence, similar to the judges of the Supreme Court, Dayanim, and the Muslim Qadis.

Lots more happened this week, inside and outside, on the Jerusalem streets.

Next time more on the Tower of David, the old Shaare Zedek building, and other interesting new and historical happenings from the Open Houses and the 5th Jewish Contemporary Art Jerusalem Biennale.