Jerusalem photos

Oh What a Week in the Warm Jerusalem January

Sharon A

What did you hear happened on the Jerusalem streets this week?

Always something happening on the Real Jerusalem Streets that you might have missed.

It’s the end of Tevet. Tu Beshvat is over two weeks from now. But along the Jerusalem streets, the almond trees are blooming. It has been one warm and dry winter.

The dry weather has been bad for farmers but is good for road construction.

To and from Jerusalem, one must move mountains to make room for new roads.

In Gan Sacher, Sacher Park, a group of new young IDF soldiers were sitting in the midday sun.

I was walking home from the Gevura Tent or Tent of Heroes.

Families of fallen soldiers want their children not to have fallen in vain and be forgotten.

Many families came to Israel for the US Jewish school Yeshiva Week. Talks in English were scheduled from Sunday to Thursday night by widows and parents of fallen soldiers. I would have liked to have time to attend them all. But got to the first one on Zechariah Haber Hy”d – a young father of three who was extremely accomplished in Jewish and academic studies.

And on Thursday evening, Roey Weiser Hy”d was remembered by his parents. Roey was one of the first known causalities on October 7. He was killed defending Erez Crossing Base with too little ammunition against the hordes attacking from Gaza.

January 20, 2025, was Martin Luther King Junior Day in the US. Each year we acknowledge the Jerusalem street named for MLK. However, this year the US inauguration received much more attention.

The Friends of Zion hosted a mega-event to congratulate Donald Trump, with huge signs outside.

People lined up and crowded in before the announced opening time.

American-style food was served, including giant hotdogs and burgers, ending with donuts and waffles.

A few South American Ambassadors were seated in the front row.

In the main hall, the huge screen was ready for a live broadcast, after Emily Schrader interviewed Sharren Haskel, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Trump was sworn in as the 47th US President. We saw the ceremony and his talk but missed all the music.

There was a panel discussion and then the live music started with the Solomon Brothers doing US songs.

The crowds had filled every spot inside, the red hats and pins were long gone but the lights stayed on.

On the Jerusalem streets this week the hostage situation overshadowed most events.

However, one could only smile with the birthday boy Walter Bingham celebrating his 101 birthday. When you get to 101, one starts over with a ‘one’ balloon and friends and food.

I am not sure ‘until 120’ is appropriate – Walter is still working as a journalist.

This week in the sunshine and warm weather Gan Sacher was popular with young children.

Next week for the older young at heart, the Shaon Horef, Winter Noise Festival, is back on the Jerusalem streets on February Monday nights starting on Shushan Street.

Flights are to start and more tourists were around this week.

Are you coming soon to Jerusalem?

The time is good to book a Jerusalem Photo Walk.

Jerusalem Streets finding Balance after 414 Days of War

Sharon A

The Jerusalem, Israel, streets are constantly changing. The buildings are rising higher.

The stresses of over a year of prolonged Operation Iron Swords are growing more serious.

Sharing the events of one week in a short photo essay is a constant challenge.

On Jaffa Road, the new skyline is difficult to capture with a simple lens.

The old Ticho House is hard to see with the new surrounding construction.

Yoel Solomon Street is missing the tourists who browsed the shops, though volunteer tourism is high.

But the Machane Yehuda Market – the shuk – is popular on Thursday afternoons and at night.

Jaffa Road has new signs for hotels with the old Jerusalem buildings.

These Arab women going past Zion Square were shopping on Jaffa Road.

I still feel safer walking on the Jerusalem streets late at night, than almost anywhere else in the world.

Years of constant construction during years of ongoing threat, the Jerusalem-TLV train is still a wonder.

The new entrance to the Jerusalem Botanical Gardens can be easily seen from the road.

It is located near a future light rail train station. I wonder which will be completed first.

When it is Muslim prayer time, there are prayer rugs on the Jerusalem streets.

To make room for the buildings and roads, mountains have been moved.

But along the Jerusalem streets, there are constant reminders of the young who have fallen this past year.

Over 800 lives – each one a world – have been lost in this war.

The Jerusalem municipality has supplied tents to the mourning families. Hundreds of people come to pay a condolence call to the families of the fallen.

A note from this past week asks visitors to see photos from happier times.

After Shabbat, a Torah was dedicated in memory of fallen lone soldier Rose Ida Lubin hy”d. The procession made its way through the Jerusalem downtown streets to a small synagogue off of Jaffa Road.

There was music food and dancing, some found it difficult to participate, but the Lubin family attended, proud of their daughter and pleased so many contributed to keeping Rose’s name alive.

There are thousands of lone soldiers serving now, and falling, but also couples are coming together.

The OU Israel location on Keren Hayesod is closing down and new locations are to fill in the gap. The Women’s Hub had a grand opening on Monday night.

There have been protests, large and small, new and long-standing, against the government, and for the war to continue to victory on the Jerusalem streets.

However, life goes on, but not like before. The 3rd Jerusalem Business Conference began with a United Hatzalah presentation of the terrible day of October 7, 2023.

But as keynote opening speaker Izhar Shay, whose son was killed on October 7, emphasized,” “we are here to build.” His ‘Next October’ NGO is to support startups to grow. PHOTOS and more PHOTOS.

Time to give thanks, as the Michael Levin Base is preparing for Thanksgiving dinner again for lone soldiers and bnei and bnot sherut.

We give thanks for what we do have and hope to see you soon on the too-quiet Jerusalem streets.

Take a walk and see what’s new on the Jerusalem streets

Sharon A

How is it already June?

Where has the time gone, it is a blur.

However, even in these difficult, somewhat sad, days, there are good things to report and some “normal” life has returned to the Jerusalem streets.

Immediately after Lag B’Omer, Jerusalem parks were filled with celebrations and birthday parties.

And the time quickly becomes wedding season as the Jerusalem hills are filled with music.

The community garden in Baka has developed since it began in 2017.

The community space has a book corner I passed on my way to an event honoring writers.

Eylon Levy delivered the keynote address at the 32nd annual Bnai Brith World Journalism Awards at the Menachem Begin Heritage Center.

Walking through First Station with the rows of empty market stalls the absence of tourists is obvious.

Yellow chairs, yellow ribbons, and blue and white flags are seen on the Jerusalem streets.

The KumKum Tea House is adorned with purple flowers and a British flag.

The play areas of this Jerusalem nursery school have cheerful designs on the protective fence coverings.

Beit Hanasi, the Israeli President’s Residence hosted the Michal Sela Hackathon where innovative ideas were presented for safety at home. Sela’s sister founded the Forum after in 2019 Michal’s husband killed her in their home.

Thursday’s Jerusalem Pride Parade was smaller this year and featured families of hostages.

As usual, the Jerusalem streets in the area were closed for many hours with thousands of security officers.

Yellow flags lined the Jerusalem streets along with rainbow-colored ones this year.

The Liberty Bell Park was cleaned up shortly after the crowd marched to Independence Park.

Impressively cleaned – I could only find one poster on the ground as I walked through the park.

No photos from Independence Park, Gan Haatzmaut, however, security would not let me enter.

I would have made a fuss, but I did not want to be late for a special lecture by Rabbi Yitzchak Breitowitz.

Then, on Friday morning Jerusalem streets were closed for hundreds of riders in the large biking event.

Jerusalem streets will again be closed this week for Yom Yerushalayim, Jerusalem Day with thousands more Israel flags and multiple events marking 57 years of reunification of Yerushalayim.

This flag down the Citadel Hotel wall should be one of the longest for the Flag Parade on Wednesday.

Never know what we will see next on the Jerusalem streets.

Today I got a ride home because it was too hot to walk down past the Israel Museum. However, I got photos and videos of the fire raging where I would have been walking.