It’s time to get back to “normal” with a full five-day week without holidays.
To start a busy week, nothing like changing the clocks to get the week going – slowly.
Last week, the Vice-President and Secretary of State of the US paid short visits to Jerusalem, Israel.
I did not see either of them, but the US flag was up outside Beit Hanasi, the Israeli President’s Residence.
It was enough for me to remember Biden’s two trips as VP and VP Mike Pence in 2018.
This week, President Herzog presented nine Israeli Medals of Honor to a very diverse group of awardees.
The yellow chair to remember the hostages still in Gaza was placed next to the medals.
The honorees were seated in the front row with distinguished guests on the other side of President and Michal Herzog. US Ambassador Mike Huckabee was one of several Ambassadors.
The very diverse group of winners included Sheik Muwaffaq Tarif, leader of the Druze community.
Dr. Miriam Adelson, one of the female winners, spoke for the group and wore a white garment with blue Stars of David embroidery.
Miriam Abelson and Michal Herzog, one of many hugs of the evening.
Group hug of the President, Adelson, and freed hostages Matan Angrest and Segev Kalfon was another.
The two young men recently freed from Gaza received special mention and applause.
Impressive, before leaving, giving a thank you to the Medalists.
Not all the winners were Israeli or Jewish. Mathias Döpfner, a German businessman, author, art collector, and journalist, is the CEO of media group Axel Springer SE. He prides himself on being a non-Jewish Zionist, and his media was singled out for not sharing anti-Israel propaganda. He is also very tall.
The construction and destruction of Jerusalem streets for bike paths and the light rail goes on, and on.
One sign says that we will be able to get from Herzog Street to Route 16 by October 2027.
Will see if that really happens. It feels doubtful with so many streets ripped up and traffic stuck.
Meanwhile, it is fall and the weather and seasons are changing.
In the Jerusalem Botanical Gardens, the pond lilies are changing colors as they wilt away.
A new restaurant opened this week in the old popular location. The dairy one did not last long. Will see how a kosher Moroccan grill does in the site best remembered as the old Moment Cafe.
The hundreds of delegates to the World Zionist Congress are arriving from around the world for the WZC opening sessions starting on Tuesday at the International Conference Center.
Winter weather is on the way. But if you walk along the Jerusalem streets, roses are still blooming.
Take time to stop and smell the roses, or check out the Open Houses this weekend. Over 160 places of interest are open to the public during the annual festival.
As always, more is happening than what makes the sensational headlines.
Hope to see you soon on the Jerusalem streets.