National Library of Israel

Another up and down July week in Jerusalem

Sharon A

In Jerusalem, Israel, as usual, it was another week with ups and downs.

The Jerusalem streets were warmer under the hot summer July sun.

The blue sky held occasional white clouds, but not enough to provide shade.

It was a good week to be inside and not out in the heat.

Monday at the Nefesh BeNefesh Campus in Jerusalem

‘On the State of the Jewish People’ was the title of a conference by the World Zionist Organization and others, including the Ministry of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism.

OUIsrael Director Rabbi Avi Berman interviewed Rabbi Shmuel Eliahu. 

Jerusalem Post Editor-in-Chief Zvika Klein moderated several panels, including one on building bridges.

Education was a constant theme. I hope the sessions are posted online with English subtitles.

Tuesday at the Ramada Hotel

OneFamily’s annual Women’s Empowerment Day again featured Rabbanit Yemima Mizrachi. Her opening talk was a great way to start the day.

Body-language expert Maayan Bashan concluded the formal program with an interactive session encouraging participants to pay attention to “the eyes.”

I wish I had taken notes on her explanations of facial expressions after watching NY Mayor Zohan Mamdani’s mouth in his anti-Bibi video.

The day started with a dairy buffet and ended with a seated dinner for the hundreds of women whose family members have faced violence due to terror.

Wednesday morning

Back at the National Library of Israel, where this view has become iconic,

to see the preview of the new exhibition “The Quest of Questions” to open July 31, 2026, to March 2027.

Newton’s Philosophy of Mathematics was on display.

Near the exit in the second gallery was a “family tree” in a Kurdish-Ottoman manuscript tracing back in time.

During the summer months, younger visitors can enjoy To Infinity, the activity designed for families.

Wednesday night

Tisha B'Av night at Western Wall

Wednesday night was the start of Tisha B’Av with the stones and lights in Jerusalem Old City by the Western Wall.

Thursday fast day, or rather slow day; better to stay in the air conditioning.

New signs are up for the ice skating and Opera Festival, along with Tisha B’av program at the Begin Center.

Friday morning early on the Tayelet.

A busload of teens from France arrived and were singing Jerusalem of Gold.

At the same time, the results of the end-of-year exams for Jerusalem Arab schools were published, accompanied by loud fireworks as usual.

All as our family gathered for morning prayers for a special event.

Joining Yakir for a mazel tov with breakfast treats in honor of his approaching bar mitzvah.

Of course, on the Tayelet, I had to stroll down to see the setup for Auto Ochal – Food trucks.

Preparing to open evenings this week, along the Tayelet. Food. Beer. Music.

And seats with a view…

Summer time in Jerusalem, Israel.

With ups and downs, always something happening.

Hope to see you soon on the real Jerusalem streets.

Tu Bishvat on the Jerusalem Streets

Sharon A

For over 15 years, The Real Jerusalem Streets has shared Tu Bishvat posts.

Of course, each time wondering how best to spell — Tu Beshvat or Tu B’Shvat.

Some years were the simple colors of Tu B’Shvat.

Some years were much more ambitious for Tu Bishvat.

Remember those Amygdalus Communis growing in Jerusalem?

This past week, I set out to find what was new for you.

Jerusalem, Israel, and the cranes rise higher and higher into the sky.

Mountains have to be moved to install new light rail tracks.

Buildings rise above the expanded highways.

And wow, the mess as new sidewalks and bike trails are being worked on – it seems – everywhere.

But the winter green has returned to the nature spots.

And the first almond blossoms were out in time for Tu Bishvat.

The protest sites near the Knesset are still there, though the last hostage has returned.

This Knesset building opened on Tu Bishvat 60 years ago.

I went to the 50th celebration.

I went to the Knesset for the 60th celebration last week.

On Tu Bishvat this year, I did not get in.

I contacted 4 people, and a Minister tried to help. After waiting an hour, I left.

I did get to chat for an hour with a reporter I had not seen in a long time; she also did not get in.

It was a beautiful day to be in Gan Sacher. The piano is no longer yellow for the hostage return.

Had time to walk through the National Library and see all the people.

Good to see the space that was filled with chairs and books for the hostages is back to normal.

‘There are Flowers’ was the Tu Bishvat theme in the library.

Flowers were coming from the stones, as every year, as winter ebbs.

New signs for Jerusalem events have been posted.

Buds have appeared on the lemon tree.

And on Tu Bishvat, new signs went up over the Jerusalem streets for Shushan Purim.

This year’s celebration is to be on Ruppin Street on Tuesday, March 3, 2026.

The seasons are changing, and it feels like spring on the Jerusalem streets.

Hope to see you here soon, this year in Jerusalem.

Photos from the last week of November in Jerusalem

Sharon A

On Nov. 30, Israel marks the Day of Departure & Expulsion of Jews from Arab Countries & Iran.

Almost a million Jews were expelled from their countries of birth after 1948, 850,000 from the Arab world & 100,000 from Iran. This fact of history and ethnic cleansing has been ignored for too long.

Sign 29 November Street

Kaf tet b’November was on Shabbat this year.

Why is it important to share the Jerusalem street sign again every year?

On November 29, 1947, the United Nations adopted Resolution 181, the Partition Resolution, to divide Great Britain’s former Palestinian mandate into Jewish and Arab states in May 1948, when the British mandate was scheduled to end. The Jews accepted. The Arabs declared war.

In 1977, the General Assembly called for the annual observance of 29 November as the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. The UN has become consistent in rewriting and inverting history.

Jerusalem doesn’t have fall colors like the US Northeast. However, these leaves were near the Knesset.

Oh, oh, the Jerusalem streets, with construction most everywhere, making it hard to drive or walk.

The new signs promote the use of the expanded bike lanes. I saw three bike riders at one time last week.

We had heavy rain and a couple of grey days. Again today, it was sunny, and then came heavy rain.

It was a good time to stay home and bake to fill the freezer on a rainy day,

However, when the sun comes out, so does the colour along the Jerusalem streets.

At the beginning of the week, I was back at the National Library of Israel, and the sun was shining.

Finally! The timing was right to get a photo of the shadows in the form of letters.

This display was back to the original before the Iron Swords War.

This was for a tour group, after almost two years without the faces of the murdered on October 7 on display.

The last three hostages are now down to two. One is a Thai worker, Sudthisak Rudalak.

Police officer Ran Gvili was murdered on October 7, and his body was taken hostage.

Will they ever be released to come home?

The main lobby was quiet; it is usually full of large tour groups.

From that lobby area, visitors usually take this image to post of the National Library of Israel.

However, this time I was escorted upstairs to a small conference room for a special presentation by three researchers. Avi Shmidman, Daniel Stokl Ben Ezra and Nachum Dershowitz are the principal investigators of the MiDRASH project.

For centuries, in the Ben Ezra Synagogue in Fustat, Old Cairo, the Cairo Genizah contained more than 300,000 handwritten pieces from the 9th to the 19th centuries.

They have used AI and Machine Learning to transcribe and share from the Cairo Genizah fragments.

Soon, the results will be available online through the National Library for researchers around the world.

For those wanting something less academic, NLI is hosting children’s events during Hanukkah.

Thursday night was Thanksgiving, a holiday mostly celebrated with Black Friday ads and not turkey.

But AMIT held a Thanksgiving dinner at the Jerusalem Inbal Hotel to celebrate 100 years of educating Israeli children. The attendees were mostly American, with a large percentage of them olim.

I went for the Thanksgiving-themed food for Friday night dinner.

It was interesting to see the photos of Thanksgiving and Shabbat posted on social media again. For two years, many refrained from posting their weekly gatherings as hostages were held starving in Gaza.

There are only two hostages presumed dead known to be left in Gaza, and for many, it’s back to normal.

However, the war is not over. Newly wounded have joined the long list of over 20,000 soldiers.

As we were reminded at the AMIT dinner, 66 fallen soldiers were students, as well as 3 AMIT educators.

Hadar Goldin, the longest held hostage, was kidnapped and killed during a humanitarian ceasefire 11 years ago, and finally returned for his long-suffering parents to have a proper burial.

There is what to be thankful for and hopeful for on the Jerusalem streets.

What will happen next? You never can predict.

Hope to see you soon, this year in Jerusalem.