Jerusalem, Israel:
the autumn clouds are white,
and look like puffs of cotton in the blue sky.
It’s after the busy fall holiday season,
and the record crowds of visitors have returned home.
On a weekday afternoon,
it is possible to find a time at
the Kotel, Western Wall, to pray in solitude.
This is in contrast to the main lightrail route,
along Jaffa Road.
At the start people complained.
Who remembers the Saga of Light Rail?
Today crowds can be found along the route day and night.
Remember when George Mitchell was going to
work out a peace deal in the Middle East?
It did not go as Mitchell planned.
However, remember when the
Nature Museum was to be closed?
Well, the protesters prevailed over the developers,
and today new signs tell of new projects
that are happening on those Jerusalem grounds.
In Jerusalem new parks have been developed
and old playgrounds are being leveled and upgraded.
Looking back just a few years
we can see and feel the difference,
but there are too many examples to list now.
This week I was on the helicopter landing pad
at Hadassah Hospital in Ein Kerem,
to take photos – not as a patient – thanks.
You will hear about their plans soon,
but what a view there is from up there.
As we commented on all the new building going on,
my taxi driver on the way home wanted me to take his photo.
All around there are new Jerusalem roads
which are too often overloaded with traffic.
Wait until the next holiday season,
the suffganiot have been out for weeks,
and soon it will be Hanukkah.
With all the centennial events,
yet another big one is ahead.
General Allenby made his way into the Old City
of Jerusalem on foot on December 11, 1917,
one hundred years ago.
It was also Hanukkah then,
but I would bet the window displays were not filled
with suffganiot weeks before the holiday.
Oh, Yerushalayim,
Jerusalem looking back and to the future.
