What’s new as Jerusalem returns to the streets?

Sharon A

Over and over.

The Real Jerusalem Streets has used the expressions “roller coaster” and “highs and lows” to describe the emotional changes that happen in Jerusalem, Israel.

This week, a new word was repeated over and over: “whiplash.”

It was used to describe the extremes of war one day and back to “normal” the next.

One day, life was filled with the beautiful flowers and meals of Passover.

Shelters were needed much too often because of Iranian and Hezbollah missiles and rockets.

And the next day, we could again walk and appreciate nature without looking out for sirens or falling missile fragments.

One day, the doors were locked at the Museum for Islamic Art. The gates were chained shut.

The next day, after 6 weeks, schools in Jerusalem were to open again.

On Friday, after baking challah, it was time to walk again to see what was happening on the Jerusalem streets.

One back-to-normal street scene was flowers being sold for Shabbat.

Young people were riding bikes in Gan Sacher, Sacher Park, in the afternoon sun.

Picnics and families were at the Gan Sacher children’s play area.

A new sign was up for the Jerusalem Winner Marathon, rescheduled for Friday, April 17, 202.

The security fencing around the park was going up.

The finish line for shorter races was up over the Jerusalem street.

People were walking and running again. Training preparations for this marathon are more like a sprint than the usual long marathon prep.

Around the Knesset, Israeli flags usually go up after Pesach, the Passover holiday.

This year, marathon posters and flags are also on the Jerusalem streets.

President Herzog speaking at Yad Vashem

Tomorrow night is Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Day. This year, April 13-14, 2026. The program was recorded, so no question about whether to go to Yad Vashem this year – it will be closed on Monday night.

Next week is Yom HaZikaron, Memorial Day, followed by Yom Haatzmaut, Independence Day on April 20- 21, when the annual extremes of mourning and celebration become a rollercoaster of emotions. What will be with the fragile 12-day ceasefire by then is anyone’s guess.

The Yom HaZikaron ceremony I usually attend on Ammunition Hill is also being recorded. No one wanted to be responsible for 1,000 people out in the open with not enough time to find shelter if this fragile ceasefire fails.

However, the first spotting of flags on a car as Israel approaches 78 years.

Meanwhile, Jerusalem is preparing Gan Sacher for thousands of people on Friday.

Not sure how many will come from overseas this year. But if it rains, the new walkway will be appreciated.

The Passover seder ends with’ Next Year in Jerusalem’.

Hope to see everyone soon in Jerusalem.

Passover 2026 under missile fire, remembering years in bomb shelters

Sharon A

How was this Pesach, Passover, different than all other years?

This year in Jerusalem, we organized for the holiday between alerts, sirens, and seeking shelter from Iranian and Hezbollah missiles. The cluster fragments spread far and wide, causing damage; not all of them were reported. Thankfully, most people followed instructions and were not killed. However, many were injured running to shelters.

As of after Shabbat, according to MDA, 1,226 people were injured on their way to shelters, and 3 were killed; 26 of those injured were involved in road accidents after stopping on the side of the road during the siren.

We were able to host some of the family for lunch without having to go to the shelter.

Though later in the day, there was a siren loud enough that we did go, and left only after the booms stopped.

It reminded me of a visit to southern Israel in 2012 to photogragh a solidarity mission.

As the US rabbis spoke with the rabbi of a small Israeli moshav under rocket fire from Gaza, a red alert was sounded.

We all crowded into the family safe room. It was the bedroom of the youngest children, so they would not have to be moved when the alerts were sounded in the middle of the night. The twin girls were used to the sounds and sights, but not so many people crowded into their room. The mother announced where the rocket landed after hearing the boom. We exited the safe room and continued with the meeting and tour back to Jerusalem.

As we sit in our shelter, hearing the booms, we are becoming used to the sounds and guessing the proximity. One should question that this has become a new “normal” of life.

Jerusalem has been “lucky”?

The number of missiles launched from Iran and Hezbollah in Lebanon to northern Israel, including Tel Aviv, has not stopped, day and night.

We got through the seder without interruption and walked home safely.

The Passover table was ready for the Pesach seder, with “Vehi Sheamda” (והיא שעמדה), the song from the Passover Haggadah, sung during the Seder to represent Jewish survival and faith. It states that not just one, but many enemies in every generation have tried to destroy the Jewish people, yet God rescues.

This year, with cluster missiles and ballistic missiles from the regime in Iran, gatherings have been limited to 50 people and must be near a shelter. The annual large Birkat Cohanim, Priestly Blessing, was limited to the covered space of Wilson’s Arch, next to the Kotel, Western Wall plaza, which was empty as it has been for over a month during this current war.

It was broadcast live and is on YouTube.

A limited number of men were downstairs; the women’s section is the balcony above.

The blessings were recited.

The chief rabbis and their families arrived.

While the blessing from the Western Wall did take place this year,

it did not compare to the Birkat Cohanim of past years.

The seder ends with “Next Year in Jerusalem!”

The message felt more relevant than in past years.

Next year in Jerusalem for all who were not able to be here this year.

On the 10th of Nisan – Footsteps in the Jordan Valley

Sharon A

On a spring day in 2019, I traveled ancient footsteps through the Jordan Valley.

Standing at Qasr al-Yahud, “Castle of the Jews” on the western bank of the Jordan River, I stood at the traditional site where, on the tenth of Nisan, Joshua led the Israelites across the waters into the Promised Land after 40 years in the desert.

“On the tenth day of the first month [Nisan], the people went up from the Jordan and camped at Gilgal on the east border of Jericho.”

The Jordan River is at a narrow point at the site where the twelve tribes crossed.

The main building nearby is the Greek Orthodox Monastery of St. John the Baptist.

The blue-and-white Israeli flag flew over the building on the left, and the white flag with a red cross on the right, the flag of England (St. George’s Cross).

The site features ruins, churches/monasteries from various denominations, baptismal areas, and access to the Jordan River.

It was closed for decades due to land mines and security concerns.

But Israel has cleared the mines. It has been renovated and reopened to visitors.

Identified by Jewish tradition as the site where the Israelites crossed the Jordan River, Jordan shares the site with a simple divider.

Signs are in Hebrew, Arabic, and English for the site also a popular Baptism site.

The day we went, the Jordanian security on the other side was more interested in their phones.

Speakers at the י’ בניסן celebration included Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau.

But the day also included an IDF-escorted trip to Yericho, Jericho.

In Jericho is the Shalom al Israel Synagogue, also called the Ancient Synagogue of Jericho or Byzantine-era Jericho Synagogue. In the 1930s, it was discovered when digging to build a house.

In the white structure, there is a large, well-preserved mosaic floor with geometric patterns, circles, and floral/heart-like motifs in red, black, and beige tones. A beautiful Byzantine-period mosaic. It is late 6th or early 7th century CE, roughly 1,400 years old.

A raised platform or viewing area with a railing, where our tour group walked around, allowed visitors to look down on the mosaics without walking on them.

The central part of the mosaic includes an Aramaic inscription – “Shalom al Israel“, “Peace upon Israel”, along with a large menorah and other Jewish motifs.

This is the cable car to the Mount of Temptation, one of Jericho’s main tourist attractions.

It’s the lowest cable car in the world, and close to the Dead Sea.

My South East Asian journalist friend mentioned she often came on Saturdays as Jericho was so close to Jerusalem.

The tour of ancient Jericho is a long story and for a post of its own.

It is closed to Jews and Israelis most of the year.

On a convoy of buses, with an IDF escort, and Jericho said to be “friendly,” our bus was stoned. Interestingly, the two younger-looking men were left behind as their leader ran quickly away.

Perhaps because 10 Nisan falls 4 days before Passover, when many families are busy with preparations, it has been overlooked.

Perhaps next year we will get back to the Yud Nisan and the Jordan River to celebrate.

Tradition also links it to the prophet Elijah, who ascended to heaven in a fiery chariot by the Jordan.

Each year, what a year this has been!

We open the door and stand to welcome Elijah into our homes near the end of the Passover seder.

The seder that ends with “Next year in Jerusalem.”

Back to the Jerusalem streets, Chag Sameach, a happy and safe holiday to all.

Hoping to see you soon in Jerusalem!