As we enter the third week of Operation Roaring Lion, the red alerts keep coming.
Uncertainty and stress from these messages day and night, as often as every ten minutes.
Impossible to predict when and what’s next as Iran and Hezbollah rain destructive missiles at Israel.
All we can share is what happened on the real Jerusalem streets.
When the sun comes out, so do the people on the Jerusalem streets.
Thursday morning, I was on my way to Beit Hanasi, the Israeli President’s residence, when a warning sounded. I had just passed security and was led inside and told to go down a flight of stairs. There, the President, his wife, and staff also waited until the all clear was given.
Coming up another flight of stairs, I was the first to arrive in the official reception room.
No photo selfies in that shelter. It was too crowded to get a good photo anyway.
The event was a sad one. To acknowledge the death of the first casualty of this war.
The meeting brought together Bernie Galsim Lavarias, the widower of Mary Ann V. De Vera.
The Filipino caretaker died protecting the woman she was helping.
Aileen Mendiola, the Philippines’ ambassador to Israel, spoke of Filipinos’ support for Israel.
She mentioned there are 2.4 million Filipinos in the Middle East.
In Israel, there are over 30,000. They have been killed and held hostage after October 7, yet they support Israel on social media.
President Herzog was compassionate and empathic to the widower during the private session and escorted him out.
While on the Jerusalem streets, as I walked home from Beit Hanasi,
after the siren alert, people were out in the midday sun again, sitting, eating, and shopping.
Jerusalem streets are indeed ripped up, with construction in so many places.
Hopefully, one day construction will be finished, and we can walk freely.
Since October 7, 2023, there have been too many fallen soldiers. Memorial stickers are posted at many bus stops.
Families look for ways to honor their fallen sons.
The Jerusalem Theater is closed, but it has a unique new exhibit.
“Yakir’s Light” was to open on March 1 and run until the end of April.
A considerate security guard let me inside to see the photos and sketches on display, off the main lobby.
Notice the posters on the ground? Those were for the new quilting exhibition, not on the lobby walls.
Lining this area is an emotional testimonial of love and loss.
Yakir Hexter z”l was a 26-year-old architectural student, remembered by friends in these portraits.
Yakir’s drawings and sketches are featured in the exhibit.
Along with powerful photographic images, such as this close-up of “Brothers Last Goodbye.”
A photo by his mother, Chaya Hexter, using Yakir’s bar mitzvah invitation with his calligraphy is one example of emotion expressed through her images.
I hope that soon the public will be able to appreciate the art, the culture, and the life on the Jerusalem streets again without having to seek shelter from Iranian and Hezbollah missiles.
This year in Jerusalem, nothing is certain.
The decision whether to hold the Jerusalem Marathon on March 27 will be made on March 18.
However, life goes on without schedules and routine, seeking shelter from Iranian cluster munitions that spread deadly pieces of metal over Israel and Jerusalem streets.
Looking forward to next year in Jerusalem.