Love the lights as night falls
at Tower of David.
שבת שלום
Jerusalem by Night and Day: From Dinosaurs to Conferences
What a week in Jerusalem,
starting off with a fast day on Sunday.
At night there was an Iftar meal at Beit Hanasi.
President Rivlin hosted around 200 guests,
Muslims and Jews breaking their fast in the Presidential Gardens.
I love these new signs for the buses,
powered by a solar panel,
and how they look in a nighttime photo.
Nighttime in Jerusalem, Israel,
and this summer
the dinosaurs are coming out.
The Jerusalem Botanical Gardens
has a summer program at night
which features dozens of dinosaurs.
By day there have been conferences galore.
Part of a large international geneology conference
featured the story of the ‘Lady in Gold”
the painting and history,
the book and the lawyer who retrieved the work
that was stolen by the Nazis.
While at another Jerusalem hotel,
people were attending
the first International Bible Study Week.
Besides Bible scholars,
leading Israeli archaeologist Gabi Barkai
spoke about the Temple Mount.
One of his slides was of ancient coins found while sifting
the dirt removed from the Temple Mount,
but that is a story for another time.
The German teacher I met at lunch is visiting Israel
and in Jerusalem for the seventh time since 2004.
The more who come to visit, the more who can
appreciate what is really happening,
as there is so much more in Israel than conflict and violence.
The Tzohar rabbinical organization had its conference,
with dozens of speakers and sessions and panels.
And I met a Real Jerusalem Streets fan,
not sure who was more excited.
Being inside all day,
can make you feel wilted and faded like poor Varda,
that street installation on Jaffa Road.
After late nights and being inside all day,
taking a walk
through Gan Ha’atzmaut,
Independence Park in Jerusalem,
is a way to end on a bright note.
Summer nights and days,
so much going on in all the neighborhoods,
it is hard to keep up with it all.
Shabbat Shalom Special
It was impossible to decide on just one photo
to share as a Shabbat Shalom greeting this week.
Being in Yemin Moshe several times,
there were so many Jerusalem, Israel street photos.
For every photo walk,
I say that you never know what you will find,
and this week
a Jerusalem community center held its end of year program in
the shadow of the Montefiore Windmill
with the Old City Walls as a backdrop.
These roses in Yemin Moshe were amazing,
but they were not the only beautiful flowers.
I thought about doing faces.
The water is back up and running in the Lion Fountain,
and his face made me stop and look back.
At the Recycling Festival last night,
she was just one of the hundreds of children smiling.
How sweet it was.
Oops, the frozen fruit fell and made a mess,
but what a great reaction!
Shabbat is coming soon,
so the rest will have to wait until next week.
שבת שלום