Four Ways to Celebrate Passover

Millions of people visit nature sites in Israel over Passover. 

Tens of thousands attend Birchat Kohanim, the Priestly Blessing

"Al-Quds image", "picture Wailing Wall", "photo The Wailing Wall"

prayer service at the Kotel, the Western Wall, each year.

In Jerusalem’s Gan Sacher, Sacher Park,

"picture of picnic', "image of park", "photo of picnic in Jerusalem"

  thousands of people gather for picnic outings.

 I want to share with you a special event

"photo children with balloons", "picture Aleh school", "image Aleh Jerusalem"

in Jerusalem at Aleh, a very special home and school

"picture wheel chair", "photo Jerusalem"

for children with special educational needs.

The weather was perfect 

"photo Aleh March", 'image wheel chair", "picture Aleh parade"

for the annual Aleh Jerusalem March as it left the school grounds.

"picture parade" ,  "Jerusalem streets photo", "image Jerusalem "

Participating were many of the dedicated staff members and their families,

(full disclosure, my daughter-in-law is a teacher at Aleh

and we are very proud of her work)

"picture Aleh March'

dozens of young volunteers,

"Arab woman in Jerusalem picture", "photo Muslim woman", "image nurse"

along with lots of balloons and a nurse on duty.

"picture Aleh March", "photo traffic stopped"

Streets were closed to traffic as the Aleh Jerusalem March moved

"picture bridge Jerusalem", "photo Jerusalem bridge"

toward the new Gesher HaMeitarim, the Chord or String Bridge.

"photo Jerusalem bridge", "picture releasing balloons"

After waiting for everyone to arrive on the bridge,

'"String Bridge photo","picture of Jerusalem bridge"

hundreds of balloons were released over the city of Jerusalem.

"picture Jerusalem bridge", "Jerusalem bridge photo'

Then everyone crossed the bridge

"picture dancing","photo Jerusalem traffic"

and the celebration continued with live music and dancing.

In a country where on chol hamoed traffic is heavy and people creep along,

this crowd was really moving.

"picture wheel chair'

I can share a few scenes of the tremendous care,

affection, 

"picture dancing'

and attention given to the students who participated,

but for reasons of privacy I cannot share their radiant smiles.

"picutre De Aryeh Eldar"

This was an event short on publicity and politicians,

only MK Aryeh Eldar said a few words.

But it was big on love and full of holiday spirit.

"picture bus sign for holiday" "photo of bus holiday sign"

A very happy Passover!

 If you found an Aleh balloon…I would love to hear how far they flew.

Many more photos on The Real Jerusalem Streets Facebook page .

9 Photos Jerusalem Prepares for Passover

 Passover time in Jerusalem:

"photo Jerusalem", "Jerusalem sky photo"

the purple flowers against the blue sky make a beautiful picture

"Jerusalem flower picture'

 and the aloe flowers are in full bloom.

"Office Depot store"

The office supply store did not have the notebook I needed,

but had plenty of Passover food gift baskets.

"sushi rechavia"

The sushi store was closed for day to get ready to serve food on Passover.

"photo boiling water","picture man kashering"

Massive pots of boiling water 

"kashering photo"

and blow torches to get rid of that last bit of bread or chametz 

can be found on many streets.

"photo flowers", "picture bouquet" , "image rose"

Flowers for holiday table centerpieces are abundant,

"picture matzah"

as is matzah and more matzah.

Finally, to the many people

"picture matzah",

 travelling for the holiday, welcome to Jerusalem

and where ever you are we hope it is a healthy and safe

Chag Kasher v’sameach!

Happy Passover!

Happy Easter to all our many Christian friends!

Mamilla Cemetery New Incitement?

The week before Passover is a time of clean up, everything from Twitter

"dirty car", "Jerusalem rain"

to cars need to be cleaned.

"Palestinian land", "Photo cemetery abuse", "picture of garbage"

Until a couple of years ago one of the most neglected eyesores in

 Jerusalem was the Mamilla Cemetery, it resembled a garbage dump.

"man working in cemetery", "picture of Mamilla Cemetery"

In June 2010 the cemetery got a make-over,

"graves in Mamilla Cemetery",

fresh cement was brought in

"cemetery Israel", "picture graves in Mamilla"

and mixed for new grave stones

"photo cemetery Mamilla"

and hundreds of new tombs,  which were soon proven to be fake.

One might ask why am I taking time away from Passover preparations,

the Mamilla Cemetery hypocrisy is not new?

Two years ago the Center for Constitutional Right – CCR- initiated the

   Mamilla Campaign to the UN

to stop the building of the Museum of Tolerance.

This past week from New York

  the CCR has initiated a new campaign with a new video.

    It’s not quality photography, but it is enough to be upsetting.

The picture I had seen on a Tweet was taken from this video

and is spreading in the Arab media world.

It was a warm, sunny spring day in Jerusalem, 

so I went to see the new desecration for myself.

"picture Mamilla Cemetery abuse". "Mamilla fence'

The Mamilla Cemetery and the adjacent fenced-off  building site 

are situated across from Gan Ha’atzmaut, Independence Park.  

"photo Museum of Tolerance site". "picture of building site"

There were people enjoying the weather and afternoon sun.

Abuse of the Mamilla cemetery was not to be seen.

BDS did not work up a large anti-Israel reaction…

"Palestinian grave photo", "picture of Mamilla graves"

so it seems here we are again…

back to using the Mamilla cemetery to incite against Israel.