attractive tourist destination

Oh What a Week in the Warm Jerusalem January

Sharon A

What did you hear happened on the Jerusalem streets this week?

Always something happening on the Real Jerusalem Streets that you might have missed.

It’s the end of Tevet. Tu Beshvat is over two weeks from now. But along the Jerusalem streets, the almond trees are blooming. It has been one warm and dry winter.

The dry weather has been bad for farmers but is good for road construction.

To and from Jerusalem, one must move mountains to make room for new roads.

In Gan Sacher, Sacher Park, a group of new young IDF soldiers were sitting in the midday sun.

I was walking home from the Gevura Tent or Tent of Heroes.

Families of fallen soldiers want their children not to have fallen in vain and be forgotten.

Many families came to Israel for the US Jewish school Yeshiva Week. Talks in English were scheduled from Sunday to Thursday night by widows and parents of fallen soldiers. I would have liked to have time to attend them all. But got to the first one on Zechariah Haber Hy”d – a young father of three who was extremely accomplished in Jewish and academic studies.

And on Thursday evening, Roey Weiser Hy”d was remembered by his parents. Roey was one of the first known causalities on October 7. He was killed defending Erez Crossing Base with too little ammunition against the hordes attacking from Gaza.

January 20, 2025, was Martin Luther King Junior Day in the US. Each year we acknowledge the Jerusalem street named for MLK. However, this year the US inauguration received much more attention.

The Friends of Zion hosted a mega-event to congratulate Donald Trump, with huge signs outside.

People lined up and crowded in before the announced opening time.

American-style food was served, including giant hotdogs and burgers, ending with donuts and waffles.

A few South American Ambassadors were seated in the front row.

In the main hall, the huge screen was ready for a live broadcast, after Emily Schrader interviewed Sharren Haskel, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Trump was sworn in as the 47th US President. We saw the ceremony and his talk but missed all the music.

There was a panel discussion and then the live music started with the Solomon Brothers doing US songs.

The crowds had filled every spot inside, the red hats and pins were long gone but the lights stayed on.

On the Jerusalem streets this week the hostage situation overshadowed most events.

However, one could only smile with the birthday boy Walter Bingham celebrating his 101 birthday. When you get to 101, one starts over with a ‘one’ balloon and friends and food.

I am not sure ‘until 120’ is appropriate – Walter is still working as a journalist.

This week in the sunshine and warm weather Gan Sacher was popular with young children.

Next week for the older young at heart, the Shaon Horef, Winter Noise Festival, is back on the Jerusalem streets on February Monday nights starting on Shushan Street.

Flights are to start and more tourists were around this week.

Are you coming soon to Jerusalem?

The time is good to book a Jerusalem Photo Walk.

January 2025 Hanukkah and New Beginnings in Jerusalem

Sharon A

For 2025, I saw a cartoon with two doors.

The one on the left says, “Disengage and hope it turns out ok for you.”

The one on the right says, “Fight for what’s right.”

RJS plans to keep engaging for 2025, as it has over the past years.

There were lovely days and nights over Hanukkah, with warm sunny days and cool nights.

So many lights lit up the Jerusalem streets for eight nights.

Crowd at Mamilla Mall for candlelight on Hanukkah

Crowds filled Mamilla Mall for live music, dancing, and donuts almost every night.

Programs for children were held in small venues and

Jerusalem Cinema City had special activities in addition to the regular holiday movies.

However, on the sixth night, it rained.

Rain poured down most of the day. Jerusalem managed ballistic missile attacks in the middle of the night better than the flooded roads and gridlocked traffic with cars and buses full of Hanukkah partygoers.

We finally got through the traffic congestion and arrived at Hadassah Hospital Mount Scopus –

but oops, we found the wrong Hanukkah celebration, in the wrong building.

Instead, our party was in the new Gandel Rehabilitation Center, for wounded soldiers and their families and the OneFamily volunteers who come each week to help from their war injuries.

Only in Israel? The basements of hospitals are ready for attack with underground emergency units.

Activities, good food, and music filled part of the lower level for the special Hanukkah celebration.

Nefesh Be’Nefesh held a special family celebration for Hanukkah.

When I saw this man at the party I thought he was an actor. When I saw him leaving, I decided to snap a photo of the best Hanukkah costume of the year.

There are still no nature photo walks at the still-shuttered Wohl Rose Garden near the Knesset.

“Bring them home now” signs line the Rose Garden and many Jerusalem streets.

Celebrations private and public, the war on many fronts, and the 100 hostages are always in mind.

The fallen Israeli heroes, over 825, include 85 since Sinwar was eliminated in Gaza.

Sitting home, reading the news, or scrolling on social media, the UN agencies’ lies and obsession against Israel are appalling. For over a year, the Red Cross has not helped Israeli hostages including children.

The clear weather is not good for farmers, but great to get out and walk and see what’s new.

Gan Sacher, Sacher Park has new information signs.

Old City walls near Jaffa Gate for second night of Hanukkah

Jerusalem Old City walls were illuminated with projections the same as two years ago.

“Hanukkah of gold and of light” was Jerusalem’s new Hanukkah message this year.

The Outline Festival 2024 is continuing into 2025. “Unknown” is what is ahead for the new year.

However, new buildings have risen above the Jerusalem streets.

Too many Jerusalem streets are dug up for construction and the future light rail tracks.

New bus stops are going up in new locations to add to the construction confusion.

The Real Jerusalem Streets aims to keep sharing what’s real, what’s happening in Jerusalem, Israel.

Not all is good, but with the sun shining and days getting longer, there is hope for better days.

If you want only good news, go to my friend Michael’s Only Good News Israel

However, to end with one good thing – the views and positive comments on this simple video from Sukkot Birkat Cohanim, keep coming.

May 2025 and 5785 bring blessings for all.

15 Simchat Torah Highlights in Jerusalem

Sharon A

Sukkot. Simchat Torah.

The autumn holiday season has ended.

Certainly not the same as years past, but no question better than the last Simchat Torah.

There were celebrations on the Jerusalem streets, and this photo essay will focus on the highights.

The Rova, Jewish Quarter, had a large sukkah and people took advantage of the holiday atmosphere.

The crowds at the Kotel, Western Wall, filled the Western Wall Plaza, day after day.

The sukkot in the Mamilla Mall had people waiting in line to have a meal, inside it was easy to get a seat.

In the Cardo was a large sukkah this year. Who would have imagined that years ago?

The guy protesting internet was back with a sign, as people went on their way to Jaffa Gate.

Stop men with a luluv and etrog to take their photo, and they ask you to make the blessing first.

The big sukkah was back at Kikar Safra with a sign ‘Welcome to the Mayor’s Sukkah’.

There were musical events every night of chol hamoed and this one for children on Sunday afternoon.

Jaffa Street had the line of sukkot along the light rail tracks again.

On a smaller scale, a favorite private sukkah was back on the Jerusalem street.

The Israeli President’s sukkah in the back garden was a modest one as the large public sukkah was not built and open to the public this year.

Teens and youth groups from the North and South were invited instead of the big open event.

Olympic Judoku gold medal winner Peter Paltchik opened the program.

The teens met in discussion groups in the Beit Hanasi grounds, ate falafel, and

then went back to the main hall to meet the President Herzog and his wife Michal.

There was a Jerusalem March this year, but much smaller than in past years.

The route was greatly reduced as were the groups marching, but Gan Sacher, Sacher Park, was a popular holiday venue.

As the event was ending, two Muslim women were sitting in the park, enjoying the day.

And then there was Simchat Torah, how to celebrate after last year? With music and dance in many locations around Jerusalem from the Kotel to the Liberty Bell Park, I was at the Ramada Hotel.

At a Bar Mitzvah at the Great Synagogue on Friday morning, the guests from Florida were celebrating the Simchat Torah holiday, as the local Israelis were able to pull out their cell phones and capture the event.

From the Birkat Cohanim, Priestly Blessing at the Kotel, Western Wall, to the end of Shabbat,

thousands of people were on the Jerusalem streets,

the sounds of the shofar and “Next Year in Jerusalem” could be heard.

Today, the Israeli flag is flying at half-mast, marking the official national day of mourning for the fallen and murdered a year ago on October 7.

As we celebrate and remember the hostages, we are losing new heroes almost every day as war goes on in the north and south. We have personal connections to two funerals at Har Herzl tonight.