Beit Hanasi

Jerusalem Selihot and More

Sharon A

For this Jewish High Holiday season, there is no place like Jerusalem, Israel.

Thousands of people converge from around the world at the Kotel, Western Wall, this photo of those gathered after midnight for the late-night Selihot.

For the past weeks, the sounds of Selihot have filled the Jerusalem streets.

Wednesday night after Rosh Hashana at Beit Hanasi, the Israeli President’s Residence, President Isaac Herzog spoke prior to the musical Selihot.

The chairs were set in the back garden next to the Beit Hanasi Beit Knesset, the Synagogue in the corner of the President’s residence grounds.

The music was beautiful and well done, and broadcast live on the President’s Facebook page, plus social media posts in English and Hebrew.

For the more traditional part of the evening, a chazan was at the podium.

Rav Benny Lau and his 929 Bible Study organization organized the event hosted by the President and went into the synagogue to open the ark.

The audience included the 929 participants, the regular morning minyan members, IDF soldiers, plus student groups.

The chazan had a powerful voice and passionate delivery.

I had to share a few minutes with a bit of the beautiful sounds.

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When circling the grounds to stay out of the video cameras to get a close-up,

I had time to stop and noticed this stone and sign,

along with the new dramatic blue lighting placed in the garden.

The basalt lintel (4-7 CE) found in Tiberias with relief of menorah, shofar, lulav, and etrog – perfect for this week between the shofar of Rosh Hashana and holiday of Sukkot.

The Herzogs seem to enjoy staying around at the end of events

and posing for photographs. Want more Selihot photos? HERE

The musical Selihot has grown and changed since President Rivlin had Yisrael Meir at Beit Hanasi 7 years ago.

Now there are special Selihot, by women for women.

At the Tower of David, a musical Selihot event filled the outdoor seating.

And the Sultan’s Pool huge stage had a long list of singers for a major musical Selihot also on Thursday night.

And more this week with an evening at Kikar Safra, on October 3, 2022.

Sounds of landscaping power tools needed video, cleaning the overgrowth from shemita. Jerusalem is to plant 340,000 flowers and 10,000 trees.

Sukkot have been popping up already for the Sukkot holiday which starts on Sunday night October 9, 2022.

Colorful lights are on and flashing over the Jerusalem streets.

The Kite Festival is back at the Israel Museum on October 11.

On October 13, the public is invited to the annual President’s Open Sukkah at Beit Hanasi. The Jerusalem Parade is back again at Gan Sacher, Sacher Park, and family events are planned for the day before the 4:00 pm start time of the walking participants.

So much is happening on the Jerusalem streets to start the New Year.

Bonus – major tourist venues announced free admission for children.

Hope to see you here enjoying the holiday season.

Summer in Jerusalem: Building, Books, and Paisley

Sharon A

It’s feeling like summer on the Jerusalem streets.

The sun blazes down from a cloudless blue sky.

Walking during the day, shade can be hard to find.

Though with the new construction rising higher and higher above the Jerusalem streets that situation is changing.

Finding a parking space in Jerusalem is more of a challenge. These men had blocked off spots to save at their construction site on a busy street.

On our moving day, a big challenge was finding a spot for the truck to park to be loaded. Out early on the street, I was upset to see broken glass on the ground by the garbage dumpster probably from a discarded frame of ours.

But by 8:10 am, it was gone.

If I hadn’t been out before 8:00 am I would never have known that this man had cleaned up the area. Plus, he seemed surprised when I thanked him.

Cleaner Jerusalem streets and lots of construction will greet visitors to Jerusalem this summer.

The old ivy is long gone, as the Beit Hanasi entranceway gets renovated.

The President’s Residence visitor tours are back. The new red cord seems to be a physical reminder not to walk thru the president’s garden but stay on the path.

The WaterGen machine is a recent addition. I was able to drink 4 kinds of water – made from the air, from the old cooler, bottled water, and from the caterer’s ice-filled cooler. When it’s hot, water is good for you, right?

The garden stage area in the back of the Beit Hanasi garden was being set for ceremonies of awards to reservists soldiers this week, and the next day for three projects from the IDF, the Mossad, the Shin Bet, the Ministry of Defense, and the Israel Defense Industries. 

Reservist one is open to media, but the special Project Awards stay secret.

I went to Beit Hanasi for the swearing-in of the two new Supreme Court Judges. There were more than the usual number of photographers, but much less media coverage. I decided not to get on the floor with the guys.

So I was able to get the 5 newest judges’ reactions to President Herzog’s joke.

The ceremony itself is very brief. The new judge reads a short statement and receives his certificate from the President, the Minister of Justice, and the President of the Supreme Court.

It’s their speeches that fill the time, while their very proud families fill out the audience along with the Judicial selection committee.

President Herzog had connections with not only the newest judge but her family also from their days in New York at Ramaz School. Surprise, the other judge he did not have connections to talk about, that could have been the first time a Herzog was not connected to an honoree.

Here are the women currently serving on the Israeli Supreme Court,

and the two newest Judges of the Israeli Supreme Court are Yechiel Meir Kasher and Ruth Ronnen.

Education and opportunities for women was an RJS feature last week.

This week the popular Hebrew Book Week is back from June 15 to 25.

It is hard to even give away some Hebrew books. Especially encyclopedias, no one will take them, so they get left out for the Jerusalem street cleaners.

The love of books starts with the young. Beit Avi Chai is having special programs for children and families this week. One story session is to be in English for the children’s Hebrew Book Festival.

But much more than books can be found on the Jerusalem streets.

Paisley: A Princely Pattern is the name of the new exhibit at the Museum for Islamic Art, with a purple paisley pattern now featured on their wall.

The 11th Jerusalem Design Week will be held on June 23-30, 2022, at the nearby Hansen House with installations on the street light pole already going up.

The Jerusalem Symphony and the Jerusalem Beer Fest are advertising for July events. Summer in Jerusalem, the holidays are over, but plenty to do.

Or just stroll and take time to notice the flowers in bloom, thriving in the hot summer sun. However, there was little time for that this short week.

After ordering two closets (for those who do not know Israeli apartments usually have bare walls and you need to get something to put your clothes in) I had to stop for a second and get the sign over the exit door.

It says in Hebrew – Go in Peace! under a view of the Kotel, Western Wall.

The end of the school year events and summer weather were mainly what was happening on the Jerusalem streets this after the holidays week.

Hope you can come soon and see for yourself, summer in Jerusalem.

Jerusalem Streets Busy Again

Sharon A

The Jerusalem streets are busy again–the traffic is unpredictable with backups and street closings. Ah, to be “normal” again.

An annual biking event was held for those up early enough to ride through the Jerusalem streets as the sun was rising on Friday morning.

This year it seems like people are trying to make up for lost ‘corona’ time by packing in events and programs and trips to Jerusalem.

With President Guillermo Lasso of the Republic of Ecuador and First Lady María de Lourdes Alcívar on their state visit to Israel, the sounds of official motorcade sirens returned to the streets.

Besides official meetings and a State dinner at Beit Hanasi, with the Israeli President and Michal Herzog, Ecuador opened an Innovation and Trade office in Jerusalem at Hebrew University, with a large delegation of ministers and business people.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kosovo Donika Gërvalla-Schwarz had a motorcade escort as she attended official events, such as going to Yad Vashem and meeting the Israeli Foreign Minister.

Though it was not on the official state list of events, she was accompanied by Israeli protocol and greeted warmly at the Kosovo Embassy in Jerusalem.

She was hosted at a reception held at the Jerusalem Embassy in Israel, where she spoke briefly to invited guests.

In her remarks, she called Charge d’affaires Ines Demiri ‘Ambassador,’ a title I believe she deserves for the work she has done this past year to promote Kosovo and joint business and travel prospects between the two countries.

Here we are in the middle of May and the week with Yom HaZikaron and Yom Haatzmaut is always a busy time, but there was more this year.

The Michael Levin Base for lone soldiers and Bnot Sherut received a Sefer Torah dedicated by the Michael Levin Foundation based in the United States. Former Ambassador Ron Dermer was the featured speaker.

I loved how the crowd builds, as people come out and follow the Torah as it is carried joyously around the Jerusalem streets.

On the same day was the Nefesh BeNefesh Bonei Awards, this year held at Beit Hanasi for the first time. Olim, immigrants, who have contributed to Israel and its growth in various categories were honored.

Not all the honorees were able to attend. Dr. Jonathan Rieck was home sick with Covid, so his two sons accepted his honor. Entertainer Josie Katz also was not able to attend.

I got stuck standing in one spot for the entire program and was not able to get different angles of the speakers or the event.

I remembered a previous time I was in that one spot unable to move because of a live broadcast, but that time I did not complain.

As President, Isaac Herzog seems to enjoy greeting attendees after the events.

No longer under a news embargo is the news of the new state-of-the-art MDA blood collection center in Ramle.

On a media tour before the dedication, we watched as they prepared the facility.

The massive facility is so impressive I did a short video with some of the clips I took as we descended deep underground to see the new storage vault and largest door in Israel and much more.

The 2022 Jerusalem International Book Forum and Mishkenot Sha’ananim Writers’ Festival is back from May 15 – 19. Opening events at the YMCA.

Every Thursday, the Israel Museum’s Illustration Library is offering stories from its collection of thousands of children’s books from all over the world. Ages 3–8 | 4:30 pm Special activity | 5 pm Story hour | Free

The Israeli Ministry of Education is hosting the inaugural Education Innovation Conference on behalf of the OECD and reps from 18 countries are expected to arrive in Israel at the end of this month.

Flags are up for Yom Yerushalayim, Jerusalem Day on May 29, 2022, and Jerusalem has prepared a long list of public events to celebrate 55 years.

But first, we have Lag B’Omer this week. With all the building and construction and park renovations, where will the kids make those huge bonfires?

After two years, much more is happening again on the Jerusalem streets!

Hope you can join us in the celebrations soon.