culture – Page 44 – The Real Jerusalem Streets

Israel Booming: From Jerusalem to Tel Aviv to Beer Sheva

June 24, 2015rjstreets

Impossible.

It is impossible to compress all that has happened

this past week into a 30-second blog post.

Complexity has to be cut to a sound bite, while

we keep trying to share what the mainstream media misses.

The President of Cyprus was visiting,

and his country’s flag hung on Jerusalem, Israel streets.

I wonder what dignitaries see of what is really happening.

Did the President meet regular Israelis?

Did you know he was here?

Or that the German Bundestag President is speaking at the Knesset?

Most people just read of “conflict” and troubles,

but construction is booming.

Huge cranes fill the skylines.

The Museum of Tolerance is above ground,

the construction site is busy with dozens of Arab workers.

In Tel Aviv, more towers are under construction,

two are going up near the Google office.

The flatland of the Negev is such a contrast

to the Judean Hills of Jerusalem.

For the shmita year, some farmers are taking

the sabbatical year literally, leaving the land untended.

But in the Negev,

the Bedouin town of Rahat is booming,

and Soda Stream’s new plant stretches out in the sand nearby.

A few kilometers down the road

there is a new sign welcoming visitors to the new Beersheva.

The once sleepy desert town is the largest city in the Negev.

Beersheva is booming with new neighborhoods,

new business and new cultural life.

After the hundreds of rockets from Gaza last summer,

Beersheva homes are getting new safe rooms.

There were so many sleepless nights due to red alert sirens

announcing the oncoming missiles that

home bomb shelters are being installed.

Will running to a safe spot be the summer activity again?

There was another rocket last night in the south,

and it was not the first of the season.

The UNHRC has released its report.

Did they take into account the millions of Israelis

living under terrible conditions last summer?

“I believe in PEACE” says this sticker on a Jerusalem crossing.

Everyone hopes those rockets from Gaza,

and the explosions on the Golan border will stop.

Big plans for this summer.

The start-up nation is booming.

Weddings and end-of-year school performances fill the evenings.

No bombs and rockets are welcome.

Nothing is simple,

but like this Jerusalem bus sign,

here’s wishing all a good and safe trip.

Shabbat Shalom

June 19, 2015rjstreets

As the sun sets in the Old City,

the stars come out,

שבת שלום

from Jerusalem, Israel.

Jerusalem: Business, Brains, Beauty and Start-Ups

June 17, 2015rjstreets

Oh, well, I have been doing everything wrong.

When I started posting,

it was assumed that RJS was done by a man.

Being anonymous,

I used to receive emails forwarded

from laughing friends, “Oh my, you really know him!”

To stand out, one must tell a unique story,

and that was this year’s theme at the

6th Temech Conference for Women in Business.

The first year I attended Temech,

I did not know anyone.

This year it was different,

it was wonderful to see so many friends participating,

and as always so many accomplished women speakers.

Mayor Nir Barkat spoke first in Hebrew

and then in English to over 600 religious women,

all Israeli business women and entrepreneurs.

I admit that lunch was a real treat.

For women who prepare meals day after day,

a delicious buffet, without cutting and chopping,

is itself a mini-holiday.

However,

this day was about growing business

with many speakers and sessions.

BIRG: Basking in Reflecting Glory,

was the first tip from Rabbi Issamar Ginzberg,

whose Hassidic background and dress enables him

to stand out as an unique business adviser.

Ginzberg sat with MK Arye Deri

and then with MK Moshe Gafni,

both speakers at the conference plenary.

Only Ginzberg actually sat for less then 30 seconds each time.

He must have counted on the abilities of this great photographer

to capture the moment.

A wise business tip brilliantly exemplified.

Another popular session was with Haim Walder,

a Hebrew writer who had lines of women waiting

to buy his books and talk to him.

Walder presented his book to the Mayor,

yet another example of business savvy.

There were piles of business cards on a special table,

including my new postcard.

However, taking inspiration from these examples,

I will share that I studied Chemistry and worked in

Biochemical research at The Rockefeller University

after graduating university with honors.

So this being start-up Israel,

I went to hear about VLX bio-med start up funding.

What brilliant ideas inspired by nature.

Maybe basking in glory.

but I confess that I did not understand most of the peptide lecture.

Brilliant ideas and creativity and innovation,

and the beauty of the Jerusalem Botanical Gardens as the sun set.

Hundreds of talented, hard-working Haredi women,

ingenious Jerusalem bio-med start ups,

so what did you hear about this week?