After another busy week,
looking forward to a
שבת שלום
culture
After Hail on Passover, What Next?
Hail in April,
in Jerusalem, Israel?
Not only was there a hail storm as the holidays ended,
but this was the scene the next day also.
It looked and felt like winter, not spring.
The city looked black and white,
as 4 mm hail stones fell.
But now,
the Passover things are put away,
and visitors have returned home.
The Happy Passover signs on buses have changed,
to wish Jerusalem riders “have a good trip.”
The skies have cleared
and people have returned to the streets,
some of which are lined with flowers.
Two hundred and fifty invited guests associated with OneFamily
filled the main room
at Beit Hanasi, the Israeli President’s Home,
with President Reuven and First Lady Nechama Rivlin,
to launch a new cookbook.
“Tastes of Life” features foods that mothers made for their
children who were victims of terror.
Each mother shares not only a recipe,
but memories of their loved ones that are gone.
Very different,
but still another way to remember a lost loved one,
a new Healing Garden was dedicated by a New York family
in the Hosptial Saint Louis Francais.
In the sunshine, supporters of Kashouvot,
an organization advancing Pastoral Care,
heard the story of Randie Malinsky z”l
who passed away in October
after losing a battle with cancer.
Now hospice patients and families can sit in the garden,
to talk or watch the light rail and the rest of the world go by.
The “French Hospital” was built in the mid-19th century
and stands next to the Notre Dame,
across from the Old City Walls, near New Gate.
It boasts the only strictly kosher nunnery in world.
Also this week for all to see,
the first Israeli flags are flying from car windows.
And the large trucks have gone around hanging Jerusalem,
and large Israeli flags over the Jerusalem, Israel streets.
The radio is playing sad, slow music,
as soon it will be Yom Hashoah,
Holocaust Remembrance Day,
and the beginning of another busy holiday season.
After Elections and Jerusalem Marathon
The 2015 Israeli election is over.
President Reuven Rivlin has sent letters to the various
political parties inviting their leaders to come to Beit Hanassi,
starting on Sunday, March 22, 2015
to indicate their preferences for forming a new government.
Over 4,250,000 of these little slips of paper,
each with Hebrew letters representing a political party,
were put into little blue envelopes
which were then inserted into a slot in
cardboard boxes,
and were counted by hand.
What a low-tech method for a Start-up Nation!
Some emerging facts are surprising.
Who would think that an Arab village would have
the highest percentage of voters for Bibi?
77% of voters in Al Naim voted Likud.
We knew that the head of elections was an Arab Supreme Court Judge,
and now the Joint Arab list has even more than the
10% representation than they had in the last Knesset–
so much for apartheid.
The last RJS post with 30 photos broke all the rules
of blogging, it was very long,
but the marathon was such a big and colorful event.
Photographers waited at the marathon starting and finish lines
and all along the routes, so that millions of photos were taken.
This photo was by far my most popular in the social media.
Some people may be tired of seeing pictures of runners,
but there is one photo I want to make sure gets seen.
Team ALEH posed for photos on the track
at the start of the Community Race.
For this special 800 meter event,
5000 people participated representing many organizations.
Police officers were lined up ready to “run” with
children, all with severe disabilities, from ALEH,
One police officer was holding a child’s hands,
ready to be the first off the starting line.
Then he stepped off on his way,
using a special harness called “Upsee.”
This child was able to “run” in the Jerusalem Marathon.
We may still be using paper ballots,
but one Israeli mother invented this device,
got it manufactured,
and changed a child’s life-one step at a time.
She has more clever devices on the way,
and I cannot wait to see what Debby comes up with next.
Start Up Nation at its best.
Now that that the marathon is over, it is time to prepare for Passover,
but there is more than just cleaning to look forward to next week.
There is the Jerusalem Arts Festival
and the long-awaited new nature reserve,
The Valley of the Gazelles, is slated to open.
As always, there is so much happening in Jerusalem,
however, the more things change,
the more some seem the same.