flowers – The Real Jerusalem Streets

See How Summer Starts in Jerusalem

June 25, 2023June 25, 2023Sharon A

In Jerusalem at the end of June, the multitude of end-of-school-year events slow down, and the trips to the airport increase, as Israelis head overseas and tens of thousands of tourists arrive to fill the Jerusalem streets.

The weather is still not too hot.

This is the Jerusalem Botanical Gardens in the evening with cool breezes, and even lilies in the pond are a tourist attraction.

The bright flowers are blooming all around the Jerusalem streets,

even the weeds are colorful,

with bursts of purple before the summer heat arrives.

The Botanical Gardens has become a popular venue for events, this night was to hear Col Richard Kemp. He said as a child he was taught right from wrong and with his military experience he speaks out about Israel’s military being unfairly criticized by too much of the world.

Walking into this area one encounters roadway construction.

I will spare you many photos of random road closings for road work,

and stay with the sweet things happening now that it’s summertime.

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First Station has been busy with public musical performances.

And the annual Shavuah HaSefer is thriving in the First Station location.

Hebrew Book Week attracts all ages, from families with babies to one older gentleman I saw walking pushing a walker for support and a helper following with a shopping cart to take his purchases home.

Authors come to sign their books.

I knew two authors the night I came, Michael Eisenberg and

Rabbi Reuven Ziegler. Notice the sign?

Hebrew Book Week is also for bargain hunters.

At Hansen House, the annual Design Week has started – “Lies & Falsehoods.”

Inside the old stone building the new technology amazes.

But did the courtyard ever look as nice as this?

Indeed, it is hard to know what is true, what is an illusion, and what is real.

To close the week, the Nefesh Be’Nefesh Campus in Jerusalem hosted a Shuk Olim on Friday morning. Various immigrants to Israel have started businesses and they were provided with tables to share their wares. Muffins went by the hundreds. Candy, tea, whiskey, honey, and beer, even corned beef was available besides artwork and jewelry and more, and the best herring I have had in a long time

And the Jerusalem Food Trucks are to be back in the Hinnom Valley on Tuesday-Thursday nights in July and August.

June 29-July 1, a marathon of tours is planned, not just inside, but starting at the Tower of David, the New Jerusalem Museum – tours include meetings with the communities and neighbors adjacent to the museum, men and women of different religions and cultures.

Food, music, and summer fun in Jerusalem, Israel.

Come and see for yourself what’s happening on the Jerusalem Streets.

Southern Israel Red Alerts in Alumim

March 31, 2019Sharon A

Sometimes you have to get out of Jerusalem, Israel, to appreciate the view.

All this rain we have been having may dampen our spirits, but it is fabulous for making the countryside green.

From the roads leading out of Jerusalem the valley is at its best.

Once on the road south, you see flat land and wires stretched across it.

Farmers working between the rain storms along the way.

February and March, and southern Israel is famous for its red flower festival.

However, once again southern Israel has red alerts, not flowers.

The sign at Kibbutz Alumim was the same as on our previous visit in December 2012.

The electric security fence was opened carefully for our arrival.

The green fields of the agricultural kibbutz stretched into the distance.

But it you turned around, another sign warned of the Gaza border ahead.

From the fields of Kibbutz Alumim, the Gaza border and buildings beyond are clearly in view.

Because of missiles and rockets fired from Gaza at southern Israel, these bomb shelters are situated next to the factory. Workers have seconds to get inside to safety when a red alert warns of an oncoming projectile.

Alumim has two Iron Domes positioned for protection from Hamas and its rockets.

Why live in southern Israel? It’s beautiful. Israelis have made the desert bloom.

When Hamas is not firing these missiles, it is a wonderful place.

Long time resident Esther took time to share with us a bit of her story.

Rafi’s house, and every home, has a bomb shelter bedroom. Sealed rooms have again become a necessity with nightly rockets from Gaza.

Twenty years living under fire from Gaza. Esther and others try to keep a positive attitude, to make music chimes from missiles.

Kibbutz Alumim had no red alerts when we were there last week, after a night of terror when a house in Sderot was hit. However, the newest round of red alerts included Alumim. The residents of southern Israel are weary, tired of red alerts, and want to go back to being known for their red flowers.

Jerusalem: Aventures to the Moon and Back to Earth

February 27, 2019February 27, 2019Sharon A

The Israeli Prime Minister is on his way to Moscow.

The Israeli President hosts visitors from Greece and Cyprus.

The Israeli spacecraft Beresheet is on its seven-week journey to the moon.

Beresheet capsule ready for launch to moon — SpaceIL

The privately-funded Israeli space capsule was launched from Florida.

If successful, Israel will be the fourth country to land on moon.

Back here on earth, in Jerusalem, in Israel, life is a balancing act.

On the one hand, new modern roads stretch for miles over former donkey paths and barren sand.

New lodgings in Jerusalem are too many to list now.

But on the first really cold night in awhile, this homeless man was sleeping in the underground passageway to the new Navon fast train station and Jerusalem Central Bus Station.

At the same time, on the fourth floor of the bus station, Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion was speaking at the launch of Urban Place, a new co-sharing work space for nearly 100 businesses.

Also this week, Lion hosted mayors from around the world at a conference which opened in Kikar Safra, Jerusalem’s City Council Chambers.

Around Jerusalem, construction fences surround building projects, which descend many stories down into the ground, and are covered with graffiti.

It is always exciting to see when these projects finally reach street level.

Nearby a market on Agrippas Street is busy when weather permits.

But rain or shine people come to the city center to shop.

I was on my way to hear about Arab voting patterns in the upcoming elections.

My only comment on elections, these two men from Abraham Initiatives were well prepared and extremely impressive in their presentation in English.

Also that afternoon, Elan Carr, gave his first major address after being appointed the US Special Envoy for Monitoring and Combating Antisemitism in Jerusalem.