Past, Present, and Future Come Together on the Jerusalem Streets!

Summer days in Jerusalem, Israel: when the sun bears down so strong it is too hot to wander around on the Jerusalem streets to see what’s happening.

But the nights usually cool off enough to get out.

A stroll to the Botanical Gardens with the sights and sounds of the lily pond is refreshing after being inside for too long.

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Was it the full moon, the upsetting, inverted news coverage from Jenin, or the fast day to start of the Three Weeks before Tisha B’Av, that made finding positive stories to share harder than usual?

However, getting out before dark is always a good idea, as some things were happening you should know about.

Jerusalem Machane Yehudah Market after renovation

Machane Yehuda Market, the Shuk, celebrated 100 years with big events on Sunday night, street actors, activities, and musical performances.

The actual year the Market opened was 1922, but the events were held off due to the limited travel last year after the pandemic.

Shutters with graffiti in shuk, Jerusalem Machane Yehuda Market

The days of market stalls shuttered at night have been replaced with new eating spots, bars, music, and people partying late into the night.

On Monday at the Inbal Hotel, Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion opened an International Markets Conference, interviewed by Talia Friedman.

The Mayor spoke of his efforts to keep the outdoor market open during the Covid closures and its importance for Jerusalem.

Rami Levi, wearing a plain white tee shirt, stood to give the Mayor a hug after he spoke. Rami Levi started his business as a small shop in Machane Yehuda Market and participated in the conference connected to the 100-year celebrations.

Signing an international agreement was part of the program. Markets are working on ways to make themselves relevant in a changing world.

Friedman, elected chair of the Mahaneh Yehuda Merchants’ Association at the end of 2020, has the difficult job of balancing between the old-style vegetable seller and the new nightlife scene.

As with most everything else these days, there is a difference of opinion.

But there is one constant, the Liberty Bell in Liberty Bell Park still has its crack. The replica was organized when Teddy Kollek was Mayor of Jerusalem for the US Bicentennial in 1976.

Near the Liberty Bell is the Yonatan Netanyahu Garden, created in memory of Yonatan Netanyahu who fell in the Entebbe Mission on July 4th, 1976.

Also nearby, next to the Montefiore Windmill, is a small plaza, a popular tourist spot, which hosts musical performances, and even engagements.

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On the right, I included in one photo, the memorial to soldiers who fell liberating Jerusalem. There is an annual official ceremony in their memory.

In the center, a tourist group on segways arrived wearing yellow safety helmets for the guide to share the view and history of the site.

And on the left, a wedding ceremony was being prepared with a musical rehearsal.

The past, present, and future coming together on the Jerusalem streets!

I missed the wedding ceremony but stopped later for a few minutes to watch as a tour bus emptied out, and the people went to watch the dancing and to take photos and videos of the celebration.

I was on my way to the B’nai B’rith World Center-Jerusalem Awards for Journalism Recognizing Excellence in Diaspora Reportage for 2023.

My favorite photo of the night was of new Jerusalem Post Editor Avi Mayer with the world’s oldest working journalist, Walter Bingham, who is 99 years young. He should be nominated for lifetime achievement next year.

During the question and answer period with Alan Schneider, Director of the B’nai B’rith World Center, I noticed Mayer’s unusually muted socks for the occasion. On previous panels, his socks drew the audience’s attention.

While I am not a fan of the hot summer days in Jerusalem, they are good for wildflowers that line the Jerusalem streets.

It was too hot outside to walk, but in Jerusalem Cinema City, any day is good for a scoop or two of ice cream.

Favorite New and Old Sukkot for 5775

The holiday of Sukkot,

image for sukkos

involves intense preparation,

image luvav

and checking of many specific details.

As soon as Yom Kippur is over,

image sukka on sidewalk

sukkot seem to pop up all over.

Thousands of tourists arrive in Jerusalem, Israel,

many want to sleep in a sukka and many more to eat in one.

image round sukka

At the Kings Hotel the familiar sukka is up on the roof

image plain sukkah on roof

and a simple wooden sukka cna be seen at the King Solomon Hotel.

image sukka on roof Inbal Hotel

At the Inbal Hotel, look up for the fancy private sukkot.

This year due to the Formula Road Show,

iamge security

outside the King David Hotel had a different look,

image large sukka construcition

but the large porch out back was getting ready as usual to be a sukka.

image new sukkahs this year.

New buildings near the YMCA

have sukkot up on porches and down in the courtyards,

image sukkah

and new Touro restaurant at the Jerusalem Press Club is ready to use.

But also new this year is the Waldorf Astoria Hotel,

photo flowers Jerusalem Israel

where I still have trouble getting past the gorgeous flowers,

image Waldorf AStoria Jerusalem special lobby

and the birds and fountain below.

Their sukka,

image sukka in atrium of Waldorf Astoria

in the Atrium

image special sukka

is the new wow must see sukka this season.

I must get to working on holiday details here,

time to clean and decorate our sukka!

I’ll end with two old favorites,

our sukka on a camel photo was posted by Times of Israel on Facebook,

Sukka photo, Image unusual sukkah

it received so much attention that here it is again.

image Hebrew sign on Bus

RJS along with the buses

wishing all a happy holiday.