Israel tourism

Holiday Lights and Nights in Jerusalem

Sharon A

חנוכה –

Hanukkah or Chanukah is also known as the “Holiday of Lights.”

And for the winter holiday season, Jerusalem, Israel fills with lights!

The Jerusalem Botanical Gardens “Winter Lights” Festival is back again.

The colored lights at night are reflected in the pond.

I came back, again and again, to stop and watch as they changed colors.

Brilliant in purple, it was hard to stop taking photos and set out on the trail.

The display is the work of light artist Gil Teichman and his staff, who hung over 2 million small bulbs along a one-kilometer area of the garden using about 25 kilometers of cable.

The LED bulbs used are ecologically-friendly and save electricity.

Background music by the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra is heard at multiple locations as you stroll along the garden path.

Actors dressed in illuminated costumes are also there to entertain.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is GPO-CMS-Dan-JLM-049-menorah-edit-2-1024x768.jpg

I admit a favorite this year is the large chanukiah, the Hanukkah menorah, reflecting in the water.

But there are many more lights along the Jerusalem streets.

These new light installations have been posted on poles.

This one with three dreidels, on the top right.

This one has a snowflake and colorful shapes.

Chanukah Lights on poles for Hanuka

These were the older ones at night.

These are from two years ago, I have not found them up now.

The lights at the YMCA are back on again each night, as are many new ones inside New Gate. So much to do this week, will I have time to get there?

One man praying at Western Wall on Hanuka

The large hanukiah is back and ready at the Kotel, Western Wall, to be lit by various officials each night of Hanuka, from Sunday night, December 18 – December 25, 2022. Watch live HERE

Happy Hanukkah from the Jerusalem streets, may the lights spread far and wide for a good week and good year for all.

A video of light projections with Hanuka music to add to the holiday mood.

חנונה שמח

Jerusalem Colors and Crowds of Sukkot

Sharon A

With so much to do in Jerusalem on Chol Hamoed Sukkot, it is hard to find the time and energy to keep up.

There is certainly too much to share in one post today.

However, one of the main events in Jerusalem, Israel, is the Sukkot holiday Birkat Kohanim at the Kotel, the Priestly Blessing at the Western Wall.

A crowd with tens of thousands of people packed into the Kotel Plaza on Wednesday morning.

But to get to the Kotel this year was really aliyah l’regel. With streets in the Old City closed to cars and the shuttle from First Station only starting at 10:00 am – it was walk up or go home.

So people walked up the mountain path toward Zion Gate.

The view was quite impressive, the sky was bright blue, and it was a lovely time to walk in Jerusalem.

On the way, you pass a memorial stone for fallen soldier Shlomo Cohen.

Families were walking together, as were these two young women carrying lulavim.

One man was walking alone talking on his phone. So many people were coming and going on a road usually full of cars to the Old City.

And a few people stopped to rest along the way.

How do they count so many people walking in and out of the Old City?

It had been a few years since I was at the Kotel for Sukkot Birkat Kohanim.

But I wasn’t going to miss a chance to watch from the roof of the Aish HaTorah building.

People stood at every vantage point above the Kotel Plaza.

It was nice to see from above and not be packed into the crowd below.

Some people decided to listen from a shady location just outside the entrance and not come and stand in the sun-filled crowded Plaza.

Crowd control has greatly improved in the past 10 years, with marked exits.

What a crowd, so many people wanting to be in a small space!

Of course from my vantage point on the rooftop location, I took zoom shots.

‘Selfies’- on the Temple Mount with the Dome of the Rock in the background.

A group of Jewish tourists walked above as the prayers were said below.

Sukkot prayer in front of a model of the Jewish Temple on the Aish roof.

A woman above on a roof in the Old City unfurled an Israeli flag.

Everywhere, all around, people and sukkot!

And at night the Kotel Plaza was packed again with tens of thousands for the Remember Hakel event, to mark the special Torah reading once every seven years at the end of the Shemita cycle.

Sukkot in Jerusalem was such a colorful time again this year in 5783.

The Israeli President’s Residence reception on Sukkot to the public had some colorful moments, but more on that later. Off now to more events before the holiday week is over, which I plan to share next time.

My video from the Birkat Kohanim on Wednesday.

What a colorful week, with so much happening on the Jerusalem streets!

Multiple Views of Jerusalem

Sharon A

The views of Jerusalem are many and varied, nothing is simple or straight. Its politics is as complicated and twisted as its streets.

There is no grid or plan, but rather growth appears random.

The old and new mingle and mix.

The view from Hebrew University on Mount Scopus is familiar to many. The two towers in Arnona, are new on the horizon.

The view of the iconic Tower of David is a familiar one also. But even that well-known citadel is getting a facelift.

The view from Jerusalem to Jordan across the Dead Sea is less well-known but at sunset often dramatic and photo-worthy.

This week the sight of groups of young people touring again in Jerusalem was a pleasure to view. Unless you were trying to drive or walk as they crowded excitedly and noisily onto Jerusalem street corners trying to get across the Jerusalem streets.

Jerusalem panoramic view from Nefesh Benefesh porch

From the new Nefesh BeNefesh building at Cinema City, the panoramic view of the city includes the Israeli Supreme Court on the far right, well over Sacher Park and beyond, and toward the Nachlaot neighborhood.

Inside Cinema City, the center area was preparing for a summer indoor Ninja activity center

and the original fountain was gone.

This is a new view from The Valley of the Cross, the stone wall destroyed by flooding water four years ago near the Monastery is finally being repaired.

This is the summer of the food trucks – in Jerusalem again and areas around have proven to be a popular destination for families in the evening.

Jerusalem Food Truck Festival in Hinnon Valley at night with full moon

The views in the Hinnom Valley at night are captivating, as people try and decide which meal they will enjoy.

New to the Jerusalem streets is this green bike path. These old narrow streets are now less convenient for parking on the sidewalk with these lanes.

But it is where you look up, not down, that the most prominent difference is apparent.

These are not the familiar buildings in view of Jerusalem. The Vert Hotel on the far right started off as the Hilton and was the only tall building. Now with construction, the skyline is constantly changing as towers go higher.

And the Har Hamenuchot cemetery over the new Highway #1, grows up and out with new “residents” arriving regularly.

It has been a while since I was on the way out of Jerusalem to Tel Aviv.

The towers and skyline of Tel Aviv constantly amaze.

I went to attend the Jerusalem Post Women’s Entrepreneurship Summit led by Tamar Uriel-Beeri Managing Editor, and by Maayan Hoffman, Head of Conferences for Jerusalem Post.

Jerusalem Deputy Mayor Fleur Hassan Nahoum was the opening speaker.

It was exciting to attend a live event again after so long, to see friends and meet new people.

There were multiple panels and fireside chats, and speakers.

The legendary Israeli entrepreneur Yossi Vardi said he has been involved in startups since 1969, but judged by body language, Vardi was not used to being the only male on a long program with a list of female participants.

Tel Aviv was warmer and humid, and a different venue than usual.

However, the view at night of the lights was impressive.

Back to Jerusalem and the start of the Hebrew month of Av and the Nine Days. Time to remember the destruction in the past leading up to Tisha b’Av.

The view of the Temple stones remains as a physical reminder.

As Jerusalem grows higher and larger and more modern, the connection to the past and history of the old is constantly in our minds, even if our views are from different angles and lenses.

Hope you can come and see for yourself what’s new and the old in Jerusalem and on the Jerusalem streets on a photo walk.