Happy Hanukkah!
חנוכה שמח
Israel
Jerusalem Getting Ready for Hanukkah
It’s the week before חנוכה and spellcheck has decided Hanukkah is the correct spelling in English.
At least one thing should be easier this year, with that problem decided.
In Jerusalem, Israel, before we began preparing for Hanukkah, international visitors took priority.
The President of Chad Idriss Deby dropped by for a quick visit.
Seems it went well, as our Israeli PM is planning a trip to Chad soon to set up diplomatic relations which were severed in 1972.
The President of Czech Republic Milos Zeman and his wife were here on a state visit.
The Czech delegation got the presidential treatment with flags flying and state dinners and lunch. Zeman brought along a large entourage, making for long motorcades on the Jerusalem streets.
The third Jewish Media Summit was held in Jerusalem, with over 100 people coming to join us from 30 countries. It included days of intense sessions, listening, talking, travelling and eating. I found it interesting how new social media has been accepted and promoted along with conventional journalism, so very different from the past Jewish Media Summits. For a change I decided to sit at Beit Hanasi with President Rivlin and our group and use this GPO photo.
I am not sure how many in Jerusalem noticed those visitors. But as more of these signs have popped up, Jerusalem residents will notice the city is going digital. Quick and easy service, no standing in line for municipal services. Sounds good, we will have to see how that goes.
The renovation in Kikar Tzion, Zion Square, after being a construction site all summer, seems to have gone well.
The copycat five shekel coffee and food place on Ben Yehuda Street seems not to be doing well. This one was closed midday, as the original 5 shekel Cofix announced joining with Rami Levy for future projects.
It was time to prepare for Hanukkah in Jerusalem.
Thousands of big people were sitting on little chairs and watching hours of Hanukkah song and dance performances by young children.
Did you get your Hanukkah stamps? The Israel- US joint venture was launched earlier this month.
Jerusalem supermarkets have displays with hanukkiot, Hanukkah menorahs.
Shop windows are ready with Hanukkah gift suggestions.
The Waldorf Astoria Jerusalem readied their large hanukkia last week,
and a gold and silver hanukkia was on display in this window.
Electric hanuikkot are lining some busy Jerusalem intersections.
The hanukkia is up and ready for another year at the Kotel, Western Wall.
Hanukkah celebrations are planned for the week in various Jerusalem neighborhoods.
The Chabad hanukkiot have been placed on corners all around Jerusalem.
And donuts, almost everywhere suffganiot of all types can be found.
I am looking forward to something new this year for Hanukkah. The Jerusalem Hanukkah Parade is to include 8 giant balloons like the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade. Hard to imagine a Golden Dragon with over 200 people holding it as it proceeds down Jerusalem streets. That is a sight I want to see and share.
And we had two weddings this week.
With all the good, the crazy, the busy, so much happening in Jerusalem.
Another Round from Gaza
Jerusalem, Israel, has been under siege the last two weeks, with a battle between Moshe Lion and Ofer Berkovitch for the position of Mayor of Jerusalem.
As of now it appears Moshe Lion has won the election.
A very different battle has been going on in Israel’s south along the Gaza border.
Hundreds of students from Sderot led the way on a journey to the Rose Garden, across from the Knesset, to protest growing up on the front line of a war zone, and declared: “Let Us Grow Up in Quiet.”
As I wrote last week for 17 years southern Israel has been under attack.
After Israel allowed the transfer of $15 million to Hamas from Qatar, a barrage of 500 rockets fell on southern Israel in one day.
This building in Ashkelon took a direct hit.
One man was killed and one woman seriously injured.
At the site, police spokesperson Micky Rosenfeld held interview after interview with the media.
But did you see that the building across the way had shrapnel marks?
The heavily damaged building is next door to a synagogue, which like many synagogues in southern Israel is located inside a bomb shelter.
During the barrage of rockets from Gaza, most Israelis huddled in bomb shelters.
This view of the apartment where the man was killed shows part of the destruction.
The kitchen reminded me of the home in Kiryat Malachi in 2012, where 3 people were killed by a Hamas rocket that hit their building during Operation Pillar of Defense.
While the apartment in Ashkelon was destroyed, the fish bowl that sat on a shelf and the flat screen TV next to it were unscratched.
Besides the apartment of the dead man, other families in the building were severely affected.
The property loss to the apartments on the side of building that was hit was extensive.
Though restaurants in Sderot without bomb shelters were forced to close, these stores next to the damaged building in Ashkelon were open for business as politicians arrived all day to make statements to the media eager for a story.
The building which took a direct hit with a fatality got a bit of coverage and media interest.
But Ashkelon, a city of 150,000, suffered more damage. After a sleepless night with repeated warnings of incoming rockets, many properties were damaged.
This safe room saved a family from harm.
They were not directly hit, but a rocket that hit the roof of the building next door caused their windows to shatter.
Take a few minutes and hear a father explain his pain.
There was no school in the south, but there were no children playing on this Sderot playground.
With the constant rocket barrage, staying in or near a bomb shelter was the only wise thing to do.
Across the street, Yonatan Yagodovsky of MDA first gave us instructions where to go for a red alert. Only afterwards did he describe the work and dedication of MDA over the years, and especially during the last few days.
Sderot took direct hits from from rockets this time. Thanks to the Iron Dome not all rockets from Gaza cause damage.
However, a piece of shrapnel that fell caused a fire at this bakery.
Deputy Mayor Elad Kalimi told how three gas tanks behind him exploded and destroyed the bakery. It took hours to control the fire.
Next stop was Kissufim, note how empty the roads were in middle of the day.
Sorry I missed getting a photo of the MDA ambulances parked next to a bomb shelter at a bus stop.
Ambulances were out on the roads ready to roll in an instant, but I saw no military vehicles.
Kissufim is a small community near the Gaza border fence.
Over night, a rocket had fallen between this row of homes.
Glass windows were shattered. Shrapnel marks were evident.
Tree branches scattered all around.
There were no serious physical injuries as all stayed in safe rooms.
At another site on Kissufim, this car window was damaged and the baby seat exposed. Here damage was from shrapnel of a rocket which landed nearby on a pile of mulch.
This is the home next to the damaged car.
500 rockets. Rockets fell on the beach. Rockets fell between houses.
I kept thinking that it was one mini-miracle after another.
Our guide at Kissufim made sure to point out the mountain of garbage over the border fence, rising from the former flat fertile fields in Gaza.
“This area is not protected” reads the warning not to stand near the opening in this bomb shelter in parking lot of Yad Mordechai.
We missed a red alert warning which went off before we arrived at Kissufim.
As we were to leave from Yad Mordechai, a red alert went off. Instead of running into this dark shelter alone, I headed to the one inside the restaurant where everyone gathered, waited, and then dispersed.
Residents are tired of living on the front lines of an area where they are not protected.
We drove back to Jerusalem, past Kibbutz Saad, past Ashkelon, as the sun set.
Terror. Anger. Frustration. Miracles. Israel.