Jerusalem photos – Page 27 – The Real Jerusalem Streets

Jerusalem: Diversity, Disability, Culture and Coexistence

December 19, 2018Sharon A

What’s new and happening now that Hanukkah is over?

Some chanukkiot are still around on Jerusalem streets, but for many it feels like the holiday was long ago.

Hanukkah on walls in Old City Jerusalem Israel

Projections for Hanukkah like this one over the moat wall of the Tower of David,

Hanukkah show on walls of Tower of David Jerusalem Israel Hanukkah

and this one inside of Jaffa Gate are no longer.

Hanukkah greetings projected on Jerusalem Old City Walls for Hanukkah

But these on the walls of the Old City were still up last night.

Reindeer lights in Old City Jerusalem Israel

The reindeer which were up since Hanukkah also burn brightly.

Jerusalem Israel Christmas decorations

The Christian Quarter of the Old City is only one location with holiday lights.

The Jerusalem Municipality continues its annual tradition of distributing complimentary Christmas trees to Jerusalem’s residents in celebration of the holiday. Two hundred and fifty trees will be distributed to residents on December 20, outside of Jaffa Gate.

A special festive market near the New Gate began with loud and brightly colored fireworks exploding after Shabbat in the sky over Jerusalem.

Israel not isolate Netanyahu to foreign press

PM Netanyahu repeated one of his favorite themes, “Israel is not isolated and improving relations with Arab neighbors” at the annual Government Press Office New Year toast for foreign journalists.

The event was held at the Shalva National Center to mark the International Day for Persons with Disabilities.

As usual there was entertainment. The Shalva Band was very warmly received after a wonderful performance.

However, everyone including the Prime Minister and his security had a surprise.

As the band received a standing ovation and took their final bow, the drummer went over to the end of the stage, bent down, and gave the Prime Minister a hug.

Shalva Center is an impressive complex providing multiple services and therapies to individuals with a wide range of disabilities.

Jerusalem Israel Art and Jazz Festival at Israel Museum

While the GPO event at Shalva was by invitation only, involving many levels of security, the Art of Jazz event at the Israel Museum was open to the public.

Selfie of starting line for Crossroads Janglo night run

After a delay because of rain during Hanukkah, Crossroads and Janglo held their 5th annual night run.

In this photo taken just before race began at the starting and finish line, you can see the winner wearing blue shorts. For the group selfie, he looks like he has already run, won and is celebrating.

Jerusalem Israel sign for ArtBnB festival

AirBnB has been discussed and covered endlessly this week.

But did you hear about ArtBnB music in Jerusalem at the Maffil?

Jerusalem Israel Hullegeb Festival Israeli Ethiopian Arts

The 9th Jerusalem Hullegub Festival featuring Israeli-Ethiopian Arts is December 20 – 26.

Beit Hanasi reception for new mayors and heads of Israel council Moshe Lion speaking

President Reuven Rivlin hosted new mayors and heads of councils at Beit Hanasi, the President’s Residence. Of 100 newly elected community leaders, 60 attended. New Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion got in the last word, but it was noteworthy that many Arab, Muslim, and Christian mayors came to Jerusalem to attend and were asked to speak.

Jerusalem, Israel, Hansen House at night lit up Ester wooden structure

As I walked home one night in the Hansen House garden, Ester was lit, resembling a spaceship.

Hansen House at night venue for events

I heard music coming from the direction of Hansen House, so went to see what was happening. Not only is it a new center for arts and technology, but it has also become a popular and colorful gathering places for food, drink and events.

Jerusalem graffiti on Judah Mamacabi Street waiting for Messiah

One Only in Jerusalem, Israel photo – taken at #7 Judah Maccabee Street ” WANTED ALIVE MASHIACH BEN DAVID Reward redeemed world. “

There you have it.

Only a bit of what was happening in Jerusalem.

Diversity, disability, culture, coexistence, up and down, always something new happening.

Miri Mesika’s song from performance at Shalva seemed like a beautiful way to conclude.

For those interested, more GPO at Shalva photos HERE

Singer sewing machine for sale on Jerusalem street

You never know what will appear next on the Jerusalem, Israel streets.

Happy Hanukkah in French and Hebrew in Jerusalem Israel on Old City Wall near Jaffa Gate

Jerusalem Hanukkah New Favorites in 24 Photos

December 12, 2018Sharon A

Hanukkah.

Eight days of Hanukkah in Jerusalem, Israel, are not enough.

With so many things happening, one has to make a list and organize the time carefully.

Lighting the large hanukkiah by the Kotel, the Western Wall, is a popular annual evening event.

New this year, the Prime Minister and US Ambassador conducted a special lighting ceremony,

but it was a very private event on a different hanukkiah, shielded from the heavy rain and curious spectators.

As usual, a large electric hanukkiah was lit each night of Hanukkah over the Knesset.

New this year was the hanukkiah erected on top of the Hadar Mall in Talpiot.

Advertised as one of the world’s biggest Hanukkah menorahs, it measured 11 meters tall and 56 meters wide.

But Hanukkah candles are best lit in the home, as illustrated in this new projection on the Old City walls near Jaffa Gate.

One of the most famous of photos of a Hanukkah menorah hangs on the wall at Yad Vashem, next to the real one displayed in a glass case. It shows a hanukkiah in the city of Kiel, Germany in 1932, with the Nazi flag flying across the street. This hanukkiah is lit each year by members of the family that owned it, its lights burning on after the fall of Hitler’s Nazi Germany.

Before Hanukkah shops featured selections to satisfy every fashion and taste.

On Jerusalem streets one could find a lone hanukkiah lit outside a home,

or dozens shining brightly outside a yeshiva dormitory.

The idea is to show, share, and enjoy the lights in celebration of the miracle of Hanukkah.

With a simple hanukkiah at home,

or a large hanukkiah at Beit Hanasi, the Israeli President’s Residence, Hanukkah was a special time.

The President hosted multiple groups over Hanukkah, morning and night, to join in lighting ceremonies, including groups of Holocaust survivors and children.

This Paralympic athlete who was honored to light at one ceremony had a favorite smile.

Did you know Jerusalem has a street named for Judah the Maccabee?

On the building at #7 Judah Maccabee Street was this holiday themed graffiti.

Large crowds were found in Mamilla Mall for candle lighting, with music, singing and dancing.

The last night of Hanukkah there was a glorious sky at sunset. You see a glimpse of it to the left. We were on our way to one last Hanukkah party in heavy traffic, and slowed to take this photo. Seems like this cyclist stopped as well, along with the cars slowing to watch.

Missed a great sunset photo, but in spite of traffic made it to Hub Etzion in time for Michael Oren to light the hanukkiah and celebrate at the last Hanukkah party for this year.

In recent years the walls of the Old City were lit up with projections for Hanukkah.

This year again a favorite with Hanukkah greetings in multiple languages.

Inside the walls by Jaffa Gate, the Old City was the site of a Hanukkalayim Festival.

Live performances, music and more lights for Hanukkah.

Glad I went on Wednesday night.

On Thursday it started raining, pouring, and raining some more.

The Bloomfield Science Museum had special Hanukkah fire exhibits and was packed.

Other museums were filled as a day at the zoo was not good option.

Going to the Israel Museum had been our original plan. Viewing menorahs from 4th – 5th century CE in Tiberias, from the Susiya synagogue in the Hebron hills. and from Beit Shean in 5th – 7th century CE, our visit fit the Hanukkah spirit perfectly.

Thankfully the weather was perfect for the first Jerusalem Hanukkah Together Parade as it went down King David Street.

Famous balloons did not include Spider-Man, Kung Fu Panda, Anna and Elsa from “Frozen,” Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck, and Pokemons, but included “others” and Jerusalem basketball players.

Rain was no problem for a serious game of Hanukkah dreidel.

Tons of suffganiot were consumed.

These colorful ones were not a favorite, I prefer a fresh, simple glazed donut.

For those wanting a healthier Hanukkah option, there were these any time favorite pomegranates in Machane Yehuda Market, the shuk.

The hanukkiah on top of Hadar Mall, changed colors in this short video.

The projections on the walls of Old City near Jaffa Gate also need a video presentation to appreciate why it was favorite.

A final favorite hanukkiah is found on top of the Sderot Yeshivat Hesder.

This hanukkiah is made of projectiles fired from Gaza into southern Israel.

Hanukkah lights shone in the dark, from Sderot, from Jerusalem, from Israel,

tens of thousands of burning, shining lights in the night.

Sign for Yitzhak Navon Train Station in Jerusalem - fast train to Tel Aviv.

Yitzhak Navon: Israeli President Remembered

November 20, 2018Sharon A

On November 20, 1977, Anwar Sadat came to Jerusalem to speak in the Israeli Knesset.

Remembering that historic moment spurs another November remembrance.

Yitzhak Navon

Yitzhak Navon lived from April 9, 1921 – November 6, 2015, and came from a long line of renowned Sephardic rabbis.

An Israeli politician, diplomat, and author, he served as the fifth President of Israel between 1978 and 1983.

Yitzhak Navon’s image is in the garden at Beit Hanasi, the Israeli President’s House, along with the rest of Israel’s past Presidents.

On the day of the Funeral of Yitzhak Navon a single red flower was placed on the marble stand.

In 1978, at the age of 57, Yitzhak Navon was elected President of the State of Israel.

The first thing to come up in an internet search for Yitzhak Navon, is the Yitzhak Navon train station.

Navon was the first Israeli president of Sephardic heritage. Born in Jerusalem into a family who had lived in Jerusalem for over 300 years, they traced their ancestry back to the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492.

He was noticeably younger than his predecessors, bringing to the President’s residence his wife and two relatively young children, which changed the atmosphere of the Presidential home.

Navon was the father of a daughter, Na’ama, and a son, Erez. His wife, Ofira, died of cancer in 1993, and was a clinical psychologist. He later was remarried to Miri Shafir.

During his Presidency, Navon strove to act as a bridge between all of Israel’s ethnic groups, working to help those on the periphery enter into the mainstream of Israeli life.

At his funeral, this woman had to share a memory with his family and President Rivlin.

In the critical years 1946-1948, Navon served as head of the Arab section of the Haganah in Jerusalem.

In 1951, he began a decade-long career in senior administrative posts in the offices of Israel’s first Prime Minister, David Ben-Gurion, and of its first Minister of Foreign Affairs, Moshe Sharett.

Navon served as deputy speaker of the Knesset, and chairman of the Knesset Committee on Foreign and Defense Affairs.

In 1983, Navon turned down the opportunity to run for a second term of office. Instead he returned to politics, the only Israeli ex-president to do so, and served as Minister of Education and Culture, remaining in the Knesset until 1992.

When the polls showed that Navon was more popular than Labor chairman Shimon Peres, Peres was pressured to step aside and allow Navon to take over the party leadership.

Navon’s fluency in Arabic made him especially popular among Arab and Mizrahi voters. However, at his funeral, which was open to the public at Beit Hanasi, few came early to pay respects, though more were reported attending later.

Navon was fluent in Arabic, Hebrew, Ladino, French and English. In October 1980, he visited Egypt, the first official visit by an Israeli president to an Arab state at the invitation of President Anwar Sadat. Navon impressed his hosts with his eloquent Arabic, breaking the ice and demolishing stereotypes of Israelis and Jews as a “foreign element” to the region.

He also paid a state visit to the United States at the invitation of President Reagan.

November 6, came and went with little notice, three years since he died, but new signs are seen on Jerusalem streets.

A blue historical information sign shows where Yitzhak Navon lived in his last years.

The new Jerusalem Train Station has opened.

As more people ride the new fast train from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv,

more will see the name Yitzhak Navon, a former President of Israel who lived a long life, and excelled in more areas of arts and language than listed here.

From chasing Nazi war criminals in South America, to attending events close to the end of his long and full life, Yitzhak Navon is truly a name to remember.

We can only wonder if Navon had led the negotiations with Egypt on Sinai, would the fate of Yamit and Gaza have been the same?