Rain and clouds
perhaps a rainbow will appear later today.
On this short Friday, after a difficult week,
a simple wish for Shabbat Shalom.
שבת שלום
Jerusalem photos
Tuesday or Sunday, Election and Harvest Week in Jerusalem, Israel
Sunday.
One thing people mention they miss most living in Israeli is Sunday.
In Israel it is a regular week day, with school and work beginning bright and early Sunday morning.
No more Monday morning blues in Israel, by Monday evening the week feels half over.
In Jerusalem on a Sunday we can enjoy special scenes like this one in Old City, but it’s not a day off.
Tuesday, October 30, 2018, was a national holiday, Election Day.
Elections for local governance and municipalities in Israel are held every 5 years.
Many olim joked that having this Tuesday off from work made it feel like Sunday.
Sadly in Jerusalem even though it was not a work day, the turnout was low.
Apathy with only a 30% voter turnout?
A runoff election is to be held in two weeks between Ofer Berkovitch and Moshe Lion.
Meanwhile, the future leadership of Jerusalem, Israel, is an unknown.
Nevertheless, tourists keep coming by the tens of thousands. One part of a group in this photo was heading into the Old City near the Jewish Quarter.
Seeing the grave stones on Har Hazetim, the Mount of Olives, with the Arab buildings up next to, and even on top of ancient Jewish graves, is another visual tourist experience.
Entering the Old City through Zion Gate, with its bullet-marked stone walls, is often the route for tourists and new IDF soldiers to learn history first hand.
The symbol of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) is a sword wrapped by an olive branch.
Olives and olive oil have connection to Eretz Yisrael going back thousands of years.
While elections are every five years, harvesting olives has been an annual event for centuries.
There are 60 olive trees on the grounds of Beit Hanasi, the Israeli President’s Residence.
Among other things I learned this week, olive trees can live 2,000 years.
So important is the harvesting of olives there is a special word for it in Hebrew, מסיק, masik.
So this week after the first winter rain, President Rivlin invited olive growers to help him harvest the presidential olives.
President Rivlin and his wife Nechama came out to greet the invited guests, Arab, Jewish, religious, secular, of all ages, some seventh-generation farmers.
Those little orange rakes were good for official photographs.
But the serious harvesting was done by large electric tools.
And as usual in the Presidential gardens, the Presidential Cat was on guard supervising.
The fall season is not just for harvesting olives.
The annual Oud Festival is coming up soon.
And suffganiot, those Hanukkah donuts, are appearing and disappearing from bakery shelves.
And with all this happening, a shadow over this past week was cast by the unthinkable events in Pittsburgh which we learned about after Shabbat here in Jerusalem. As young people gathered Sunday night to sing Hebrew sad songs in Zion Square, this message of support was shown on the walls of the Old City.
Up-down, another roller coaster week, but if you want to end on a positive note, meet one of Israel’s proud olive growers.
Not everyone in Israel wants to go into hi-tech, some still believe in value of agriculture.
The sun is shining, the weather cooling, and it’s a great time to get out and walk around to see what else is happening in Jerusalem, but watch out for those black overripe olives that have fallen on sidewalks.
Jerusalem Open Houses and Busy Streets
You can tell the seasons are changing in these old stone Jerusalem, Israel, buildings when the inside temperatures are lower than the outside temperatures.
Late Monday night it rained briefly and it was truly a big deal around here.
In Yemin Moshe the grass is green, the flowers are in bloom, and the olives are ready to harvest.
As temperatures cool, it is so much more pleasant to walk around Jerusalem.
Batim MaBefnim, Houses from Within, are free open houses, with over 100 options in all parts of the city.
Tens of thousands participate, and volunteers receive these special tee shirts.
The Art Museum in Heichal Shlomo was open without charge.
Beit Kedima had the yellow sign in front and tours inside.
One walking tour offered was Mamilla graffiti art.
Above the Miffal was one colorful example of Jerusalem graffiti.
Great place, but I had already been to Miffal last year, when it was called HaMiffal.
I was going to just walk around, until more than one person pointed me to this door.
They were correct, inside Villa Mamilla was a special experience.
A tree was in the courtyard and stone stairway enticed visitors to go up.
The redesigned home has 3 bedrooms that host 7-9 guests.
While we were talking here a man passed by and told us that we should see the bathroom
The tiles in the shower are so well placed we had to look again to find the drain.
Upstairs, visitors rested in the roof garden.
No way to tell how many people passed through and viewed this house.
On my way out a woman was taking a photo of herself in the first floor salon.
The building next door was under construction, not open for visitors, at least not this year.
But down the alleyway, another door was open so I strolled in to find this scene.
Like something from an old Israeli movie with people sitting around and talking on a Friday morning.
As I turned to leave, this old Coke vending machine was in the passageway.
I’m so glad I was drawn into these open doors. You never know what you will find on the Jerusalem streets, and off the streets as well.
The open houses were last weekend, but I remember my first visit to Hansen House eight years ago, when it was old, abandoned, and run down.
Now Hansen House is home to many events including the celebration of 10 years of the Manofim Contemporary Art Festival. See the details HERE
The Piano Festival at Jerusalem Theater is back for the sixth year.
Plus another Animation Festival this week!
No way to do it all.
Meanwhile signs for the municipal elections are hard to miss on Jerusalem buses.
I will not try to predict who will be the new the mayor, but we are down to a final 4 candidates.
Nor will I try to keep try to keep up with all the conferences this week.
Besides the Jewish Federations of North American General Assembly in Tel Aviv,
the fourth Israel-China Innovation Conference is at the Jerusalem Orient hotel.
Did you know Friday October 26 is International Walking Day?
So – tired or not, it is time to get out and walk again to see what is happening!