Sukkot. Simchat Torah.
The autumn holiday season has ended.
Certainly not the same as years past, but no question better than the last Simchat Torah.
There were celebrations on the Jerusalem streets, and this photo essay will focus on the highights.
The Rova, Jewish Quarter, had a large sukkah and people took advantage of the holiday atmosphere.
The crowds at the Kotel, Western Wall, filled the Western Wall Plaza, day after day.
The sukkot in the Mamilla Mall had people waiting in line to have a meal, inside it was easy to get a seat.
In the Cardo was a large sukkah this year. Who would have imagined that years ago?
The guy protesting internet was back with a sign, as people went on their way to Jaffa Gate.
Stop men with a luluv and etrog to take their photo, and they ask you to make the blessing first.
The big sukkah was back at Kikar Safra with a sign ‘Welcome to the Mayor’s Sukkah’.
There were musical events every night of chol hamoed and this one for children on Sunday afternoon.
Jaffa Street had the line of sukkot along the light rail tracks again.
On a smaller scale, a favorite private sukkah was back on the Jerusalem street.
The Israeli President’s sukkah in the back garden was a modest one as the large public sukkah was not built and open to the public this year.
Teens and youth groups from the North and South were invited instead of the big open event.
Olympic Judoku gold medal winner Peter Paltchik opened the program.
The teens met in discussion groups in the Beit Hanasi grounds, ate falafel, and
then went back to the main hall to meet the President Herzog and his wife Michal.
There was a Jerusalem March this year, but much smaller than in past years.
The route was greatly reduced as were the groups marching, but Gan Sacher, Sacher Park, was a popular holiday venue.
As the event was ending, two Muslim women were sitting in the park, enjoying the day.
And then there was Simchat Torah, how to celebrate after last year? With music and dance in many locations around Jerusalem from the Kotel to the Liberty Bell Park, I was at the Ramada Hotel.
At a Bar Mitzvah at the Great Synagogue on Friday morning, the guests from Florida were celebrating the Simchat Torah holiday, as the local Israelis were able to pull out their cell phones and capture the event.
From the Birkat Cohanim, Priestly Blessing at the Kotel, Western Wall, to the end of Shabbat,
thousands of people were on the Jerusalem streets,
the sounds of the shofar and “Next Year in Jerusalem” could be heard.
Today, the Israeli flag is flying at half-mast, marking the official national day of mourning for the fallen and murdered a year ago on October 7.
As we celebrate and remember the hostages, we are losing new heroes almost every day as war goes on in the north and south. We have personal connections to two funerals at Har Herzl tonight.
