Jerusalem

November ending in Jerusalem with ups and downs

Sharon A

It was another busy week of ups and downs on the Jerusalem streets.

A favorite Jerusalem, Israel, the site is the Tower of David. The changes over the years have been fascinating to watch and admire.

I am not the only fan. One family went to the trouble to build temporary protection for a wedding ceremony. It was up during the day and then down after a night.

However, years of preparation have gone into making the fortress accessible. I remember how hard those old steps were to climb and go down. The new walkways are so much easier.

Eilat Lieber explained the upcoming International Day of People with Disabilities on Tuesday, Dec. 3rd. An online conference will be hosted by the Tower of David Jerusalem Museum with free registration.

The conference aims to share knowledge gained from archeology and innovation in Jerusalem with the world. This initiative is intended to enhance mobility and also enable accessibility for those with vision and hearing impairment.

A sign is up for the Mamilla Pool Project. How many knew it was there was such a thing?

First Station is struggling with few tourists but is ready for winter by putting up weather enclosures for people to sit and eat protected from the cold.

The Menachem Begin Heritage Center auditorium was filled for Douglas Murray. He received a standing ovation, and as he entered people stood up and applauded before he uttered a word.

During a conversation with Dr. Gerald Steinberg and Olga Deutsch, his wit and timing were impressive.

The old home of the Hebrew University Library at 44 Jabotinsky Street is in a sad state.

However, the new National Library of Israel has become a popular research and busy tourist site.

The main area has its research spaces filled daily by students and scholars of all types.

The landscaped outside space, with its autumn colors, is also worth seeing.

Inside the chairs, await the hostages, with their favorite books – still after too long.

The signs are up for the opening of the new temporary exhibition on Kafka.

More on that next time. I went on the preview tour and will share.

But this is getting too long and I want to end with one more event.

A special Thanksgiving dinner was held for Lone Soldiers and Bnot Sherut at the Nefesh B’Nefesh Jerusalem Campus on Thursday night.

Hundreds of young men and women from around the world (for a good meal you did not need to be from a place that celebrates Thanksgiving) gathered to eat, meet, and enjoy themselves.

On the way home we passed two women standing on a street corner, in the dark and cold.

Their sign is “Together we will be victorious!”

That sums up a week of ups and downs and in between on the Jerusalem streets.

Jerusalem Streets finding Balance after 414 Days of War

Sharon A

The Jerusalem, Israel, streets are constantly changing. The buildings are rising higher.

The stresses of over a year of prolonged Operation Iron Swords are growing more serious.

Sharing the events of one week in a short photo essay is a constant challenge.

On Jaffa Road, the new skyline is difficult to capture with a simple lens.

The old Ticho House is hard to see with the new surrounding construction.

Yoel Solomon Street is missing the tourists who browsed the shops, though volunteer tourism is high.

But the Machane Yehuda Market – the shuk – is popular on Thursday afternoons and at night.

Jaffa Road has new signs for hotels with the old Jerusalem buildings.

These Arab women going past Zion Square were shopping on Jaffa Road.

I still feel safer walking on the Jerusalem streets late at night, than almost anywhere else in the world.

Years of constant construction during years of ongoing threat, the Jerusalem-TLV train is still a wonder.

The new entrance to the Jerusalem Botanical Gardens can be easily seen from the road.

It is located near a future light rail train station. I wonder which will be completed first.

When it is Muslim prayer time, there are prayer rugs on the Jerusalem streets.

To make room for the buildings and roads, mountains have been moved.

But along the Jerusalem streets, there are constant reminders of the young who have fallen this past year.

Over 800 lives – each one a world – have been lost in this war.

The Jerusalem municipality has supplied tents to the mourning families. Hundreds of people come to pay a condolence call to the families of the fallen.

A note from this past week asks visitors to see photos from happier times.

After Shabbat, a Torah was dedicated in memory of fallen lone soldier Rose Ida Lubin hy”d. The procession made its way through the Jerusalem downtown streets to a small synagogue off of Jaffa Road.

There was music food and dancing, some found it difficult to participate, but the Lubin family attended, proud of their daughter and pleased so many contributed to keeping Rose’s name alive.

There are thousands of lone soldiers serving now, and falling, but also couples are coming together.

The OU Israel location on Keren Hayesod is closing down and new locations are to fill in the gap. The Women’s Hub had a grand opening on Monday night.

There have been protests, large and small, new and long-standing, against the government, and for the war to continue to victory on the Jerusalem streets.

However, life goes on, but not like before. The 3rd Jerusalem Business Conference began with a United Hatzalah presentation of the terrible day of October 7, 2023.

But as keynote opening speaker Izhar Shay, whose son was killed on October 7, emphasized,” “we are here to build.” His ‘Next October’ NGO is to support startups to grow. PHOTOS and more PHOTOS.

Time to give thanks, as the Michael Levin Base is preparing for Thanksgiving dinner again for lone soldiers and bnei and bnot sherut.

We give thanks for what we do have and hope to see you soon on the too-quiet Jerusalem streets.

Check out Jerusalem’s Week of Ups and Downs

Check out Jerusalem’s Week of Ups and Downs

Sharon A

On the Jerusalem streets it was another week of a prolonged war that no one wanted.

The number of fallen has sadly gone up to almost 800, and the injured are too many to count accurately.

When there is a short time to “get away from it all” the Jerusalem Botanical Gardens is a favorite destination to check out the change of seasons.

Every autumn the pond is cleared of the end-of-season lilies.

These remains on the top of the surface, this caught my eye for a close-up.

Friends in the Northeastern United States are sharing amazing fall colors photos, this is the best I could find at the end of the season in Jerusalem, Israel.

The lookout at the Bird Sanctuary has a new big sign, but bird migration season is ending. If you look up through the trees, you will see the new Jerusalem skyline is filling with towers over the Jerusalem streets.

And oh those streets! You better look down as you walk. Digging and changing in too many locations to share – sometimes fixing them and then changing them a month later.

I am certain the driver of this car was not happy to end up on top of the flower bed.

At Cinema City if you look up above the Israel flag, the white umbrellas have hostage posters on them.

I have avoided the hostage protests on the Jerusalem streets, however, this week there were four of them.

One across from Cinema City has been featured here before with the faces of fallen soldiers at night.

Across from the Knesset, this has been going on for a year, against the government’s handling of the war.

This one near Paris Fountain has counted the days as they advocate for the hostages to be released.

A new one this week on Rechov Azza, not far from the Prime Minister’s home, blocked the street with white umbrellas and people wearing white clothing.

Everyone is war-weary and worried about the hostage situation. I was glad I wore black clothing that day so police let me walk by the barricades.

Our municipal bomb shelter is getting an upgrade and the door was open. Happily, it was not needed.

Meanwhile, groups are arriving and being welcomed. Supporters, families, and volunteers are here.

New signs are up for Jerusalem events. The Piano and Arts Festivals took place this week.

And a new sign with sadly familiar faces, Iris Haim and her fallen son Yotam- “Together we will be heroes.”

As the full moon wanes and the calendar looks to the month of Kislev, the Hanuka donut season has arrived and the calorie counts go up, as the waistline grows.

And yes they were as good as they look.

It was a week of lows and highs, and time goes on…

as we wait to see what will happen next on the Jerusalem streets.