The calendar page has turned from a very hot August to a more temperate September.
It’s the middle of the Hebrew month of Elul and we are approaching the New Year 5784.
The nightly musical concerts in the Sultan’s Pool will soon end, with the potential of cold nights and rain.
This week saw the rise of the Blue Moon over the Jerusalem streets.
Though not blue, the full moon appeared bright pink before rising further from the horizon into the sky. The second time for a full moon in August was what qualified it as a Blue Moon.
Every week, we see new construction going down and down,
while old structures are being renovated throughout Jerusalem.
Azza Street made the headlines again when the Netanyahus got new security bollards installed in front of their private residence. As you can see from a previous photo, it is hardly palatial from the outside.
It is amazing how many times you can walk past a property and not notice unless there is a new blue sign telling its history posted in front.
The public better take notice of the parking regulation signs that have gone up along Jerusalem streets.
And the newly painted parking restrictions, where people would have used this space to park.
And watch out for those new vehicles roaming the streets at night, not sure what they are called, going through Teddy Park toward the fountain on a pedestrian walkway.
The ice rink was closed one August evening last week, but the time was been extended into September.
The Ferris Wheel in First Station was being repaired and not running that night. Usually, it’s filled with young children at the end of their summer holiday time in the evening.
Chairs were set for the End of Summer Festival at the Jerusalem Theater. A guard blocked my entrance, saying no entry without a paid-for ticket. I remembered that they were free in the past.
However, he let me go into the lobby to see the art exhibit which was to change the next day.
I will have to go back and see what new art work lines the theater lobby walls for September.
I think some of the best colors and sights are found in nature as the seasons change.
So one more view of the Blue Moon rising above the trees and Old City.
One more renovation image with a Jerusalem small store getting a major makeover.
But the biggest transition is that 2.5 million students are back to school. The signs are up as the school begins for 5784 – and without the usual teachers’ strike.
Even businesses wish good luck and success in Kitah Aleph, or first grade.
I love the huge big deal made as youngsters enter first grade!
I wish all the students and teachers well as the year begins!
The transition from the start of school to the start of the New Year Selihot and tours begins next week.
The Jerusalem Museum at the Tower of David announced a Selihot event that includes a tour of the Tower of David, connecting the new museum with the Old City, and ends with saying Selihot at the Kotel, Western Wall.
Tens of thousands will be on the Jerusalem streets late into the night forthe sounds of Selihot.
The old carousel is one visitor attraction for the younger crowd.
The market stalls and restaurants are busy, sometimes more than other times.
In this too-hot August weather, the Ice Rink at First Station was a place to cool off. Though many Israelis are less than agile on the ice, one man dressed in Haredi fashion went by too fast to capture in a photograph. I wondered where he was from originally – perhaps Canada?
The Hutzot Hayotzer Arts Festival has ended, but the live concerts in Sultan Pool change every night.
Going by in the early evening you can get a glimpse of the stars and bands rehearsing to get a preview.
In nature, the season is slowly starting to change, as the pomegranates reveal.
Finally, the August heat wave is giving way to cooler nights.
The crowds at the Kotel, Western Wall for Selihot on August 24, as seen in photos published by the Western Wall Heritage Foundation seem not to be changing until Yom Kippur.
Threats from without and within as the new year of 5784 is rapidly approaching.
But the Jerusalem streets are ready for the start of the new school year – asking, “On the way to class?”
RJS joins in wishing all a safe and good new year, to go in peace.
It was 21 years ago that I was in Israel for Yom HaZikaron and Yom Haatzmaut for the first time. We arrived after a March of the Living trip to Poland and a visit to Auschwitz on Hitler’s birthday.
Terrorists were blowing up buses on the Jerusalem, Israel, streets in 2001. Our group was sent to Arad and Beer Sheva instead of Jerusalem, which was thought to be too dangerous during those Intifada days.
The irony – after traveling by bus through Poland, and then being afraid of walking the Jerusalem streets, its buses, and eateries!
On Yom HaZikaron, Israeli Memorial Day, we remembered 24,068 Israeli soldiers who fell in battle and the 4,216 civilians who were murdered by terrorists.
To begin the busy week, The Michael Levin Base had a Sefer Torah dedication Monday night with former Ambassador Ron Dermer the featured speaker. These Torah covers were made specially from the tallis bag Harriet Levin had made for her son fallen soldier, Michael Levin z”l.
“You can’t fulfill your dreams unless you dare to risk it all” he had stated.
Photo credit: Kobi Gideon GPO
The official opening state ceremony is held annually at the Kotel, Western Wall Plaza, with the President of Israel speaking the lighting of a memorial torch with an honor guard, it is similar each year.
However, there are also thousands of smaller community ceremonies held throughout the country and by various groups. For the past two years, Covid severely limited all the major large community commemorations. The ceremony in Arad was well done and still, a vivid memory of a community united in mourning their fallen soldiers.
This year we attended an English event at Givat Tachmoshet, Ammunition Hill, led by The Michael Levin Base and supported by Norman Blaustein, in memory of his wife Sarah z’l who was murdered over 20 years ago. A terrorist sprayed their car with bullets, on an Israeli highway on the way to Jerusalem. One-shot to the back of her head was fatal. She had made aliyah nine months before.
A total of 28,284 men, women, and children have been killed in terrorist attacks and in defense of the Land of Israel since 1860, the year that the first Jewish settlers left the secure walls of Jerusalem to build new Jewish neighborhoods.
Since the last Memorial Day, 56 new names have been added to the roster of those who died defending the country.
A memorial siren sounds at night and again in the morning. There are official events at Har Herzl most of the day with families of soldiers and in communities throughout Israel as well.
This year the Netanyahus attended the program at the school where Sara works. In many Jerusalem neighborhoods, a ceremony was held at the local memorial site with the names of fallen residents.
Memorial Day ended on Wednesday evening, ushering in Israel’s 74th Independence Day with a multitude of live events with music and dancing.
Musical prayer services public and private could be heard walking along the Jerusalem streets after sunset ending the day of mourning.
Examples of the Blue and White themed plastic boppers, balloons, and glowing headbands were available for sale at First Station.
The musical prayer service attracted a huge crowd, while next to it at First Station the annual main event from Har Herzl’s live broadcast was seen.
People coming and going, and the crowd was so large it was hard to find friends. There were too many Jerusalem large events to attend, they included fireworks, and live musical entertainment, with some lasting all night long.
Annually at Beit Hanasi, the President’s Official Residence, the military honors start the daytime events, while in many synagogues the Hallel prayer is added to the morning service.
For thousands of Israelis, a highlight of Yom Haatzmaut is watching the Tanach Chidon or International Youth Bible Quiz on television.
This was the first time I was able to attend the annual and popular event held at the Jerusalem Theater, and fortunate to be there for the exciting finish. It ended with a tie between two young Israelis. The US representative came in third – first for the Diaspora communities.
The President, Prime Minister, and Jerusalem Mayor were honored to ask a question, but, the event is under Education Minister Dr. Yifat Shasha-Biton who was escorted to the stage to speak.
The full recorded broadcast is available online if you want to check your knowledge with that of these impressive youngsters.
I want to add this audience was the most enthusiastic, yet respectful group I have seen, they and we should all be proud.
In the afternoon the annual President’s Diplomatic Reception was back again after the corona limitations of the past two years,
with the traditional photos of representatives of international armed forces,
and religious leaders based in Israel in attendance.
But I wanted to get to the Jerusalem International Conference Center for the Israel Prize ceremony. This was the only decent image I could get. This was one event I should have stayed home and watched live on TV. It was much different than in past years when the live crowd filled the big auditorium.
Walking there thru Gan Sacher, Sacher Park, where people were enjoying family get-togethers on Yom Haatzmaut, some of the smallest flags were the cutest and I did see long time friends, so it was worth the time.
Much more happened this past week, but I will conclude with a brief quote from Dermer’s exceptional remarks which I hope to share in full soon.
“The Torah gives us purpose. Israel gives us power.
Purpose without power is a lethal combination…
But power without purpose also cannot secure the Jewish future. The mightiest of Empires and the greatest of civilizations have crumbled when their people lost their way when they lost their sense of purpose.”
The intense week of the Yoms, Yom HaShoah, Yom HaZikaron, and Yom Haatzmaut, with its extremes of highs and lows has concluded.
The Power of the IDF and the Purpose of the Torah were exemplified this week, and hopefully, we will continue together to build and celebrate Israel at 75 next year in Jerusalem.
