Nachlaot Finding Past and Future

Sir Moses Montefiore, a great benefactor to Israel in the 19th century,

is perhaps best known for the Montefiore Windmill.

However, in 1882 he was also involved in building

the Nachlaot section of Jerusalem.

This cluster of small Jewish neighborhoods was one of the first

Jerusalem homesteads outside the walls of the over-crowded Old City.

Stone walls surrounded Nachlaot to protect its residents.

Sir Moses Montefiore

Today one of the openings still displays a testimonial to Montefiore 

and the Mazkeret Moshe neighborhood is named for him.

 Nachlaot is across from the Machane Yehuda Market, the shuk.

Nahlaot street, Jerusalem Street, J Street

After getting lost too many times on the narrow twisting streets,

I made it a habit to walk around Nachlaot

and not through it on my way to the shuk.

So when the Jerusalem Scavenger Hunts offered a hunt to Nachlaot, 

I made sure to be one of the first bloggers to sign up for the special event.

mayaan fogel art, street art, Nahaot

In Nachlaot, you can see interesting street art

street art, J Street, Nahlaot

painted on the walls,

street art, J Street, scavenger hunt

but you never know what you will  find hanging out on its streets.

Old stone street, J Street, Jerusalem old street

Old stone streets

Nahlaot house, J Street, new Jerusalem building

and beautiful new homes,

street art, J Street, Nachlaot art

combine to make walking the Nachlaot streets a real adventure.

Nahlaot, J Street, Jerusalem street photos

From ancient stones on the left to modern cable receivers on the right,

it can all be found in Nachlaot.

We followed our map, and not only did we not get lost,

but our team won!

And thanks to the Village Green Restaurant on Rachel Imenu Street,

we enjoyed fresh bread with a cup of soup at the end of the hunt.

There are many tours to Nachlaot, 

but this scavenger hunt is fun and educational for all ages.

 We found it as good an experience as the hunt last year

in the Old City.

To find more photos of Nachlaot and our winning team see:

The Real Jerusalem Streets Facebook Page.

Jerusalem Knights and Dragons Festival

A priority for City Hall has been to encourage

 visitors to come at night to the streets of the Old City of Jerusalem, Israel.

  And the current ‘Festival of Knights in the Old City’ has done the job.

Jaffa Gate at night

Jaffa Gate is the starting point for the ‘Knights and Dragons’ theme,

Map Old City Christian Quarter

where a large map of the Christian Quarter route is displayed

 Jafffa Gate

and musicians entertain.

Jaffa Gate

Smart families got a map with the 17 station locations,

Dragon, Jaffa Gate

but does not include the many moving ‘photo ops’.

Last week I went early,

crowd at Jaffa Gate

as good photographs are hard to get at these crowded events. 

Dragon head

Near the beginning of the route was this colorful dragon head.

Castle

A cardboard castle and its defending knight were ready for photo action,

Knights Inn

near the real Knights’ Palace.

alley way

One lane was dark,

Dragon, Knight Festival Old City

but most were well-lit and many costumes added color.

actors in costume

 Actors were ready for the shows to begin.

Barber shop Old city

A barber shop was open under one of the red festival signs,

actors in costumes

which pointed to the actors getting ready in Muristan Square.

As I said, smart people took a map.

This was not the first time I got confused at Muristan Square

street Old City

and headed in the wrong direction, 

but this was the first night of Eid Al-Adha, the Muslim ‘Feast of Sacrifice’.

It was so crowded on the narrow paths

that I did not get a photo of the smelly animal being pushed in a cart.

His sad eyes seemed to know he was going to be the feast.

Arab woman and man, nijab

Following closely to an English-speaking tourist group,

I got only this one picture of a candy store.  

Finally,

spotting a sign to the Via Dolorosa, I headed out of the Muslim Quarter.

men smoking water pipes

Retracing some of my route, I noticed these smokers were gone,

 the lane was dark and quiet for festival visitors.

actors in Muristan Square

The actors were in Muristan Square and so was the “EXIT” sign.

signs Knights Jerusalem, Old City shuk

I do not know if the free Jerusalem Knights Festival

brought paying customers to shops, but many more were open

than for the first night of the Festival in October 2010.

gladiators, Old City , Jaffa Gate

Back near Jaffa Gate, large crowds were watching gladiators fight

girls dancing

and dancing-girls.

kids at Jerusalem festival, Jaffa Gate

Hundreds of families, many with young children,

seemed to be enjoying themselves.

Many children were on their parents’ shoulders,

as it was very hard to see the performers.

I found a bench to stand on, 

picture children on balcony

but I think this family had the best view.

Picture Jerusalem at night

And as usual, when tens of thousands of people come,

 the Jerusalem streets fill with traffic in all directions.

photo Jerusalem festival knights

There are still two more Thursday nights in November to enjoy the festival.

If you cannot come and want to see more:

 additional photos on The Real Jerusalem Streets Facebook page.

10 Special Smiles in Sukkot Holiday Crowds

While the mainstream media did an extensive job of covering

 the “riots on the Temple Mount,”  there was far less coverage of how

Jerusalem, Israel, was crowded with visitors for the Sukkot holiday.

It was impossible to count the huge numbers in the Old City,

 as Birchat Kohanim attracted crushing crowds.

Palestinian woman Jerusalem

This Arab woman may not have smiled,

but she did not fear revenge as she tried to pass through the crowd.

 Beit Hanasi, the Israeli President’s residence, held a sukkah open house.

crowd

 Thousands of people waited in long lines to see dancers and singers

perform in the outside gardens,

Shimon Peres

while Israeli President Shimon Peres sat and smiled on stage.

Thousands and thousands of visitors were on the Jerusalem streets, 

smile

but this stunning beauty made me think to share a few of the faces 

smile

and smiles that stood out in the crowd.

Jerusalem parade

For the Jerusalem Parade over 6000 people from all over Israel

and from 60 countries marched through the center of town.

There were only two participants from India,

but many countries had very large delegations.

Spectators, including many young children, were excited 

to see the costumes and receive small flags from around the world.

smile

This young woman offering a snack to marchers

received many smiles and thanks. 

For more parade photos see The Real Jerusalem Streets Facebook page.

As usual there were countless meetings with friends

and family reunions during the holiday vacation week.

smile

How special to be able to smile when organizing a group

that does not show at the right place or the right time.

Many people stopped and smiled in the Kikar Zion, Zion Square, 

kids

as Chabad had young boys offering lulav and etrog to those who passed by.

smiles

There were so many smiling faces of children on family outings.

This mime on a street corner got attention, a smile and money.

There were too many concerts and musical events to mention,

but one of the last ones was Hakafot Hasheniot, the second Hakafot.

For the 31st year, live music and dancing

energized Gan Hapa’amon, the Liberty Bell Park.

hakafos

Hundreds without tickets had to stand in the back,

but some were still able to smile at the end of a long holiday week.

Both of Israel’s Chief Rabbis addressed the gathering,

as did Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat.

Seven times men were called to the stage to dance with the Torah scrolls

and women were dancing and smiling too.

 More photos in The Real Jerusalem Streets Facebook Hakafot album.

There were colorful characters

clowns

even clowns on the streets,

family smiling

but I especially liked the many families with big smiles.

That is it.

 Holiday time is over.

Now it is back to school and back to work.