7 New Signs in Jerusalem

My father was born in the USA and served in the army during World War II.

  He would not let even a small item made in Germany into our house.

Chancellor Angela Merkel and her delegation of 16 German government ministers

just visited Jerusalem, Israel.

 Prime Minister Netanyahu welcomed her with the words 

“Israel and Germany have a unique bond forged of tragedy and hope,

and a great friendship and cooperation.”

Then she was awarded Israel’s Presidential Medal,

a sign of how much things have changed.

2. Anyone who knows a 6-year old, kita aleph  first grader,

image table with food, photo food for party, picture decorated table

knows that countless tables with piles of food,

like this one in Heichal Shlomo,

are the reward for sitting through hours of presentations.

image sidur party, photo mesibat siddur, picture decorated cake

This artistic creation is a sign of a siddur party,

only one of this week’s many extravaganzas,

where new readers receive their first prayer-book.

image new bus line, photo bus Jerusalem, picture Israel bus sign

3. New bus signs were up on Friday.

Time will tell whether all the route and number changes are improvements.

But new #15 bus took us straight to bus station in minutes!

 There was another new sign near the bus stop.

image British defense , photo security in Palestine, picture  Jerusalem

4. The “pillbox” got a new sign.

picture riots 1936, Palestine photo, image palestine, picture Palestine

Please read it carefully.

In Palestine, in 1936, Arabs were rioting against Jews.

Long before the State of Israel was established,

the British built these to protect and defend themselves against Arab attacks.

The new Cinema City had its grand opening this week.

There was a small protest because it is to be closed on Shabbat.

image poster in Hebrew, picture of activites in Jerusalem, photo of Hebrew poster

5. But also, this sign with many new Shabbat activities was posted.

imag Jerusalem marathon, photo Jerusalem marathon, Picture Jerusalem marathon

6. New signs for the Jerusalem Marathon seem to be popping up everywhere,

especially along the route of the March 21st race.

7. And to end with my favorite sign of spring,

image red flowers, picture anemoes, photo re flowers

the spring flowers blooming in the Valley of the Cross.

All photos available for purchase.

Photos of the Fire in Jerusalem’s Valley of the Cross

Yesterday on my way home,

I noticed how dry it was in the Valley of the Cross 

and I thought as I do every year:

it could all burn so quickly, so easily.

photo fire in Jerusalem

This afternoon smoke began to rise from the valley,

which is located under the Knesset Building.

photo fire in Jerusalem

For a time the smoke was dark and the flames were high, 

image fire in Jerusalem, fire photo, flames of brush fire

and they spread very quickly.

photo smoke and fire in Jerusalem

Fire crews arrived, 

photo fire in Jerusalem

and with their long water hoses

image fire in Jerusalem

they put out the fire.

picture of fire in Jerusalem

The smoke and the smell still lingered long afterwards.

photo Valley of Cross

But what seemed obvious was that after many months of construction and mess,

Valley of Cross

installing this emergency water system was worth the inconvenience and price.