JERUSALEM DAY 2012

I first came to Israel when I was 18 years old, a few years after the 1967  6 Day War during  which Jerusalem was  returned to the Jewish people.

When I arrived Jerusalem was already reunited, we had easy access to the Kotel and it was hard for me to imagine a Jerusalem that was split in two with no access for the Jewish people to their most sacred site.
As with most things which are handed to us on a plate, most of my generation and our children and grandchildren  take this  for granted.
But on a day like Jerusalem Day,  which this year is Sunday  May 20th,  we watch and listen to stories of that miraculous day, when against  all normal odds we captured back the last remnant of our holy Temple built 3000 years ago.
What the Kotel means to everyone

Jerusalem is an intriguing mix of the ancient and holy together with the everyday and modern.
People from all over the world come to place their prayers and wishes between the cracks in the stones of the Kotel. These are all eventually removed and buried.

The alleyways in the Old City

The model of Jerusalem as it was when the Temple stood which is now on the campus of  the Israel Museum

The Shrine of the Book at the Israel Museum which houses the Dead Sea Scrolls


The new ultra-sleek ultra-modern light rail


The new Mamilla Mall near Jaffa Gate at entrance to the Old City

And on Jerusalem Day in particular we thank G’d for bringing us back home and allowing us to live in HIs holy city

The Chief Chazan (Cantor) of the Israel Defense Forces singing the Prayer for the State of Israel  which is recited in most synagogues all over the world  every Shabbat.

THE JERUSALEM LIGHT RAIL IS RUNNING

AND I WAS EVEN CRAZY  ENOUGH TO TRAVEL ON IT .

This week was not a good week to try it out – I thought I would die of suffocation before I’d get to write this blog.

If you’ve ever traveled on an Egged bus you know how many people they squash onto them – well treble that and you have an idea of the number of people pushing and shoving their way onto the new light rail

 

Yes I admit I never thought it would run in my lifetime.

It has take as long to construct this short   14 kilometer ride run as it took to build the entire Hejaz Haifa - Damascus – Medina   line ………..a mere 1300 kilometers !

For around 10 years we Jerusalemites have had our traveling and downtown shopping lives made an utter  misery by the construction of this train’s infrastructure, when it could, and should have taken no more than a third of the time.

Businesses and shops have gone bankrupt because for years there has been no public transport along the main shopping street of Jerusalem.

But now it’s running let’s find something to celebrate about it ……………….. ummmmm I’m really trying hard to find something good to say about it.

OK – thought of something – it’s free –----- well for the next few weeks it’s free. I think this was a pathetic way of  the Jerusalem municipality thinking it could compensate us for the last 10 years misery we’ve suffered while they mismanaged the  construction.

OK something else – it has computerized signs on the stops telling you when the next train is coming so you can decide whether or not to bother to wait.

You enter and exit by 12 doors which hopefully will speed up the time it spends at the stops. But that’s because you have to prebuy your tickets and this will no doubt take some getting used to.

It stops adjacent to the curb so it’s easier for people with carriages or in wheelchairs.

You see how positive I’m being.

Come visit and  try it out for yourselves.