A Brilliantly Marvelous Night in Jerusalem

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16 Tammuz 5778

29 June 2018

The News on the Israeli Street

Palestinian terror in the last 24 hours . . .

Follow the dotted blue line from northern Gaza where the Molotov balloon was launched to Revadim (written in white) where it landed and started a fire.

You will recall that your humble servant mentioned in yesterday’s blog that the new helium Molotov balloons now being employed by Palestinian terrorists in Gaza have a range of 40 km. I mentioned that my neighborhood here in south Ashdod would like be the next to go up in flames.

Well guess what? A helium Molotov balloon launched from Gaza did “fly” 40 km yesterday and landed just to the east of Ashdod.

The Iranian nuclear weapons program comes out of the closet . . .

We have all known all along that in 2015 when the Iranian Nuclear Weapons Appeasement Agreement was signed, the Iranian nuclear program went even deeper underground than it already was.

Yesterday, the official Iranian news agency FARS, announced that at “Supreme Leader” Khamenei’s request, UF6 uranium hexafluoride is now once again being produced openly at a uranium conversion facility near Isfahan.

Amazing Taglit-Birthright! . . .

Last night, Birthright celebrated its 18th year of existence with a major celebration.

This summer, 33,000 Jewish youth from 33 countries will arrive in Israel. Their trips are largely being funded by Sheldon and Miriam Adelson.

PM Netanyahu summed it up nicely last night: “Taglit is a life-changing event for many. Young men and women are privileged to discover the first experience of the State of Israel. They are proud of our democracy and our land of opportunity and become active participants in the greatest story ever told – the rebirth of the Jewish people. I thank all the participants and supporters around the world. I look forward to another 18 years and beyond that of a tremendous success for the discovery – Mazal Tov. “

Miriam Adelson added these eloquent words, directed to this year’s Birthrighters who were in attendance:

“I am an American Israeli, I love my country. When I see your faces, I remember two Jews who decades ago wanted to move from Poland to the Free Land, Israel. They came here alone and met and fell in love; they overcame the loss of their family together in the Holocaust; they married and became my parents. 

In their little world they made history; they raised Zionist and Israeli children, and I am proud to raise my children in the same way, and they all participated in the discovery. 

Now it’s your turn to make history. You are our chance to create a living bridge with the Diaspora, with Jerusalem in your heart. The connections you create here are the fate of the Jewish people. You face new challenges, as throughout the history of the Jewish people.

 You must protect Israel and be our ambassadors out of knowledge and love, and help change public opinion on Israel. Go out and make history for the future of the Jewish people and continue the legacy of all those who fight for the State of Israel . . . 

School is out! . . .

1,500,000 Israeli elementary school students (grades 1-6) and kindergarteners, along with 90,000 teachers finish the school year today and will noisily make their way into malls and parks beginning immediately.

Summer vacation has arrived. 

TODAY’S BLOG:

A Brilliantly Marvelous Night in Jerusalem (Part 1)

Your humble servant and family were in Jerusalem last night for the city’s Festival of Lights. It was a Jerusalem seen once a year, awash in lights, awash in strange characters straight out of Cirque du Soleil, and awash in hundreds of thousands of people from around the world.

Here are some pictures that I took last night:

An angelic creature at the Jaffa Gate–where we started our adventure.

Note the quotation on the Old City Wall in the background–all night long words from writers around the world were projected on the walls.

Another “creature of light.” That’s the Jaffa Gate over his right shoulder.

From the Jaffa Gate we went downhill and then upwards toward the Armenian Quarter. All along the way, our senses were assaulted by wonderful lights and sounds.

This “neural” exhibit was supposed to illustrate the connections between all of us.

There were revelers everywhere:

The lights being waved by these three were at the Tai Chi presentation.

As we continued on, we ran into all sorts of things to our sides and overhead:

These wire figures put by the Bezalel School of Art were impressive.

We made it to the top of the hill, then headed down to Cathedral of St. James:

One of the narrow passageways with clouds overhead. Note the church in the background.

The church’s facade looked like a fairytale castle with butterflies all about:

It was quite a sight. I suspect that you have never seen a photograph of St. James like this.

From there we continued to Zion Gate:

The Zion Gate, replete with the bullet holes from 1948, needed no projected colors to enhance its stark beauty.

Once inside the Old City, we continued down the inner wall:

This wall goes along the Armenian Quarter down toward the Jewish Quarter. You can see the Zion Gate in the background.

Next, we entered the Jewish Quarter which was alive with street venders hawking everything from cold water and roasted cashews, to popcorn and hot dogs:

Looking yummy after an hour of walking!

Next into the place where the Cardo and Hurva intersect:

Lasers shooting in every direction.

And then, around to the other side of the magnificent Hurva:

Another amazing light show!

From there, it was down to the Kotel itself fighting through the sea of people–and that is where I will pick up the story in Part 2 tomorrow.