Flowers and fruit

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Coming back on one of the last*  buses at Friday noon, I saw this man had set up a little roadside stand in the first bus stop at the entrance to Meitar.

A bunch of flowers, a little box of  strawberries or shesek (loquats) would be a nice extra touch to bring home to the family for Erev Shabbat.

I hope some drivers stopped, bought, and brought.

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*Public transportation stops running from early Friday afternoon and starts again on Sunday morning.   Stores close during these times too.

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Shabbat shalom.  Wishing you peace and rest on the Sabbath.

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BTW, the post on the right has an LED display of when the next two buses will arrive (in real time).   It is powered by the solar panel on top. 

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Bus #3 to Mashhad

I needed the expert services of the sandlar, the shoe repairman, in the Muslim Quarter of the Old City today.
So I took the tram all across Jerusalem, from Mt. Herzl in the west to the Damascus Gate station in the east.

The city recently opened a new Arab bus and mini-bus terminal right next to that same tram/light rail station.
The routes seem to be mostly to the Arab towns and villages in the West Bank.

I photographed this particular sign for two blog-friends from Mashhad, but a different one, a real city,  in another country.
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The clock is ticking

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The brave window washers were just finishing the last blue panes when I got to Jerusalem's Central Bus Station building.
I wonder how they worked their way around the hands and globes of the giant clock.
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Fortunately a few clouds were in the sky to be reflected for Weekend Reflections.
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Buses coming from all over Israel enter the building's basement, and departing intercity buses leave via a higher floor.
In between is the happy and busy shopping mall and eating places.
On the highest floors are offices.
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A recent article in the Jerusalem Post found air pollution levels in the Central Bus Station to be dangerously high and called is a sick building .
For those who work there everyday, I hope they will soon clean up the air and not only the windows.
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Various vending machines in Israel

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V-Day at ABC Wednesday.

A vending machine for fresh flowers?!
Ben-Gurion International Airport has one in the arrivals hall. Honest!
Written above in Hebrew letters is "La bouquet."
Enlarge the photo to see prices in shekels.

Select the number of the bouquet you want, swipe your credit card, and the appropriate door will open.

A vending machine for holy books?!

I saw it with my own eyes at Jerusalem's big Central Bus Station.

Before you board your inter-city bus you can quickly equip yourself with a prayerbook or a part of the Talmud to study or pray from on the way.

And each book costs only 10 or 15 shekels, a fraction of the price of a bunch of flowers.

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I learned about the organization dispensing the books in a Jerusalem Post article. Here is part of what it says:

"The vending machine is there because of Meoros HaDaf HaYomi, an organization dedicated to spreading the study of Judaism in general and Gemara in particular. HaDaf HaYomi has more than 500 classes around the country and publishes books, videos and audio clips on the Internet. . . .

Daf yomi means 'a page a day,' and refers to the practice of studying the entire 2,711-page Babylonian Talmud, one folio (double-sided page) at a time, in a cycle of seven and a half years, followed by many Jews around the world. Part of Meoros HaDaf HaYomi's mission is to involve more people in this enterprise."

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Judaic studies and siddurim from a vending machine. . . . It makes me remember, with a smile, something from a college literature class: deus ex machina, literally, "God from the machine."

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Squeaky-clean pane

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While entering the Jerusalem Central Bus Station to catch my Egged bus to Tiberias (an easy drive of 2 1/2 hours), I was delighted to see double. Perfect for "Weekend Reflections," the meme started by James in Pennsylvania.

The two young men seemed to be having a good time in their harnesses, doubtless earning some good shekels for their work.

The huge Central Bus Station certainly has enough glass to keep fearless window washers busy.

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On the bus

Just for fun, I whipped out my camera and tried to get a picture of friends as their bus pulled away at the Jerusalem Central Bus Station. I was shooting into bright sun.
The result surprised me.
What a jumble of reflections!
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James at Newtown Area Photo has just opened a Reflections meme. Let's all get together at his blog and reflect. :)
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Up and at 'em

Jerusalem's big, bustling, bright Central Bus Station is full of life, and sometimes even surprises!
This stilt-walker was working together with a young man to promote something to the public. I'm not sure what they were selling, but it was fun to see.

Here and there in the Holy Land

The letter for this ABC Wednesday group fun is H.

H is for hand.

The sound of one hand clapping.

Hands holding three pieces of a Canaanite's head. Humerus arm bone still in the ground.

Hands as a link of the generations.

H is also for hamburgers in the food court of Jerusalem's Central Bus Station.

Halva, the deliciously sweet confection made of ground sesame seeds, in Shuk Mahane Yehuda market in Jerusalem.

Heavily-armed horse on duty in the Palm Sunday pilgrim procession from Mount of Olives to the Old City.

Hanging blogger, sloth-like, showing grandson how. In Australia.

Happy H Day to all!
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Xs around Jerusalem

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ABC Wednesday is here again. To see what other bloggers are coming up with, X marks the spot at Mrs. Nesbitts Place.

Looks like an X to me. But truth be told, this is a stylized alef, the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Alef is the first letter of Egged, the huge bus company whose lines reach every corner of Israel.


X-ray machine at the entrance to Jerusalem's Central Bus Station.
Anything bigger than a small purse has to go through the machine.
Even before you get to this point you have walked through a metal detector.
Normally there is a big crowd there trying to get their stuff X-rayed quickly and run up the stairs to catch their bus on the top departures floor.
If you are shy you will never get through.
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Buses arriving to Jerusalem from other cities drive into the basement of the Central Bus Station. The arriving passengers have their own lines and guards and X-ray machines.

X-ray machine that lets you into the Western Wall Plaza.

Here it is less chaotic than at the bus station.

But here you might also be wanded or asked a few questions by the guards if they have any suspicions.

X is the Greek letter with which the name of Christ begins. So for many centuries X has been a short form of his name.

Xmas = Christmas. Xian = Christian. Xity = Christianity.

If you enlarge the photo above, you'll see Greek letters IC and XC on each side of the halo.

In this "Pantocrator" icon the fingers of Jesus are forming these letters.

Wikipedia explains that
"In Eastern Orthodoxy, the most widely used Christogram is a four-letter abbreviation ICXC--a traditional abbreviation of the Greek words for 'Jesus Christ' (i.e. the first and last letters of each of the words ΙΗΣΟΥΣ ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ — written 'IHCOYC XPICTOC' with a transliteration of the lunate sigma common in medieval Greek as 'C'). "

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Cables in the clouds

A dramatic light show just before and after sunset entertained me as I waited and waited for the bus home to the moshav. Strong winds aloft pushed the clouds rapidly eastward. This is the view from Jerusalem's Central Bus Station.
The Bridge of Strings by Spanish architect Calatrava will be inaugurated on June 25. I'll try to attend and bring you pictures from closer up. The bridge will carry the new light rail or tram (if the tracks are ever finished. . . ).


Pop over to Tom's Wiggers World, host of Sky Watch Friday, to feast on more sky photos.