Circling the Gates of Jerusalem on Adar

In honor of Rosh Chodesh Adat Bet, some 3000 Jews circled the walls of Jerusalem.
(source/credit: Kol Hahar)

Watch the video:








Visiting Israel?
Learn to Shoot at Caliber-3 with top Israeli Anti-Terror Experts!

Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael טובה הארץ מאד מאד

Israeli Arab Leader Demands: Remove Old City Mezuzot

NRG Reports today:

The Israeli Northern Branch of the Islamic Movement, led by Sheikh Raed Salah, is now demanding the removal of all "Mezuzot"** on the gates of Jerusalem's Old City.

According to the movement, the mezuzot are an attempt to Judaize the "Arab heritage" of the Old City.

In a statement issued by the movement, it stated that during a patrol in the Old City, they saw mezuzot on the various gates, and Jews touching the mezuzot as they passed through the gates.

"This is a disgusting attempt to Judaize the Arab and Islamic heritage of
the Old City," the statement said, "and all the relevant Islamic institutions
are called up to to act quickly to remove the mezuzot."

Mahmoud Abu Atta, spokesman for the institution "Mossad Al-Aqsa" said that
he sees these mezuzahs "as continued attempts to Judaize the Old City. A Mezuzah
is put on the door of a Jewish home yet this [the Old City of Jerusalem] is an
Arab city."

On a personal note, I remember the first time I passed through Sha'ar Yaffo -- the Jaffa Gate, and saw the large mezuza on the gate. Nothing is more appropriate than a Mezuzah on the gates of the Old City of Jerusalem.

It should be noted that the Adalah organization, a key New Israel Fund grantee in the Israeli-Arab sector, expresses support for Sheik Raed Salah. (JewishWeek)

What could be more appropriate for a "New Israel," than the Old City of Jerusalem, without any mezuzot?

**A mezuzah (Hebrew: מְזוּזָה‎ "doorpost") (plural: mezuzot (מְזוּזוֹת)) is a piece of parchment (often contained in a decorative case) inscribed with specified Hebrew verses from the Torah (Deuteronomy 6:4-9 and 11:13-21). These verses comprise the Jewish prayer "Shema Yisrael", beginning with the phrase: "Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is One" (wikipedia)

Visiting Israel?
Learn to Shoot at Caliber-3 with top Israeli Anti-Terror Experts!

Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael טובה הארץ מאד מאד

Massive Jerusalem Archeological Dig Planned

Wow.

A7 reported (and provided the above amazing picture):

Israel is planning a major archaeological dig under the Western Wall (Kotel) plaza, opposite the Temple Mount, officials announced Thursday. The excavations will create an archaeological park directly underneath the area where worshippers currently stand while praying at the Kotel.

The current prayer area will remain open, supported by pillars, while a new area will be added underneath, at the level at which worshippers at the ancient Temple stood in the past.

In other Old City news: New Tram/Subway to connect Kotel Plaza with Jewish Quarter -- specifically helping the disabled:

The tram will enable the elderly and families with small children to easily move back and forth between the two areas. Visitors to the Western Wall (Kotel) could have an easier time getting to the holy site soon. A new tram will visitors to reach to the Kotel Plaza from the Jewish Quarter, enabling visitors who have difficulty walking up and down the many steps between the two sites to more easily visit the Kotel. The tram, which is to be named for Baruch Klein, a resident of the Quarter who is financing the project, will descend from Tiferet Yisrael Street, and then enter a 56-meter long tunnel, where riders will exit. The project is being directed by the Jewish Quarter Preservation and Development Company. Company director Nissim Arazi told Israel National News that the tram could be extended to reach the Herodian Quarter (the Wohl Archaeological Museum) - an area with many well-preserved buildings from the Second Temple era that is impossible for individuals with physical limitations to reach. "Some 10 million visitors come to the Old City each year," Arazi said."The Jewish Quarter has been partially outfitted to enable disable people to reach important sites, but because of worries about preserving the site archaeologically, we were unable to build a connection between the Jewish Quarter and the Kotel Plaza. The tram will enable limited mobility individuals, such as the elderly or families with small children, to easily move back and forth between the two areas."

Visiting Israel?
Learn to Shoot at Caliber-3 with top Israeli Anti-Terror Experts!

Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael טובה הארץ מאד מאד

Out of the Depths, out of the Ashes, Rebuilding Jerusalem

I'll never forget the first time I saw this arch in the Old City of Jerusalem; walking through the Old City on our way to the Kotel, the stark appearance of a single arch reaching towards the sky in the middle of ruins in captivating.

The arch was rebuilt as a tribute to the Churva Shul when Israel liberated the Old City of Jerusalem in 1967. The shul had been destroyed by the Jordanians, as had much of the Jewish Quarter, as had been the ancient Jewish cemetery on the Mount of Olives -- the tombstones from Jewish graves were used to pave roads and build latrines.


The Churva was the most impressive building in the Jewish Quarter once completed and served the Jewish community not only as a shul, but as a communal meeting place as well.

Ze'ev Jabotinsky organized a rally at the Hurva in order to enlist volunteers in the Jewish Brigade. It is also the place where the ceremony to hand over the flag of the Jewish Brigade was held on the day Jerusalem was conquered in 1917. Herzl visited there in 1898. The installation of the Ashkenazi rabbis of Jerusalem and of the Land of Israel took place at the Hurva and from there the call to save European Jewry was sent out during a public fast and day of prayer organized by hundreds of rabbis.

In 1925, when Herbert Samuel ended his term as the British high commissioner in Palestine, he came to the Hurva, was called up to read from the Torah and was honored with the last reading of Parshat Nahamu (the Sabbath immediately after the fast of Tisha B'Av, when the haftorah, the additional reading from Scriptures, begins with the words "Nahamu, nahamu ami" which means "Comfort My people, comfort them"). When Samuel reached the words "and on his throne a foreigner shall not sit" (in the blessing that is recited after the reading of the haftorah), Rabbi Avraham Yitzhak Hacohen Kook stood up and repeated those words aloud. Haaretz

The Churva was a majestic building with a large dome and large arches on each side of the building. It was impossible to miss among the skyline of the Old City.

And then the war came. Jews were evicted from the Old City...and the Jordanians demolished and desecrated everything Jewish. (To date, almost every Jewish site under Palestinian control has suffered the same fate; from the gravesite of Yosef to that of Yehoshua)

The ElderofZion has a whole description of the history and destruction of the Churva.



However, not to be deterred, we are rebuilding the Churva shul -- and its in the final stages of construction. The familiar lone standing arch is gone; and the shul's rebuilt exterior is almost complete.

Having neighborhood hitchhikers who work in the Old City -- I sent one the other week on a mission to take some pictures for my blog of it's current status. If you want an amazing English speaking tour guide for the Kotel Tunnels, let me know and I'll put you in touch with her...she took the pictures.

Enjoy!

View from above...

This picture is a few weeks older...



May this be the final time this shul will need to be rebuilt -- and may we see more building cranes in the Old City soon.


hat-tip for this pic; YMedad.


Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael טובה הארץ מאד מאד