A big day for diplomacy, but a slow day for the Jerusalem streets

Sharon A

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is in Jerusalem on his first visit to Israel as Chancellor of Germany.

Across Israel, on December 3, the International Day of Persons with Disabilities was marked with conferences, accessibility campaigns, and some Jerusalem public buildings lit in purple.

The Tower of David, including the walls, was lit purple at night.

I was disappointed that Beit Hanasi was not purple like last year as I walked by on my way home from a special event at the Friends of Zion Museum (FoZ).

Every event at FoZ has been a unique experience. I never know what to expect.

However, the music was often provided by The Solomon Brothers. They opened the VIP event of the Ambassador Summit 2025. One thousand pastors and influencers came to Israel for a week-long special mission under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Mike Evans’ FoZ

President Isaac Herzog received a warm welcome upon arriving in the FoZ Media Center.

The Israeli President was the opening speaker, welcoming the leaders of the 1000-strong Ambassador Summit 2025. “In the city of faith, it means so much,” he told them in his remarks.

U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee spoke brilliantly to the mission initiated by Dr. Mike Evans, a Christian leader and influencer, in cooperation with the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Ambassador Huckabee emphasized the importance of the friendship between Israel and the United States and the moral responsibility of the evangelical community to stand with Israel in its time of crisis.

“Come and see it for yourselves…my opinions don’t matter…land of Israel dry bones come to life, I have seen it in my own life…God keeps every promise he makes to us, even when we do not keep the promises we make to Him…faith… I’m giving you a place – Israel – a people, a place, and purpose… Without the Jewish faith, there would be no Christian faith.”

Immediately after the Ambassador spoke, the President left for his next scheduled appearance.

Well, after the official photo of the five leaders together. I stayed upstairs for a better, less crowded view.

Their buses traveled around Israel this week to see the truth for themselves and go back to share with their communities. Amb. Huckabee told them to come back and to bring a group with them.

On a pleasant day, there was time to take a walk and see the stalls along the Old Train Track.

With access to the businesses along Emek Refaim Street almost impossible to access because of light rail construction, they were put up as alternative venues to buy food.

The First Station has a new bike path, but much is also closed off because of construction.

Most everywhere in Jerusalem, if you dig down, you will find something. Archaeologists are examining the site before the new light rail station construction proceeds.

The Tuesday farmers’ market at First Station has had fresh produce for the past two years.

However, these stalls were without merchandise or sellers.

It was sad to take a photo with more cats than people on a nice afternoon.

Hopefully, the tourists will return soon as we enter the holiday season.

The Jerusalem Hanukkah lights above the streets were turned on.

One store window was ready for the holiday early.

Things are slowly returning to normal on the Jerusalem streets, despite all the construction and war.

However, there are still thousands of reserve soldiers on duty protecting our borders.

And still, one Israeli, Ran Gvili, a policeman murdered on October 7, is held hostage in Gaza.

Remember, ALL the hostages were to be returned in the first phase of the Trump 20-point ceasefire deal, before going on to the second phase.

Hopefully, the 1,000 members of the Ambassador Mission will go home and spread the truth of what’s really happening on the Jerusalem streets and all over Israel.

Hope to see you soon on the Jerusalem streets.

Photos from the last week of November in Jerusalem

Sharon A

On Nov. 30, Israel marks the Day of Departure & Expulsion of Jews from Arab Countries & Iran.

Almost a million Jews were expelled from their countries of birth after 1948, 850,000 from the Arab world & 100,000 from Iran. This fact of history and ethnic cleansing has been ignored for too long.

Sign 29 November Street

Kaf tet b’November was on Shabbat this year.

Why is it important to share the Jerusalem street sign again every year?

On November 29, 1947, the United Nations adopted Resolution 181, the Partition Resolution, to divide Great Britain’s former Palestinian mandate into Jewish and Arab states in May 1948, when the British mandate was scheduled to end. The Jews accepted. The Arabs declared war.

In 1977, the General Assembly called for the annual observance of 29 November as the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. The UN has become consistent in rewriting and inverting history.

Jerusalem doesn’t have fall colors like the US Northeast. However, these leaves were near the Knesset.

Oh, oh, the Jerusalem streets, with construction most everywhere, making it hard to drive or walk.

The new signs promote the use of the expanded bike lanes. I saw three bike riders at one time last week.

We had heavy rain and a couple of grey days. Again today, it was sunny, and then came heavy rain.

It was a good time to stay home and bake to fill the freezer on a rainy day,

However, when the sun comes out, so does the colour along the Jerusalem streets.

At the beginning of the week, I was back at the National Library of Israel, and the sun was shining.

Finally! The timing was right to get a photo of the shadows in the form of letters.

This display was back to the original before the Iron Swords War.

This was for a tour group, after almost two years without the faces of the murdered on October 7 on display.

The last three hostages are now down to two. One is a Thai worker, Sudthisak Rudalak.

Police officer Ran Gvili was murdered on October 7, and his body was taken hostage.

Will they ever be released to come home?

The main lobby was quiet; it is usually full of large tour groups.

From that lobby area, visitors usually take this image to post of the National Library of Israel.

However, this time I was escorted upstairs to a small conference room for a special presentation by three researchers. Avi Shmidman, Daniel Stokl Ben Ezra and Nachum Dershowitz are the principal investigators of the MiDRASH project.

For centuries, in the Ben Ezra Synagogue in Fustat, Old Cairo, the Cairo Genizah contained more than 300,000 handwritten pieces from the 9th to the 19th centuries.

They have used AI and Machine Learning to transcribe and share from the Cairo Genizah fragments.

Soon, the results will be available online through the National Library for researchers around the world.

For those wanting something less academic, NLI is hosting children’s events during Hanukkah.

Thursday night was Thanksgiving, a holiday mostly celebrated with Black Friday ads and not turkey.

But AMIT held a Thanksgiving dinner at the Jerusalem Inbal Hotel to celebrate 100 years of educating Israeli children. The attendees were mostly American, with a large percentage of them olim.

I went for the Thanksgiving-themed food for Friday night dinner.

It was interesting to see the photos of Thanksgiving and Shabbat posted on social media again. For two years, many refrained from posting their weekly gatherings as hostages were held starving in Gaza.

There are only two hostages presumed dead known to be left in Gaza, and for many, it’s back to normal.

However, the war is not over. Newly wounded have joined the long list of over 20,000 soldiers.

As we were reminded at the AMIT dinner, 66 fallen soldiers were students, as well as 3 AMIT educators.

Hadar Goldin, the longest held hostage, was kidnapped and killed during a humanitarian ceasefire 11 years ago, and finally returned for his long-suffering parents to have a proper burial.

There is what to be thankful for and hopeful for on the Jerusalem streets.

What will happen next? You never can predict.

Hope to see you soon, this year in Jerusalem.

3 things you should know happened in Jerusalem

Sharon A

Three events from the third week of November in Jerusalem, Israel, are highlighted in this post.

As the Jerusalem skyline above us constantly changes, things are happening on the streets, conference halls and theaters. As always, there is more happening than makes the headlines.

ONE

Monday night, nine women took to a Jerusalem stage to perform “Heroines” for an audience of women.

In July 2023, inspired by a video of Rachel Goldberg-Polin speaking at Kever Rachel, Shayna Levine-Hefetz sat down at the piano. As she played, music flowed through her, imagining Rachel in conversation with her Biblical namesake. That was when the concept of “Heroines” was born.

The monologues are presented in a Reader’s Theatre style: an open-book dramatic performance.

The opening scene relates the story of Adi Vital-Kaploun, of Holit, who was murdered in her home in front of her 4-year-old and 4.5-month-old sons. The boys were then taken captive on October 7, 2023, but miraculously released. Each story is encapsulated in a short presentation of a dynamic event.

The open-book dramatic performance requires no memorization, and the costumes are simple.

Performers use voice and facial expressions to bring the words to the audience.

Not always seated for the solemn and sad stories, they were up and active in some of the scenes.

Plus, a few gestures and scenes were included, providing humorous relief from the tragic stories.

‘Heroines” is a tribute to the women who died and survived during the Swords of Iron War.

“Our nation’s history seems to repeat itself, but so do our nation’s qualities of unbridled bravery, leadership, faith, and hope,” said Toby Klein Greenwald, who has led the women of “Raise Your Spirits” Theatre shows with Biblical themes to women-only audiences for the past 24 years.

TWO

All day Wednesday at Nefesh BeNefesh, the 4th Jerusalem Business Conference was held.

Organized by Lesley Kaplan and the Israel Networking Hub in partnership with the Association of Americans and Canadians in Israel (AACI) and Nefesh B’Nefesh, the event theme was “Own Your Voice.”

Hillel Fuld was opening keynote speaker, with advice based on his experiences in tech and social media.

Joseph Gitler of Leket Israel was another important speaker in conversation with Lesley Kaplan.

The panel moderated by Heather Dean included Debbie Sassen, Fleur Hassan Nahoum, and Zev Levi.

The participants filled the room, including one fitness expert who brought along his own ball to sit on.

Most stayed for the speaker and special networking session late in the afternoon, and the prize raffle.

THREE

According to their tradition, Ethiopian Jews, also known as Beta Israel, are descended from emigrants from the tribe of Dan in the Land of Israel during the time of King Solomon. Each year on Sigd, they went to a mountain top in Ethiopia and prayed to return to Zion, to Jerusalem.

Ethiopian religious leaders Kessim in Jerusalem for Sigd

Sigd was declared a national holiday in Israel in 2008. Some members of the Ethiopian Jewish community fast and recite prayers. Tens of thousands come to Jerusalem each year, 50 days after Yom Kippur, for the services led by Kessim, their religious leaders.

I say each year, these were the original Zionists.

Woman praying at Sigd event in Jerusalem Israel

Thursday, November 20, in the morning, Sigd was celebrated on the Tayelet, with prayers and celebration.

Hostage-poster-Avera-Mangisto-ten-years

Special this year, former long-time hostage Avera Manfisto attended Sigd for the first time.

Traffic was still blocked as people were leaving in the afternoon.

And at night, it was Rosh Chodesh Kislev.

Chanukah is coming.

Festivals and culture are returning to the Jerusalem streets.

As the war in Gaza drags on, with three hostages still held captive, Jerusalem is building, bigger and better, like the new entrance to the Jerusalem Botanical Gardens seen here.

Next year in Jerusalem, or will we see you here sooner to see for yourselves?