There are few sites as spiritually stirring - at least for me - as the wall of the old city of Jerusalem as the sun is setting. Occasionally, I find myself with a "ringside" seat for this glorious sight. Last Thursday evening, Rabbi Jacob Herber and I joined a number of friends and had dinner at a restaurant called Kedma. The restaurant is on the top floor of the Mamilla Mall. Mamilla was, up until ten years ago, a dilapidated area just below the Jaffa Gate of the old city in what had been "no-mans land" between east and west Jerusalem from 1948 and 1967. The area was developed for mixed use, and includes a snazzy mall and some very upscale apartments, which were sold to Jews living outside of Israel who come to visit over the holidays of Pesach and Sukkot. The rest of the year, the apartments sit empty, and have had the unfortunate effect of driving the cost of living in Jerusalem even higher than it had been. Here's the view: 

 The sun setting over the Old City's Jaffa Gate. 

 And here is Rabbi Jacob Herber, my partner in Jewish study, getting ready to enjoy his meal at Kedma. 

On Friday afternoon, we drove to the port (namal) in Tel Aviv for what has become a very popular Kaballat Shabbat service. The tefillot are conducted outside facing the water, with guitar, piano, cello and other musical accompaniment. Those who love it consider the services to be a shiluv (grafting) of traditional Judaism and modern Israeli culture. If you listen closely to the clip, you can hear a Hebrew version of "What a Wonderful World", by Louis Armstrong. Let's hear it for the universal message of Shabbat!

Kaballat Shabbat @ Namal Tel Aviv (the port)

 The boardwalk at the port in Tel Aviv - 

Friday night and it's hopping!

Saturday afternoon, I returned to Tel Aviv to visit with my aunt, uncle and cousins. They live on a street called "Havatzelet HaSharon" which means the lily of the valley. As I was leaving, my uncle showed me one of the lilies. 

 Returning to Jerusalem Saturday night (having spent a few hours with Rabbi Phil Nadel and Ros Roucher at their home in K'far Sava), I joined Rabbi Jacob Herber for dinner with Milwaukee Jewish Federation campaign chair, Mitch Moser, and campaign director Rabbi Eric Stark. In the photo below, they are debriefing us on their recently completed trip to the former Soviet Union. 

Federation campaign chair Mitch Moses with campaign director, Rabbi Eric Stark

 Sunday morning, we returned to classes (Maimonides Laws of Kings from the 12th century Mishneh Torah). During the second hour we smelled smoke and learned subsequently that there had been coordinated arson attacks around the western edge of Jerusalem. One of the fires came within 40 meters of the archives at Yad VaShem, Israel's Holocaust memorial and museum. Thankfully, all the fires were out by nightfall. 

Two Young Ultra Orthodox boys watch a fire fighting plane. The building in the background is Yad VaShem, Israel's museum of the Holocaust.

Tonight, we all went to the open air market, Machaneh Yehuda, which was transformed into something like a Purim carnival with music, jugglers, dancing, food, etc. Balabasta takes over the market every Monday night in July. To read a report about Balabasta, go here. 

To see some HD video I shot this evening, click on the arrow below: 

Balabasta Night, in Machaneh Yehudah Market, Jerusalem - note dancing flowers on right

 Well, it's back to the books. Hope you are surviving what I hear is rather beastly weather in Milwaukee. Here it's creeping back up to 99 degrees today... 

Rabbi David B. Cohen