Ladies: Escape The Heat!

I found myself with just too much time on my hands the other day, when I was in Jerusalem. Of course, only later that night did I remember what I should have done and had planned on doing... Well, since I had finished studying Bible/Tanach Al Haperek, the Matan program, with my study group, near Mamilla Mall around 12:30, and had an early dinner date in Piccolino with another friend, it made sense to stay in Jerusalem.

Of course, I wanted to burn as many calories as possible and rev up my metabolism before eating out. The only real problem was the strong summer sun/heat. Of course, I could have just taken a bus to a mall and marched around, but I did not want to spend money.

The Old Jerusalem City Walls beckoned me, and I remembered that it was always much cooler and comfortable in the Old City, so I decided to go there and also pray at the Kotel. By the time I got to the Kotel, after a nice side-trip to our old haunts, where we had lived as new immigrants and newlyweds, I was exhausted, drenched and probably more than a bit dehydrated. The idea of sitting outside under the scorchingly hot early afternoon sun did not seem like a good idea. Luckily I remembered "the room."

On the right side of the wmn's Kotel area you'll see a few steps and a door to a small room. Decades ago, when I was in Israel as a student, I loved to sit there to pray and reflect. The only downside was the size, rather small, and the fact that there always seemed to be a mildew smell to it. But it did seem to be the best option, so I went in. NO SMELL! Also, it wasn't crowded. Since I'm not a "Kotel fan," I had no need to sit close to the Wall. I prefer praying in nearby Tel Shiloh!

"And the biggest surprise by far...*"

On the wall there was an air-conditioner!

So, not only is the Kotel the only place in downtown Jerusalem where women can pray and say Tehillim, Psalms, with dignity, but now we have a "weatherproof" protected room where we can escape the sun, wind and rain.

*Who knows where this line is from?

Sneaking into Shul

There's a synagogue in our Rami Levy supermarket, Sha'ar Binyamin. During afternoon and evening there are always calls on the loudspeaker inviting people aka men to doven (pray) Mincha and Ma'ariv, the afternoon and evening prayers. There's no women's section, no mechitza. But periodically, when I need a place to either say Tihillim, (Psalms) or Mincha I sneak in when it's empty.

And that's what I did yesterday. Before signing into work at Yafiz, I realized that, as I had gotten to work by tremp, hitchhiking, I hadn't said them.

Paying Tribute to a Chalutz, Pioneer

Shiloh has seen many enormous funerals in the past, and they all had something in common. The person being buried was murdered by Arab terrorists, and people came, because it had been headlined in the news.

Yesterday, again, we had mobs and mobs of people and a long line of buses. But this time we weren't burying a victim of Arab terror, we were burying a young chalutz, pioneer, Yossi Shuker.

I had planned on posting the pictures with my report of the funeral, but photobucket wasn't cooperating. Read this for more about Yossi. Actually I sent it to work as a Reading Comprehension exercise with questions as one of the lesson plans for my students, since I took the day off in order to attend the funeral. My boss was very understanding when I requested to be allowed to attend the funeral. It's one of those things in Israel that funerals are considered great mitzvot, commandments from G-d, and even on a workday, you'll see relatively large numbers of people attending.

There are a lot of pictures, and I'll just post them without commentary. They begin with the cars and buses accompanying the body from his home in Givat Achiyah, northeast of Shiloh, a community he and his wife Ronit founded. And the last picture is just after the funeral, a group of men saying the mincha, afternoon prayer, while the last people are leaving the cemetery.

If you have any questions, just "comment."