Silent Echoes of Halcyon Days

The old Jerusalem Railway Station lies in ruins, abandoned and ignored.

Khefetz Khashud! ("suspicious package")

We're riding home on a Friday afternoon (today) after shopping at the Machane Yehuda Shuk, and the Egged bus driver is taking every advantage of the light traffic, hurtling down Derech Khevron (Hebron Street) at top speed toward Talpiot/Arnona. Suddenly, all traffic comes to an abrupt stop, and we are stuck. After some minutes, bus passengers start to crane their necks to see what's happening and it becomes obvious. This isn't a normal traffic jam; everything (buses, cars and pedestrians) have stopped because someone has reported a Khefetz Khashud. The army and police have blocked the road and employ a remote-controlled device to manipulate and examine the object. We're too far away to see exactly what the object is, but 25 minutes later (after we'd exited the bus and then gotten back on), the traffic begins to move and its over. All Clear.

Shabbat Shalom!

A complex tapestry: Jerusalem of Heaven and Earth

The people of Jerusalem comprise a complex and varied spectrum of races, cultures, personalities, and temperaments. From old Russian grandmothers breaking out in song while riding the public buses, to young orthodox Jewish kids with flowing Payyot (sidelocks), to throughly secular, tanned and muscular men and women striding the streets proclaiming their physical vitality. From the Arab members of our community, with whom I rarely manage to engage in conversation, to the panopoly of tourists and pilgrims who are critical to the city's economy but who also bring patronizing smiles to the faces of the merchants who depend on them. This and much more give shape and form to our daily lives here.

Riding the "Egged #7 Aleph" which is frequented

by many Russian Israelis heading home to Talpiot.
(Canon A80 4MP)

Heading into the city center.
(Canon A80 4MP)

Kavanah (focus and concentration) at the Kotel, 2009.
Canon EOS 50D 15.2 MP)

A moment of devotion on Temple Mount (Haram es-Sharif), 1973.
(Nikon FTN 35mm)

A citizen of Jerusalem, 1972.
(Nikon FTN 35mm)

A citizen of Jerusalem, 2008.
(Canon A80 4MP)

Our sons and daughters, along the Old City walls, 1976.
(Nikon FTN 35mm)

The first posting

The ruined village of Lifta is located several hundred meters from Jerusalem's Central Bus Station and is reachable via a steep stony path. The site is generally identified as the ancient settlement of Nephtoah (Hebrew: נפתח) ", which was the northernmost demarcation point of the territory of the Tribe of Judah. Subsequently, during the Romans and Byzantine periods, it was known as Nephtho (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lifta). There is an ancient spring at Lifta, and often visitors will chance upon numerous Orthodox Jewish youngsters and their parents bathing and washing themselves in the ancient waters, uncharacteristically stripped of their long dark somber clothing.

Today, many of the homes retain traces of beautiful stonework, including Roseate motifs on stone lintels and vestiges of decorative paint. To enter some of these derelict buildings is to step back in time prior to the village's abandonment in 1947. Some dwellings contain old cooking pots, lost shoes, and other tangibles of a vanished life.




For many, Lifta serves as a microcosm of all the complexities of our history as Jews and Israelis in this land, and as a mirror for the competing narratives of two Peoples. Despite all this or perhaps because of it, Lifta instills a strong sense of beauty and history but it is a melancholy and thoughtful place.

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