High Over Jerusalem

I shot this dramatic image from a municipality-sponsored press helicopter (see other pic), on a cool, crystal clear - and very windy- autumn afternoon.

Nothing like hanging the camera half-out a window into the windstream blast, twisted near sideways about 800 meters over the Temple Mount to get the fear of God in ya.' When doing this kind of photography, "breathtaking," is no idle word...

On High Over Jerusalem
Posted by Dave

Yakub's Ladder. Shot at the famous old Hamam in Jaffa. the bulbous shapes are cupolas letting out steam, some with colored glass inserts allowing in light. I liked how the ladders ascended towards the sky. The man at the bottom is putting on a new coat of whitewash.

Day's End at Acco

Back on my feet and posting after a spring, summer and most of Autumn of many personal changes. Sigh.

I shot this with my Fuji S5000 at Acco's fishing docks. Eye candy for the moment, until I get back into politics and posting yada yada.

Deep in prayer late at night in a Jerusalem synagogue, off the city's Nahalat Shiva quarter.
Posted by Dave

Holocaust Rememberance Day and... MTV

Passover has, well, passed over (as of this posting here in Israel - all you Yids out there - give it another 24 hours. You're not supposed to be reading this now anyway...) and Israelis are turning their collective face to Holocaust Rememberance Day, on Wednesday, May 4th.

Ever see an entire country stop dead in its tracks for two minutes? And I mean four-lane highways and major city intersections with cars and busses pulling over, with people getting out and standing at stock silent attention? Airports and bus stations, business meetings and military maneuvers, tv and radio stations, school playgrounds and college campuses, supermarkets and malls, factories and farmers, religious and secular alike, old and young, Jews and Arab citizens all stop what they're doing when public sirens sound all over the country at 11:00 AM and take a moment to reflect on the, well, inconceiveable. And then, as the sirens die down, echoing across the Land and into the heart, move on.

Yad Vashem, the shattering Jerualem Holocaust Memorial, museum, research center and archive recently dedicated their newly-renovated museum, and it is a website worth clicking over to for background, news and events and the worlds largest database for Holocaust information.

I will have articles, photos, audio and other reports about all this as the week progresses, so check back.

Jewlicious has a surprising (putting it mildly) posting about - wait for it - MTV's Holocaust Day coverage... no kidding:

"I’m Still Here, Real Diaries of Young People Who Lived During the Holocaust, presents the diaries of young people who experienced first-hand the terror of daily life during the Holocaust. Through an emotional montage of archival footage, personal photos, and text from the diaries themselves, the film tells the story of a group of young writers who refused to quietly disappear.Academy Award nominated director Lauren Lazin has directed the hour-long documentary. The film is scored by Moby and the diaries are read by some of today’s most talented young actors including Elijah Wood, Ryan Gosling, Kate Hudson, Brittany Murphy and Joaquin Phoenix, among others. Original footage was shot in Vilnius, Lithuania in the remnants of the old Jewish ghetto. Actor, director, and writer Zach Braff will host the program when it airs on MTV."

MTV and death camps. Who knew? This is, frankly, too weird for parody.

Gaza, Guns & Passover Blessings

Amid Passover week's holiday celebrations and festive Seder meals marking the Exodus of the Children of Israel from Egypt, Israel is more and more deeply riven over another impending exodus; that of some 8500 Israeli residents of the southern Gaza Strip, who, after over 30 years and with families, bag, baggage and even graves, are slated – so far, at least – to be pulled back into Israel proper over the summer in the government’s deeply disputed “Disengagement Plan.”

The Israeli Army plans to collect weaponry once-issued to the settlers, reportedly in an effort to head off feared violence towards security forces. But when I asked New York-born Anita Tucker, a farmer and veteran resident of the Netzer Hazani community - a community expected to turned over to the Palestinians, she dismissed the idea out of hand terming it Israeli government "psy-ops" against the settlers intended to break their spirit. An audio link to her comments is further below. Do give a listen; I will post the rest of the interview in a day or two.

Meanwhile, at the Western Wall Plaza in Jerusalem’s Old City, the annual Passover collective priestly blessing - Birkat Hacohenim - of thousands of Jewish worshippers assembled on the plaza’s took place Tuesday morning.

Photos of the event are posted in the next few entries; scroll down and make sure to click on the picture itself to see the full-sized version. I shot the pics in RAW format and saved in TIFF (which means "freakin' humgeous files - 17 meg apiece," to the rest of us non-digital photo mavens...) and nipped 'n' tucked in Photoshop so they're real hi-rez, even when saved for the web in compressed .JPG format. I work and slave over a hot laptop all the livelong day so you can just enjoy, and what, what thanks do I get... hmmmph.

And now back to the English - language portion of our regularly scheduled blog...

Jews from the four corners of the earth, who trace their lineage back to Moses and his brother Aaron who led the Children of Israel out of slavery and into the Promised Land, stand garbed in ghostly white prayer-shawls with heads bowed and hands outspread soon after sunrise, and recite the ancient cadences:

May the Lord Bless and Keep You
May the Lord Cause His Countenance to Shine Upon You and Bless You
May the Lord Turn His Face to You and Bless you With Peace

Many Israelis from across the political and religious spectrum, fearing civil war perhaps no less than Palestinian attacks into Israel after the pullout, are deeply hoping that those words won’t have been chanted in vain.

Click here for the audio version of this entry, with Tucker's comments, and actuality (sounds from the scene) at the Western Wall - make sure your speakers are turned on: http://members.tripod.com/mister_d1/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/260405gazawall.mp3

That file is stored here: http://mister_d1.tripod.com.

Cross posted at www.israelity.com

Passover in Jerusalem

The following series was shot at the Western Wall in Jerusalem's Old City on the Intermediate Days of the Passover Holiday. Here, worshippers hold aloft a Seferadi community Torah scroll, encased in a traditional solid wooden housing during festive morning services at the Western Wall. Click on the photo to see a full-sized image.
Posted by Dave

Passover in Jerusalem

Sprigs of fragrant branches and leaves, inhaled to refresh the senses are commonly passed around at Sepharadi community services, and as seen here during morning prayers at Western Wall, Passover 2005. Click on the photo to see a full-sized image.
Posted by Dave

Passover in Jerusalem

Fathers and sons during annual Passover communal Priestly Blessing at Western Wall, Jerusalem. Click on the photo to see a full-sized image.
Posted by Dave

Passover in Jerusalem

Ultra-orthodox youths on scaffolding get a better view of the ceremony, as multitudes of worshippers crowd the plaza. Click on the photo to see a full-sized image.
Posted by Dave

Flower on the Golan-3.
Posted by Dave

Flower vista of the Sea of Galilee.
Posted by Dave

Flower on the Golan Heights-2.
Posted by Dave

Flower on the Golan Heights.
Posted by Dave

Stork caught in flight over the Mt. Gilboa nature preserve, overlooking the Jordan Valley.
Posted by Dave

Flowers and landscapes from the eastern side of the Sea of Galilee and Golan Heights.
Posted by Dave

View eastwards towards Jordan Valley from Mt. Gilboa nature preserve.
Posted by Dave

Eastern vista of the Sea of Galilee, aka the "Kinneret," from the Golan Heights.
Posted by Dave

'May All Who Are Hungry Come and Eat' vs 'Occupied Territories'

I've been tele-fundraising from Israel to the UK in recent days for a small, but very intensive Jerusalem-based charity (http://www.ezranet.com) that distributes food baskets, clothing and related aid to the really poverty-stricken throughout the country; 2,500 baskets weekly, 10,000 by Pessach in a special campaign.

Several of those I spoke with in Great Britain - Jews, mind you - in London and Manchester were, and although a minority, quite adamant in their refusal to donate food to near-starving Israeli children... until Israel "changed its policies in the Occupied Territories."

Now, while on-line with them, I bit my tongue and stayed professional and on-message, clarifying that the donations were totally non-political (as is the organization), non-sectarian and were meant, as in the Passover passage, "Kol Dichfin, y'tee v'uchal - "May all who are hungry come and eat." Lot of good professionalism did for these kids.

One woman I spoke with (and I now wonder if she ever carried a child in her arms OR her womb) - insisted, despite my repeated attempts to sway her to understand that we were discussing hot soup for a cold and hungry child, and not politics - that "everything was politics."
Another I spoke with opened the conversation with a hearty chuckle, and, "I'm not sure you understand just how un-sympathetic I am." (Sigh). Talk about a callous heart.
I guess what struck me the most was the obsessive, near-gleeful, meaness of their attitude; hungry kids be damned - politics first!

And while we cavil about high-level academic snubbing of Israelis at UK universities and the like, in-duh-viduals like these are really ok, "quite fine thank you," in the local parlance, I suppose with poverty-stricken Jewish children going hungry - as long as their noxious ideological appetite get a good meal out of it.

I suggest we show them and their ilk where we stand: please go over to http://www.ezranet.com, click onto the donations page in the upper right-hand corner of the home page and send a kid a few hot meals for this coming Shabbat and Pessach. They accept dollars and UK pounds, with over 90 percent of it going toward real food and it's a tax-deductible donation in the US and UK.

May we all, the House of Israel and her supporters worldwide have a healthy and happy Passover festival.

(Cross-posted at www.israelity.com)

'Israelity' 'n' me/Rain for Purim

Rain for Purim. That’s the latest forecast. The traditional rainout on Purim is expected, yet again, here in Jerusalem for this coming Sunday. Damn. And there are so many great events planned for the city, not to mention across the country. All the crepe’ paper ink leaking down onto the kids costumes and decorations, just like Halloweens trick-or-treating I grew up with in the States.

But ever since end of the first Gulf War in 1991, I more immediately associate the coming of Purim celebrations with the riiiiiip of tape and plastic sheeting off our windows; Israel Radio had reported a government decision that it was safe to remove the improvised “safeguards” against the threat of CBW attacks by Saddam Hussein the evening of the holiday. I think my old apartment still has remnants of the masking tape embedded in the glass…

Hey, great premier podcast, Harry and Ziva R.! Harry, you’re sooo “indie” and edgy over Eurovision - and sooo right. What a musical dreckoteria that show is. Hey, you two have a real career choice out there in radio, ya’ know… remember RadioWest (z"l), Ziva?! (For all you’se others out there, RadioWEST was Israel’s only all-English language, 24/6 radio station and an aural home-away-from-home for many Western-born immigrants. Semi-legal and broadcasting in Jerusalem from a super-secret locale - oddly enough - just across the street from the Second Channel Broadcasting Authority. Hmm… RadioWEST was a true labor of love for many on both sides of the mike, in Jerusalem and the environs. For more, go here and “control + F” with: “Pirate broadcasters claim they have been used as scapegoats").

Anyway, back to now: Daughter Inbal Chaya, 17, has, thank God, has successfully just completed her six-month round of chemotherapy treatments. She’s now due - barring awful surprises - some two years of pill-taking to finally defeat her lymphoma, once and for all. Its’s been a tough road for all of us, with an immense amount of help from family and friends. We’re not quite out of the woods, but can see a clearing through the trees. She’s planning National Service instead of the IDF, and has been investigating boarding schools and women’s seminaries.

Wife Mazal has re-started studying for her economics degree at the Open University, and together with that, started working back at her bank, where’s she’s been for the last 25 years.
Meanwhile, the kids are preparing for Purim, what with costumes, usually homemade and, umm, creative, and are starting to get their fill of traditional “hamentashen -oznei Haman” triangular pastries. Wife and kids are furiously wrapping gift packages while I post here. Meanwhile - chilled arak well in hand - I’ll be studying the sagacious learning in “Torah from Krusty“. Go. Go there and learn, my child…

Co-blogger Dave Bogner here (further down), pretty much covers the waterfront about pre-Purim stuff ’n’ nonsense is like here, as far as ramping up to the lunacy on Sunday goes…
I’ll be posting lots ‘o’ pics about Purim events here in the capital in coming days, including parties, kiddierama,and so on, so stay tuned.

(Crossblogged at Israelity)

Still alive and well...

Took a long break from blogging, in order to jobsearch 24/6, take care of intensive family matters, both at home and at large, do radio for a new foreign client in the Far East, set up a "real" Flash-based website with a great designer (that, after getting all the digi-kinks and typos out, should be up in a few weeks), begin a new evening job with a local telemarketing firm, and - of all things - get my Goverment Press Office card renewed for 2005. It has been a wickedly tough, bone-wearying few months around here, I'll tell'ya.

A bit on what's been happening, without getting into last Friday's terror attack and it's reprecussions, "Disengagement" politics, the wider disputes and, oh, the meaning of life in general. That's all for the next entry...

Best news is that daughter Inbal, 17, is responding well to her chemotherapy treatments. She has about a month to go, and then goes on a two-year pill "maintenance" regimen. Only after- God willing - 5 years, according to statistics, can we start talking about "remission." Unfortunately, she's ingesting enough steroids and chemotoxins in her last few batches to choke a horse. Makes her real moody (as if being 17 itself wasn't enough), and she, apparently, caught an infection. Since her immune system is leaning towards negative numbers due to the medicines, she's back in the hospital for a few days to suck down antibiotics. Wife Mazal is with her around the clock. Avner is doing his best, and I'm working.

Working: I managed to get a weekly freelance spot writing for In Jerusalem, the Jerusalem Post's metro edition. Did four editions, so far and love being back in the newsroom, at least to meet once a month for planning - despite all the controversy (mostly justified) about working conditions, the recent sale of the organization, and such. That is a newspaper with dedicated staffers, administration and interns... Here are two of the latest articles I've done for them:

"Taxing Times"
"Routing for Rachel"

Had a genuine saga trying to renew my GPO ID card, as noted above; it's a tough to get into many press conferences and other secured or otherwise closed venues for coverage without that sly slip of plastic... Turns out that, according to the GPO, far too many in-duh-viduals were gaining access to those events with - formerly - casually handed-out cards, so they cracked down on their definition of the term (epithet?) journalist/correspondent.

Now, since I've been mainly tending to family matter as noted above, I didn't have requisite number of Internet "hits" for articles, or print/radio press coverage to be considered worthy. So they turned me down on first and second application. What a drag... so there I am, metaphoric hat in hand, running pillar to post at the GPO and begging indulgence to give me a break, so I can make a living... Ugh.

Been working at CSM for a few months now. Great place, great crew and ambience, too, despite my initial misgivings about working at a call center. There are so many new, "middling," and veteran immigrants from around the world working here, and a good "rosh" - headspace. Now to just buff up this weeks sales figures...