A fountain that screwed up

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The water has been turned off in many beautiful fountains in drought-stricken Israel.
But for this fountain in Jerusalem's Safra Square, it's especially sad because the Archimedes' screw is, after all, a way to raise water from one level to another.

Here is an old Archimedes' screw that was actually used in agriculture years ago.
The now-rusty handle was once turned by hand.
It's on display with other old tools in Sergei Courtyard in the Russian Compound.
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This post is for both the weekly meme That's My World and the monthly City Daily Photo Theme Day.  The Februay 1 theme is fountains. Click here to view thumbnails for all participants
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Crossing the Supreme Court Bridge

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The Supreme Court Bridge leads into--you guessed it!--the Supreme Court building.
The courthouse was dedicated in 1992 but the bridge was not added until 2005.
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It is only for pedestrians, who walk on the lower part.
I got off the bus at the Central Bus Station and walked over to the court in less than 15 minutes.
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The architects, Ram and Ada Karmi, explain that the location of the Supreme Court at the entrance to the city, near the Central Bus Station, emphasizes its accessibility to all Israelis.
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In biblical times, the entrance of a city is where the judges sat and judged on Mondays and Thursdays.
As Deuteronomy 16:18 says, "You shall appoint magistrates and officials . . . in all your gates . . . and they shall govern the people with due justice."
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From the bridge you can see the old Jerusalem neighborhood of Nachlaot.
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Happy "Sunday Bridges" and bon dimanche to Louis la Vache and all the meme participants.
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Make your way straight before me

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Presenting Psalm 5 for the weekly PsalmChallenge over at Daily Athens.
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7. But as for me, in the abundance of your lovingkindness will I come into your house;

וַאֲנִי--בְּרֹב חַסְדְּךָ, אָבוֹא בֵיתֶךָ

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I will bow down toward your holy temple in awe of you.
אֶשְׁתַּחֲוֶה אֶל-הֵיכַל-קָדְשְׁךָ, בְּיִרְאָתֶךָ.

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9. O LORD, lead me in your righteousness

because of them that lie in wait for me;

make your way straight before my face.
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יְהוָה, נְחֵנִי בְצִדְקָתֶךָ--לְמַעַן שׁוֹרְרָי; הושר (הַיְשַׁר) לְפָנַי דַּרְכֶּךָ
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Photos are of the model of Jerusalem as many believe it looked in 66 CE, in the Second Temple Period.

The model now resides at the Israel Museum.

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Grandson Dean is on the path.

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Here is the text of Psalm 5 with a different translation:

1. For the leader; on Nehiloth1. A psalm. Of David.

2. Give ear to my words, O LORD; consider my utterance.

3. Listen to the sound of my cry, my King and God, for I pray to You.

4. LORD, hear my voice in the morning; in the morning I turn to2 You, and wait.

5. For You are not a God who desires wickedness; evil cannot sojourn with You;

6. wanton men cannot endure in Your sight. You hate all evildoers;

7. You destroy those who speak lies; a man of blood and deceit the LORD abhors.

8. But I, through Your abundant love, enter Your house; I bow to Your holy temple in awe of You.

9. O LORD, lead me along Your righteousness because of my foes; make Your way straight before me.

10. For there is no sincerity in their mouth; their innards - destruction; their throat is an open grave; their tongue slippery.

11 Hold them guilty, O God; let them fall by their own counsels; because of their many crimes cast them out, for they defy You.

12 But let all who take refuge in You rejoice; may they ever sing in jubilation as You shelter them; and let those who love Your name exult in You.

13. For You surely bless the righteous man, O LORD, encompassing him with favor as with a shield.

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Friendly lorikeets, friendly grandkids

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Lorikeets fly wild down in Sydney, Australia, where my daughter's family lives.
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The birds have started coming up to the porch and eating seeds out of the kids' hands.
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Libby is only 8 months old but she already loves animals.

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A post for Camera-Critters Sunday.

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Jerusalem's ever-changing shuk

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Shuk Machaneh Yehuda has been undergoing gentrification.
It's not just for apples and potatoes anymore.
Some shops in the open-air market are now selling luxury (as in, "ready to take home") food, like fresh ravioli and gnocchi.
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You don't even have to enter the shop to see the fancy stuff.
It tempts you from outside display cases.
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Reflected in the glass (for James' Weekend Reflections) is the arched white covering that spans between the stalls on either side of some, but not all, of the market's streets, providing shade in summer or an umbrella in winter.
The big fans keep a little air circulating in the heat of summer.
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With all due respect to pasta, I was drawn more to the other end of the display.
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For today's Food for Thoughts meme, Rob and Mandy ask what our idea of the best food is.
Here you see mine: dark chocolate in any shape or form!
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Have a sweet and peaceful Sabbath. Shabbat shalom!
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No, we don't have tornadoes in Israel

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Tuesday's sunset, just five minutes after the orange sun had slipped behind the mountain.
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I saw a bottlenose dolphin jumping through the sky in pursuit of the sun, which by then would have been going down into the Mediterranean.
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Happy SkyWatch Friday.
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Italian tiles on a Russian roof in Ein Kerem

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So many of you liked the Gornensky Convent that I give you more today.
Please see yesterday's comments for answers to questions raised.
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Enlarge and see that the cathedral's domes were still black in 2007.
You can see the perimeter walls that circle the huge Russian complex.
All those tall dark cypress trees are on the convent grounds.
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April 2009--scaffolding all around and the cathedral domes were plated with gold-colored metal. (Not sure what it is exactly.)
Photo snapped from the bus I take to go into Jerusalem, seen on top of the hill.
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From inside Gornensky, you see the village of Ein Kerem (now part of Jerusalem) nestled in the valley of the Jerusalem Hills.
The top of the ridge on the far horizon is already the West Bank.
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When I visited the convent in October they were building some small new building.
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Italian bloggers especially, enlarge the photo and read the fine print!
Those are stacks of Territalia terracotta roof tiles. Their website says they export a lot of them to the Middle East.
The Cunial family has been making tiles for 120 years and they now produce 25 million tiles per year.
Don't you love that logo of a tortoise with a shingled shell?
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Braids, brooms, benches, buckets, and bells

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UPDATE June 11, 2017:  For Western Christians today is Trinity Sunday.  But for Orthodox today is All Saints.  In Israel it is called the Feast of All the Saints of the Holy Land.  Here one of my earlier posts about the beautiful old Russian Orthodox Gorny convent and church in Ein Kerem, near Jerusalem.  See other posts about it here.
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Bells, buckets, benches, brooms, and braids -- all for ABC Wednesday -- and all were found at the Gorny Convent (aka "Moskovia").
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Russians built the convent in 1871, but the big church was "on hold" for over a century. Just a few years ago it was finally finished, complete with golden domes.
Click on the photo to better see the black bells in the belfry and the braided trees in the three pots.


Anyone know how they DO that braiding?!


Black-clad Russian Orthodox nuns often work with brooms around the brown benches near the older, smaller church.
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Hung between the trees is a simandron (or nakos in Arabic).

Why this had to replace church bells during Ottoman times is explained in an earlier post.

And to hear my video of the simandron being hammered on (in an Armenian church), please click here.

Buckets are indispensable when you live in a rural setting.

Gorny (or Gornensky) Convent has a huge area within its walls.

It clings to the side of the mountain near Ein Kerem.

From my village it is just a 45-minute walk, but entering the gate is like stepping into another time and place, much removed.

(For more about Gorny see the official website of the Moscow Patriarchate - Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem. They also have a video of the convent in one of our rare snow days.)

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UPDATE: Jedediah supplied a webpage about braiding a money tree, also with videos.

Vielen Dank, Jennifer!

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(Linking to inSPIREd Sunday, the meme about houses of worship.)
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Jerusalem above and below

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Enlarge the photo and you can see a guide with arm outstretched and his two tourists looking and listening.
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They are standing on this observation plaza, and the guide is pointing to the vast stretch of Jerusalem to the west.

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Just below is the donors' wall with names of those who contributed for the construction of this corner of the university.

Behind the trees are the outer buildings of the Mount Scopus campus of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
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At the foot of the modern outlook I was surprised to find ancient burial caves.

I counted some ten or eleven kokhim.

Actually, the whole ridge of Mount Scopus was a huge necropolis for the dead of Jerusalem some 2,000 years ago.

I'm glad the excavators and conservation people found a nice way to preserve this part of the cemetery and even integrate it into its new surroundings.

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Here ends today's tour for That's My World Tuesday. Shalom!

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A monk and his cell. A toddler dwelling in safety.

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Psalm 4 today for Robert's "Psalm Challenge" at Daily Athens.
You are welcome to join the little but growing group of blogging Psalm illustrators.
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Psalm 4:
To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. A Psalm of David.
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Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness!

You have enlarged me when I was in distress;

have mercy on me, and hear my prayer.
O you sons of men, how long will you turn my glory into shame?
How long will you love vanity, and seek after falsehood? Selah.


But know that the Lord has set apart the pious man for himself;
the Lord will hear when I call to him.
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Tremble, and do not sin;
talk with your own heart on your bed, and be still. Selah.

Offer the sacrifices of righteousness,
and put your trust in the Lord.
There are many who say, Who will show us good?
Lord, lift up the light of your countenance upon us.
You have put more gladness in my heart
than they have whose grain and wine are increased.

I will both lie down and sleep in peace;
for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.
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א לַֽמְנַצֵּחַ בִּנְגִינוֹת מִזְמוֹר לְדָוִֽד: ב בְּקָרְאִי עֲנֵנִי אֱלֹהֵי צִדְקִי בַּצָּר הִרְחַבְתָּ לִּי חָנֵּנִי וּשְׁמַע תְּפִלָּתִֽי: ג בְּנֵי־אִישׁ עַד־מֶה כְבוֹדִי לִכְלִמָּה תֶּאֱהָבוּן רִיק תְּבַקְשׁוּ כָזָב סֶֽלָה: ד וּדְעוּ כִּֽי־הִפְלָה יְהֹוָה חָסִיד לוֹ יְהֹוָה יִשְׁמַע בְּקָרְאִי אֵלָֽיו: ה רִגְזוּ וְֽאַל־תֶּחֱטָאוּ אִמְרוּ בִלְבַבְכֶם עַל־מִשְׁכַּבְכֶם וְדֹמּוּ סֶֽלָה: ו זִבְחוּ זִבְחֵי־צֶדֶק וּבִטְחוּ אֶל־יְהֹוָֽה: ז רַבִּים אֹמְרִים מִֽי־יַרְאֵנוּ טוֹב נְֽסָה־עָלֵינוּ אוֹר פָּנֶיךָ יְהֹוָֽה: ח נָתַתָּה שִׂמְחָה בְלִבִּי מֵעֵת דְּגָנָם וְתִֽירוֹשָׁם רָֽבּוּ: ט בְּשָׁלוֹם יַחְדָּו אֶשְׁכְּבָה וְאִישָׁן כִּֽי־אַתָּה יְהֹוָה לְבָדָד לָבֶטַח תּוֹשִׁיבֵֽנִי
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"Arch-type" shadows

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The architects of our Supreme Court Building incorporated elements of the many civilizations which contributed to the building of Jerusalem over the ages.
This arched passageway between the courtyard and the offices could remind us of the Roman Cardo in the Old City.
Or perhaps a monastary cloister?
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But for sure the shadows were shot for Hey Harriet blog's "Shadow Shot Sunday."
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To see more of this wonderful place you can click on my label Supreme Court.
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A vocal monastery watchdog

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A visiting friend and I walked from the Knesset down to the Valley of the Cross, to the Monastery of the Holy Cross.
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We bent low to get through the squat entrance, the only gate into the fortress-like 11th century monastery. (See a close-up of the opening here.)

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A ferociously barking German shepherd "welcomed" us.

Fortunately he was confined to the upper level.

Enlarge the picture and you can see a boxer dog next to him.

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The lower courtyard (next to a gift shop for Greek Orthodox religious items) was the realm of peaceful cats.

The cat on the right was looking up wistfully at little birds caged inside one of several aviaries.

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This strange collection of "monastery animals" is for Camera-Critters Sunday.

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What's behind the truth window?

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You can easily see the lamps reflected for James' "Weekend Reflections."
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But you might have to enlarge the picture to see what is behind the truth window.
It is straw!
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We saw in this older post how the neighbors mixed straw, clay, sand, and water to make mud bricks.
The sustainability-minded family reinforced and repurposed an old shed with these new handmade mud bricks.
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Future stars

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Today's Tu BiShvat morning sky, for SkyWatch, was deep blue with nary a cloud.
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I happened to be walking past the side entrance of Binyanei HaUma convention center.
The ramps were full of young people.
Some were singing, some were strumming instruments.
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You could feel the high energy, the excitement in the crowd.
I asked a boy what was going on. He said "All this is for Kokhav Nolad!"
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Aha--so they were all anxiously waiting for the doors to open to auditions of A Star is Born, the Israeli version of American Idol and Pop Idol.
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(I don't have a TV. Have I been missing something here?)
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Birthday of the trees Tu BiShvat

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Tonight and tomorrow we celebrate the minor Jewish holiday Tu BiShvat.
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The Talmud calls it the New Year for the Trees, and this refers to tithes collected for fruit-bearing trees after they reached a certain age.

Some 400 years ago the mystics of Safed (Tsfat) created a Tu BiShvat seder, modeled on the Passover seder, that celebrated the Tree of Life (the Kabbalistic map of the Sephirot).
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Last Tu BiShvat I attended such a seder and posted about it.
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That traditional seder ends with the hope:
"May all the sparks scattered by our hands, or by the hands of our ancestors, or by the sin of the first human against the fruit of the tree, be returned and included in the majestic might of the Tree of Life."
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The miniature of Adam and Eve was made by Sasha Borisov.
Enlarge the photo and see it sparkle!
It is displayed here in a glass case in front of the courtyard of the Jerusalem House of Quality, where craftsmen create, display, and sell their creations.
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Look what Rabbi Geoff Dennis writes today in his eye-opening blog:
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"In various traditions, we learn that trees are sentient and offer praise to God continuously (Gen. Rabbah 13:2; Perek Shirah). The cosmic trees in the center of Eden, the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil (all things, which stands for the universal order we we know, the unredeemed world) and the Tree of Life (understood by Judaism to be the Torah and the source of immortality and the ideal divine order God wants us to restore to creation) are not the only trees of power. All trees in Eden have the power to heal and give off a scent that comforts and soothes the soul . . . "
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As we eat this day from the many fruits and nuts and olives of the lovely and loved trees of our Land, I share this post with Rob and Mandy's "Thursday Food for Thoughts."
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Happy Tu BiShvat to all the trees and to their friends!
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An awful anniversary

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Something happened this week and also this week in 1991 that awakened a lot of A words for ABC Wednesday.
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Photo from the Home Front Command website

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How many of you could use the following words in one paragraph? --

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attack, anxiety, anger, atropine auto-injector, anti-anthrax

antidote, air-raid sirens, airtight, absurd, awful

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Fortunately, I think that Israelis over a certain age are the only ones in the world for whom these words push a button.

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It was in mid January, 20 years ago, that the First Gulf War started for us.

The first night a whole salvo of SCUD missiles were fired into Israel from Iraq.

In the next month and a half, a total of 39 SCUDs exploded.

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The worst was that Saddam Hussein threatened that the warheads would carry nerve gas, anthrax, etc.

The worst was worrying about my kids.

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Usually the air-raid sirens came at night and gave us a few seconds to run to our "sealed room," take cover under a table, put on the awful gas masks, and wait to hear our windows rattle and the 4-storey apartment building shake as the missiles exploded around us. (Our family lived near Tel Aviv then.)

Imagine, sealing the doors with masking tape, as if that would save us. ha!

Sometimes we had to wait a whole hour until the army checked the Scuds that had fallen and then sounded the all-clear siren, meaning no toxic agents in the warheads.

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For the sake of the kids I tried to act brave and cultivate coping skills during that dreadful time.

I really surprised myself yesterday when the TV news showed a few seconds of historical film.

Suddenly hearing the siren wail and seeing Scuds explode and set fire to houses set off an uncharacteristic reaction: I burst out crying!

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Apparently all that anxiety had been sitting just below the surface for these 20 years.

It was good to let it out.

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Sure is crowded downtown

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This week, after 150 years as Jerusalem's main artery, Jaffa Street is now closed to traffic.
Between Tsahal Square and Machaneh Yehuda market the street will be a pedestrian mall, open only to people and the new light rail.
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Enlarge this photo for a rear view (and a smile).

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Trial runs of the trams are supposed to start this week in this section, so workmen were busy trying to finish the job.

These three were caulking the roof of the Machaneh Yehuda station.

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Across the street, this technician or engineer (judging from his nice clean jeans) was fiddling with the more high tech stuff inside.

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A hundred men were hired to stand on Jaffa Street and explain to confused shoppers where to find their bus.

They also tried to speed up the bus traffic by helping the old folks with their many bags full of fruit and vegetables onto the buses, even through the rear door.

Some handed out pamphlets explaining the new light rail and how great it will be.

This help (from a private firm) will cost 100,000 shekels per day for the 100 "traffic assistants" and for the materials to explain the changes.
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The trams were supposed to be in service starting in April, but now they are saying more like August.

Some 2,000 buses go through downtown Jerusalem along parallel Nevi'im, Agrippas, and Jaffa Streets every day. Now, with Jaffa St. closed down, the congestion is even worse.

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More about the situation in the Jerusalem Post.
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But still, it is exciting to see our Jerusalem lion on the shiny new trams!

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That's the current situation for That's My World Tuesday.

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Greenpeace on the bridge strings!

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NEWS FLASH!
I just saw on the TV news how Greenpeace activists climbed 50 meters up the strings of our Calatrava Bridge of Strings today!
Wish I had known sooner, would have gone in to Jerusalem to see.
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From Wall Photos album of Facebook group Greenpeace Mediterranean - Israel

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Five of them unfurled a giant sign saying

"Bibi, stop [the building of] the coal-fired power plant!"

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According to the AP, the action took six hours and the sign stayed up for forty minutes.

The young male and female climbers were not arrested.

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You can see exciting photos in several of their Facebook albums.
They just put up a video too!
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No mincing of words here

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Psalm 3 for Robert's PsalmChallenge at Daily Athens:

1. A Psalm of David, when he fled from Absalom his son.

2. Lord, how many are my enemies! There are many who rise up against me.
3. Many are there who say of my soul, There is no help for him in God. Selah.
4. But, O Lord, you are a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of my head.
5. I cried to the Lord with my voice, and he heard me out from his holy mountain. Selah.
6. I laid down and slept; I awoke; for the Lord sustained me.
7. I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people, that have set themselves around against me.
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8. Arise, O Lord! Save me, O my God! For you have struck all my enemies on the cheek bone; you have broken the teeth of the wicked.

9. Salvation belongs to the Lord; your blessing is upon your people. Selah.

Verse 8 can also be translated in the future tense.
David hopes God will once again smite or break the mouth of the enemies who "bad-mouth" David.
Whether this is meant literally or figuratively, you choose!
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Lashon hara is the Hebrew term for "slander" but literally it means "the evil tongue," so it is not far-fetched that David would like the tongue place in his slanderers to be messed up.
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א מִזְמוֹר לְדָוִד בְּבָרְחוֹ מִפְּנֵי אַבְשָׁלוֹם בְּנֽוֹ: ב יְהֹוָה מָה־רַבּוּ צָרָי רַבִּים קָמִים עָלָֽי: ג רַבִּים אֹמְרִים לְנַפְשִׁי אֵין יְֽשׁוּעָתָה לּוֹ בֵֽאלֹהִים סֶֽלָה: ד וְאַתָּה יְהֹוָה מָגֵן בַּֽעֲדִי כְּבוֹדִי וּמֵרִים רֹאשִֽׁי: ה קוֹלִי אֶל־יְהֹוָה אֶקְרָא וַיַּֽעֲנֵנִי מֵהַר קָדְשׁוֹ סֶֽלָה: ו אֲנִי שָׁכַבְתִּי וָֽאִישָׁנָה הֱקִיצוֹתִי כִּי יְהֹוָה יִסְמְכֵֽנִי: ז לֹֽא־אִירָא מֵרִֽבְבוֹת עָם אֲשֶׁר סָבִיב שָׁתוּ עָלָֽי: ח קוּמָה יְהֹוָה הוֹשִׁיעֵנִי אֱלֹהַי כִּֽי־הִכִּיתָ אֶת־כָּל־אֹיְבַי לֶחִי שִׁנֵּי רְשָׁעִים שִׁבַּֽרְתָּ: ט לַיהֹוָה הַיְשׁוּעָה עַל־עַמְּךָ בִרְכָתֶךָ סֶּֽלָה
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Alpine meadow with "bridge"

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Because I am running out of new bridges from landlocked Jerusalem to show you for Louis' Sunday Bridges, let's make a quick jump over to the Swiss Alps instead.
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Could this be called a bridge?
If not, then what would you call it? Anyone?
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I found it in a summer meadow, high up (about 1,800 meters) on the slope of an alp.
In spring, when the snow melts, I imagine this is a swampy area or with run-off flowing under the timbers.
The cows, herdsmen, and hikers must appreciate it then.
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The death of a camel

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Rajah died this week at Heifer Ranch in central Arkansas.
Shalom, old camel.
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(Photo from Dave Lowe's album. ;-) Dave is the one on the left.)
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Some of us ranch hands used to call this camel Gillette Foamy.

Male Dromedaries have a soft palate which they inflate to produce a pink sack.

This doula, as it is called in Arabic, hangs out of the side of their mouth -- some say -- to attract females during the mating season.

Well, Rajah was making the blub-blub-blub sound with his slobbering doula in every season.

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It was always a race to see if I could drive the Livestock pickup truck to his feed box on the fence and dump the feed before he raced over and spewed his foam on my hat. Feh!
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(Photo by Rena Olsen)

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Then one day in the late 1990s someone, a certain G.J., had the bad idea to pasture a donkey with Raja and Gobi (the female camel).

I came to the paddock and discovered this just ten minutes before I needed to catch the donkey (put on a halter and lead rope) and bring her to my workcamper group for a "cut and carry" forage project.

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I had no choice but to enter the big pasture and grab the donkey.

Oh no! For a few terrifying minutes that huge anti-social camel was grunting fearful noises while he danced a circle around me bobbing his head up and down!

I released the donkey and backed off, feigning courage to my opponent.

That gate seemed so far away.

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Maybe that is why mine is the only minority opinion in the 41 (!) comments that Dave received on his Facebook announcement of Rajah's death. Everyone else says they will miss that camel.

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Well, in death may Rajah rest in peace. He certainly never rested much in life.

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P.S. I worked full-time at Heifer Ranch from 1996 to 2002. I lived there in community and worked and learned as a volunteer. You can too!

The Ranch is a learning center of Heifer International, an organization that gives livestock and training to folks in need around the globe.

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This post is for Camera-Critters Sunday meme.

For Tracy's meme in Brisbane

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Are our streets really "paved with gold"?

Jerusalem's Old City by night is full of shadows.
Here the striations (grooves) in the 3rd century Roman pavement make nice shadows.
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In a previous post you can see more of these paving stones and read how they came to be incorporated in today's Via Dolorosa.
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For Tracy's meme, Shadow Shot Sunday.
Tracy lives in Brisbane. Please pay her a visit or contribute a shadow to brighten her day.
She suggests contributing to the Queensland flood relief appeal.
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God bless Australia in this difficult time!

Sabbath Eve sunset

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I went for a little walk just now and was rewarded with this hazy sunset at 4:40 pm.
The sun is down, let the Sabbath begin!
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Shabbat shalom to all the SkyWatch Friday friends and to all the world.
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A reflection of Creation

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"GENESIS" by Israeli artist Belu-Simion Fainaru
1997. Jerusalem stone, glass, light bulbs
Loan of artist to Hebrew University, Mt. Scopus campus
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I quote the sign near it:

"How to look at the scuplture Genesis by Belu-Simion Fainaru"
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"Genesis is a structure reminiscent of a house, perhaps of a tomb of a Tzaddik, or even an ossuary. It is too small to be a house however, and the feature that most signifies the idea of a home, a door by which to enter, is missing.
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There are windows permanently illuminated from within, but they do not look like the windows we are familiar with. In fact, their unusual shapes arouse the question: what are they meant to be?
If we look carefully, we see these are Hebrew letters, from aleph to vav, each representing one day in the week of creation.
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We realize the letters are written backward.

The only way to see them correctly is to look at their reflection on the floor.

In order to encompass all the days of creation one has to encircle the sculpture completely.

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Just as it is impossible to enter the sculpture to see the letter-windows properly, it is also impossible to fully fathom the depth of creation.

Our understanding will always be a mere reflection of the act itself."
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A profound piece for James' Weekend Reflections, I believe.

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To read about the importance of the artwork's venue, please click on the sign above.

The Bima it refers to was posted previously here.
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Shabbat shalom, peace to you all on this Sabbath when God rested from his creating.

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