Dazzling light in the l'Arche chapel

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When we get a rare winter day of sunlight at the Community of Grandchamp, the noon time rays come through the colored chapel windows in a dazzling way!

Come in, the door is open to l'Arche chapel.

The altar -- the beauty of simplicity.

Me pretending to be the Hebrew reader for the readings from the Prophets.

The wonderful old roof, I think from the 1700s!

I hope we have sun again soon . . .

Here is the building from the outside.
Long ago it was part of the Indiennes dyed fabric production.
(More about that later.)
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(Linking to inSPIREd Sunday.)
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Larger than life Zion Gate

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So much to see! I went back for a second night of the 2nd annual Festival of Light in Jerusalem's Old City and still didn't see everything.

Please enlarge this one to enjoy the details.

Guards had to hold back the pedestrian traffic for a minute to let this golf cart squeeze through the angled, narrow Zion Gate.

But what light artists Malchi Shem Tov, Asaf Shem Tov, and Amit Fisher were projecting onto the gate transformed it into something much bigger.

They describe it like this:
"Jerusalem is the gate to the whole world. The ultimate terminal in which every passenger feels at home."

Here is the Zion Gate in normal times, with a car maneuvering out of the Old City and into Mt. Zion.

The gate just recently had a cleaning and a restoration. But the shell and bullet holes from the wars were left as a reminder.

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Victory for beauty and sanity

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Welcome to ABC Wednesday V Day.

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Not all is vexing and vitriolic here in the volatile Middle East.
In Jerusalem, in the heart of the Old City, we are all enjoying a free Festival of Light this week.
Visitors from all over, together with the residents, are strolling peacefully and in awe through the little lanes.

Very vivid was this line of laundry swinging in the summer night's breeze.

Venus was right above the new moon, looking down on the swaying green grasses created by the TILT Group from France.

Little kids especially were fascinated by the humorous light sculptures made of light nets and LED ropes.

VIVID imagination!

I was spellbound watching artist Ronen Aricha create this portrait.

The red mark is where his laser is sketching.

If you enlarge this one photo taken with flash you can see the stones and the top of the Old City city wall.

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The Festival website says
"With the aid of simple tools every person can become an artist and draw on the 'most special canvas in the world'--the Old City walls. The laser is the paintbrush and the light is the paint. The play between art, technology and history renews traditional graffiti art and offers a new and progressive interpretation to the field."

Here's how the portrait ended up (until it was erased).

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Who do YOU say he is?!

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The Dormition comes alive

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The week-long 2nd annual Jerusalem Festival of Light is in full swing.

The white light bells swing back and forth as the real bells inside the tower ring out.
It was so beautiful! Wish I had taken a video for you.
Koby Rosenthal is the light artist who created it.

For more about the Benedictines and their Dormition Abbey on Mount Zion please click the label below.

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More about the Light Festival coming soon.

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Light art in Jerusalem!

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Free art!
The first-ever Jerusalem Light Festival is taking place from June 10-16 at almost 30 locations around and in the Old City, featuring artists from Israel and abroad.

Just outside Jaffa Gate are Gil Teichman's dynamic light cubes, "Miskhak HaKubiot."
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Click to enlarge!

Leave it to the Israelis! This father couldn't resist setting his toddler on top of a cube. It was weird seeing her glow orange color.

This particular light art installation made a pleasant place to hang out--or hang OVER.

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Let there be light -- Shabbat Beresheet

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Today is Shabbat Beresheet, the Sabbath on which we begin the Torah-reading cycle anew, starting at Genesis.
After all our soul-searching and repenting of the past month, God has hopefully given us a clean slate to begin the new Jewish year.
Every year on this Hebrew date we read all over again how God created the world, and every year we are given a fresh chance to create our own worlds all over again.

"And God said, 'Let there be light,' and there was light."

Here is a story related by Yanki Tauber, content editor of http://www.chabad.org/:

What Is A Chassid?LET THERE BE LIGHT (1:3)

In 1907, when Rabbi Sholom DovBer of Lubavitch was staying at the health spa in Wirtzburg, Germany, a group of chassidim came to spend a Shabbos with the Rebbe. Among them was Reb Yosef Yuzik Horowitz, his son-in-law Reb Feivel Zalmanov, and Reb Elimelech Stoptzer.

The Rebbe prayed for many hours that Shabbos morning, as was his manner. Meanwhile, the chassidim made kiddush and consumed a respectable quantity of l'chayims.
Later, when the Rebbe had finished and they sat with him to the Shabbos meal, Reb Yosef Yuzik asked:
"Rebbe, what is a chassid?"

Replied the Rebbe: "A chassid is a lamplighter. The lamplighter walks the streets carrying a flame at the end of a stick. He knows that the flame is not his. And he goes from lamp to lamp to set them alight."

Asked Reb Yosef Yuzik: "What if the lamp is in a desert?"
"Then one must go and light it," said the Rebbe. "And when one lights a lamp in a desert, the desolation of the desert becomes visible. The barren wilderness will then be ashamed before the burning lamp."

Continued the chassid: "What if the lamp is at sea?"
"Then one must undress, dive into the sea, and go light the lamp."
"And this is a chassid?" Reb Yosef Yuzik asked.
For a long while the Rebbe thought. Then he said: "Yes, this is a chassid."

"But Rebbe, I do not see the lamps!"
Answered the Rebbe: "Because you are not a lamplighter."
"How does one become a lamplighter?"
"First, you must reject the evil within yourself.
Start with yourself, cleanse yourself, refine yourself, and you will see the lamp within your fellow. When a person is himself coarse, G-d forbid, he sees coarseness; when a person is himself refined, he sees the refinement in others."

Reb Yosef Yuzik then asked: "Is one to grab the other by the throat?"
Replied the Rebbe: "By the throat, no; by the lapels, yes."
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E tenebris lux

From darkness, LIGHT .