New life, green

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The greening of Israel.
With the first rains the dry summer brownness gives way to refreshing greenness.
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The Holy Sepulchre as workplace

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How does it feel to be a floor washer of the holiest Christian site in the world?
I could imagine it as a big honor.

Coming very early one morning to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, before the hordes of tourists descended on it, I was almost alone in the cavernous church.
Only the cleaning man was busy, washing the ancient stones at the entrance. 

His buckets and mops were stashed behind the great door,  on the very steps which lead up to Calvary, to Golgotha.
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For more about the Holy Sepulchre see Sacred Destinations or visit some of my previous posts.
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Today city bloggers all over the world are posting People in Their Workplace for our City Daily Photo theme day.  You're invited.
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(Also linking to OurWorld Tuesday and  Whimsical Windows, Delirious Doors.)
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In the Russian bell tower

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Ascension Day was my first time to visit the Russian Monastery of the Ascension.
(I showed you some of the graves there last Tuesday.)

Everyone knows its tall landmark bell tower; you can't look toward the Mount of Olives and not see it rising on the crest of the mountain.

And guess what!
This was the only way up the tower.
Needless to say, I climbed to the first level and not to the very top.

Right next to the convent we saw this big Muslim cemetery and a mosque.

Beyond, one sees the modern tower of the Hebrew University Mt. Scopus campus.
(You can enlarge all the photos here.)

To its right is the tower of the Lutheran Augusta Victoria.
Off to the top right, in the haze of summer heat--the eastern desert.
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While we were up there looking out in all four directions, our tower's bells rang!
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The guidebook says

Sent from Russia to the Holy Land port of Jaffa [on the other side of the country] in 1885, the bell weighed eight tons and was too heavy to transport by horse.
In the end a special wheel-shaped wagon was built to house the bell, which was pulled, pushed, and rolled by Russian pilgrims--most of them women--all the way to the Mount of Olives.
The trip took three weeks and several pilgrims fell by the wayside.
But eventually, singing hymns, the group reached Jerusalem and the bell was lifted into the tower.

Aviva Bar-Am, Beyond the Walls: Churches of Jerusalem

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I hope you enjoyed this tour for Our World Tuesday and just a glimpse of a Muslim cemetery for Taphophile Tragics. Shalom!
Linking also to inSPIREd Sunday.
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Jerusalem stair shadows

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Thanks to Israel's strong sunlight, we have many crisp shadows.
Here are two stair-y shadows for Shadow Shot Sunday.

At the Israel Museum, the little inner courtyard next to the Shrine of the Book (of Dead Sea scrolls fame).
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Franciscan monastery "St. John BaHarim" (Hebrew for "in the hills") in Ein Kerem.
The sign next to the door says "Byzantine tombs used as olive press and warehouse during Early Arab Period."

Someday I'll have to find the monk who has the key to all these antiquities places that are under lock and key and beg to see them.
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Stairs, stones, and schools

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ABC Wednesday is already on letter S.
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So many times I have entered the Old City at Jaffa Gate and walked right past the old Petra Hostel.
A few days ago I gathered courage and entered this dilapidated old building, refuge of backpackers and other penniless types.
Slowly, so as not to slip on the well-worn stairs, I climbed to the 3rd floor and then up onto the flat roof.
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SPECTACULAR view!!
New west Jerusalem and old east Jerusalem!
The Old City and Temple Mount and beyond, to the Mount of Olives and the desert!
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But my favorite photo from the roof was not off into the distance but rather straight down.
Enlarge it, please.
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The Arab girl was bending over, opening a grate, cleaning it as the final step in her big work of hosing down the courtyard and scrubbing the stones.
Shining stones, still wet!
Aren't they beautiful?
It's like in archaeology when we pour water over an ancient mosaic and all its colors come to life!
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I wish the young lady could see her work from above and be proud.
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Not sure, but I think, judging from a basketball hoop, that the enclosed area is part of St. Dimitri's School.
It is a private school sponsored by the Patriarchate of the Greek Orthodox Church.
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I see in a 2008 news item that St. Dimitri's was then celebrating the renovation and revitalization of its building.
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Apparently the EU has a Comprehensive School Upgrading Program for a few selected Palestinian schools in east Jerusalem which "revamps the schools and upgrades the electricity networks, sanitation facilities, sewage systems, carpentry and mechanical works and general classroom conditions (paint, floors, and ceilings). It also funds new school equipment like computers, fax, and copy machines, as well as school management software."
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Along with two partner organizations, the EU provides "extensive teacher training around teaching methods, interfaith education, inclusion and appropriate methods of maintaining discipline and openness in the classroom."
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The need is great and I wish them success.
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S words closer to home

Secretariat of my moshav/village.
You've heard of a fork in the road. This is a spoon in the road, on the goat path through the woods.
Stone stairs on the shvil (Hebrew for trail).
Sign for Ein Se'adim with lots of Ss.
Shafts of sun in Soreq Valley.