Schneller Symposium today

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Another strange view from above.
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The chairs had taken a new twist in the sanctuary of the Church of the Ascension on the Mount of Olives.
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The altar and the wreath for Advent season.

I attended the International Schneller Symposium this afternoon in the "Kaisersalle" of the church.

Here is the panel discussion of the first lecturers.
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The subject was the Syrian Orphanage and the Schneller schools. More about that in the coming days.

The 100-year-old church in the Augusta Victoria compound was named after Kaiser Wilhelm II's wife.

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My thanks to you, blogger-friends

What a week this was. Last Wednesday the terror began in Mumbai. Yesterday brought a bit of closure, as Israel buried the six Jews who were killed in the Chabad House. Three of the victims were laid to rest in the old cemetery on the Mount of Olives.
It was a heart-wrenching day, with tens of thousands of mourners at the funerals.
Namlevy made an inspiring 2-minute video on YouTube, dedicated to the Chabad House hostages.
I think one is missing from the video, because her body was found later than the other five. Fifty-year-old Norma Shvarzblat-Rabinovich was a Mexican Jew who had planned to make aliya to Israel to join two of her children who had already moved here. She had spent the past few months touring India, and had planned to fly from Mumbai to Israel on Monday, the 18th birthday of her son, Manuel.
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For those dreadful three days of unknowing, we here worried and prayed a lot. For all the many there in India who were killed and wounded, of course. But in a more personal way for our Jewish brethren. Because of Jewish Peoplehood, Jews everywhere feel like family, everyone of us is responsible for the wellbeing of the other.
I don't know, maybe it is hard for normal people to understand this feeling. Normal people are spared this burden and/or blessing of being a People, a nation scattered in a big diaspora.
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I asked for your help last week and you gave it. Thank you, dear blogger-friends around the world, for all your support and counsel! It was so wonderful how the tragedy brought us all together. And the other good thing to come of all this was my getting to know the Indian bloggers, some of them right in the thick of things in Mumbai. God bless you all.

Circles in the sky

The sky over Jerusalem last week.

Looking east from the Tower of David, we see the Old City with the tower of the (Lutheran) Church of the Redeemer and the gold Dome of the Rock on the Temple Mount, and on the horizon Mount Scopus and the Mount of Olives. If you enlarge the photo you can make out the arches of the Mormon university just right of the top of the white bell tower.

Same circles in the sky, but here we can see the gray rotundas of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the Redeemer Church bell tower. Hebrew University Mount Scopus campus is on the horizon.

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Happy sky watching with other bloggers' new photos at SkyWatch Friday, starting tonight.

ABC Wednesday at Augusta Victoria

To read the fine print please click on this photo:

Trowel and hammer used in 1907 to lay the cornerstone of the German Lutheran Church of the Ascension, aka Augusta Victoria, on the Mount of Olives.

Tall tower of the church.

To the tower or Turm in German.

Terrible news!

Too many stairs to the top of the bell tower. But the view was tops!

"T" is the letter of the week at ABC Wednesday, so see lots of other blogs with your tea at Mrs. Nesbitt's Place. 
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Procession of Palm Sunday

Palm Sunday afternoon everyone gathers on the Mount of Olives and then begin a joyful procession all the way down to the Old City, entering the city walls through the Lions (St. Stephan's) Gate, and gathering again at the old Crusader church of St. Anne. En route there is singing and dancing and waving of palm fronds and olive branches. Oh, and lots of security.

My pictures from last year can be seen small on the slideshow or big at http://picasaweb.google.com/ponddina/ProcessionPalmSunday2007 .

And a link to the previous post's photos:

http://picasaweb.google.com/ponddina/PalmSundayAtHolySepulchre2007