Sampling the beers

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If you are in town tonight or tomorrow night and are of a certain age, get yourself over to Jerusalem's former train station, plunk down 25 or 30 shekels, and taste over a hundred different kinds of beer.
Including the famous Chimay beer, made for centuries by the Trappists in the Chimay monastery in Belgium.
I'm sure they will also have Taybeh, the first and only Palestinian beer.
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This is the 7th Jerusalem Beer Festival .
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The poster makes a pun on the Hebrew ir ha-biRAH (meaning the capital city) and ir ha-BIrah, meaning the city of beer. All depends where you put the accent.
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The other pun, Let there be beer/light, is less appealing. Eeuw, who wants to drink out of a light bulb!
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Lechaim to the 9,000 who are expected tonight.
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UPDATE: By chance I just saw a blog post about three other uses for leftover beer.
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Jerusalem Knights festival

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Look! A knight and his steed once again within the walls of Jerusalem's Old City!

The knight's real feet were up on little stilts, well-hidden.
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The horse's movements were so life-like that even the tough policeman stopped to pat his white head.
BTW, they tell me that 15th century armor weighed 25 kilograms while the 21st century infantry soldier carries an equal weight of equipment.
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Enlarge this big map of the Old City hanging near the Jaffa Gate to read what to expect along the route in the Christian Quarter.

The Jerusalem Knights festival is taking place every Thursday night during October.

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You don't really have to look for the signs to know which direction to walk,

you just have to go with the flow.

Oi, I've never seen so many Israelis crowded into the narrow lanes of the Old City.

Pity those who came with baby strollers.
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But after seeing the royal reception, a leper, Greek muse, court jester, witch, Merlin and the giant, buffoons, jugglers, peddlers, etc., it was nice to hear the handsome troubadour sing.
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The slave market.

The royal music box, looking like the first computer.

Action at the Muristan Square!

The juggler twirled two flaming sticks next to the fountain.

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All these talented young people in the festival were from the Balbalu street theatre.

Old-style music under the arches.
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Not to worry, big guns are normal here.
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Hope you enjoyed this special tour for That's My World Tuesday.

Shalom from Jerusalem!

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Kurdish Jews' Saheraneh festival

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I had never heard of the Saheraneh until I came (3 years ago) to live in a moshav built by Kurdish Jews.
Yesterday I went to big Sacher Park in Jerusalem to see what it's all about.

Saheraneh is a yearly outdoor festival which our Kurds brought with them when they made aliyah to Israel from Kurdistan.
The region known as Kurdistan includes parts of Iran, Iraq, Armenia, Syria, and Turkey.

In preparation for the afternoon and evening prayer, two Torah scrolls were brought in joyful procession through the crowds.

Here above you see men from the dance troupe in native costume leading the way.

Rhythmic hand-clapping to welcome and accompany the Torah scrolls.

First time for me to see the Torah decorated with colorful women's scarves.

The traditional Kurdish wooden horn. Look at the guy's cheeks!

I must say, the loud drum beat adds much life to the Torah procession.

Finally they were brought to the stage.

In a kind of Hoshana, the dancers did what I know as a traditional Arab debka.

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The bearded man with a flat hat and scarf is the oldest Kurdish rabbi. He gave a short and nice talk.
 Beforehand, while the elder had been sitting, people came to him, bowed and kissed his hand; and he put his hands on their head and blessed them.

There is a lot of respect for the elders in this community.

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For more about Kurdish Jews see this article.
There are over 150,000 Kurdim in Israel.
Their national association's website is in Hebrew but it offers a sample of the music.

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The weekly That's My World Tuesday list of bloggers' links to different worlds will be awaiting your visit tonight. Visit and enjoy our world's great diversity!

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UPDATE Oct. 20, 2014:  An article about this year's Saharana and thoughts about the Kurds fighting for their lives against the Islamic State.
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