Jerusalem, Capital of Israel - 5

Tel Aviv is all about commerce. It's a beautiful modern coastal Mediterranean city. Tsfat is the center of the world for Kabbalah and Jewish mysticism, and art. Jerusalem, the eternal, undivided capital of Israel is a mixture of many cultures. There's the old - the Old City, Yemin Moshe, Nachlaot - and the new. There are building projects on all the edges of the city. The adopted bird of Jerusalem (and indeed all of Israel) is the crane. There are moslem arabs and Haredi Jews. Churches, mosques, and synagogues. On public transportation it's not uncommon to find arabs, religious Jews, and Christians sitting next to each other (no, there's no apartheid).

In the arab quarter near Damascus Gate:

Machane Yehuda, the Shuk:

Pedestrian traffic in the modern Mamilla Mall, just outside the Old City:

Studying Talmud in the Hurva Synagogue:

Praying at the Kotel. Access to the Western Wall is open to everyone. The main section is for men of all denominations, and adheres to the principles of separation of men and women. Next to it, separated by a mechitza, is the women's section - where women are permitted to pray at the wall, read Torah, wear tallit and tefillin. And a new third section, build near Robinson's Arch, is the egalitarian section where men and women of any denomination of Judaism can worship together.

Jerusalem, Israel - Capital of Israel 4

For a change of pace, some color shots of Jerusalem. The Hurva Synagogue in the Old City was destroyed during the 1967 War of Liberation (get over it). I'd been past the restored synagogue before, but this time it was open. There's an elevator to the balcony around the inside of the dome, and it's possible to go outside and walk around the dome which looks out over the rooftops of the Old City.

Looking at the rear door of the synagogue, which faces east:

Looking down from the top balcony. I'm accustomed to seeing the Aron Kodesh always face east, since I live in the Western Hemisphere. But in Jerusalem, it really doesn't matter (at least until the Third Temple is built on the Temple Mount. Soon ..... very soon!):

Some views looking out at the Old City from the outside of the Hurva Dome:

In this shot, the dark dome on the left is the al asqa mosque. In the background, outside the Old City and across the Kidron Valley is the huge Jewish cemetery on the Mount of Olives:

Jerusalem - Capital of Israel, Capital of the World - 3

Some unfortunate misguided folks who view my work on a photography forum have taken exception to the titles I select for my blog posts on my blog. If you are here as a result of seeing my work on that forum, and came here to see more of my work, get over it. If you take exception to my political, social, economic, or religious positions, don't come here.

And so, here we have more of the photos I shot on my most recent trip to the homeland of the Jewish People - Israel, and the capital of Israel - Jerusalem.

Studying in the Hurva Synagogue in the Old City of Jerusalem:

A merchant in the arab quarter of the Old City:

At the Jaffa Gate entrance to the Old City:

Father and son at the Kotel (Western Wall) in the Old City:

Jerusalem, Capital of Israel - 2

A selection of shots from the Old City of Jerusalem. The existing walls were built during the 1500's by the Ottoman Turks.  Jerusalem was reunited by Israel (never again to be divided) after the 1967 war. The Old City is divided into four districts: the Armenian, Christian, arab, and Jewish quarters.

A food stall in the arab quarter:

Young girl in the Jewish quarter:

The Jaffa Gate, which is at the nexus of the arab, Christian, and Jewish quarters:

The Oren Kodesh holding the Torah scrolls of the Hurva Synagogue in the Jewish quarter: