As I write this on Friday morning there will be a great deal of frenzy in Jerusalem today as all stores, public transportation, and even most private vehicles do not operate from Friday evening to Saturday night. Yes, we are in Jerusalem and enjoying being with our family. The Sabbath was wonderful as it was quiet and restful. Ordinarily, this is a very busy city though it does kind of shut down fairly early especially this time of year since there are fewer tourists.
Rushing home for the start of ShabbatWhere else would you find this kind of warning signage? That’s Hebrew at the top, Arabic in the middle, and of course English on the bottom.This is the only camel we saw and he (or she) was totally contained with some donkeys so no threat to our car.This is the western side (the newer side) of Jerusalem. We’ve got beautiful weather and if you look closely at the rooftops, what look like white drums are the hot water heaters totally solar. Israel has had this method for heating water since at least the late 1940s and maybe earlier.From here if you look at the middle distance beyond the taller apartment buildings and a swath of green to the left you can see the Knesset (Israeli parliament) with a Israeli flag flying and to the right another large complex that is Israel’s Supreme Court. Notice that all the buildings are of the same stone, called “Jerusalem stone” for good reason. At sunset the entire city has a pink glow.