The Judean Desert stretched as far as one could see.
A lone camel awaited quietly for its riders.
The sun would set soon. All would appear black in the night.
I don’t often get inspired watching a camel; however, this week, the Torah portion is Lech Lecha.
The chapter read on Shabbat morning begins:
G-d said to Avram, “Go from your land, from your birthplace, and from your father’s house, to the land that I will show you. I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you, I will make your name great, and you will become a source of blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you.“
This week, President Herzog presented nine Israeli Medals of Honor to a very diverse group of awardees.
The yellow chair to remember the hostages still in Gaza was placed next to the medals.
The honorees were seated in the front row with distinguished guests on the other side of President and Michal Herzog. US Ambassador Mike Huckabee was one of several Ambassadors.
The very diverse group of winners includedSheik Muwaffaq Tarif, leader of the Druze community.
Dr. Miriam Adelson, one of the female winners, spoke for the group and wore a white garment with blue Stars of David embroidery.
Miriam Abelson and Michal Herzog, one of many hugs of the evening.
Group hug of the President, Adelson, and freed hostages Matan Angrest and Segev Kalfon was another.
The two young men recently freed from Gaza received special mention and applause.
Impressive, before leaving, giving a thank you to the Medalists.
Not all the winners were Israeli or Jewish. Mathias Döpfner, a German businessman, author, art collector, and journalist, is the CEO of media group Axel Springer SE. He prides himself on being a non-Jewish Zionist, and his media was singled out for not sharing anti-Israel propaganda. He is also very tall.
The construction and destruction of Jerusalem streets for bike paths and the light rail goes on, and on.
One sign says that we will be able to get from Herzog Street to Route 16 by October 2027.
Will see if that really happens. It feels doubtful with so many streets ripped up and traffic stuck.
Meanwhile, it is fall and the weather and seasons are changing.
In the Jerusalem Botanical Gardens, the pond lilies are changing colors as they wilt away.
A new restaurant opened this week in the old popular location. The dairy one did not last long. Will see how a kosher Moroccan grill does in the site best remembered as the old Moment Cafe.
The hundreds of delegates to the World Zionist Congress are arriving from around the world for the WZC opening sessions starting on Tuesday at the International Conference Center.
Winter weather is on the way. But if you walk along the Jerusalem streets, roses are still blooming.
Take time to stop and smell the roses, or check out the Open Houses this weekend. Over 160 places of interest are open to the public during the annual festival.
As always, more is happening than what makes the sensational headlines.
In this holiday season, it often becomes hard to remember what day of the week it is!
It is officially “after the chagim,” and the Jewish holidays are behind us.
Before moving on to the upcoming events, I would like to share a bit about last week and Simchat Torah.
It’s remarkable how things can be portrayed negatively in the media when they were so positive.
Ambassador Mike Huckabee got a terrible review in Arkansas by someone who saw the video of him and David Friedman at the United Hatzalah event in Jerusalem. While I had to agree that comedian Elon Gold was not the best singer of the night. The Ambassadors’ guitar work to “Sweet Home, Jerusalem’ was greatly appreciated by the audience, and their expressions serious as they played.
Even Huckabee getting up to dance to a song by Avraham Fried was worthy of applause.
The return of the last of the living hostages from Gaza hours before Simchat Torah began added to the festive mood throughout Israel.
Outside of Israel, Simchat Torah extends for a second day. Rabbi Yitzhak Yedidia Frenkel is credited with starting the custom of second-night hakafot (dancing around a Torah scroll) in Tel Aviv in 1942, with music distinguishing the second from the first, religiously mandated day.
There were multiple options after Simchat Torah to keep the celebrations going in Jerusalem.
Themusical Hakafot were held again in Liberty Bell Park and at the Kotel, the Western Wall Plaza.
However, the Great Synagogue was also lit and ready for a special celebration.
A new Torah was brought to be completed in memory of Aryeh Cohen, escorted by his sister Shira Cohen.
Shmuel and Leah Riederdonated the Torah in honor of a group of survivors who committed to keeping Shabbat in the merit of the hostages’ return, dubbed the “Shabbat Heroes.”
Twenty Nova Heroes decided in the past year to keep Shabbat.
Dancing was in the lobby of the Great Synagogue, though it was hard to move with so many people.
Michal Ochana spoke briefly: “Today we dedicate a new Torah in the memory of all of our loved ones that we have lost, after two incredible days of celebrating life, and the return home of our hostages.”
Photos, videos of the Torah and the Heroes who were given a sash with gold letters – “Hero” in Hebrew.
Popular singer Lipa Schmeltzer performed again with his amazing energy.
This was the truck and screen parked outside the Great Synagogue. It attracted the attention of young people walking by on Jerusalem’s King George Street. Lipa was still singing when I left at the start of the FIRST hafakah at 11 pm. The celebration went on until well after midnight.
The Jewish Agency was lit with “Veshavu Banim Ligvulum,” “the sons returned to their border.”
Much more simcha this Simchat Torah, but also sadness of the loss of life over the past two years.
Not all of the murdered hostages have been returned; their families are still waiting.
The annual Oud Festival is November 6-13, and the Jerusalem Open Houses are on October 30 – November 1, 2025. As always, things are happening on the Jerusalem streets besides traffic.
