This is a synagogue that was destroyed by the Arab Legion in 1948. Here it is, in the Old City of Jerusalem, being rebuilt. The original Hurva synagogue was built in the 18th century and destroyed by Muslims. As it lay in ruins for 140 years until being rebuilt in 1864, it became known as the Hurva, which means ruins.

Migdal David (Tower of David) is now a fun historical museum by the Jaffa Gate. It wasn’t a museum when I first visited in 1980. You can see the winding tree sculpture on this photo of mine.

These flowers are growing by the arch in Migdal David – you can see my photo of the arch here.

If you think the “Old City” of Jerusalem is old – actually, it is new compared to the City of David. Pictured are excavations at the site. If you visit Jerusalem, I highly recommend a City of David tour.

For more Jerusalem Day posts:

• Mrs. S. – Yom Yerushalayim 5771
• Isramom – Israel’s Special Day
• Miriyummy – Jerusalem from Every Direction
• Jerusalem Day 2009

This is one of the trees in her backyard. I took this photo in June 2008, when we visited her family.

See more of Julie’s art and photos on her new blog, Israel Inspirations Art.

Almost as soon as I saw it, the cardinal flapped away.

In contrast to all the rain we got on the East Coast, Israel has been having a very dry, dry spell. Here’s a photo from our 2008 trip to the Dead Sea:

For more Nature Notes, visit:

Update: Jameel on the tragic fire raging in the Haifa region of Israel

More stories from the prophets: Archaelogical Dig at Tel Dan in northern Israel, Where Jeroboam built a cult as an alternative to the Temple in Jerusalem

For more on this story of Rehoboam, read A Divided Nation on the Aish website or Kings Chapter 12 (Melachim Bet).

How was this related to last week’s parsha? We learned about the law of jealousy in the ten commandments, and from there, my husband told the story of jealous Jezebel, and then there were more stories from the Prophets…

Follow the Signs to Baila's House

I started working on a post of favorite images of 2009 – if you have a similar one, I would be happy to link to it later this week. I would like to do favorite recipes of 2009, also; but first, let me see if I can finish the images post. I am up to May 2009.

Road to the Kinneret, Galil, Israel, June 2008

Some Images on My Blog in the past few weeks

Some Posts on My Blog in the past few weeks

• Favorite Books from Childhood
• Grandmother and Grandson
• Berry Cashew Pudding
• Jewish Film Festival Challenge

Elsewhere in the Blogosphere

Reluctant Veggie educates about nightshades and remarks “it makes perfect sense that the food we put into our body has a direct impact on how our body performs. or, rather, how it doesn’t perform. and yet, most doctors have no clue. or would rather treat the symptom versus finding the root cause.”

Ilana-Davita had blogger’s block, but yet she managed to write an elucidating post about Bereshit.

Mimi posted a scrumptious photo of her Moroccan fish.

Mountains of Judean Desert on the Edge of Dead Sea, Israel

Theme for Thursday Challenge this week is HOT (Day, Sun, Desert, Fire, Oven, Stove, Food, Peppers, Hot-Air Balloon,…).

Liberty Bell in Independence Park, Jerusalem, Israel (photo: 2008)

So, what does the United States of America mean to you? I am especially interested to hear if you do not live here.

As I have talked a bit about my mother’s parents (see, for example, Greetings from Mariampole), now I am going to mention my father’s parents. In brief, when my grandmother was a little girl in a shtetl (I always think of a shtetl house as one that had dirt for floors instead of wood or linoleum or marble or whatever – she lived somewhere in the Austro-Hungarian Empire) she had to hide under a bed to protect herself from a pogrom. Soon after that, she and her family came to the United States of America, to New York City. On my grandfather’s side, his family came from Poland (from Głogów or Glogov). He and his siblings were fortunate to come in the early part of the twentieth century; he had cousins, however, that were caught in Europe in World War II. Supposedly, they hid from the Nazis and survived by hiding in the sewers. I feel so fortunate to have escaped these experiences (a pogrom and hiding in a sewer). And to have a beautiful family and home, and to be able to express myself without fear. Well, maybe a little, the general “opening up in public” kind of fear, not the Stalinist lock you up in jail sort. My maternal grandmother once spent the night in jail in the Soviet Union, but that is a topic for another time. I don’t even know that much to tell about it.

Little Leora, Zaydie, Bubby and my brother, somewhere in New York

Your turn.

Wall of the Old City, Jerusalem, July 2008

From Wikipedia, here is what Moshe Dayan said on that day:

This morning, the Israel Defense Forces liberated Jerusalem. We have united Jerusalem, the divided capital of Israel. We have returned to the holiest of our holy places, never to part from it again. To our Arab neighbors we extend, also at this hour—and with added emphasis at this hour—our hand in peace. And to our Christian and Muslim fellow citizens, we solemnly promise full religious freedom and rights. We did not come to Jerusalem for the sake of other peoples’ holy places, and not to interfere with the adherents of other faiths, but in order to safeguard its entirety, and to live there together with others, in unity.

Posts on Jerusalem Day or about Jerusalem in the news:

• Batya: Jerusalem Day, Middle-Aged
• Daled Amos: The Struggle for Jerusalem: 10 Facts