Acknowledging the obvious

July 2, 2008 by Harry · 1 Comment
Filed under: A New Reality, War

It’s impossible to blog about life in Israel without acknowledging the terrible (and slightly surreal) terrorist attack today in Jerusalem. If you haven’t heard by now a Palestinian construction worker went on a rampage in a bulldozer crashing through cars, overturning buses and attacking pedestrians. This attack left three dead and over sixty wounded.

In a strange twist, Moshe Plesser, the off duty soldier from the elite Egoz unit who killed the terrorist and ended the attack is the brother in law of David Shapira, the off duty soldier who killed the terrorist in the attack on the Mercaz HaRav Yeshiva back in March. I guess heroism runs strong in that family.

Terrorist attacks are few and far between these days but when they do happen, they obviously pack a wallop. It’s a chilling reminder of how fragile life, how powerful hatred is, and how we all somehow continue to live ~~through~~ ~~despite~~ with it all.

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Tags: David Shapira, egoz, jerusalem, Mercaz HaRav Yeshiva, Moshe Plesser, terrorism

Mamilla architecture

July 1, 2008 by Jessica · 4 Comments
Filed under: A New Reality, General, History and Culture

The best underground parking lot in Jerusalem, possibly the entire country, is underneath the Mamilla pedestrian mall, part of the $400 million complex that was in dispute for many years, but is finally near completion. Large, spacious and with smooth cement floors that may very well be cleaner than those in my own home, I’m thinking of moving in there.

But despite the luxuriousness of the parking lot, that probably isn’t the most striking architectural feature of the complex, which features several dozen boutiques, several cafes and other businesses in the pedestrian-only shopping district along Rehov Mamilla. The stores are also fine, natch, a fairly interesting combo of local and foreign shops that offer some decent options for Malcha Mall-weary Jerusalemites.

What is worth checking out are some of the mall’s reassembled buildings from the turn of the century. The Stern House, for example, was where Theodor Herzl slept when he visited Jerusalem in 1898, and now houses the Mamilla Steimatzky bookstore and an outdoor cafe. What’s cool is that in order to move and reassemble the building, each stone of the facade was carefully numbered in order to reassemble it in its new location and with more modern construction behind the walls. Given that the original structures themselves were demolished, preservationists poo-poo the practice as ‘facadism.’

But, still, it offers the Mamilla project a more layered, architecturally interesting look to have preserved buildings on site, and if the Stern House hosted Herzl, why not Steimatzky?

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Tags: architecture, jerusalem, Mamilla, Mamilla Steimatzky, pedestrian mall, The Stern House, Theodore Herzl

Modi’in’s Ecological Farm

July 1, 2008 by Harry · 2 Comments
Filed under: General

Green Prophet recently wrote about one of my favorite local places to visit – the Hava & Adam ecological farm and education center in Modi’in. They presented a rundown of all of the events and happenings going on this summer on the farm. I can’t say I am even remotely involved in the farm, but as a resident of Modi’in I am very proud of its presence. She likes chickens.

Their goals:

The primary focus of Hava & Adam’s is its array of educational projects. Some are conducted on the Farm site while others are held in the larger community. We have established eco-centers in 20 schools, guided some 10 community gardening initiatives, trained about 80 counselors, taught officially certified courses in Permaculture Design, operated summer camps, conducted holistic healing treatments, and run a variety of activities and workshops in crafts, cooking, herbal remedy preparation, organic farming and hosted hundreds of visitors – children, youth and adults from Israel and abroad.

I actually just brought my daughter there on Friday to look at the chickens (she likes looking at chickens) and check out the opportunity for “renting” out a small plot. I concluded that I would need at least one more partner in crime in order to properly maintain a small plot of land. I am not much of a toiler and the heat there….unbelievable. Maybe in the fall when it is cooler. In the meantime, I’ll just visit the chickens. I like them too.

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