Was it Christmas?
Filed under: A New Reality, coexistence, General, History and Culture, Holidays, Immigrant Moments, Israeliness, Life, Religion
Christmas in Israel is always a bit strange – mainly because it’s so easy to forget that it’s Christmas!
Unless you shlep to the Christian quarter of the Old City or to Bethlehem, where services and festivities are taking place, there’s virtually no sign of the holiday.
My friend Barry Leff, a rabbi and businessman, nicely articulated the conundrum of transplanted Americans, used to the clues at every street corner that the holiday has arrived, suddenly living in a Christmas-less society. On his blog at the Neshama Center, he states:
I actually think Christmas is TOO low profile in Israel. It should be a little more visible. There are some over the top religious people who can’t tolerate any other religions, who protest anything that even looks like Christmas lights. I’m not kidding, click here to see an article titled “Haredim threaten to boycott Mamilla Mall.” Why? Christmas lights. The management of the mall tried to quickly claim it was Hanukkah lights left up late.
Why should they do that? Not only do Christians make up 2% of the population in Israel, we get a LOT of Christian tourists this time of year, for obvious reasons. Why shouldn’t we do something to make them feel at home? Most major cities in the US do a Chanukah menorah lighting in a public place, why can’t we in Israel reciprocate and give Christians some acknowledgement of their holiday in our public space?
Read the rest of his entry here
Foto Friday – Church Gates of Jerusalem
Filed under: Art, coexistence, Foto Friday, General, History and Culture, Holidays, Life, Picture of the Week, Religion, Travel
Today’s weather was sunny, crisp and clear — not your classic Christmas Eve weather but prefect for pilgrims to wander through Jerusalem’s Christian Quarter. As in all other parts of the Old City, the Quarter takes travelers on a winding trail from site to site to holy site. For those living far away, here is a virtual tour of the city’s church gates — all will be open tonight for worshipers to celebrate the Midnight Mass.
Entrance to the Christian Quarter
© RomKri
Church of the Holy Sepulcher
This historic church shelters the holiest site in the Christian faith: the tomb where Christ was buried and rose from the dead. It is shared by several denominations.
© Gennadi Zimmerman
Church of the Redeemer
The Lutheran Church of the Redeemer is the only Protestant church in the Old City of Jerusalem. It was commissioned by Prussian Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm, who was given the site by the Turkish Sultan upon his visit to Jerusalem.in 1869.
© RomKri
Notre Dame Pilgrim Center of Jerusalem
Dating back to 1885 when its cornerstone was first laid, the building was heavily damaged during Israel’s War of Independence in 1948, rendering it partially uninhabitable. For years it served as an Israeli guard post but in 1972 was restored to its original status and the chapel rededicated to public worship in 1978. The mission entrusted to it by Pope John Paul II: “Dedicated to Our Lady of Jerusalem, Queen of Peace… as a place of fruitful spiritual development.”
© RomKri
Church of the Pater Noster
Built on the place where tradition says Jesus instructed his disciples in prayer. The walls of this convent church are inscribed with the Lord’s Prayer in 44 languages.
© RomKri
Church of All Nations
Built in 1924 and funded by several nations, this church stands over the site where tradition has it that Jesus prayed on the night of his betrayal.
© pmos_nmos
Information about Jerusalem’s churches comes mainly from the Sacred Destinations website. All photos courtesy of Jerusalem Shots where there are hundreds more to enjoy.
iPhone music from Israel
Filed under: A New Reality, Entertainment, Music, Pop Culture, Technology
Leave it to two Israelis to come up with the first song created from sounds derived entirely from iPhone applications.
According to the TechCrunch site, Ilan & Sipo have recorded a cover of the song “Blanket” by Urban Species using 24 instruments and sounds from 17 iPhone and iPad apps.
The goal, Ilan told TechCrunch, was to produce “a song you can play at a club/on the radio.” To create the instrumentation, the duo used apps like: iShred, Bassist and Beat Tap.
Check it out for yourselves here:
Physics worth rapping about
Can physics be fun? Ask any high school student who’s had to wrack his brain to remember the details of matter, motion and space-time, and you’ll either find a fanatic or a fatalist.
Some folks in the physics department at Tel Aviv University have decided on a different approach. They’ve created a rap about the work of Dr. Eshel Ben-Jacob and Itay Baruchi are doing on creating nothing less than the first steps towards a “cybrid” – kind of the opposite of a cyborg which is a human being with added technological components. A cybrid starts with the computer and adds living elements.
It’s a long way off – some of the necessary technology hasn’t even been invented yet – but the two have managed to imprint rudimentary memories onto a network of neurons interfaced with a computer.
Did you follow that? If not, check out the video on YouTube. It’s not the most professional (and the beat boxing might make you cringe). But here’s the crazy thing. It’s gone sort-of viral with over 108,000 downloads.
Some really hot tuna in Tel Aviv
He bought his first electric guitar with money he cashed in from Israel Bonds gifts that his grandparents had given him as a child. But it took the Jewish founder of famed rock bands Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna – Jorma Kaukonen – another few decades to make his first visit to Israel.
The 69-year-old Kaukonen, who turns 70 today, arrived for a Hot Tuna show in Tel Aviv last night along with his longtime musical partner Jack Casady, and showed the packed audience at Reading 3 that like the bluesmen of old, the more you play the more seasoned you get.
Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee Kaukonen was presented at the end of the show with a surprise birthday cake with ‘Mazal Tov’ designed in icing, and a raucous rendition of “Yom Holedet Sameach” (Happy Birthday) from the appreciative crowd.
Kaukonen didn’t talk from the stage about his feelings about being in the Jewish homeland for the first time with his wife and young daughter (named Israel), but instead let his music do the talking. And if the inspired tunes ranging from raunchy electric blues to acoustic country folk were any indication, he was having a very good time indeed.
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