Foto Friday – Chaim Meiersdorf’s Israeli Weddings
Filed under: Art, Foto Friday, General, Holidays, Israeliness, Life, Picture of the Week, Pop Culture, Religion
Mazal tov…almost! This Saturday night is Erev Shavuot, the eve of the Shavuot (Feast of Weeks) holy day, marking the end of the counting of the Omer, the seven-week period from Pesach through Shavuot. Tradition has it that during the Omer, which is a period of mourning, Jewish couples do not marry — with the exception of Lag Ba’Omer (the tradition varies between Ashkenazic and Sephardic Jews) — but that’s all but over for this year. As of next week Israel’s spring/summer wedding season will open in full joyous force.
Israelis love a good wedding — the gatherings here tend to amass in the hundreds — and making merry is de riguer, as are cash gifts, which are calculated to cover the price of one’s food serving plus a little extra depending on your relationship to the happy couple (an online calculator, Kama Kessef, has been developed to assist in doing the math). Bringing a date to a wedding is optional but an accepted practice, as is eating, drinking and talking durng the chuppah. And of course, pinching the groom’s cheek to the point of pain.
Jerusalem-based Photographer Chaim Meiersdorf has, for the past 30 years, made a career specializing in such happy occasions.
Where sometimes tears are shed, but for joy…
And joy will make you jump, too!
Meiersdorf lives in Jerusalem and his clientele comes mainly from the various Orthodox Jewish communities there and around the country. More of his work can be viewed on his website.
Are you an Adviser or a Chooser?
Seeing the forest for the trees
Two academics, Dr. Rachel Barkan of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and Professor Shai Danziger of Tel Aviv University spent more than a little time examining the areas of choice and advice, and their findings look a little bit like the conclusions of writer Malcolm Gladwell in his book, The Tipping Point, but maybe that’s just me. They’re not looking for Mavens, Connectors and Salesmen, nor how a trend is made, but rather Advisers and Choosers, and how and whether positive reinforcement makes a difference.
“It is a matter of seeing the forest for the trees,” Barkan explains, “The advice we give is not anchored in the choice we would make. When we give advice, we do not consider what we would have done in the same situation. Instead, our role as adviser distances us from the dilemma at hand. From afar we see the forest. We consider long term goals that are worthy and desirable. As advisers, we overlook the trees and discount obstacles and impediments on the way to this goal. As Choosers however, we cannot avoid seeing the trees – sometimes to the extent of losing the forest. As choosers, our mindset is oriented toward implementation and we give more weight to concrete details of feasibility and pragmatism.
In other words, are you an Adviser or a Chooser? The goal-reacher or onlooker? It seems clear that the world is filled both kinds of people, and even more possibly, that we all fill both roles at different times in our lives. Clearly, we need advisers when looking to follow a dream, to hear from those who are cheering us on, as well as receive the pragmatic, ‘look at the trees’ advice so that we can anticipate some of the obstacles ahead.
In the research gathered, Barkan and Danziger found that advisers tend to be more idealistic than pragmatic, on the ‘why’ rather than the ‘how’ and tend to act as cheerleaders. And so, they concluded, in order to follow a dream, there need to be two people in the equation, the one who believes in the dream, and cheers on the person actually following the dream.
In other words, positive reinforcement isn’t a waste of time, it may actually help make something happen. Go on, help someone fulfill their dream.
Glorious Israeli spring
By Yossi, Keshet: The Center for Educational Tourism in Israel
This has been a glorious spring in Israel and we still have a few more weeks to enjoy it before the dog days of summer set in and the great green countryside begins its inexorable slide into brown and yellow until the rains return in the fall sometime after the Sukkot holiday.
While everything is still green, I found myself thinking back to this past winter during which, for the first time in seven years, we received the amount of rain Israeli meteorologists and farmers hoped we would. In each of the six years before this one, the official “weather people” at the Israel Meteorological Society have declared a drought. The results were obvious to anyone strolling in city parks or traveling in Israel’s rural areas.
This year, though, things have been different. Along with thousands of other Israelis, I have gone on a binge of hiking and outdoor touring to take in all the newly beautiful and green sites. My wife moved to this country six years ago after having spent the previous 20 living in an especially verdant part of Japan and she is just amazed to see the countryside looking as pretty as it does because she has never seen it this way before.
In mid-March we headed out to a place called Lupine Hill (Givat HaTurmosim in Hebrew) in the Elah Valley where tradition has it that David slew Goliath with pebbles from the stream there. After hiking all day we stopped in the Elah Valley winery and bought five bottles for the Passover Seder. The week before Passover we went up north to see the blooming Gilboa Iris and we hiked there and among the waterfalls of Wadi Parod. During Passover, we made it to the new hanging trail in the Banias National Park and it was as gorgeous and full of water as I remember it 20 years ago.
With the Shavuot holiday coming up, get out of town and enjoy some of Israel’s beautiful natural places yourselves! Enjoy the Israeli spring!
Took this shot of a Gilboa Iris with my iPhone.
Nostalgia Sunday – Jerusalem 1967
Filed under: A New Reality, Art, education, General, History and Culture, Holidays, Israeliness, News, Nostalgia Sunday, Travel, War
In 1967, Moshe Lavi was a soldier fighting in the Six Day War. In the days that followed the retaking of Jerusalem, Lavi armed himself with a camera and documented the events unfolding around him. These never before published images are part of the larger historical record but also provide us with a glimpse into the past through the eyes of one young man who was there.
This what the Old City looked like, just days after the war ended.
(Click on image to view larger).
Israeli citizens began flooding to the Western Wall…
Soldiers and civilians alike (you can count my parents among them) took a close look at enemy weaponry…
A makeshift memorial of flowers and a small plaque was set up in memory of five paratroopers from Division 80 Reconnaissance Unit 75 who were killed in the battle for Jerusalem…
This was eventually replaced with a larger memorial, by sculptress Yona Palombo, for Paratrooper Division 80′s fallen. Today, it includes the names of 47 more soldiers killed in Israel’s wars and stands on the outskirts of the Old City.
This photo courtesy of the Paratrooper Brigade website. All other photos graciously provided by Moshe Lavi.
Foto Friday – Flowers of Jerusalem
Filed under: A New Reality, education, Environment, Foto Friday, General, Israeliness, Picture of the Week
Sometimes, you just have to stop and smell the roses. That statement is particularly apt for Jerusalem where life is politically charged on both the national and international fronts. The city’s public parks provide a bit of shelter, relieve the tension and offer a break from the heat.
© Pes & Lev
One such oasis is the Wohl Rose Park (Gan HaVradim), located opposite the Knesset and government precinct, at the foot of the Israeli Supreme Court. Established in 1981, the park has over 400 varieties of roses, and is one of the few parks of its kind in the Middle East.
© pmos_nmos
© RomKri
Jerusalem is seldom described as green and yet the city’s neighborhoods are dotted with flowers, flower boxes and flowering trees…
© RomKri
© Pes & Lev
The Jerusalem Botanical Gardens (JBG) is another great place for those who love flora and fauna. It’s also located adjacent to Givat Ram and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
© RomKri
All photos are courtesy of the excellent Jerusalem Shots website where there are plenty more images to enjoy.
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