Here is the promised pic. Picture opera music and flashing lights changing colors from one moment to the next just under the Mt. of Olives.
At the Wall itself, all was untouched, but above and beyond there were a few good light tricks to see. I didn’t have my camera with me then, but there were projected spiders crawling on cob-webs around Jaffa gate and the Christian quarter. The Cardo ceiling was filled with light mosaics and I heard they were playing some movies in Zilberman’s square, commonly known as the Old Square. Most importantly there were lots of portable lights for sale, popcorn, cotton candy and Rabbis with guitars singing about… G-d and coming close of course.
Mayor Nir Barkat brought the Formula One race to Jerusalem for the first time ever. The race cars ran the track on the other side of the walls of the Old City (by Jaffa gate). There was one day (last Thursday) when the light show and the Formula One race overlapped. Neighbourhood kids tried to hide in their homes to avoid trampling :-). But seriously, it was not as bad as expected. Of course no Old City kids could actually get to school by bus, or catch sight of the cars without waiting for 3 hours. So we all viewed it as a kind of snowed in day.
When an inch of snow falls in Jerusalem – the entire city comes to a stop! Growing up in Toronto this experience is very comical to me. Everyone is unprepared, excited and shocked – like a deer in the headlights. They scatter to try to build something with the snow before it melts away within hours.
I felt like each country and city had at least one representative here in the Old City last week! My kids even got a present from a random tourist from Mongolia. People DO live there I guess! And everyone has one thing in common – they view this tiny place as holy and the place where G-d chose to be out of hiding :-).
