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'prayer sculpture'  in the city garden - Ramat Gan

We're entering a hectic period of time - from end of September till almost end of October.

The great  synagogue- city of Ramat-Gan

It's the period of the jewish High Holidays which includes not only celebrations and good food, but also repentance, prayer, meditation, visits to our departed ones at the cemetery, fasting. Prayers and  visits to the cemetery (to ask for forgiveness and  a good upcoming New Year) can be quite physically and mentally challenging.  I usually need a little vacation afterwards for change of scenery and atmosphere:)
However, there's satisfaction in being able to carry out the above things. 

the old cemetery in the holy city of Safed (Tzefat)

 street corner adjacent to cemetery in city of Ghivataim

I won't be much, if at all, on Blogger during this period, but I hope to have time to think of  topics for new posts, and take adequate pictures to accompany these posts.

Our weather  is still very hot during the day; slightly cooler in the mornings and evenings. The heat doesn't help with the preparations and efforts to catch the spiritual mood. We need rain, but we won't get it until  late autumn - beginning of winter. Honestly, I dread the approaching  of winter, even though our winter is usually short and relatively mild.

at the Prayer Sculpture

'Whatever will be will be', as the song goes. God will take  care of us.   See You!

On The Eternity

Health services - Aged people's home - Cemetery - Eternity
Do you see the connection? perhaps the irony?
Walking outdoors provides us with a good opportunity for reflection on things in general, and on what we see around us in particular.

Let's take a walk on 'the Eternity' street. The name eternity (Nezach -in hebrew) is rather intriguing to those who don't know there's a small, old, cemetery at the end of this street. The cemetery is at number 25. At number 23, there's an aged people's home, and further in the same row, at number 9 - a health services building. All three sites are of the highest standards.

The cemetery , now closed to burials, is considered exclusive due to its central location, quality of maintenance and some important figures burried here. If someone wishes to buy a plot (there aren't many left, if any), he'll have to be well connected and pay a large sum of money.

entrance to the cemetery

The aged people's home, Habait (home-in hebrew), adjacent to the little cemetery , offers all kinds of sheltered accommodation to choose from: retirement living, independent living, assisted living. nursing care, rehabilitation etc.. It is luxurious, with a variety of programs , facilities and services. and meant for people... with money.

Habait

The Health Services building is owned by the second largest health care provider in the country - Maccabi. It has specialized clinics, modern facilities , and highly professional medical staff.

Maccabi Health Services

First there was the cemetery; then, behind it, several residential buildings were erected. The question of why the price of a flat in each of these buildings was so expensive - usually got answered with : "you get the most quiet, well-mannered neighbour possible". Indeed.

residential buildings behind the cemetery

Live Danger in a Dead Place.

Several months ago I got attacked by ...a plant. It happened while I was on my way out of the cemetery. My skirt touched a shrub near one of the graves and all of a sudden its fruit opened up sending tens of needles into the lower part of my body. I won't go into details; I'll just say that it was pure Hell.

I know, of course, about the existence of plants whose exterior is covered by thorns or needles, but this was something else. No warning whatsoever of the concealed weapon. I was so shocked and in pain that I wasn't able to even take a decent look at the shrub. A month later I came back to the 'scene of crime' to search for it and take a picture so that I could start some inquiries, but I wasn't successful. I couldn't remember the exact place and shape of the 'villain'.

I'm not familiar with the regulations and restrictions, if any, regarding plants in a cemetery. I think in this particular cemetery there's usually no soil for planting near the headstones, so people bring all kinds of trees/shrubs/flowers, in pots of various shapes and sizes, and place them near the gravestone of their beloved trying to make beautiful the resting place of the dead and pleasurable the visits of the living.

I kept quiet about the incident. I felt it was a kind of punishment from Above for choosing the short way among the graves and thus disturbing the peace of the dead, instead of taking the normal path. I don't know why I haven't used the paved path. Probably, it's the nasty child in me, that resides in everyone, making us , at times, behave badly and do stupid things.

I should have complained to the manager of the cemetery about the shrub, demanding an explanation of their policy as to the sort of plants allowed in the cemetery, but I didn't. I guess I was still uncomfortable with my behaviour, and I was too glad that no lasting harm was done to me.

Old and Jewish

The blue sign located above the souvenir stands (see picture below), indicates by the little white arrows , the direction to the synagogues (Maisel, Spanish, Pinkas, Old-New, Klausen), to the Ceremony Hall, and to the Old Jewish Cemetery- the major sites that make up the Old Jewish Quarter of Prague (Josefov). These historic-religious sites are visited every year by thousands of people from all over the world.

souvenirs in the Old Jewish Quarter

The above mentioned sites, display items belonging to the Jewish Museum in Prague: collections of jewish prints, manuscripts, books, silver ornaments, textile, traditions ,customs, and also lots of drawings by children from Terezin concentration camp.

The Pinkas synagogue is a Memorial to the czech victims of the Holocaust ; their names are written on its walls.

The Old-New synagogue ( the Altneushul) is the oldest in Europe, still in use as house of prayer. The Spanish synagogue hosts, besides exhibitions, also various concerts.

It is forbidden to take pictures inside the synagogues ( the interior of the Spanish synagogue with its moorish decorations is , in my opinion, the most beautiful); visitors can buy postcards, books and commemorative coins offered for sale on the spot.

exterior of the Maisel synagogue


The Old-New synagogue (the Altneushul)


the Pinkas synagogue

The Old Jewish Cemetery is somehow peculiar and yet very impressive .
Although small, the cemetery contains thousands of graves from various historical periods; the oldest gravestone is from year 1439, and the last burial took place in 1787 .
It is said that the graves are put one upon another in some 12 layers! Many of the gravestones seem close to each other and inclined , probably because of lack of space.

hebrew inscriptions on the tombstones

The most prominent figure burried in this cemetery is Rabbi Jehuda Loew ben Bezalel (known as the MaHaRaL) a scholar and educator who has published more than fifty(50) religios and philosophical books. According to the legend, he created the Golem, a monster made of clay , brought to life through magic, who stood by the Jews in bad times, but later became violent and had to be destroyed.

One thing is obvios; no peace and quiet for the dead of this cemetery. It's constantly flooded with tourists taking pictures and wondering about the sights.