July 4th – Happy Birthday USA!

**10:25pm update:  We went to a lovely dinner in our hotel.  I have really enjoyed our dinners together….and I’m adding a picture of the Shabbat candles I lit.  Here’s hoping I can fall asleep fairly soon…..

5080 steps

My Shabbat Candles before dinner….

Nice day today!  I slept in until 10am!  And that sounds rather hedonistic, but I have been sleeping very choppy; and so this worked out to be a great day to do this.  Having already been to the Yad Vashem, an incredible Holocaust Memorial, and having a bit of sadness already in me for the murdered children recently here in Israel, I opted to stay in and relax a bit.  Also, we were going there and then coming back here to the hotel for what turned out to be an incredible presentation by Gideon Meir, former Israeli Ambassador to Italy.  What an impressive and informative man.  He shared with us a wealth of information and slides showing how photos deeply distorted the news as well as absolute misuse of photos and the descriptions.  It was very insightful.

We climbed so many steps yesterday, everyone is sort of showing exhaustion.  But we boarded the bus 5 minutes after our speaker finished to head to the Market.  It’s a must-do experience in my opinion!  It’s insane sort of.  There is such a mad dash for everyone to finish getting everything they need for Shabbat as well as the vendors needing/wanting to get rid of everything they have so it’s GONE by Shabbat and doesn’t sit around for 2 days!  People are everywhere.  We were given an hour to shop and eat.  I only shopped…figuring I’d have my food in my room afterward!  We stopped at an arts and crafts fair on our way there.   It was small and uneventful from my perspective.  In the Machane Yehuda Market I bought a small scoop of raw cashews and raw peanuts, etc., a fresh bread roll or two, small bits of 2 cheeses, etc. and just had a lovely much in my room afterward.  Much better to eat in my A/C room than standing up outside in the scorching heat!!  To do so, I didn’t join a few of the group walking to an Armenian Jewish service.  We will have another big walking day tomorrow, and several of us just took a break instead so it’s allowing me to get all caught up in the blog.  And, more importantly, it’s allowing me some time to take in everything we’ve been seeing, hearing and doing.

I’m so lucky.  I am so grateful as well.  I have managed to have such a full life and I can’t expect anyone else to understand (as I don’t really understand it myself) how being in Jerusalem gives me the pause to really acknowledge this to myself.  So I find myself relishing time alone to ponder so many things. . . and to ask God to “Show me the Way”……

Happy 4th of July All.

~Lila

Machane Yehuda Market

Machane Yehuda Market

Musicians performing as we walk to Machane Yehuda Market (Police came and made them stop; I think due to high alert they wanted to limit activity. This was a Birthright Israel Musician Themed group)

Musicians performing as we walk to Machane Yehuda Market

Walking in Jerusalem to Machane Yehuda Market

Walking in Jerusalem heading to the Machane Yehuda Market

Walking to Machane Yehuda Market

Walking to Machane Yehuda Market

Gideon Meir, Former Israeli Ambassador to Italy vists us to talk about diplomacy and truth (or lack of) in journalism, etc. EXCELLENT!

Gideon Meir, Former Israeli Ambassador to Italy vists us to talk about diplomacy and truth (or lack of) in journalism, etc. EXCELLENT!

Machane Yehuda Market

Nestle Crunch?!

Walking in Jerusalem heading to the Machane Yehuda Market

Walking in Jerusalem heading to the Machane Yehuda Market (I loved the Mosaics painted above the opening of this small Synagogue. There are dozens upon dozens of small Synagogues throughout Jerusalem

Synagogue while Walking in Jerusalem heading to the Machane Yehuda Market

Walking in Jerusalem (passing this Synagogue) to Machane Yehuda Market