American expat Sugi Ellis, 95, a Jerusalemite for over 50 years, is usually happy-go-lucky, but last week, she was very angry. Ellis lives on Ben Maimon Avenue, directly across the road from Mayor Moshe Lion.
She understood Lion’s apartment was too small to hold those who came to express condolences on the passing of Lion’s father, Shalom Lion, who died on August 19.
Prior to his election as mayor, Moshe Lion served on the Jerusalem City Council, headed the Jerusalem Development Authority, chaired Israel Railways, and was the director-general of the Prime Minister’s Office. Lion thus accumulated many friends and acquaintances. The number of condolence notices published in major daily Hebrew newspapers totaled over three pages in each.
Knowing all this, Ellis understood special provisions had to be made, but what angered her was that no one from Lion’s camp crossed the road to apologize for any inconvenience. Delivery trucks carrying tents, tables, chairs, a generator, and portable toilets entered the street and made a lot of noise. Visiting hours had been advertised from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., resuming at 4 p.m. until 10 p.m. But according to Ellis, hordes of people had already arrived much earlier in the day, came for morning prayers, and stayed for study sessions, which also went on in the afternoon and evening.
The two marine blue tents bore the insignia of the municipal Emergency and Security Division; presumably, the tables and chairs, generator, and toilets were also municipal property. “Who’s paying for all that?” asked Ellis.
Ellis is not the only one of Jerusalem’s senior residents with a grudge against the municipality and its leader. Many cannot understand why scores of construction projects are being executed simultaneously, creating a nightmare for pedestrians. Even worse is the lack of traffic control.
Complaints over accessibility
A 76-year-old reader who asked to remain nameless is undergoing cancer treatment. They wrote, “I don’t have the same mobility I had years ago, and I find it quite difficult at times navigating as a pedestrian with all the sidewalks being torn up.” She also mentioned that his discomfort was compounded by cars parked on sidewalks. “It is an accomplishment these days to arrive home safely!”
The following is a personal complaint regarding an alleged abuse of office by some municipal workers. Last week, I saw a municipal vehicle driving the wrong way down Ahad Ha’am Street – a one-way street. This was not the only presumed case of an abuse of office. Police cars with sirens blaring are seen racing to private events, seemingly not to investigate a crime or prevent a possible tragedy.
Last Friday, there was a long line of people waiting either for a vacant table or to purchase take-away dairy foods. Helen Family Bakers is one of the commercial enterprises that recently opened at the King George end of Agrippas St. and, in a brief period, has accumulated a host of favorable reviews.
Excitement bubbled among many Jerusalemites last Friday with the launch of the light rail’s new Yellow Line to Malha. Steve Sattler, the head of the Trains and Tram Society of Israel, was among those who could hardly wait to ride the new route.
He and a group of “trainologists” caught the 10:20 train on Jaffa Road and rode the 12 stops to Malha, where the final stop was just opposite the Malha Technology Park. The trip took 25 minutes, then 27 minutes on the return journey, with the final stop being near the Central Bus Station and the Jerusalem International Convention Center.
Sattler, who grew up in Melbourne, Australia, where light rail travel was introduced about 140 years ago, refers to light rail trains as trams, as they are called in Australia. He is a fountain of information about trains and trams in Israel and elsewhere.
There are currently two light rail lines in Jerusalem, but when the network is completed, there will be nine lines, Sattler said. However, no one should hold their breath while waiting for that eventuality.
The Red Line began functioning in August 2011. Fifteen years passed before the advent of the Green Line. It may take less time for the launch of the third light rail line, but, as US President Donald Trump is fond of saying: “We’ll have to wait and see.”
This time of year, Jerusalem’s Jewish residents are reserving seats in synagogues throughout the city for the High Holy Days services.
For well over a decade, Rabbi Yisroel Goldberg and his wife, Shoshana (Shoshi), the co-directors of Chabad of Rechavia, have published a pre-Rosh Hashanah notice stating: “We saved you a seat.”
There is an explanatory message that they try not to charge for seats, but they are most appreciative of donations, which help to defray costs.
In addition to services, they will add an additional shofar blowing at 5 p.m. on the second day of Rosh Hashanah for people who may have missed hearing it in synagogue, or who did not attend services.
Shofars will be blown at Chabad of Rechavia, 2 Ibn Ezra St. (off Keren Kayemet); The Heart plaza on Diskin St. (between buildings 9 and 11); the Jerard Bachar Center on 11 Betzalel St.; Tiferet Menachem yeshiva on 29 Yitzhak Barashi St.; The Be’er Sheva St. garden/kindergarten in Nachlaot; and the Ohel Aharon Synagogue at 29 Kharlap St.
Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur services will be held in a spacious tent behind the Chabad of Rechavia building.
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