View from the Jerusalem Hills

It’s a tradition. Whenever I’m at my old stomping grounds, I pop by my former neighborhood’s falafel joint. Now I know — everyone claims their falafel place is the absolute best. But, without getting into the merits of the various amazing falafel joints across Jerusalem, and Israel, trust me.

I was on my way to Gan HaVradim, the rose park in Jerusalem that lies between Israel’s Supreme Court and the Knesset. Unexpectedly, just steps in front of me, was a huge white tent, with a picture of Hymanot Kasau, as well as flags waving in the breeze, flags bearing Hymanot’s visage.

The weight of the loss of Oct. 7 is in the air.Because three years ago, Oct. 7 was the date of Simchat Torah. Now, it’s as though there are two official commemoration dates.The Jewish holiday. And Oct. 7.

There is just nothing like the joy of the holiday of Sukkot in Israel.The country seems transformed.Pulsing with an unbridled joyousness.

Rachamana . . . The Merciful One. I was at the Kotel, the Wailing Wall, one among tens of thousands standing for midnight penitential Selichot prayers.

What a magical night. A night to celebrate America 250 publicly, with the sacred twist of celebrating this national milestone in the holy city of Jerusalem. This grand event was hosted by the US embassy, the Honorable Ambassador Mike Huckabee and his gracious wife Janet.

As the sacred days of Rosh Hashanah approach, there’s a perceptible change in the air. Once the Jerusalem breeze begins lingering, I can almost smell the approaching Days of Awe. Snippets of the selichot penitential prayers and the wail of the shofar are carried by this breeze.

This year, the 25th anniversary of 9/11 converges with the onset of Rosh Hashanah.What are the odds that marking 25 years, a quarter of a century — a number considered symbolic in marking a generation, and in America’s 250th anniversary year to boot — Rosh Hashanah and 9/11 would be interwoven.

I made a terrible mistake. Since I won’t be there with them on their first day of school, in my desire to try to be part of this milestone in absentia, I wanted to leave my neighbors’ elementary school age boys a little first day of school package and cards.

The world’s greatest decoy is before our very eyes, and many in the world are falling for it. Asleep at the wheel. Israel the terrible! Israel the evil! Israel the monster! In reality, real savages butchered civilians en masse, even perversely and proudly filming it. But then, in classic projection when people are actually describing themselves, they flip the narrative.