Bar Mitzvah

I have tried to explain how Jerusalem (and other ancient sites) are not where they were originally. They were many layers below. In the Jewish quarter of the old city, this is a cistern. There are cisterns all over for the collection then distribution of water in places where it was needed. This is in an area that has been fairly heavily populated for many centuries. I wish the photograph could be adequate to give an idea how deep it was due to the layers added at the top year after year.

 On our last day in the Holy Land with the Browers, we headed for the Western or wailing wall. We heard quite a ruckus, in several places, several times. Here is one of the traveling celebrations. There are balloons, music, shouting and singing with a young boy under the canopy. We asked a nearby resident and he told us that Thursdays were one of the traditional days for Bar Mitzvahs. (You can look it up in the encyclopedia or on Wikipedia if you want more information.)

 Here is another group as it neared the Wailing Wall. I had intended to get either the grandmother dancing or the men holding shofar horns at the sides of the boy's head to look like bull horns (for the purpose of taking memorable photos) but I wasn't quick enough with the camera. From what I hear, there is an unspoken competition her between Muslims and Jews for who can bear the most children. I'm sure it's just a rumor for the benefit of tourists.

 Here we are standing by the women's section of the Wailing Wall. Once again, we chose not to go beyond the partition because the line to enter the closer area in order to actually touch what is considered part of the old temple wall (not Solomon's original but later) was WAYYYYYY too long.