Footloose

Today's walk started in an old neighborhood near the town center, Nahalat Shiv'a.  Originally home to Orthodox families that left the Old City to branch out (sort of like the Jerusalem version of pioneers in a Calistoga wagon), it is now home to hipster cafes, bookstores, galleries and restaurants.  We all know the drill - Valencia Street redux.

Nahalat Shiv'a Alley

Round Ethiopian Church

Wondered through the Russian Compound, stopping at the Palestine Central Prison, now a museum called the Shrine of Heroism.  The British held captured members of Jewish resistance groups there - they have preserved the gallows at the prison (although executions took place in Acre)- kinda spooky.

Ended up in Me'a She'arim via Ethiopia Street, a street with beautiful homes, great ambiance and the circular Ethiopian Church.  Me'a She'arim is endlessly fascinating to me because of how cut off it is from the rest of the city - deliberately so, with small synagogues, cheders and yeshivas scattered throughout and woven into the fabric of daily life.  Pretty much everything revolves around study and observance.  But coupled with obvious poverty and hardship, especially for the children.

Me'a She'arim warning about modest dress for women

Luckily I wasn't around in the late afternoon because 500,000 people took to the streets to lament the death of the Chief Sephardic Rabbi, Obadia Yosef - he died around 4 pm.  Absolute chaos where the van carrying the body was moving through the streets.

Lamenting Obadia Yosef's death