The Jacksons' Actions: Valentine's Day and Purim

Valentine's Day in the Center:

This red chain ran from the 2nd floor up to the 6th.

Then it went over the top of the Oasis door and ended in a big heart on the wall. Very fun!

The students sent Valentines to each other and had a dance in the evening. Kent and I had to postpone our dinner date because he had work responsibilities out of Jerusalem. Only postponed though, not forgotten. The following evening, we had a branch Valentine's party. The adults in one room, the children in another. We played games [think of "The Newlywed Game" and games at the Card's tea]. We had a "break" and had some refreshments.

This is Jill Judd. She is one of our faculty wives and is also the Activities Committee Chair. Actually, I think she is the entire committee.

After our fill of cookies, we returned to our separate rooms and watched movies. The adult movie was "An Affair to Remember". The good one with Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr.

See the cute little girl on the floor. She is so adorable and her mother dresses her to the nines!! Her name is Victoria.

Here is a close up of her Valentine outfit:

Purim came after Valentine's Day and we celebrated that and included our Valentine's dinner out.
Purim is a Jewish holiday that commemorates the deliverance of the Jewish people as told in the Book of Esther. Remember that Haman, royal vizier to King Ahasuerus, planned to kill all the Jews in the empire, but his plans were foiled by Mordechai and Queen Esther. The day of deliverance became a day of feasting and rejoicing.
Now it is celebrated by giving gifts of food and drink, giving charity to the poor, a celebratory meal, and public recitation of the Scroll of Esther. Other customs include drinking wine [apparently a lot of it!], wearing costumes, and public celebration.
Kent and I went into the Ultra-Orthodox Jewish neighborhood of Mea Shearim and just wandered around. It looked like Halloween night on 100 West in Orem [minus the drunkenly weaving, loud men] :).

There was actually a third little clown that I didn't get in this picture. I'm assuming the 3 clowns are sisters. :)

As you can see not everyone dresses up. There were a few people who turned away when they saw we were taking pictures. Most didn't care.

The one below is more just to give you a sense of the setting. All of the apartments on top of each other. The streets were wall-to-wall cars and people.

Here are some girls enjoying the view from their balcony

These children turned and ran inside the gate when they saw us. That is why you can only see the face of one of them.

The tall fez hats were popular. We saw many drunken men like the 2 in the second picture -- linked arm-in-arm, singing loudly and trying to walk straight. I find it interesting. And that is all I'm saying. ;)

The area we wandered through is called Mea Shearim, but there is an enclosed neighborhood that is the actual Mea Shearim. It looks like a fortress and is only accessed on foot.

The sign below is over the entrance. I was wearing pants, so we didn't venture in.

Of course, Kent new of a church in the neighborhood, so we took a detour there for a minute. It was an Ethiopian Coptic church.

Since most stores and restaurants in West Jerusalem were closed for Purim, we went back to a neighborhood close to the Center for dinner. It was called Azkadinya and it was delish!

This is the entrance