Jerusalem Walks Leon's Walks

The angel of the Lord stops the hand of Abraham from sacrificing his son. From a mosaic in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. The destruction of the temple is probably the greatest catastrophe in Jewish History; it lead to the end of Jewish nationhood, the scattering of the Jews throughout the world and worst of all the substitution of historical events in Jewish History, with historical events of other nations. This last result of the destruction is little recognized, but is

I cannot allow criticism of my beliefs to go unnoticed. I believe in the correctness of the Jewish religion and Zionism and the value of these beliefs for the world. Were it not for my love of freedom of speech (an idea that I have imbibed from Judaism), I would censor these books because they make it appear that Judaism and Zionism are evils to be eradicated from society, while actually they offer solutions to the turmoil in which the world finds itself.Books for and against

It gives me great pleasure to wish all Christians a Merry Christmas. BUT Being a Jew, who feels happiness for Christians celebrating the birth of a saviour, I feel that I owe Christians an explanation, in fact many Christians have asked me to explain why I don’t accept Jesus as my saviour. The very fact that there are Christians in the world and that I rejoice that they have a belief, which brings them happiness, causes me to face the question of why I am still a Jew, conside

Are These the Beams of the Temple? Is this the Gift from King Hiram of Sidon to King Solomon? Shalom Dennis, As far as I know those beams are from the Al Aksa mosque built in the 7th century. They can still be seen in the museum of the Waqf on the temple mount next to the al aksa mosque. I haven't been there for a long time, but it's a good idea to go there again. Unfortuately the museum is used to illustrate Israeli persecution of Arabs, showing blood stained clothes etc, bu

This is an open letter to my friends Esther, Mary, Jo, Rykie and many others like them who through all the years of my guiding have come to Israel because they love the Jews. It has been an honor for me to know them and I have learned a lot from them. These tourists and tour leaders, unlike most other Christians or Moslems, are aware that the Jews gave them God. They are thrilled with their belief and overjoyed with the Jewish People who gave it to them. That is the truth; t

Shalom everyone, Nothing gives us the feeling that we're part of the universe more than the calendar. Take this month in the Jewish calendar for example, Shvat. In Israel signs of reawakening nature appear in this month; the almond tree blossoms, cyclamens, deep purple and white in dark forests peek out from cracks in the rocks, newspapers advertise tours to see the first bursts of red anemones in the desert. In nature time brings the event. That's why the New Year for trees

Shalom everyone, Its ages since I wrote no news. So much no news has accumulated that I don't know where to start. September was a great month for no news and October is going to beat it. At long last I received my three stooges' movies that I ordered on the internet. Now all I need for a good laugh is to put a movie on the DVD. Ettie went off to Australia with Ittamar to join in the wedding festivities of my niece Lisa and they returned with lots of presents for me; a pair o

Shalom everyone, I never cease to be amazed at the tricks I play on myself to keep myself from writing newsletters and articles. I like thinking about the things that are happening and giving my opinion on historical events to tourists, but I'm forever avoiding the job of writing these things down. There are definitely two audiences to our thoughts and words. One is ourselves the other is the readers and listeners of our thoughts. It's much easier to think and not write or sp

D ear friends and family, shalom, Every time I visit Massada I need to remind myself and others that although Massada fell, with the terrible suicide there, the Jewish People survived. In the face of such horrors where did the Jewish People find the strength of will to survive? The search for an answer to this question is definitely a worthwhile activity, in my opinion. Every time I go there I think how many times this nation has turned back from the brink of destruction. Whe

Dear friends and family, shalom, It seems that the Hamas have finally come up to the expectations of the Palestinians who voted for them. This latest escapade of theirs of kidnapping of an Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit has once again put them on top of the Palestinian popularity poll. The support of the overwhelming majority of Palestinians enjoyed by Hamas is the real issue that Israel has to face. Time and again the Palestinian people have demonstrated their enthusiasm for

The days after Passover and the day of Shavuot celebrate two events when the Jewish People received two important gifts, namely the grains of wheat and barley, harvested on the days between the two festivals and the Torah which we received on Mt. Sinai on Shavuot, the 50th day after Passover. At this time of the year the Jewish farmer could really feel the truth of the saying "without flour there is no Torah and without Torah there is no wheat." In Judaism the gift of Torah a

On Wednesday morning I had a call, as I expected, from someone who wanted to join my twice weekly walk in the Old City. I happily took my sign and caught the bus down town. As I made my way through Ben Yehudah Str.to meet my clients, two young ladies who have family in Jerusalem and come here about twice a year, I was held up by a young girl and a bearded man playing Irish and Scottish melodies, she on a violin and he accompanying her on a guitar. I was so moved by their musi

Dear friends and family, One of the postcard sellers at the Mosque of Omar whispered in my ear that from the 1st of March we'll be able to enter the sacred shrine again. It's been closed for about 6 years now, since Ariel Sharon entered it in October 2000. This was good news. It might be a sign of improved relations between Jews and Arabs. Once again we'll be able to admire the architectural beauty of this ancient holy place, one of the best examples of the cultural heritage

Dear friends and family, My son, Emanuel, sent me an important bit of no news. The singing group Depeche Mode will be giving a one time performance on the 3rd Aug 2006. You might know that this date is the festival of Tisha B'Av, in memory of the destruction of the 1st and the 2nd Temples. Those destructions are considered the beginning of the exile (galut). They'll be performing at the end of the festival. The end of the festival is considered the beginning of redemption (ge