It was a beautiful morning to visit the Kotel (Western Wall).  I stayed for a while and enjoyed being alone with my thoughts and prayers while surrounded with others who were also alone expressing words from the heart.

After the Kotel, Rev. Gramely I wandered around the Old City, we went to the Burnt House Museum which is basically a 20 minute movie about a Priest-family who lived during the days of the destruction of the 2nd Temple in Jerusalem.  The multi-media presentation is housed within the ancient ruins of the 2nd Temple. We then went to the Arab Market, and I bought tee-shirts for the kids and had a bite to eat.  After, I walked downtown for a while--and saw the new train in Jerusalem! WoW! When we were here 6 months ago we watched this train go back and forth as practice runs without passengers and now finally--there are people riding the train!  Fun to see.  A modern Israeli miracle.  Of course the real miracle is how it manages to avoid all the people who cross the street right in front of it!  I walked back to the hotel around sunset and took in the view.. along with the pollution, noise and traffic... Ah, the beauty of it all.  While walking back, I reflected back on my morning prayers and remembered David Zeller's beautiful prayer-song, "I am alive." A perfect song for how i felt today. In the clip below, Reb David Zeller (T'L) sings Ha'Lo Chai Ani (I am Alive) at 24:27 but a minute or so before he teaches about the song and... the whole video is wonderful!

http://vimeo.com/1176214                           Rabbi David Zeller:

Reverend Margaret Gramely and me at the Western Wall.