Blessed is The Builder of Jerusalem

Ask an English-speaking Israeli "What is the National Bird of Israel?" and he/she's likely to smile and say "The Crane".  

On our recent visit, we were astounded by the construction going on around Jerusalem. Buildings, roads, highways, tunnels, light rail... I was hardly surprised to find myself face-to-face with a bulldozer on the new forest road outside Har Nof. 

The pessimist might see all this activity as one huge, man-made traffic jam (which it certainly is); the optimist sees the city - and country - preparing every inch of its infrastructure and housing opportunities for the imminent ingathering of the exiles, all under the Divine Direction of the true Builder of Jerusalem. 

What looks like this today...

...will be this tomorrow.

Even trash collection is new and improved. Every five year old boy and his father (and middle-aged grandmother!) watches this daily spectacle with wide-eyed wonder:

(I don't think the worker should have thrown his paper cup in as he did but I won't use this video against him.)

My friends in Har Nof reported that they could feel their apartment shake as the digging was done beneath their buildings for these enormous tunnels (the photo hardly does them justice!) which will cut through the mountain - and cut travel time from one end of the city to the other in half:

The main street leading into Har Nof is a colossal construction zone as work continues to extend the light rail line to the western edge of Jerusalem. Yes, progress is slow but what now looks like this:

will soon, please G-d, be this:

Destination: The Beit HaMikdash (the Holy Temple)! All aboard!

Our daily prayers make numerous references to The Builder of Jerusalem. We bless Him and beseech Him to rebuild His holy city speedily and in our time. On your next trip to Israel, you'll see it happening before your very eyes! 

This Sunday is Tisha b'Av, the ninth day of the month of Av, when we Remember the Jerusalem of the first and second Temple periods - and both Temples' destruction. Yes, I will fast and I will mourn once again if this long, bitter exile hasn't ended by then. But this year, I'm feeling oh so hopeful that we'll be spending the Ninth of Av dancing together on the newly paved streets of a rebuilt Jerusalem in the shadow of our Third and Eternal Beit HaMikdash. Amen.