Holy Exposures Commentary and Photos of Israel

This story bears repeating… A health inspector visited Assaf Harofeh Hospital in the center of Israel (near Rehovot).

A Mezuza is a positive commandment in the Torah (Jewish Bible) to affix a portion of the Torah in a scroll to the doorpost of every room in a Jewish owned home or public facility. There is an additional custom to kiss a mezuza as you pass thru the doorway. Even some non-religious Jews in Israel are accustomed to kissing the mezuza as well.

The problem is, as infectious diseases go, passing by hand to mouth is the second most surefire way to infect. (The most surefire is intravenous, so they say). In walks the health inspector and checks 70 of these mezuzas at a hospital in Israel and found that every single one of them was infected with a disease of some type or another.

The story doesn’t end here… The Masorati movement in Israel (Conservative) under the leadership of Rabbi Simcha Rott, has issued a religious ruling that it is not permitted to kiss mezuzot for fear of being infected. No word yet from the Orthodox rabbinic leaders…

The Burma Road was a makeshift track built by Israeli forces headed by general Mickey Marcus during the 1948 Siege of Jerusalem, inspired by the WWII route into China. Source: Wikipedia

Here’s some photos of this famous road today:

Click on Images to see Full Size:

One of the really interesting features of the Old City Jerusalem are the multitude of latices (they are called shutters in the USA) .

These designs are basically throwbacks to the pre-1948 days. These lattices are meant to keep the wind and cold out on winter days. However, most of them can be found open all times of year. Rooms in these Ottoman style buildings can get pretty dark with the window shut, as the ceilings are high and the traditional lighting is insufficient.