Western Wall Over the years, both in my own visits to the Western Wall and in the eyes and words of students with whom I visit the Wall, that connection remains. With that said, both in my own visits and with the people whom I visit with, there is no small amount of ambivalence, even of aversion towards what the Western Wall has become. In spite of the image of the Western Wall as a great magnet of Jewish memory and unity, it has become a contested space (and here I am not going to even begin to raise the contentions between Jews and Muslims over the space) – partitioned into gated subdivisions between a variety of Jewish groups.  more....>>                                                                                                                            On the walls of my room when I was 16, the year before I first came to Israel before beginning university, between Picasso' Don Quixote, and Dylan's The Times are a' Changing; was a black and white photo mounted on a plain wood backing of the Temple Mount and the Western Wall.   more...>>     The Knesset   Across from the entrance to the Knesset stands a monumental bronze menorah emblazoned with scenes of the ebbs and flows of the Jewish story. Among the panels are renditions of the leaders who served the Jewish people with vision, with courage, with modesty, and with great compassion – Moses, Yohanan Ben Zakkai, Maimonides, and the pioneers of Israel's pre-state period. A new government in Israel is about to be sworn in more...>> .                       Tel-Aviv   When we have an opportunity to celebrate, we ought to embrace it fully. Tel Aviv@100 provides just such a chance to celebrate – to appreciate where we came from, what we have achieved, and to gather strength for projects yet to be undertaken.more...>>