When it snows in Jerusalem

When it snows in Jerusalem

By Naomi Ragen

All over the world, when it snows, most of the time people take it for
granted.  But not in my city, Jerusalem.

When it snows in Jerusalem, people in Petach Tikva and Tel Aviv pile into
their cars and head towards the capital.

Old folks (like me) go out at eleven p.m. to throw snowballs at their
husbands and to sit drinking hot cider in the only café open for business

Your kids call you from far away Rechovot begging to spend the night

You clean off your windowsills and put some of it in the freezer, to
remember when the skies turn hot and blue again, as you know they will

You can hear the children in nearby schools scream with delight, in a
chorus, as the first flakes fall

You get out your iphones and sms photos to your entire family

You watch people pile up more snow on their cars to take home to show the
family

You get to take out the clothes you bought the last time you were in a place
that has a real winter (i.e. outside the country) and wear them again

No one goes to work, or school

The streets are empty, except for the teenagers having the time of their
lives

At the first forecast of snow, you look longingly at the sky, hoping wishes
alone might milk a little of the white stuff from the reluctant sky

And when it starts falling, you stand, mesmerized as the flakes transform
the familiar landscape into something so strange and beautiful you can’t
move

And even as it snows, you hope the sun won’t come out too soon and melt it;
that it will stay cold long enough for the roads to reopen and so the
grandkids can come and see

You get ready to walk to the Kotel no matter where you are, because it is a
sight no one should miss if they get a chance to see it in their lifetime

And when you get there, although all public transportation has been stopped,
the roads in and out of the city have been closed, and schools and almost
all businesses have shut down, you bless G-d for giving the city so much joy

You find yourself already dreaming about the next snow day in Jerusalem…

Only in Jerusalem snowman had lemons instead of eyes