With many solstice celebrations afoot in Jerusalem and all over the world, Jerusalemite would like to bless us all with peace and successes. Here at Jerusalemite, we're still hard at work on our latest developments, which we believe will bring much pleasure to lovers of Jerusalem the world over.

In the meantime, although we have been publishing a mere fraction of the content we had planned for you this season, we do plan for it all to see the light of day soon, and we've got these great images of Chanuka candle lightings – in Zion Square and beyond – to share with you. Don't eat too many sufganiyot!

Photos of Jerusalem chanukiyot by Adina Polen for Jerusalemite.

You might be wondering why things look a little slow on the Jerusalemite blog lately. There is good reason for it: Big things are in the works. Really big things. Unfortunately at this time we can't throw all of our cards on the table but rest assured it benefits everyone who cares deeply about Jerusalem and allows us to continue to pursue our agenda of promoting Jerusalem as a cultural destination in Israel to an even bigger audience.

So while our blog and event listings will remain somewhat stagnant in the coming days, don't forget to check out our incredibly pimped-out restaurant, museum, sites & landmarks guides. These are - and will continue to be - the most resourceful and informative Jerusalem content on the entire internet, with updates from the latest in restaurants, bars, and more.

Stay tuned as more news will be shared in the coming days, and thank you for your patience.

With much love,

The Jerusalemite Team

Photo of an ambitious Jerusalemite courtesy of orcaman from Flickr under a Creative Commons license.

Bracha Din first visited Israel in 1968, and she came by ship. A true child of the '60s, Bracha traveled the country, spending the requisite time on an authentic kibbutz, before ferrying off to Athens, the first stop on an extended European tour which took her to 22 countries in three years.

Back in the United States, Din tried out college but left after a semester to hitch-hike across Canada and the western United States. This journey eventually brought her to San Francisco, where she met Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach and joined up with his House of Love and Prayer. It was in San Francisco that Bracha first began taking the steps toward observant Judaism - "I danced my way into Judaism," she likes to say – a path that eventually took her to Brooklyn, where she married and raised a family.

Bracha and her husband attempted to make aliyah as a couple, but they returned to America after a year. It was not until 1995, her children grown and her husband passed on, that Bracha returned for good to the city that had "always been like a magnet, pulling me in." She settled in Jerusalem's Old City and soon began her unique work with stones and prayer. Jerusalemite caught up with her in the calm before the Chanukah rush when Brachaleh (as the business is called) will be displaying her wares in her Jewish Quarter home.

If you walk the right streets, Jerusalem seems to be a city full of jewelers. How would you describe the scene here, and how would you describe your niche within it? There are a lot of jewelers here. I think that what draws people to my work is the subliminal message contained within it. People who have that sort of sensitivity are drawn to my work. All my jewelry is created with prayer. My world is also a pastel world, though I have recently introduced [bolder] colors. My focus is pastel stones and ethereal-looking jewelry.

I've always been interested in stones and how a person can access their power, and when I came to Israel, I was happy to learn that there are Torah sources which relate to the power of certain stones – stones that have the power or qualities to bestow inner peace, love, etc. My middle name is Tzirel, which I'm told means jewelry in Yiddish, and the Talmud says that a person's name hints at what they should be doing with their life.

I've been blessed with good taste in choosing the right stones for my jewelry and the right designs, many of which are inspired by my meditations and prayers. I never actually studied art or jewelry making.

Your jewelry is specially designed to match the energies of the person it was made for. How do you translate the spiritual into the material? How does this creative process work? I sometimes design my jewelry with a specific person in mind – I concentrate on specific issues that person is facing and pray for them while I design the piece - and sometimes I just put certain energies into my jewelry and people find the piece that matches them. The rabbis say that an hour of prayer....(For more questions and answers with jeweler Bracha Din, click here).

 That's the thing about the Internet these days: you can never be in only one place at a time. You have to keep a Facebook account so you can keep track of the birthdays, interests and innermost feelings of people you fuzzily met during a previous night of heavy drinking. You have to be on Myspace to stay hip to whatever the teenagers are up to these days, and also to fulfill your daily quota of glitter fonts. You have to update your Twitter feed so all your friends, whether real or Internet-imaginary, can know your exact feelings on the sandwich you're eating, or whether you're packing for the airport at 2 AM. And on and on.

Jerusalemite is no exception. Jerusalemite cannot be contained. As the leading Jerusalem Web 2.0 presence, it's only natural that we're all over the social networks. And that means that you can plug into a nonstop stream of special Jerusalemite content whether you're here on the site or not. Who could ask for anything more?

Let's say you've got a question about Jerusalem, or our site, or maybe a recommendation. Follow us on Twitter and let us know, and we'll get back to you as soon as we can. And our Twitter feed is also a great way to keep abreast of our latest updates.

Link up with our Facebook page and help us promote Jerusalemite on the premier social networking site of the era. Offer us your thoughts, feelings and criticisms. Just please don't poke us.

Got a video that showcases the best (or at least the quirkiest) of Jerusalem? We'd love to see it. Go ahead and add it to our YouTube page - and stay tuned for exclusive Jerusalemite video content.

 Sure, maybe you're a teenager with a haircut you'll deeply regret in a few years (seriously, trust us, you will) and several impractical pairs of pants, but Jerusalemite is still here for you and your favorite social network. Add us as a friend on Myspace.

No matter how hard they try, the municipal government can't keep Jerusalem from being photogenic. Visit our Flickr page to see all our photos of the city that didn't make the main site.

Seriously, go ahead and join up. It's okay to stalk us - as long as you manage to find a good time in Jerusalem as a result. Have a great weekend!

One of these men is a rock god

It's been a good week for Jerusalem. Sure, it's cold, but Hamshushalaim is in full swing, and in its wake have come 120,000 visitors, 90% occupancy in city hotels, and a 30% increase in weekly takings of restaurants and coffeeshops. The festivities continue this weekend, and as always, there's plenty of other stuff to do as well:

• First of all, don't miss your opportunity for more Hamshushalaimery with special discounts and tours throughout the weekend.

• Suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune with a modernist English-language performance of Hamlet tonight at the Jerusalem Theatre. 'Tis noble.

• And in case Hamlet is too much of a downer, you can try your luck at an English performance of the theatrical adaptation of the Diary of Anne Frank at Beit Shmuel, also tonight.

• Start the weekend off in style by listening to the Israeli Philharmonic saw through the classics on Friday morning.

• Rocker Asaf Avidan and his boys the Mojos are stomping back into town to light the Yellow Submarine on fire Friday night.

• Speaking of stomping back into town, dinosaur rocker Rami Fortis, pictured above, is doing just that on Saturday night, also at the Yellow Sub.

• Or if you prefer your pop stars younger, try out David D'Or on Saturday night at the Ma'abada.

• The Cinematheque's Jewish Film Festival kicks off Sunday for five whole days of celluloid neuroses. Don't miss it.

• Sunday. Footie. TV. HaTaklit. Go.

• You know who loves to sponsor underground, independent theater in Jerusalem? The Ma'abada. And you. Check it out on Monday.

• A Hebrew University production of My Fair Lady on Tuesday? Yes, please.

• You're not seeing enough homegrown Ethiopian theater. We can tell. Rectify that by catching the Holgab Troupe's latest on Wednesday.

Now go check out the rest of the week's events and get out there to have some fun. Keep moving, or you'll freeze.

Image courtesy of the Yellow Submarine.

Some former Beitar fan is going to have a cold winter without his scarf

Beitar Jerusalem likes to use the advertizing/intimidation tactic of calling their home at Malcha's Teddy Stadium hell. It has indeed been hell so far this year, but only for Jerusalem - not the visiting teams. Though the season is more than half through, Jerusalem's corps of insane, obnoxious and xenophobic fans - and, to be fair, completely normal and nice ones, too - have yet to see their team win a game at home. They sunk so low as to tie with lowly Bnei Sakhnin late last month, in what was expected to be a racially tinged blowout. Their season, in the dumps so far, seems to be a continuation of their horrible 5-0 loss to Wisla Krakow over the summer, which many hoped would just be an aberration. Right.

Over in that other ballgame popular in Israel (sorry IFL), though, Hapoel Jerusalem, normally cellar dwellers, has been tearing up the hoops charts. On Sunday they affirmed their league-leading placement by edging out other frontrunner Galil-Gilboa for first place in the Premier League-  which they now share with traditional powerhouse Maccabi Tel Aviv . In Euroleague play as well, Jerusalem trounced Larissa, Greece even after suffering a surprising loss to Amsterdam. We at Jerusalemite don't like to toss around the term Cinderella much, but maybe this is proof that the messiah is on his way?

Many have pointed to scandal-plagued fallen billionaire-cum-failed politician Arkadi Gaydamak as a reason for the soccer team's recent failures, as he's been unable to inject the same excitement, and George Stienbrenner-like money into the team, instead saddling them with Marge Schott-like abuse. Of course, Gaydamak is also a major sponsor of the basketball team, too, so so much for that argument.

Jerusalemites are no fair-weather fans. Chances are that even if the soccer team's woes continue, fans will stick with it, and not switch over to burning things in the basketball arena (people yes, things no). While some may ask if Hapoel can continue their high level of play and oust Macabbi Tel Aviv from their usual spot as premier league champs - as Holon did last year - the more prescient question would be, if they do, will anybody care?

Picture of trashed Beitar scarf from Flickr user Odim under a Creative Commons license.

Finally, the children are learning a useful trade

Yeah, it's true: we've been talking a lot about Gazelle Valley lately. But this time, we don't have anything to report about the mad machinations of our local robber barons. This is good news.

You see, Jerusalem (as well as the rest of the country) suffers from a terrible litter problem. Despite the love for the Land of Israel drilled into every Israeli kid as part of the public curriculum, not to mention built into the Jewish religion, far too few people make the seemingly obvious mental association between loving the Land of Israel and not throwing Coke cans and falafel wrappers all over it. Sometimes it's the people's fault: many older generations of Israelis hail from countries (or eras) where nobody ever considered the longterm ramifications of tossing trash out the window, and thus transmitted those values (or lack thereof) to their offspring; other times, it's the government's fault, both for not encouraging a green consciousness and for failing to install enough public waste receptacles.

But things are changing. Younger Israelis are increasingly aware of the effects of littering. And the government is throwing its support behind programs like Clean Up the World Day - which brings us back to Gazelle Valley.

Last week, dozens of local schoolchildren descended on the garbage-strewn valley, and under the watchful eyes of representatives from the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel and the Jewish National Fund, removed 100 large trash bags full of refuse. Not only is it a nice thing to do for the residents of Jerusalem and the resident gazelles, it sends a symbolic message to the hungry developers hovering around the valley's periphery. It's ours! We cleaned it!

So good on you, children, and try to take the lesson to heart: every time you toss that Bissli bag onto the ground, a baby gazelle probably dies.

Image courtesy of the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel.

Born in Jerusalem, environmentally aware architect Gil Peled was somewhat of a gypsy as a child, following his parents, who worked in the Foreign Service, to Germany, Austria and back. After completing his army service, Gil studied architecture in Scotland, in keeping with his cross-cultural roots. Today, Gil works as an eco-architect, and is the founder of Eco-Challenges: Sustainable Architecture and Consultancy. Perhaps his most famous project is his own apartment building, near downtown Jerusalem, which he converted into the city's first Eco-Housing Project, turning the old building green from the top on down. Gil first came on Jerusalemite's radar when we read about him on Israel's eco-blog, Green Prophet. We were eager to hear more about his ambitious project that is helping make Jerusalem a "greener" city.

What is eco-housing and eco-architecture exactly, and how did you come to be interested in the concept? The emphasis in eco-housing and eco-architecture is on ecology and looking at things in a holistic manner. It deals with the building in relation to its surroundings and looks at the materials required for a building's construction and operation. A lot of energy and resources go into a building - there are carbon emissions from heating and cooling; there's building waste and toxic materials. The idea with eco-housing is to take all these resources which have been put into the building and reuse them or limit the initial resource use. In some parts of the world, they are now making not only eco-friendly buildings, but eco-enhancing buildings.

I guess I became interested in eco-architecture because I was brought up in so many different places, which made me aware of, and sensitive to, the environment – both socially and physically. Now green is a way of life for me. I've been involved with the Gazelle Valley initiative and many other environmental initiatives such as community gardens and the preservation of heritage sites.

My first real architecture project, which I did while I was still a student, was an eco-architecture project, and then I began to specialize in it. My final project was an eco-architecture project as well, but by that time, eco-architecture was a part of me.

When I came back from Scotland, I needed surgery and had to take a few years off, so I decided to implement what I'd learned and transfer an existing building into an eco-building, the Eco-Housing Pilot Project. This was a big challenge because older buildings were not designed with the environment in mind.

How do you reconcile Jerusalem's older architecture with newer eco-friendly practices and standards? Why is what you're doing better than simply building new housing? The older buildings are already here, and demolishing a building is also an environmental problem – there's building waste, dust, relocation of inhabitants - so the idea is to prolong the life....(For more questions and answers with Gil Peled, Eco-architect click here).

If you can't beat them, advertise to them. That's the attitude the city is taking toward drivers who insist on driving into and parking in the city's center, apparently oblivious to the fact that it’s more congested and messed up than Amy Winehouse with a cold. The Jerusalem Tourism Authority, which apparently thinks the tourists came to see the traffic jams, wants them to know that the city fought over by a multitude of peoples has more to offer. From a press release:

If until now the words "city center" caused you to shudder, to think of pressure, traffic jams and noise, the Tourism Authority and the Eden Company would like to remind you that there is so much more: tourist attractions, galleries, museums, sculptures, city murals and many other attractions.

For those lucky enough to find a place to put their cars and actually get out, the Authority will offer a free brochure - ahem, booklet - listing a number of places of interest for them to visit during their foray. Although the new initative is called Naim B'Yerushalayim in Hebrew, a double-meaning play on words ("Naim" means both "moving" and "pleasant"), planners have translated it simply as "A Stroll through Jerusalem," perhaps a lesson learned from overzealously literal translations.

Presentation of the booklet will give users 10 to 33 percent discounts at many of the city's attractions, such as the Tower of David (15 percent discount during the day), the Museum on the Seam (10 percent discount), the Time Elevator (10 percent discount), the Rav Kook Museum (25 percent discount) and more. Other items in the booklet are advertised for the special price of free, though in reality we doubt you would be charged admission for walking into Machane Yehuda or looking at street art without the booklet.

Still, the fact that the booklet itself is free makes it that much more attractive than the city's previous marketing scheme, HolyPass, which we discovered is not such a deal. Plus, it comes with a handy dandy map, and the entire content is printed in both English and Hebrew. Take that, Frenchies.

The booklet, which features a love-polluting little lion (see picture above) that looks suspiciously like some of Don Hertzfeld's more disturbing characters, will be given out to cars parked at the Karta, Safra, Independence Park, City Tower and Machane Yehuda lots.

Image of the new booklet guide courtesy of the Jerusalem Tourism Authority.