PAY SPECIAL ATTENTION TO THE LAST WISH
JERUSALEM - With a wail of sunset sirens and prayerful pilgrimages to the Western Wall, Israel ushered in the New Year - 5759 by the Jewish calendar.
Preparation were festive but frantic Sunday in the hours before the start of the two-day Rosh Hashana holiday, and some people's nerves were on edge over threats from Islamic militants.
On streets and in markets, shoppers swarmed and sellers shouted. Children scooted underfoot while Israeli soldiers patrolled warily.
Security was tight, with Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza Strip banned from entering Israel. The militant Islamic group Hamas had threatened bombings and kidnappings of Israeli soldiers during the holidays after two of its fugitives were killed earlier this month by Israeli troops.
Jerusalem's covered Mahane Yehuda market, scene of last-minute shopping sprees Sunday, was itself the target of a suicide bombing in July 1997 that killed 15 people and injured dozens. Holiday shoppers, though, put those memories aside.
''Sweet challah bread for a sweet new year!'' bakery workers called, pointing to shining, fresh piles of braided loaves. Shoppers filled baskets with apples and honey, fish heads and dates, vegetables and spices.
Pnina Tel-Dan, who lives in the West Bank settlement of Maale Adumim, was one of thousands shopping for the makings of holiday meals.
''For me, buying spices is like buying jewelry - all these beautiful colors!'' she said, waving at powdery heaps of red, green and yellow.
Rosh Hashana is marked by special prayers and readings in synagogues and the blowing of a shofar, or ram's horn. Many observant Jews go to the Western Wall in the old city, Judaism's holiest site, to pray.
Most businesses in Israel closed for the holiday, and public transportation stopped running as well.
Israelis were mainly spending the holiday with family at home or heading out for vacations at spots like the Sea of Galilee or Egypt's Sinai peninsula.
The continuing deadlock with the Palestinians put a damper on celebrations for some. American mediator Dennis Ross left Israel before dawn Sunday after yet another failed attempt to revive negotiations.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat blamed one another for the impasse.
Israeli stores were filled all week with shoppers buying holiday presents, and on Sunday, it seemed that every other person hurrying past was toting a big bouquet or a cellophane-wrapped gift basket.
Israeli merchants, not normally noted for effusiveness, constantly called out ''Shana tova!'' - Happy New Year! - to customers and passers-by.
Fruit merchant Menahem Mizrahi stopped selling bananas long enough for a burst of bravado.
''Who's afraid?'' he said. ''The people of Israel are alive and well.''
Tal Yaakov, a 46-year-old resident of Jerusalem, dispatched one of his children to pick up one last bag of vegetables. His New Year's wish?
''Peace,'' he said. ''And maybe a new government.''
By The Associated Press |
