NaVloPoMo 04 : day #4 Tisha B'av Lumiere - Western Wall, Old City of Jerusalem

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NaVloPoMo day # 4 : Tisha B'av Lumiere - Western Wall, Old City of Jerusalem

http://blip.tv/file/465070

this is my Lumiere video (in the tradition of Lumiere videoblogs @ http://videoblogging.info/lumiere/) taken on the night before Tisha B'av at the Western Wall, Old City of Jerusalem, Israel. 23/07/2007. the Jewish people file into the Western Wall and pray. we were there from around 8pm (just before sunset) to around 10pm. there were still many people entering the area - apparently it goes on most of the night and fills up pretty quickly and the people overflow into the outer area and await their turn to pray at the wall. the praying sounded good when they were all in unison. the following day 24/07 is the special day - Tisha B'av. the people have to fast - they're not allowed water or food. remember this is the middle of summer in Israel, so it's pretty hot. I wonder if there's problems on this day when people can't drink water. leading up to this day, the men are not allowed to shave either, or eat meat. some of the guys at work call it the 'scruffy period' as the men's beards grow uncontrolled! the video was shot from the outer area - the wall in the background is the Western Wall - the last remaining section of the temple that was destroyed (though apparently recently they have uncovered new areas in the tunnels underneath)

Lumiere rules :
- 60 seconds max
- Fixed camera
- No audio
- No zoom
- No edit
- No effects

(re Fixed camera requirement - I don't have a tripod so it's a little shaky, but closest I could get to Fixed camera (no zoom))

(some info) : Tisha B'av (24/07/2007) a Jewish day of fasting in remembrance of the destruction of Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem in 586 B.C. and the start of the long Jewish exile, as well as the destruction of the second temple more than six centuries later (begins at sundown the night before).

http://www.virtualjerusalem.com/jewish_holidays/3weeks/ has some more info on Tisha B'av and other Jewish religious holidays

and a flickr slideshow of the photos

http://www.flickr.com/search/show/?page=3&q=tishabav&w=28565478%40N00