Meitar = tent cords for lengthening

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The yellow part of this sculpture symbolizes the cord of a tent.
This cord or rope is known in Hebrew as a meitar.
Meitar is the name that was chosen for my town when it was first planned in 1984.  

The prophet Isaiah told us to

 Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thy habitations, spare not; lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes.
 הַרְחִיבִי מְקוֹם אָהֳלֵךְ, וִירִיעוֹת מִשְׁכְּנוֹתַיִךְ יַטּוּ--אַל-תַּחְשֹׂכִי; הַאֲרִיכִי, מֵיתָרַיִךְ, וִיתֵדֹתַיִךְ, חַזֵּקִי.
  --  (Isaiah 54:2)

You can even see the tent and cord expressed in our logo.
The vision of Meitar's founders was to build a mixed community, a mix of  all kinds of Jews (Ashkenazim, Sepharadim, religious, and non-religious) and even some Muslim Bedouins, with all working and living together in a constructive and warm community spirit.
Openness and acceptance--it is our way of "enlarging the place of our tent" and make it welcoming, with true desert hospitality.
It is an enlarging of our own heart, too.

This is what makes me feel that Meitar, a little town in the Negev desert,  is the place where I belong.

And this is today's challenge for March 1 Theme Day in our City Daily Photo community; see where other bloggers around the world feel at home at City Daily Photo.

Play with Google Maps, especially Earth map, to see how Meitar is kind of in the middle of nowhere.  :-)
Shalom!
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Au cinoche

Before we go inside the chapel of Lycée Hoche, a small detour if that's okay with you... Last Friday evening, VDP went to see "the Revenant" at Cyrano cinema which VDP had shown you from the outside way back in February 2009, it was here. The cinema is going to undergo a huge makeover so it was high time to show you the inside!

Avant d'entrer dans la chapelle du Lycée Hoche, un petit détour... Vendredi dernier VDP est allée voir "the Revenant" au Cyrano, cinéma qu'elle vous montrait au tout début de la vie du blog, c'était ici en février 2009. Comme le cinoche va faire l'objet d'importants travaux, il était grand temps d'en montrer l'intérieur !

March 2016 Theme Day: Where I Belong

Heimat

Beneath the Street

More and more of Sydney is beneath the streets. There are road tunnels, there are shopping malls, and there are railway stations. This is one of the tunnels between St James Railway Station and street level. St James is beneath Hyde Park (North).

This tunnel leads towards Macquarie street, to St James Anglican Church, and to Hyde Park Barracks. It is a mass of city workers during the week, the Supeme Court of NSW being very close. But, I was there one Sunday morning.

Photo 1: A St James tunnel showing photos of its 1926 construction on the tiled walls. Photo 2: The steps leading from the tunnel to the plaza outside St James Church Photo 3: St James Church Photo 4: St James taken from the forecourt of Hyde Park Barracks

Theme Day - A Sense of Belonging

A sense of belonging was the challenge set for the City Daily Photo members for this months first of the month theme.

I chose an image I had taken at Pride in 2015 as for me it sums up the diversity of Londoners and the city I have come to love and call home.

See here how others in the CDP community have met the challenge