Western Wall, Jerusalem, Israel

It was Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, earlier this week, so I thought it would be appropriate to post about this card that I received a few weeks ago from a swap.



Olga who sent me this card was a bit wary of sending me this card at first, as in my postcrossing profile I state that I prefer not to receive any overly religious postcards. We had some discussion over this card - I really like postcards showing people in traditional clothes, but as Olga pointed out, in Israel, religion and traditions are very closely knit together. I have to say it here, too, then, that I don't mind receiving this kind of cards showing religious themes, it's mostly cards explicitly promoting a religion or for example offering to pray for me that I don't like.

This card shows Israel from a slightly different angle. Olga tells me that "except for the Shofar (the big horn) you can see this picture in Jerusalem every day and not only on religious holidays. There are lots of ultra religious people in Jerusalem, and in this way it is very different from all other cities in Israel. They wear heavy black coats all year round, even in +40C!"



The bigger stamp is from a set of 3 stamps issued in 2008 under the theme "Festivals 2008". This one here shows a Turkish Torah Crown. The smaller stamp is from a set of 4 stamps issued in 2003, representing National symbols, this one here being The Menorah (Candlestick).