Grapevine: Historic but anticlimactic

Jerusalem’s light rail transport system finally gets underway after years of delay.

By GREER FAY CASHMAN
danger signs light rail_521 (photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem)
danger signs light rail_521
(photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem)
AFTER MILLIONS of wasted shekels by CityPass, endless frustrations and discomfort to Jerusalem city merchants and the public in general, not to mention years of delay, Jerusalem’s light rail transport system finally got underway last Friday. It was somewhat of an anticlimax, since the light rail test runs had been going on for months, and seeing the system in action, if not exactly in operation, was familiar to residents of the capital.
CityPass chairman Avraham Shochat declared that notwithstanding the tragic events in the South of the country, life must go on, and this was thus a festive day for Jerusalem. But it wasn’t all that festive, given enormous traffic congestion in east Jerusalem generated by the crowds of Muslim worshipers who were trying to get to Al Aqsa Mosque for Ramadan prayers. Army funerals, with their huge attendance, also took much of the joy out of the occasion as did the fact that people came in droves to ride gratis on the new public transport system. Given the heat and the overcrowding, it may have been historic, but it couldn’t have been much fun.
■ THERE WAS a certain irony in the fact that the light rail finally took off during Nir Barkat’s term as mayor. Barkat made no secret of his opposition to the light rail, and one of the first things he did when he took office was to look into trying to cancel it. But by that time, the project was too far advanced.
It’s hard to believe that so much time has gone by since Ehud Olmert initiated the concept for Jerusalem during his first term as mayor. He thought that completion of the project would take five years maximum. Uri Lupolianski was optimistic that if the light rail didn’t get on track under Olmert, it would do so during his term. We all know that didn’t happen.
But now that the light rail is finally up and running, heaven only knows what future chaos the transport authorities will create with the bus routes. Meanwhile, it’s a hit with the haredi community. Large haredi families fill the carriages every day to go riding for free in both directions.
On the negative side, the bars are too high and have no straps attached to them, which means that short people caught in the middle have nothing to hold on to when the vehicle is in motion.
But the biggest no-no is the English spelling of Herzl, to which CityPass has added an extra “e” after the “z.” After wasting so much time and money, how dare they add insult to injury by misspelling the name of the visionary of the Zionist movement and the Jewish state!
■ PROLIFIC LETTER writer Toby Willig, whose letters to the editor are frequently published in The Jerusalem Post, had a birthday last week and was feted at a luncheon hosted in her honor by Rena Quint, for whom any excuse to throw a party is a good one. Quint regularly hosts birthday parties for her many friends and has been hosting birthday parties for Willig for several years. Aside from their personal friendship, the two are deeply entrenched in the activities of Emunah.
In fact, Willig is an honorary president and past national president of Emunah of USA. Thus the overwhelming majority of the guests at the party also had an Emunah connection. Though Willig can occasionally be caustic in her letter writing, in her personal relations she looks only for the best in people and always finds something positive to say about everyone she knows. At her party, she went around the table, boosting the egos of each of the guests. Though well past the age when one should be coy about how old one is, Willig continues to keep it a secret, saying simply, “I’m younger than springtime.”
One of the guests, Jane Klitsner, said, “People who are older than you are old, and people who are younger than you are young, whereas you’re just right.”
Connie Abramson, another guest, remarked that there’s no point in talking about age where people are concerned. Age pertains only to wine and cheese, she said.
■ FOR YEARS, foreign diplomats dealing with the King David Hotel to make arrangements for the visit of a high dignitary or for a special reception, luncheon or dinner had as their prime contact man the hotel’s deputy general manager Sheldon Ritz, who was also director of operations and diplomatic delegations.
But they won’t find him there anymore.
No, he hasn’t been sacked and he hasn’t left. Quite the opposite. He’s done such a good job in cultivating and pleasing the diplomatic community, that he’s been promoted. He’s now working in Tel Aviv, and his new title is director of sales for embassies and government ministries for the Dan Hotels Corporation. In effect, this means that he’ll still be dealing with the diplomatic community but will no longer be personally involved in making sure that every tiny detail is taken care of.
When he was at the King David, he seldom had a moment to himself. He was constantly being called on his cell phone to meet some request or another, and he didn’t just pass on the demand to the relevant department but personally went to make sure that it was carried out immediately. It was sufficiently nerve-racking when only one foreign delegation was in the hotel, but sometimes there were three or even four, and he had to be on his toes for all of them.