Birkas Kohanim, The priestly blessing on Succos at the Kotel is a jam packed event.  Those leery of pushing crowds need not apply.  I personally like people and having grown up in Israel find it kind of fun to be shoved along a river of women trying to enter a succah for a blessing from the Rabbi.
 
The Preistly blessing is recited by hundreds of Kohanim, decendents of the preists that used to serve at the temple that they now stand at the foot of. Flush to the wall and covered with white talleisim, hands extended in a modified vulcan salute using both hands with the thumbs touching so that the hands are divided into five sets of two fingers each the Kohanim bless all assembled.  The loudspeakers magnify the volume so that the thousands spanning the packed grounds, the surrounding stairs and rooftops can all hear.  Then the Rabbis add blessings from the podium, shema, and psalms while the crowd repeats after them.  

 

The photos that I took of the police woman trying to control the crowd caught her at a distraught moment. Apparently she was not as comfortable up close and shoulder to shoulder with all these vocal religious women pushing to get in.  She said she's not photogenic but I showed her some I took so that people could see Israel from afar and she said ok.

Almost Succos.  Cooler weather, blue skies with puffy clouds of white and grey and the anticipation in the air as the entire country takes off on vacation.  Israelis know how to make use of their time off and the celebration is aparent in the relaxed smiles, the warm clap on the shoulder, shopping baskets ladden with goodies for the anticipated guest at holiday meals, cars being packed with picnic baskets for family trips around the country.  I tried to capture the earnestness with which the four species are selected bringing my three small children to chronicle their veiwpoints on film as well.  Each piece: lulav, esrog, aravim and haddasim mean something symbolicly and spiritually.  The sound of banging as every house adds a succah has a reasurring feeling of community.  Today we will venture out again to scout succah's with interesting angles and home made decorations.  I'd like to find some with elegant furnishing, some with a birds eye view of them grouped together, large ones from the local synagogues and your standard Israeli succah on apartment balconies build stair wise for this occassion.