Saturday (No Friday!) Adventures

Five years ago when Gary and I first lived in Israel we began the tradition of weekend adventures.  Every Friday we would look at each other and say "Where shall we adventure to today?"  Over here the weekend is Friday and Saturday; and Sunday is a normal work day, which takes some getting used to at first. Our first such adventure was to the Ancient Boat Museum by the Galilee and after that we were hooked. We used our Fridays to see places like Caesarea, Capernaum, Mt. Herman and on and on.  What a wonderful opportunity we had!

Looking at the Golan from the West Side of the Galilee

This time the tradition continues, so this morning Gary and I got up and decided to go to the Golan.  The Golan covers a lot of territory in Israel and most people think of it as "that scary area that boarders on Syria where people trade shots at each other on a regular basis".  Nothing could be further from the truth!  Yes it does boarder on Syria but shots rarely are fired there any more and most of the Golan is a beautiful agricultural region that boarders on the east side of the Sea of Galilee.  It contains some beautiful mountainous areas as well as resorts, orchards, agricultural fields, many vineyards and a world famous winery know for it's award winning wines.  It is truly a case of an enterprising people turning a wilderness into a productive and beautiful region. We enjoyed every minute of a leisurely day and, no, there were no shots fired.

A Field of Covered Banana Palms

A Pomegranate Tree Just Loaded With Little Fruit

My Shabbat Flowers Bought by the Side of the Road  

Indepenedence Day!

Yesterday was Yom Hazikaron, the day that Israelis stop to honor their fallen soldiers and victims of terrorism. It began with the sounding of the sirens and ended yesterday evening with Yom Ha'atzaut, Independence Day, commemorating the day in 1948 that Israel declared its independence. Last night the streets were filled with fun, food, music and fireworks and just about every type of celebration that one could imagine.  

In 1948 no one could envision the thriving state that Israel is today.  Back then there were 650,000 Jews surrounded by the combined forces of their Arab neighbors determined to wipe them from the face of the earth, and that was after Hitler had already tried.  Today, Israel is a nation of 8 million that is a regional military superpower and the second-largest hi-tech startup nation in the world, exceeded only by the United States. Why are they still here and thriving despite what still are sometimes frightening odds?

Today we celebrated Independence Day in the same way that we have often celebrated our own Independence Day at home, at a church picnic.  And before the fun and eating began, one of the men of the church spent some time giving a short message mainly to the children. Why is Israel still here?  Because God has a plan - God is determined to show the world that he is the One True God. The Jews just happen to be part of that plan so, in spite of the odds, Israel won that war in 1948, and 1967 and 1973, not because Israel's army is so good, though it is; but because God has a plan and He will see it through to the end. He has a message to deliver - that is that He is the One True God!

Shabbat Shalom!

In my last post I wrote about being in Jerusalem when Easter and Passover (or Pesach) occurred at the same time.  My comments partly centered around the charged atmosphere of the Jewish community as it strove to meet all of the requirements of Passover.  This week we were in Haifa for Shabbat and attended what we consider our home church here in Israel, Bethesda Assembly.  What a lovely contrast from the chaos of last weekend

Finding a good church in Israel is a bit different than in the States.  Christian churches are very low key due to pressures from both the Jewish and Muslim communities and are not located on every corner as they often are in the States; so finding a good church is not always an easy thing to do.  We found Bethesda Assembly when we were here five years ago by walking into a hotel in central Carmel that had a Christian Symbol on it's mailbox.  The hotel is called the Beth Shalom (House of Peace) and is operated by Christians from Holland. We were greeted by an elderly lady from Holland who told us she remembered her parents hiding Jews during the Holocaust in the Netherlands.  She later moved to Israel because of her love for it's people.

The Bethesda Assembly is a group of 125 to 150 believers who meet every Shabbat (Yes, church is on Saturday here.) for the Lord's Supper and then a Bible Hour, much like our own Stratford Park Bible Chapel in Champaign.  It is made up of both Hebrew and Arab believers as well as a good number of internationals.  We are blessed with wonderful fellowship and great teaching there.  When we say "Shabbat Shalom" to those we meet on every Saturday, we really mean it because we have been blessed with a wonderful "home away from home" in our church fellowship.

A Frantic Holiday!

The last eight days have been the time of Passover or Pesach as it is know here in the Holy Land.  This year it coincided with Easter, something that does not happen every year.  Of course during Passover, Jews the world over remember and retell the story of their Exodus from Egypt.  It is combined with the Feast of First Fruits which falls at the end of the seven day holiday.  Extensive preparations are made by Jewish families as all leaven is removed from among them.  Leaven is regarded as chametz (forbidden) and extensive measures are taken to do away with it both at home and in public areas.  In the grocery stores entire aisles are emptied or covered with plastic and sometimes the word, "Chametz" is written across the plastic to keep the consumer away from forbidden materials.  Many items that have nothing to do with leaven are covered just "in case" they may have been contaminated in some way.

I returned to Israel from my trip home just as Pesach was beginning with friends coming to visit two days later.  The state of the grocery stores made shopping for visitors challenging and, at times, venues have been closed to us on certain days as we've traveled.  The past three days we have been in Jerusalem for Easter and have found the atmosphere highly charged and difficult at times.  The city has been crowded with many Orthodox making pilgrimage to the Old City.  As I reflect on our time here, though we have had a wonderful time with the Dixons, there have been elements of what we have seen that have saddened us.

We began our Easter morning yesterday with a wonderful worship service at The Garden of the Tomb just outside the Old City Wall.  It was one of four such services in several languages and is the experience of a lifetime, singing the praises of our risen Savior (the First Fruits from the grave) with a thousand or so other Christians from around the World.  After the service, we moved into the Old City to see some of the sites, beginning with the Western Wall.  What an atmosphere we found!  The City was a frantic mob scene, interesting for a while, but which we were glad to exit after a several hours.

Today we visited the Mt. of Olives and a number of other cites outside of the Old City and then returned, entering by the very different Arab Damascus Gate.  We walked the Via Dolorosa, post Easter, ate lamb kebabs at a very good Arab restaurant and finished the day with a little shopping on Christian Quarter Road.

A sad moment for me came as the last holy day of Pesach came to a close and many Orthodox Jews began to rush into the Old City toward the Jewish Quarter and the Wailing Wall to complete their Pesach remembrance.  A large group of young Haredim marched past us, singing about their need for Messiah to come and carrying several yellow flags with crowns and the Hebrew word

Messiah on them.  In our current day these Jews are still looking for a Messiah.  The description given for this savior is one who understands Hebrew law, obeys it completely and will lead them to military victory.  I stood watching as they went by, saddened at how lost they are.  The Messiah has come and they have missed it.  I can only pray that they will recognize Him when He comes again. Even so Lord Jesus come!