I can't believe that I have already been in Israel for a week and a half! The time is flying by already!
On Friday nights, at sundown, or about 7:30, Shabbat begins..this is the Jewish Holy Day...and that means no work until sundown on Saturday...no driving, no cooking, no pushing the elevator buttons; if it seems work like, it's not allowed...I'm really good at this part! unfortunately, we are not Jewish, but we don't work much on the weekends..just fun!
However, we did have our own "Shabbat" dinner on Friday night at my sister's house with a few people from Byron's work...I would love to go to a traditional Shabbat dinner, but I think we did pretty well...delicious grilled meat from the butcher down the street, fresh veggies and salads, kosher desserts, and of course Challah bread--According to Jewish tradition, the three Sabbath meals (Friday night, Saturday lunch, and Saturday late afternoon) and two holiday meals (one at night and lunch the following day) each begin with two complete loaves of bread. This "double loaf" (in Hebrew: lechem mishneh) commemorates the manna that fell from the heavens when the Israelites wandered in the desert for forty years after the Exodus from Egypt according to Jewish religious belief. The manna did not fall on Sabbath or holidays; instead, a double portion would fall the day before the holiday or sabbath. Each single loaf is sometimes woven with six strands. Together, both loaves have twelve which may represent each tribe of Israel. Other numbers of strands commonly used are three, five and seven. Occasionally twelve are used, referred to as a "Twelve Tribes" challah. (thank you, wikipedia)
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Benji and I breaking Bread
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| A Shabbat Sunset |
On Sunday we had a lovely day at the beach in Herzliya, where the kids took surf lessons...
I basked in the sun...
Haley took a surf lesson and was a natural! She got up her first time!
While everyone went out to play on Monday, I had to stay home and study for this horribly Organic Chemistry test I am taking...I took the test on Tuesday at Sally's school, in the bomb shelter.
There were also 2 raid siren tests on Tuesday. When the sirens go off, you go to your safe room (if you are home) or to the nearest shelter in the city, or take shelter somewhere away from window, etc. In the event of a real event, you are supposed to stay inside for 10-15 min after the sirens to avoid getting hit by shrapnel from the rockets that were intercepted by the iron dome. It's kind of scary to think about, and an odd feeling to have to practice for incoming rockets/bombs...but I do my best not to think about it, and hope for the best!
After my test we went to the Carmel Market, in Tel Aviv, and it has EVERYTHING...
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| The Carmel Market |
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| CANDY GALORE!! |
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| Fresh Juice Stand. |
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| A delicious fresh falafel pita |
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| And of course my favorite...local beer!! |
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| This Jew on skates made me giggle |
And just so you don't think all I do is fun things...this is a typical day at our house...the boys roughin' each other up...
On Wednesday Haley and I took a bus to the Holy Land....Jerusalem!
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| Jerusalem in the background |
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I'm fairly certain this is Princess Jasmine's castle?
I actually have no idea the significance of this building, but it is super cool |
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A cemetery of over 200,000 Jews, on the Mount of Olives,
waiting for the Messiah to come |
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The Church of the Holy Sepulchre where Jesus was said to be
crucified and his body prepared for burial |
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| The board where Jesus was laid and his body prepared for burial |
The Holy Sepulchre was cool to see, but I am sure it has far more significance to people who are more religious than I..it was obviously a very moving, religious and emotional experience for many of the people I saw.
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| I saw this shirt at the Market in Israel... |
There...now we are caught up...I have spent the last few days babysitting for a family from Byron's company while the kids' parents are in Greece. Tomorrow is another beach day, and I am soooo looking forward to it!...'til next week...cheers!
