we started our journey with making a new friend in line at Chicago airport. a very nice Israelite named Gadi . He was born on a kibutz near mt Carmel and we now have a friend we can call on when we visit that area. How good is that we weren't even in Israel and we are getting invites to peoples homes!
We have arrived on evre /rosh Shanah which is the eve of the new year. The city is so quite and peaceful, the streets are full of young men in bright white dress shirts and dark trousers walking with purpose and ladys in pretty dresses often with a child in tow. Every where we look in our neighborhood a tropical garden lines the cobblestone sidewalk where families are strolling along in a warm September breeze.
The homes are all built on hills with ancient stone and so similar in a classic style its hard to distinguish one from another . They are lined up in rows upon rows much like people in a choir with matching white robes and you have to look intently at the face to tell them apart. The cobbled streets lined with pomegranates and palms trees, the blooms of a rainbow of colored flowers truly make this neighborhood feel surreal. And the stairs! Everywhere! I should be in better shape when I leave here.
What has surprised me is, how much I feel at home here. The cottage we are staying in is exactly what I imagined and nothing was a surprise , it was almost like I had been here before. I can also say that about the streets in our neighborhood it feels so natural to be strolling alone and petting the dogs we come across on their evening walks.
Oddly enough though, were my feelings at the Wall. We went our first day and yes it was amazing to see but I was strangely disconnected from any great emotion spiritual or otherwise. It wasn't until later in the evening when Zoe and I followed the singing and found a Rosh Shananah service that I felt a rush of emotion. Sitting with the Chosen people, listening to the prayers in Hebrew,with everyone worshipping God,it stirred my heart and I really felt apart of the whole worship service. Seriously, it really does not make any sense, considering I am an outsider, a foreigner, and don't understand hardly a word of Hebrew, but I felt so at peace and in my own skin.
well on to the practical, Zoe has me on a strict bedtime schedule and is making me go to bed now to ensure I hear my early morning wakeup call. So I will leave you with some phone #'s as I promised.
these #'s are Canadian but reach us here on our cellphones.
you can text us or call , remember we are 8 hours ahead of you in Kenora. when you call we will answer then call you right back. Because we do not get charged extra for long distance calls we make only the ones we receive.
LISA 1-647-259-8618
ZOE 1-780-800-5098
UNTILL NEXT TIME.
SHALOM
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