Sea turtle egg-laying season at the Mediterranean coast

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Something told me, late last night,  to post my turtle pictures.
And today I wake up to discover that today is WORLD TURTLE DAY!!

It is now turtle egg laying season along Israel's Mediterranean coast, but sadly, this sea turtle didn't make it.

My town's touring group visited here in March and we saw three dead ones.

Each year about 300 sea turtles are washed up onto Israeli beaches after being harmed by marine waste, fishing nets, hooks, boat motors, etc. 

Now, during the spring and summer laying season many volunteers and park rangers come to the beaches to assist and protect the endangered sea turtles when they come ashore and later, when the hatchlings hatch from the eggs.

The Israel Sea Turtle Rescue Center does good work.
You can see their videos and photos on Facebook at  המרכז להצלת צבי הים .

When the coast was less built up, less urbanized, the females would swim ashore, lay their eggs in a sandy nest, and immediately return to the water by following the moon's reflected light on the sea.
But the beach we visited is close to the big Arab town of Jisr az-Zarqa.
The turtles now often get confused and turn instead toward the light of the town and lose their way.
That's why volunteers are needed.
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UPDATE May 23:
See also photos, video, and info about Israel's turtle rehab center:
https://www.israel21c.org/nursing-sea-turtles-back-to-health/

And more information from this good article:

Under cover of darkness in May and June, female sea turtles make their way from the waters of Israel’s Mediterranean beaches to the seashore, where they dig nests and lay dozens of eggs. In August, the hatchlings start cracking their way out of their shells, and begin a perilous trek to the relative safety of the water.

Israel is home to loggerhead, leatherback, green and softshell turtles – all endangered due to decades of hunting, pollution, manmade dangers and habitat disturbances caused by human activity. The newly laid eggs and the hatchlings are quite vulnerable to predators and the hot sun. Left on their own, only a few survive.
Since the mid-1980s, the Israel Nature and Parks Authority has been sending out rangers and volunteers in the summer months to move nests to protected beach reserves or incubation farms.

(Linking to Camera-Critters,  ABC Wednesday and Our World Tuesday.)
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Stamped on our memory

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Israel came to a standstill this morning during the 2-minute memorial siren at 11:00 commemorating our 23,646 fallen members of the security forces and 3,134 victims of terrorist attacks. 

Israel Post describes the new stamp issued for Israeli Fallen Soldiers and Victims of Terrorism Remembrance Day: 

This stamp features a poppy/red everlasting flower and a military dog tag engraved with the words "we shall always remember" [lenetsach nizkor] against the background of a tombstone with small rocks placed on it by loved ones who visited the grave.
The tab features the official IDF symbol and the symbol of the Ministry of Defense Families and Commemoration Dept.

May their memory be for a blessing and may God console the many bereaved families. 
This https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israeli_casualties_of_war information is so interesting. But sadly, so long.
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For more about Yom HaZikaron please see my previous posts.
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Blood-red flowers for memorial day

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Tuesday evening Israel will enter into the saddest day of our calendar, Yom Hazikaron, the memorial day for Israel’s fallen soldiers and victims of terrorism.
The soldiers number 23,320.

This year's poster says, Nizkor et kulam, we will remember them all.
The roundish red flowers have become a symbol for our day of remembering (perhaps influenced by the tradition of the red poppy in other countries).

Wikipedia says, "The red everlasting is a flowering plant of the genus Helichrysum in the daisy family (Asteraceae).  It is a protected plant in some jurisdictions (in particular, Israel and the Palestinian Authority).
It is known there as 'Blood of the Maccabees' (Hebrew: Dam Hamakabim).
Its name is derived from a legend saying that in every spot one grows, a drop of blood has been spilled on the earth."

Indeed . . .
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An article at Israel21C  talks about the flower and how its portrayal on Israeli stamps has evolved over the decades. 
And here is more about the plant. 
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(Linking to OurWorld Tuesday.)
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Fiddler on the Roof stamps

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Brand new postage stamps celebrating 50 years since Fiddler on the Roof opened onstage!
How can it be half a century already?
We lived in Chicago then and my mother took me to the theater to see a live musical for the first time.

 Photos of the drawings are by Pini Hemou, Israel Philatelic Federation website

The three stamps in this set are based on drawings by Chaim Topol, one of the first actors to portray Tevye in Hebrew.

Everything you ever wanted to know about Tevye the Milkman is at Wikipedia.

See also Israeli blogger Jacob Richman who faithfully and beautifully updates us as new Israeli stamps appear.
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"Others go down to the sea in ships, ply their trade in the mighty waters"

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Psalm 107:23  is quoted on a first day cover that Israel issued on April 17, 2012.
See the envelope and stamps below. (They are enlargeable.)

Wikipedia says this psalm "is  beloved of mariners . . . and is often quoted at events involving the navy and seafarers, such as the launching of ships."
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PSALM 107
O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
    for his steadfast love endures for ever!
² Let the redeemed of the Lord say so,
    whom he has redeemed from trouble
³ and gathered in from the lands,
    from the east and from the west,
    from the north and from the south.

⁴ Some wandered in desert wastes,
    finding no way to a city to dwell in;
⁵ hungry and thirsty,
    their soul fainted within them.
⁶ Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
    and he delivered them from their distress;
⁷ he led them by a straight way,
    till they reached a city to dwell in.
⁸ Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,
    for his wonderful works to the sons of men!
⁹ For he satisfies him who is thirsty,
    and the hungry he fills with good things.

¹⁰ Some sat in darkness and in gloom,
    prisoners in affliction and in irons,
¹¹ for they had rebelled against the words of God,
    and spurned the counsel of the Most High.
¹² Their hearts were bowed down with hard labor;
    they fell down, with none to help.
¹³ Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
    and he delivered them from their distress;
¹⁴ he brought them out of darkness and gloom,
    and broke their bonds asunder.
¹⁵ Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,
    for his wonderful works to the sons of men!
¹⁶ For he shatters the doors of bronze,
    and cuts in two the bars of iron.

¹⁷ Some were sick through their sinful ways,
    and because of their iniquities suffered affliction;
¹⁸ they loathed any kind of food,
    and they drew near to the gates of death.
¹⁹ Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
    and he delivered them from their distress;
²⁰ he sent forth his word, and healed them,
    and delivered them from destruction.
²¹ Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,
    for his wonderful works to the sons of men!
²² And let them offer sacrifices of thanksgiving,
    and tell of his deeds in songs of joy!

 ²³ Some went down to the sea in ships,
    doing business on the great waters;
    .יוֹרְדֵי הַיָּם, בָּאֳנִיּוֹת;    עֹשֵׂי מְלָאכָה, בְּמַיִם רַבִּים
²⁴ they saw the deeds of the Lord,
    his wondrous works in the deep.

 ²⁵ For he commanded, and raised the stormy wind,
    which lifted up the waves of the sea.
²⁶ They mounted up to heaven, they went down to the depths;
    their courage melted away in their evil plight;
²⁷ they reeled and staggered like drunken men,
    and were at their wits’ end.

 ²⁸ Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
    and he delivered them from their distress;
²⁹ he made the storm be still,
    and the waves of the sea were hushed.
³⁰ Then they were glad because they had quiet,
    and he brought them to their desired haven.

 ³¹ Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,
    for his wonderful works to the sons of men!
³² Let them extol him in the congregation of the people,
    and praise him in the assembly of the elders.

³³ He turns rivers into a desert,
    springs of water into thirsty ground,
³⁴ a fruitful land into a salty waste,
    because of the wickedness of its inhabitants.
³⁵ He turns a desert into pools of water,
    a parched land into springs of water.
³⁶ And there he lets the hungry dwell,
    and they establish a city to live in;
³⁷ they sow fields, and plant vineyards,
    and get a fruitful yield.
³⁸ By his blessing they multiply greatly;
    and he does not let their cattle decrease.

³⁹ When they are diminished and brought low
    through oppression, trouble, and sorrow,
⁴⁰ he pours contempt upon princes
    and makes them wander in trackless wastes;
⁴¹ but he raises up the needy out of affliction,
    and makes their families like flocks.
⁴² The upright see it and are glad;
    and all wickedness stops its mouth.
⁴³ Whoever is wise, let him give heed to these things;
    let men consider the steadfast love of the Lord.

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Please click on the information sheet to know more about the stamps and ships.
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Hear the Psalm read in Hebrew here or read the beautiful old  Jewish Publication Society translation from 1917.

The newer translation I used above is the RSVCE.
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And as dear Papa Francesco in Rome always says following the Angelus, "I wish you a good Sunday and a good lunch [buon pranzo]!”
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Sukkot in stamps and glass

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Shalom!  We are in the happy week of  Sukkot.
Here is a new Israeli stamp for the holiday.
The man in the tallit is holding the four species, including the yellow etrog.

In the big Sukkot stained glass window at the Renanim Synagogue in Hechal Shlomo you can see the etrog on top in its fancy protective container.
Below is the sukkah, in which Jews are supposed to "dwell" (or at least eat) for the whole week.
It's even prettier when you enlarge the photo. 
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Chag sameach, happy holiday!
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(For Whimsical Windows, Delirious Doors meme.)

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