The Ladder of Divine Ascent

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An Orthodox priest filling the oil lamps above the tomb at the Holy Sepulchre.

 A brave Benedictine nun positioned a ladder on the stairs leading down to the crypt and climbed up to extinguish the candle at one of the stations of the cross.
 At the Abbey of St. Mary of the Resurrection, Abu Ghosh.

A brave nun friend on chapel-cleaning day.
Chapel at the tomb of St. Elisabeth.
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Why am I posting pictures of monastics on tall ladders?
Because  today is the Sunday of  John of the Ladder!
St. John Climacus wrote the guide for his fellow monks, The Ladder of Divine Ascent.
He lived not far from here, at Santa Katarina monastery in Sinai and in desert caves in the 7th century.

I have been learning about him at Sr. Dr. Vassa's short video.
In it Sr. Vassa also talks about how you don't have to be a monastic to get into the habit of doing a little bit of spiritual reading, lectio divina, every day,  just for a few minutes.

The 12th C icon for The Ladder of Divine Ascent, this one from St. Catherine's Monastery.

You can sample some sections of the book here.
Or an outline of the steps of the ladder.
More about St. John Climacus.
An easy walk-through of the icon is at this nice icons blog.
Also at Wikipedia. 
But the most fun way is to see the Coffee with Sr. Vassa episode. Only ten minutes.
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Face to face with David Ben-Gurion

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Today I was down at the Midrasha and Kibbutz Sde Boker, where David Ben-Gurion lived.
I'm glad I immigrated to Israel in time to hear one of his last lectures before he died in 1973.

While standing near the big stone I was surprised to find the tempered glass sign ringed with little portraits of Ben-Gurion.
While looking now at the photo on my computer, I'm surprised to find my reflection.
Just in time for James' Weekend Reflections.
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(Linking to signs, signs meme.)
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Look, up in the sky . . .

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Somebody had fun in the sky over Meitar's senior citizens' meeting house.
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Linking to SkyWatch Friday.
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Flower in the desert

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Little flower of the desert, good luck to you. 

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Democracy in action

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Joining millions of fellow Israelis I cast my ballot today in our national elections.

Secretly each voter chooses one little slip of paper to put in the envelope. 

 We have all these many lists to choose from.
The name and letter symbols for each party (sometimes even a party of one) were written in Hebrew, Arabic, and Russian.

 Three officials checked my identity card, found my name on the official voter record, and handed me an envelope.
At the end one man was nice enough to take a picture for me, too.

Only one voter is allowed at a time inside his assigned polling station.
So long lines waited outside each of the five rooms inside the school.

At the gate of the school,  representatives of the bigger parties had booths with pamphlets and a few giveaways.
There seemed to be a festive atmosphere in town--most people did not have to work, neighbors greeted one another, and every citizen was proud to cast his vote and to live in a democracy where elections go smoothly.
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(Linking to ABC Wednesday.)

The descent from Jerusalem

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The view from my bus window as we left Jerusalem--highways above and highways below. 

 The cemetery for Jerusalemites covers the whole mountain.

The lane with red paint in the middle is reserved for buses.
But on that late afternoon no one seemed to be ascending to Jerusalem.
The long line of cars on our side was heading west in the direction of Tel Aviv.
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Linking to OurWorld Tuesday.
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Orthodox Sunday of the Cross

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Orthodox Christians are today celebrating the fourth Sunday of Lent, the Sunday of the Cross, centered of course in Jerusalem, in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

Dr. Sr. Vassa  has a good short video which she describes as "a Lenten reflection on the Cross and other mysterious concepts."
It's a good one!
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Spring migration overhead!

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Walking back to town from a desert hike this afternoon I heard the faint tell-tale squawking high in the sky.
Yes! a huge flock of migrating birds! 
Click two separate times and see them a little better. 

The formation turned a few degrees and headed due north in the direction of Hebron and Jerusalem, and then maybe to a rest stop in the Hula Valley.
I watched long minutes until they flew out of sight. 
It was so exciting!   
I longed to join them and fly to Europe.

Twice a year 500 million  waterfowl, birds of prey, and song birds from 400 species fly over Israel on their great migration between Africa and Europe.
They have learned to feel safe over and in our nature-loving country. 

Ah, to be a bird and see the world . . . .
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Linking to Camera Critters meme.
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A liman catches water and a reflection too

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Not often that I find a picture for James' Weekend Reflections meme.
And this is a transitory reflection, for as it gets warmer and Israel's rainy season nears its end, the water will vanish.

This is a liman, an earthen construction that collects floodwater by damming a gully or streambed. 
The dam slows the flow of the accumulated runoff water, causing it to permeate the soil and thus allow small groves of trees to flourish in areas with meager rainfall. 
Our Keren Kayemet/Jewish National Fund has been building hundreds of limans here in the Negev desert since the 1960s. 

The word is from the Greek λΐμήν, meaning “port.”
It appears in the Yoma tractate of the Jerusalem Talmud: “Until he reached the liman of Jaffa.”

Here it was 5:45 and the sun was down, time for me to start climbing the hill back up to my house in Meitar.

More photos and good information here:

Several articles on limans at this one link: https://www.kkl-jnf.org/organization-chief-scientist/water-for-israel/water-in-the-desert/limans/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liman_irrigation_system

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Jerusalem Marathon tomorrow

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A week ago when we marched with Women Wage Peace to the Knesset under a rainy sky, the finish line for the Jerusalem Marathon was already set up.

Back then on March 4 the road was quite empty and a police officer was just sitting.
But tomorrow the weather will be good and from 6:45 in the morning thousands of marathon runners will be crowding this and many other streets of Jerusalem.
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See marathon prep photos by a Jerusalem blogger at The Real Jerusalem Streets blog.
UPDATE: Video of the run.
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Linking to SkyWatch Friday.
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Israel National Trail

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A blaze of  blazes in the forest!
The orange-blue-white  blazes mark the Israel National Trail.
The blue and white is for a local trail.

Here's another marker on a rock, overlooking my neighborhood in the town of Meitar.

In the opposite direction are the South Hebron Hills in the West Bank.

Over to the west lies the Mediterranean and the Gaza Strip.

The 620-mile,  1000-km Israel Trail is celebrating 20 years since its inauguration in 1995.
I'm lucky to have it right down in Meitar's backyard.
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All photos can be enlarged with two clicks.
Linking to ABC Wednesday.
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A statue

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There is more to show from our visit to Elma Arts Complex Luxury Hotel in Zichron Ya'akov.

Like this work of art outside in the rain.

With water shpritzing from her pupik  (belly button in Yiddish!).

(Photos can be enlarged a lot with two separate clicks.)
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(Linking to Our World Tuesday.)
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Women on deck

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Happy International Women's Day!
I'm thinking back to an August day when a happy group of Jerusalem women danced on the Sea of Galilee.

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Overhead Power lines

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On the right of my bus the sun was setting, around 5:30.
To the left, the full moon of Hebrew month Adar was rising through this single tall, tall cloud.

More power to You, playful Creator of pillars of cloud! 
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(Linking to SkyWatch Friday.)
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Women Wage Peace

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(Photos can be enlarged with two separate clicks.)

Meet two delightful new friends, Faheema and Maya.
Our banner says "Women Wage Peace.  We vote for [or: choose] a negotiated diplomatic peace agreement."

We met yesterday at the women's peace march in Jerusalem organized by the new non-political  NGO Women Wage Peace / Nashim Osot Shalom.
Thousands of women, both Jews and Arabs, came from all over Israel to make their voice heard.
We gathered at the memorial pillar in the square next to Israel's Supreme Court building. 

The warm-up on a cold Jerusalem day: circle dancing, music!

We set out on the march, pausing for photos at the Japanese bonsho peace bell.

 Down the hill and through the big Sacher Park.

Women Wage Peace SOUTH.
Two of the organization's guiding lights from Meitar and our neighbor from the Bedouin town Hura.

Facing the Knesset building, singing in the rain, and hoping our speeches, cheers, and applause would be heard and taken to heart by the country's lawmakers, policy makers, and voters.
Start talking peace so we can stop fighting wars, that is the message of many mothers, grandmothers, and wives of soldiers. 

After hours of walking, circling the Knesset, and standing to hear speeches, we returned to the Supreme Court, where our buses waited to take us home, whether south to the Negev or north to the Golan.

The message one sees when driving out of Jerusalem was especially poignant and hopeful yesterday.
Written in stone, the Hebrew says "Tsetchem la-shalom," literally, May your going out be toward peace.
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A news video about our demonstration: http://www.i24news.tv/en/news/israel/politics/63184-150304-israeli-women-protest-for-peace-ahead-of-election

Newspaper reports:
http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Thousands-of-mothers-gather-at-Knesset-to-demand-Israeli-Palestinian-peace-accord-392948   The best expert quote here is " “Israel as a state is going through a kind of collective PTSD post traumatic stress disorder … and it’s time to help our people heal.”

http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/1.645360

And one in French: http://www.afp.com/fr/info/israel-un-mouvement-de-femmes-veut-reveiller-le-camp-de-la-paix

More photos of the march and more info at Women Wage Peace on Facebook.
Shalom!
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Purim on the bus to Beer Sheva

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Tomorrow the Purim holiday starts, but today school kids wore their costumes to class.

Suddenly my bus filled up with a high school boy sporting white wings, a devil with red horns, and lots of girls in very short dresses and outlandish costumes.
The Bedouin men and women sitting at the bus stop looked on in amazement and amusement.
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For information about Purim you are welcome to click on my "Purim" label.
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A glass of wine, a loaf of bread . . .

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Part of our Sabbath Eve dinner at Elma hotel--challah bread and some of the wine that you saw in the previous post.

The long dinner table is made of shiny recycled metal.