Upside down Down Under

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UPSIDE DOWN is today's subject for City Daily Photo Theme Day.
My laundry was drying on the fence in the hot Australian sun back in 2005 when I lived an almost hermit life for a month in rural New South Wales as a volunteer for the Good Samaritan Donkey Sanctuary.
To read more about the good life there and to see some of the over 100 sweet donkeys, please go to my earlier posts,  "Preaching to the donkeys"  and  "Bless the donkeys."
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BridgeClimb pics for AUSTRALIA DAY!

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Happy AUSTRALIA DAY to my family in Sydney and to all the Aussie blog-friends! 

As soon as grandson Dean turned ten, the minimum age for BridgeClimb, he and his father climbed the Sydney Harbor Bridge!

What a view, eh?!

Wikipedia explains: 

Since 1998, BridgeClimb has made it possible for tourists to legally climb the southern half of the bridge. Tours run throughout the day, from dawn to night, and are only cancelled for electrical storms or high wind.
Groups of climbers are provided with protective clothing appropriate to the prevailing weather conditions, and are given an orientation briefing before climbing. During the climb, attendees are secured to the bridge by a wire lifeline. . . . Each climb takes three and a half hours, including the preparations.

See BridgeClimb website, "for the climb of your life."
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End of innocence

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Sydney through the ferry window

As Ambassador Dan Shapiro so well said, "We share the pain of Australians for those they tragically lost today, and send condolences to the families. May they know no more sorrow."

My family in Sydney thought they live far away from such Mideast-type madness. 

This morning I'm afraid they are waking up to a new reality. 

I wish for a return of safety, confidence, and good life for the fair city of Sydney. 

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The Sydney Morning Herald has been live-blogging the events. 

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(Linking to Our World Tuesday.)

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Australian Light Horse annual commemoration in Beer Sheva

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Yesterday I found my way through the streets of Beer Sheva  to the Park of the Australian Soldier.
My first time to see the annual commemoration and to see the new park, and both were very impressive.

The e-mail read "The Pratt Foundation and the Municipality of Be’er Sheva invite you to the commemoration of the 96th anniversary of the Battle of Be’er Sheva, marking the fall of the Ottoman controlled city of Be’er Sheva to ANZAC (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) and British troops on 31 October 1917."

After morning tea the many guests took their seats and the ceremony opened with a long blast of a long and curling shofar.
The nice new Ambassador to Israel, H.E. Dave Sharma, gave a good speech about the great importance of the Battle of Beersheva.
BTW, he is Australia's youngest ambassador anywhere in the world.

Military representatives  of Australia, New Zealand, Israel, and the United Nations were there.
Many Zionist youth movements attended, as did classes of high school students.

Dr. Apple, Rabbi Emeritus of Sydney's Great Synagogue, was expected to give a memorial prayer but he spoke instead about the recent attack on five Jews at Bondi beach.

The Australian youth groups joined in singing Advance Australia Fair and Hatikva.

Please enlarge the sign to read the story of the famous battle, history's last great cavalry charge. 

The U.N. men from UNTSO and MFO  were happy to pose for anyone with a camera.
Israelis are not used to seeing fancy dress uniforms and medals.

Everyone then went across town to the Beersheba War Cemetery.
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission says their cemetery contains 1,241 Commonwealth burials of the First World War, 67 of them unidentified.

In the Light Horse charge on Beersheva, 31 Australians were killed.
At least 70 horses were also killed in the audacious battle. 

 Again there was the laying of wreaths.

I asked for a poppy and the digger asked  to put it by a soldier's grave.

I found a Jewish grave.
There are many more at the Jerusalem War Cemetery on Mt. Scopus.

 The morning's ceremonies concluded a block away, at Atatürk Plaza, at the obelisk.
Carved in its stone:

1914-1918

THIS MONUMENT IS DEDICATED TO 298 HONOURABLE TURKISH ARMY SOLDIERS FALLEN AT THE BE'ER SHEVA FRONT FOR THE SAKE OF THEIR COUNTRY

The distinguished representative of Turkey spoke (in English) about the martyrs who died defending the then-Ottoman town of Beer Sheva.
He was proud to see the old Turkish train station behind him, part of the famous Hijaz Railway,  being carefully restored as he spoke.

We stood for the Turkish and the Israeli national anthems. 

Wreaths were placed at the foot of the tall obelisk, which was built in 2002.

With the strained Israel-Turkey  relations in the last few years, it was very special to see the two flags flying side by side.

Let's hope Atatürk's motto, "Peace at home, peace in the world," will someday be true for all countries in the Middle East. 
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For more see Australian blogger-teacher Hels' post http://melbourneblogger.blogspot.com.au/2013/10/australian-and-new-zealand-light.html
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Two brothers now in one school

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A big day in our wide-spread family!
My grandson Eyal started kindergarten! 

Here he is, full of smiles,  with his big brother, Dean, on the right side making funny faces. 
How well I remember accompanying Dean to HIS first day there at Bondi Public School (in Sydney, Australia).
How the years fly by. 

Congratulations, Eyal.  May you enjoy school, learn a lot and teach a lot.
God bless you, dear grandson. 
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Aussie grandkids feed the chooks

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Happy Australia Day to all Aussies and Aussies-at-heart! 

My  contribution to that fine country is three happy born-in-Australia citizens--my three grandchildren, Dean, Eyal, and Libby.
Daughter Naomi and son-in-law Guy, both born and raised in Israel, went way down to "the Great South Land" to study for their doctorate and stayed.  
That's Guy in the photo with their kids. 

Can't blame them.  Life is Australia is a lot calmer, safer, saner, and less stressful than here in the Middle East. 
As you can see from my self-portrait,  bushwalking in New South Wales with a much needed mozzie net, the only thing in life that bothered me in Australia was the flies. 
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See other bloggers' contribution to Australia Day over at City Daily Photo portal.
CDP is starting a fun new thing with monthly National Day themes. 
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My own blog has lots more Australia-Israel connections under the labels ANZAC Day and Australia. 
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Ah, wish I were there right now to celebrate.
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(And this post can be for Camera Critters too.)

A mega rubber ducky!

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Blogger mates in Oz--I don't mean to encroach on your territory but my family in Australia sent me these pictures and they are perfect for Weekend Reflections and perfect for a BIG smile.

 Photos by daughter Naomi 

Rubber Duck is 5 storeys high and 5 storeys wide!
When a tugboat pushed the inflated circle pontoon  into Sydney harbor for the Festival they had to open the bridge and the overhead monorail.

The duck's creator, Florentijn Hofman from The Netherlands, explains that "It relieves everyday tensions, as well as defining them. Its purpose is to do no more than amaze."

But in this fun video from the harbor, the artist also says  "It's about one family, and you have to take care of each other in the world.  And our global waterways--it's our bathtub and we have to take care of it."

In past years Hofman has made other giant ducks for other parts of the world. 

Here's grandson Dean holding up the duck.
I remember when he was much smaller, playing with a much smaller rubber ducky in the bathtub.
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The team that made Rubber Duck got their inspiration from memories of childhood.
They say in the video that this duck connects everyone because everyone had a childhood, and they took the idea of enchantment and the child and all the pleasure of having a bath.
Actually it is part of a 90-minute musical show.
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But really, just enjoy the short  video!
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Good on ya,  Sydney!  What a fun city!
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"The last great cavalry charge in history"

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These are pictures I took in Sydney, Australia,  in 2009.
Written in the concrete wall is

TO THE HORSES OF THE DESERT MOUNTED CORPS 

Erected by members of the Desert Mounted Corps 
and friends 
to the gallant horses who carried them 
over Sinai Desert  into Palestine
1915 - 1918

They suffered wounds, thirst, hunger and 
weakness almost beyond endurance but never failed.
They did not come home. [*]

We will never forget them.

There is also a plaque in the ground, unveiled on October 31, 2007,

"commemorating the 90th anniversary of the charge at Beersheba which took place at 4.30 pm on Wednesday 31 October 1917.
The success of the charge led to an earlier conclusion of the Desert Campaign in the Middle East in World War I.

             In memory of
the gallant men and horses of the 4th and 12th Light Horse Regiments that took part in the charge and those that made the supreme sacrifice."

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Update 2024:  See more about this memorial in Sydney at 

https://historyservicesnswblog.blogspot.com/2015/04/australian-war-horses-remembered.html
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* Over 29,000 horses were shipped to the Middle East for the war but at war's end, they could not be returned to Australia.  See what was done with them here.

I tell you all this because October 31, 2012 will be the 95th anniversary.
The Australian Embassy in Tel Aviv kindly sent me the invitation partially copied below.

If anyone can attend, the Embassy would like you to RSVP by tomorrow.
I hope to be there for these very special events.

Be’er Sheva Commemoration

Annual Memorial Service

Wednesday 31 October 2012

 

The Australian Embassy and the Municipality of Be’er Sheva invite you to the commemoration of the 95th anniversary of the battle of Be’er Sheva.  The commemoration marks the fall of the Ottoman controlled city of Be’er Sheva to British and ANZAC (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) troops on 31 October 1917. The historic charge of the 4th Light Horse Brigade of the Australian Mounted Division played a critical part in this major battle.

 

 

The service will take place at the Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery

at 10:30 on 31 October. (Ha’atzmaut St. Be’er Sheva)

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 Other commemorative events:

31 October

Pratt Foundation

8:45   Refreshments and morning tea

9:30  Tribute to the Australian Light Horse Brigade

Park of the Australian Soldier

(Abba Ahimeir St. Be’er Sheva)

Enquiries: Mr Peter Adler, Pratt Foundation 

Be'ersheva Municipality

11:30 Commemoration service

Turkish Memorial Monument

(Tuviyahu St. Be’er Sheva)

Enquiries: Ms Malka Reisner, Be'ersheva Municipality  08 6463910

Society for the Heritage of WWI

15:00 Re-enactment of the charge of the Australian Light Horse

Beit Eshel

Enquiries: Mr Ezra Pimental, Society for the Heritage of World War One -  054 9413155

Be'ersheva Archaelogy Museum

12:00 - 15:00 Temporary exhibition by Sgt. Thomas Henry Ivers, an artist who served in the Australian Light Horse

The Archaeology Museum

(60 HaAtzmaut St)

Enquiries: Mr Goel Drory, Museum Curator - 052 2767113

28th October 

Kinneret Academic College

16:00 Ceremony in Honour of The Australian Light Horsemen at the Battle of Semakh

(Kinneret College, the Sea of Galilee near the historic Semakh Train Station)

Enquiries: Mr Ziv Ofir, Deputy CEO, Kinneret Academic College
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Dear readers, see also Beersheva's Park of the Australian Soldier 
and about this month's re-enactment: The Light Horsemen Ride Again.
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I hope to bring photos of the  war cemetery for Taphophile Tragics  in two weeks.
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Fluffy baby donkey

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Donkeys are my favorite animal; and there is nothing cuter than a baby donkey.

Here I'm trying to put a halter on the foal for the first time.
I loved working, living, and playing at the Good Samaritan Donkey Sanctuary as a volunteer, for a month, back in 2005.
The farm is in the Hunter Valley in Australia.
The Kokas family keeps some one hundred rescued donkeys, with much love and kindness.
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Today is City Daily Photo bloggers' monthly Theme Day. On animals!
Click here to view thumbnails for all participants.
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Happy Australia Day!

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HAPPY AUSTRALIA DAY to my daughter and her family in Sydney and to all the Australian blogger friends!

I love the red unmanned lightship, a floating lighthouse, built in 1917.
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Behind it is the Australian National Maritime Museum.

Near the museum is the Welcome Wall, with names of many of the immigrants who came to these shores.

Please enlarge the photos and read the moving words.
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I too was an immigrant and I savor the memory of stepping down from the ship and setting foot on Israeli soil for the first time, that bright morning of March 18, 1968.

America, Israel, Australia--all lands that welcomed newcomers. All built on diversity.
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Of moths and men

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For today's PsalmChallenge at Daily Athens, here is the dark Psalm 39.
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To the leader: to Jeduthun. A Psalm of David.
¹ I said, ‘I will guard my ways
that I may not sin with my tongue;
I will keep a muzzle on my mouth
as long as the wicked are in my presence.’
² I was silent and still;
I held my peace to no avail;
my distress grew worse,
³ my heart became hot within me.
While I mused, the fire burned;
then I spoke with my tongue:

⁴ ‘Lord, let me know my end,
and what is the measure of my days;
let me know how fleeting my life is.
⁵ You have made my days a few handbreadths,
and my lifetime is as nothing in your sight.
Surely everyone stands as a mere breath.
Selah
⁶ Surely everyone goes about like a shadow.
Surely for nothing they are in turmoil;
they heap up, and do not know who will gather.

⁷ ‘And now, O Lord, what do I wait for?
My hope is in you.
⁸ Deliver me from all my transgressions.
Do not make me the scorn of the fool.
⁹ I am silent; I do not open my mouth,
for it is you who have done it.
¹⁰ Remove your stroke from me;
I am worn down by the blows of your hand.

¹¹ ‘You chastise mortals in punishment for sin,
consuming like a moth what is dear to them;
surely everyone is a mere breath.
Selah

¹² ‘Hear my prayer, O Lord,
and give ear to my cry;
do not be deaf at my tears;
for I am an alien with you,
a sojourner like all my forebears.

13 Look away from me, that I may hold back,
before I pass away and am gone.'
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The psalm in Hebrew, with commentary, is here.

PHOTOS:
1. Ancient and new graves, Tiberias cemetery
2. "Homo sapiens" at the Australian Museum, Sydney
3. Dean at the same moth and butterfly exhibit
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Underground

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U is for underground.
Down under, as in Australia.

Unfortunately Israel has nothing as large and grand as these Jenolan Caves in the Australian Blue Mountains.

Brave grandson Dean was exploring the cold dark caverns on a guided tour, with his parents of course.
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For U-Day at ABC Wednesday.

Photo was taken by our friend Noa E.-R.
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To seek forgiveness

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PsalmChallenge is hosted by Robert of Daily Athens.

Psalm 32

1 A Psalm of David. A Maskil.
Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. 2 Blessed is the man to whom the LORD imputes no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit. 3 When I declared not my sin, my body wasted away through my groaning all day long. 4 For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. [Selah]
5 I acknowledged my sin to thee, and I did not hide my iniquity; I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the LORD"; then thou didst forgive the guilt of my sin. [Selah]

6 Therefore let every one who is godly offer prayer to thee; at a time of distress, in the rush of great waters, they shall not reach him.
7 Thou art a hiding place for me, thou preservest me from trouble; thou dost encompass me with deliverance. [Selah]

8 I will instruct you and teach you the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you.


9 Be not like a horse or a mule, without understanding, which must be curbed with bit and bridle, else it will not keep with you.

10 Many are the pangs of the wicked; but steadfast love surrounds him who trusts in the LORD.
11 Be glad in the LORD, and rejoice, O righteous, and shout for joy, all you upright in heart!
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Revised Standard Version translation. For Hebrew-English see Mechon Mamre. For Rabbi Segal's translation and commentary see A New Psalm.
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Photos:
Ceremonial horse trappings. Brass with turquoise and coral inlay. Bukhara, 19th century. At the Museum of Islamic Art, Jerusalem.
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Confession booth, St. Mary's Cathedral, Sydney, Australia.
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As a Jew, I sometimes wonder what it is like to make confession to a priest. But I do like how the Catholic church now seems to call it the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

For the early Church, Psalm 32 was considered one of a group of seven Psalms of Atonement.
In Jewish tradition, it is the Psalm recited on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.
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Preaching to the donkeys

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Happy World Animal Day!

Wikipedia says it "is celebrated each year on October 4. It started in Florence, Italy in 1931 at a convention of ecologists.
On this day, animal life in all its forms is celebrated, and special events are planned on locations all over the globe.
4 October was originally chosen for World Animal Day because it is the feast day of Francis of Assisi, a nature lover and patron saint of animals and the environment.
Numerous churches throughout the world observe the Sunday closest to 4 October with a Blessing for the Animals."

Of all the animals I love donkeys the most.

In 2005 I was lucky to work as a volunteer for one month at the Good Samaritan Donkey Sanctuary in NSW, Australia.
I got to know the 130 donkeys that the dedicated and hard-working Kokas family has rescued.

(Enlarge the photo to read the sign about donkeys.)

They let me live in a little caravan at the sanctuary, in the middle of rolling hills, with only donkeys and wild kangaroos and koalas and exotic birds for neighbors.

There was a washing machine, but the fence had to serve as my clothesline.

What a rare chance to be far from any human!

One evening, remembering how St. Francis is said to have preached to the birds, I stood on the picnic table and began preaching to the animals in the loudest voice I could produce.
"My brother and sister donkeys, brother and sister kangaroos and birds, sister moon . . . "

I can't remember the words of my sermon, but I did sing Taize songs to the animals.
And you know what? -- They stood still, out there in the pastures and in the bush, looking at me and listening.
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God bless our animals, today and every day.
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(See more posts about donkeys and one about the Aussie sanctuary.)
And for ABC Wednesday, L is for loving lovely donkeys.
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UPDATE: Crystal at Perspective blog posted some really unusual footage of Donovan in the role of Francis (before he was a saint) from the 1972 Franco Zeffirelli film "Brother Sun, Sister Moon."
Recommended!

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Celebrating 100 years of women's achievements

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(Logo from www.internationalwomensday.com/ )

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For our posts today we can change the meme's name to That's OUR World Tuesday because all over the world people are (or should be) celebrating this one special day: the centenary of International Women's Day.

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Every year each country chooses its own theme for the day.

The United Nations' 2011 theme is "Equal access to education, training and science and technology: Pathway to decent work for women."
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The U.N. website has good background information about the theme, including this startling fact:

Women make up nearly two thirds of the world’s 759 million illiterate adults.
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Fortunately my own daughter was in the right countries for getting the science education she wanted.
Naomi grew up in Israel. After her compulsory army service she worked to save money and soon married, and she and Guy went to California to study at San Jose State University.
Naomi graduated summa cum laude with a degree in Mechanical Engineering.
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They then migrated to Australia and, while starting a family, both Naomi and Guy got a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering.
Today they are doing good work in academia and are raising three thinking and caring young children.

Not every woman has to study for a doctorate. But I hope and pray that more and more women around the world will someday soon enjoy "equal access to education, training and science and technology: pathway to decent work for women."
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Welcome miners from Chile!

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Today Israel will welcome 31 of the 33 Chilean miners as they arrive in Jerusalem to begin an 8-day pilgrimage of thanksgiving.
The men are accompanied by their wives or girlfriends.
Our Ministry of Tourism is paying for their air fare and expenses.
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More about it here:
Jerusalem Post  and Israelity.

Photos are from the opal exposition in Sydney, Australia.
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UPDATE:  Now the papers are saying that 23 (and not 31) of the miners arrived.  They are having a wonderful and moving time at the holy places.
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Psalm 6 -- bones, bed

PSALM 6

1. To the chief Musician for stringed instruments, according to the Sheminith, a psalm of David.

2. O Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger, nor chasten me in your hot displeasure.
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3. Have mercy upon me, O Lord; for I am weak;  O Lord, heal me, for my bones shudder. 

4. My soul is also much troubled. And you, O Lord, how long?

5. Return, O Lord, deliver my soul. Oh save me for the sake of your loving kindness!

6. For in death there is no remembrance of you. In Sheol who shall give you thanks?

7. I am weary with my moaning; all night I make my bed swim; I drench my couch with my tears.

8. My eye wastes away because of grief; it grows weak because of all my enemies.

9. Depart from me, all you evil doers; for the Lord has heard the voice of my weeping.
10. The Lord has heard my supplication; the Lord will receive my prayer.
11. Let all my enemies be ashamed and much troubled; let them return and be ashamed in a moment.

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Photos:  1. The Australian Museum skeleton room.
2. Dean and I slept one night in an ancient hermitage.(He was not really sad.)
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This post joins those of other Psalm illustrators at Robert's weekly Psalm Challenge at Daily Athens.
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