Anne Frank's memorial in the forest

.

In the final hour of daylight my town's touring group just made it to Ya'ar HaKedoshim, the Holocaust Martyrs Forest.

On the path leading to the new (2011) memorial to Anne Frank were signposts quoting her famous diary.

"The memorial is a sculpture created by designer Piet Cohen, and is the form of a room made of rusted steel. In the corner of the structure sits an uncomfortably high stool, from where the viewer can see an engraved image of the famed chestnut tree which Anne Frank wrote about so lovingly in her diary. The viewing experience is meant to recreate the feeling of imprisonment, isolation and discomfort while looking longingly through a window at the world outside." *

If you are ever in the Jerusalem Hills, look for this sign and follow it into the forest.
It is a moving experience.

* For  very interesting details about the Anne Frank Memorial Park and about the Martyrs Forest with  its six million trees, please see the Jewish National Fund/Keren Kayemet page
http://www.kkl-jnf.org/people-and-environment/kkl-jnf-projects-partners/dfu-2012/holocaust-martyrs-forest-anne-frank-memorial/
especially now, just a day after Yom Hashoah.
.

Living the beauty of simplicity

.

 Today and tomorrow we City Daily Photo bloggers are blogging about the theme "The beauty of simplicity." 
Karl suggested this theme, as it is his philosophy that a photo should be kept simple for maximum effect. His blog, Bolzano Daily Photo, has stunning pictures of South Tyrol.

This hermitage in the Jerusalem Hills was built in the 1400s.
It was added on to a house and chapel built by the Crusaders in the 12th century.

From June to October 2006 this hermitage (more like a monastic cell), was my beloved dwelling place.
I had just returned to Israel after eleven years of volunteer work abroad, with my backpack and duffle bag and two boxes of stuff and that was about all.

The water faucet was just outside the door (near Lara the cat, z"l).
Steep steps led to a little building with a shower and toilet. 

The simple wooden table was both desk and dinner table.
Afternoon sunshine streamed in.
In the evening families of jackals called back and forth across the Soreq Valley just below.
(Hear videos of their howls here.)

Olive trees, pines, and many other trees right outside in the woods.
Silence mostly.

Full of history and holy energy, each ancient stone in the walls and floor became my fast friend.
How very good it was to sleep and dream and to wake to a new dawn in my own land.
The hermitage was beautiful in its simplicity, and so was my life.
.
As the old Shaker song affirms,

'Tis the gift to be simple, 'tis the gift to be free,
'Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be,
And when we find ourselves in the place just right,
'Twill be in the valley of love and delight.

.

Train up to Jerusalem -- almond trees blooming

.

February 16 was National Almond Day, or so the American calendars tell me.
And indeed when I rode the train up to Jerusalem yesterday the almond trees were blooming like crazy!
Must be the rare winter heat wave Israel is having this week, with temperatures in the mid 80s (30 C).
On both sides of the train, in this small section, is the famous terraced agriculture of the Arab village Battir inscribed in 2014 as a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Wikipedia tells the curious history like this:

In the 20th century, Battir's development was linked to its location alongside the railroad to Jerusalem, which provided access to the marketplace as well as income from passengers who disembarked to refresh themselves en route. During the 1948 war, most of the villagers had fled, but Mustafa Hassan and a few others stayed. At night they would light candles in the houses, and in the morning they would take out the cattle. When nearing the village, the Israelis thought Battir was still inhabited and gave up attacking. The armistice line was drawn near the railroad, with Battir ending up just meters to the east of Jordan's border with Israel. At least 30% of Battir's land lies on the Israeli side of the Green Line, but the villagers were allowed to keep it in return for preventing damage to the railway, thus being the only Palestinians officially allowed to cross into Israel and work their lands before the Six-Day War.

One almond tree among many olive trees.
This was the sunny view at 8:55 in the morning.
(You can enlarge the photos for a closer view, don't forget.)

The same spot but at 4:30 pm, on my way back, when most of the valley of Nahal Soreq was in the shadow of the mountains.

It is a fabulous train journey, meandering partly through a steep canyon with Soreq River running at the bottom, parallel to the railroad tracks!
I'll show you more of that part soon, inshallah.
.
(For ABC Wednesday F is for fabulous.)
.

Missing the Hills of Jerusalem tonight

.

Remembering cool evenings in the Jerusalem Hills, sunsets, jackals, old friends, and the terrace of St. Elisabeth's built by the 12th century Crusaders.
Sigh . . .
.
Shabbat shalom from the hot desert.
And thanks to Kristine S. for taking the photo. 
.

Winter clouds hang over the Jerusalem Hills

.

Winter in the Jerusalem Hills.
Click twice to make an even bigger sky. 
.
(For SkyWatch Friday.)
.

Snow days

.

Parts (the higher parts) of Israel are getting some rare snow!

These are pictures of the Jerusalem Hills from January 2013 when I still lived there.
But, same idea, snow is snow.

Now I live in the southern desert at only a bit over 400 meters altitude, not high or cold enough for more than rain.
.
(Linking to SkyWatch Friday.)
.

Moonlight Stone-ata

.

In olden days men really knew how to build a terrace wall, didn't they?
This one in the hills west of Jerusalem was probably made by 12th century Crusaders.
To the right of the corner, a tall staircase ascends.

The stones  looked especially beautiful in the soft half-light of dawn.
Enlarge the photo 2x and see them better. 
I took this picture at 5:37, in between the full moon's setting and the bright sun's rising (as you may know from the previous two posts).
.
The mystical in-between time brought to mind the Hebrew song Karev Yom:
(you can listen here)

The day is approaching that is neither day nor night
Most High, let it be known that Yours is the day and Yours is the night
Place guards over Your City all day and all night
Lighten the darkness of the night with the light of day
The day is approaching that is neither day nor night . . . 

.

All within half an hour

.

I went north for an overnight at friends' house in my former village.
This morning at 5:27 the moon shining on  the olive leaves made them even more silvery than normal.

Ten minutes later the moon was setting in the beautiful still-cool Jerusalem Hills.

Sunrise followed moon set at 6:00, gradually spreading light in the Soreq Valley.
.
(Linking to SkyWatch Friday.)
.

Head for the hills

.

I went back to my old stompin' grounds for the weekend.
Ahh, the Jerusalem Hills, the hill country of Judea--so beautiful and green and peaceful.
I love them still.
.
.
(Linking to SkyWatch Friday.)
.http://skyley.blogspot.co.il/

Decaying slowly through the millennia

.
I am lucky!
 I just have to walk a block or two from my moshav/village, out into the terraced valleys of the Jerusalem Hills, to find pictures for today's City Daily Photo Theme Day, which is "The beauty of decay."

This rounded place on a hill slope is one of my favorites.
See its arched opening, now half buried by the ages?!
I try to imagine who used it, when,  and for how long . . . 

Please enlarge these photos with one click, then another.
I left them big so you can enjoy the luscious details.

The hills are peppered with mysterious stone structures  that are thousands of years old.
They are hard to date, but some go back even to 4,500 years ago.
Archaeologists have proof that different peoples have inhabited this area for 6,000 years.

 The door and a window of this now low structure on the valley floor are still visible.
The big pine tree toppled over in last winter's rain and now it, too, will start to decay. 

A forest fire swept through this valley a few years ago, but this tall cypress survived.
It thrives between two dams.

Jerusalem is surrounded by hills and the only way to raise crops was to build agricultural terraces.
Farmers picked rocks from the ground and used them to build terrace walls; they may have had to bring in soil for each little plot.
They devised irrigation channels from the many springs in the Jerusalem Hills.

In the bottom of the valleys they built dams, as pictured above.
When rain water rushed down the valley from the hills, these dams stopped the soil from being washed away.

In Biblical days, farmers were able to feed their families from these terraces as well as most of the great throngs of pilgrims who ascended to the Temple in nearby Jerusalem on the three yearly pilgrimage festivals.

In recent centuries, up to 1948, Arab farmers grew many fruit and olive trees and I'm not sure what else in the hills.
I admire all who did this hard work in a not easy land.
.
To see how farmers used stone shomerot, watchmen's huts, please see previous posts.
There are hundreds here in the Jerusalem Hills in various stages of decay.
.
Now let's go visit the other CDP bloggers and see what's decaying in their cities.
Shalom to all. 
.
(Linking also to Toby's meme (in Israel!)  Whimsical Windows, Delirious Doors.)
.

Fleeting beauty

.

I wish the white almond blossoms in our Jerusalem Hills would stay forever. 

You can enlarge the pictures with a click and then another click.
Only the fragrance I can't share with you.
.
(For OurWorld Tuesday.)

Six Persian fallow deer reintroduced in the Jerusalem Hills

.

These are Persian fallow deer at Jerusalem's Biblical Zoo in photos I took last February.
Enlarge the photos and enjoy.

Just last week six of these animals made big news in Israel.
Six yachmurot, female fallow deer, were released into nature--right here near us in the Jerusalem Hills, in a nature reserve in the Soreq Valley! 

The breeding and return to nature program of this once almost extinct breed  has been going on for quite some years.
But it was halted over the last three years because of the increasing danger to the deer from packs of hungry feral dogs.
Because the number of now-wild dogs grew, along with the danger of rabies, it was recently decided to once again allow official rangers to shoot such dogs in parks and reserves.
 (See details in Haaretz.)
[If the article is behind a paywall you can do a simple registration for ten free articles per month at http://www.haaretz.com/misc/subscription .]

You can read more by enlarging this Zoo information sign.
Or see Zoo articles here and here. 
.
What I heard yesterday in a radio interview with Zoo director Shai Doron:

The six deer were tranquilized for the 20-minute drive from the zoo to their new home.
Each doe got a radio-telemetry transmitter collar so they can be tracked and monitored.
At Shmurat Hasoreq the cage was opened and they staggered out.
At the beginning they live in a big acclimation enclosure and when they have gotten used to the Mediterranean Woodland surroundings, they are set free.
Except--the first night one of the does managed to jump over the 2-meter high fence.
They found her dead the next morning, with no signs of having been attacked.

I wish them luck.  How I would love to be hiking in my beloved Jerusalem Hills and one day see a wild deer!
.
To learn how the first four Persian fallow deer were flown out of Iran just in time, see in the Wall Street Journal 
"How Bambi Met James Bond to Save Israel's 'Extinct' Deer --
It Took Cloak-and-Dagger Effort to Return Creatures From Iran to Biblical Home"
.
.

(A post for Camera-Critters)

. 

A monk, pilgrims, and a granddaughter

.
Psalm 86 for today's PsalmChallenge.
Our host, Robert Geiss in Athens, has a wonderful photo today for Verse 16--not to be missed! 
.
PSALM 86.   A prayer.  Of David.

Incline Your ear, O LORD, answer me, for afflicted and needy am I.

2. Preserve my soul, for I am steadfast; deliver, O You, my God, Your servant who trusts in You.

3.  Be merciful to me, O my Lord, for to You I call all day long.

4. Bring joy to Your servant's soul, for to You, my Lord, I lift up my soul.

5. For You, my Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in loving kindness to all who call on You.

6. Give ear, O LORD, to my prayer; heed the voice of my pleas for mercy.

7. In the time of my trouble I call on You, so that You will answer me.

8. There is none like You among gods, O LORD, and there is nothing like You have created.

9. All the nations that You have created will come to bow down before You, O my Lord, and they will glorify Your name.

10. Indeed, great are You and creator of wonders; You are God, You alone.

11. Teach me Your way, O my LORD; I will go forward with your faithfulness; give me an undivided heart to fear Your name.

12. I will praise You, O my Lord my God, with all my heart, and I will glorify Your name forever.

13. Indeed, Your loving kindness toward me is great, and You will save my soul from the depths of Sheol.

14. O God, arrogant men have arisen against me; a band of ruthless men seek my soul―men without regard for You.

15. But You, my Lord, are the Deity Who is compassionate and merciful, slow to anger, abounding in loving kindness and faithfulness.

16. Turn to me and have mercy on me; grant Your strength to Your servant and deliver Your maidservant's child.

17. Create for me a miracle, for good, that those who hate me may see and be put to shame, for You, O LORD, have helped me and comforted me.

.

.

Translation: Rabbi Benjamin J. Segal.  See also his explanations and the Hebrew original. 

PHOTOS:

1. An Ethiopian monk prays at the door to their church at the Holy Sepulchre. 

2. Pilgrims softly singing on the way, in the hill country of John the Baptist.  Probably devout Russian Orthodox Christians.  I met them as I hiked today.  They and I were the only ones out in the wilderness. 

3. Libby daughter of Naomi. My youngest grandchild.  At Jerusalem's Biblical Zoo.
All the photos can be enlarged. 

.
(Added to Delirious Doors meme, too.)
.

The return of the clouds

.

The moment of sunset in the Jerusalem Hills!
.
So nice to see clouds again after a long hot dry season.
.
Finally--I have something for SkyWatch Friday.
.

Smoke rising?

I looked out across our valley in the Jerusalem Hills  and my heart sank!
It looked like smoke rising.
The last thing we want in our moshav on a hill surrounded by forest is a fire.

But there was also the noise of an  all-terrain vehicle going full speed.
I could not spot the ATV but I watched and finally saw that  clouds of dust (not smoke) were following the route of the twisting dirt road.
What a relief!
.

(The late afternoon sky is for SkyWatch Friday.)

.

Two days of fires

.
Fire was burning in the forest that surrounds my village yesterday afternoon and again today.
This evening these two tired and brave firefighters were trying to stop one spot of smoldering.
They had to pull themselves up the steep slope with a pickax.

In the end they dumped all their remaining water onto the hot spot.
You can see some fire trucks on the old Roman road, up high.
There is no way they can get closer to the fire way below.
The little flame retardant-dropping planes can't get very low here either.

All my favorite hiking trails from the spring up into the wadi are now black, brown, and white with ash.
But thank God, our village was saved and no one was injured.
The fire was stopped at the outermost street of the moshav.
Let us pray there is no flare-up during the night.
My evacuation backpack is ready, just in case.
.

Cheese with soul

.
Chag sameach--happy Shavuot holiday!

I already told you the story of how I discovered the stone tablets of the Ten Commandments in a Swiss lake.
I've posted about Ruth and Naomi and Boaz, and about the customs of Shavuot, about reinventing ritual with art, and about hearing the thunder of Mt. Sinai.

So what else is there to tell about Shavuot?
About the custom of eating dairy foods on that holiday, of course!
Cheesecake, blintzes, soft cheese, hard cheese . . .

So recently I made a "pilgrimage" up to Har Eitan, to the goat farm hidden in a wild and wildly beautiful landscape in the Jerusalem Hills.

Goat cheese at its very best!
Many different varieties of prize-winning artisan cheeses.
And yogurt, too, to drink cold from the bottle.

The cheese tasting and selling is done in this cave next to one of the goat pens.
Resistance is futile.

Sit under a tree and soak up the mountain air as you enjoy some wine and cheese.

These terraced hills where the herd grazes are ancient.
See the pretty goats at my previous post about the farm, as well as how to get there.

Ta-da! Here is the master cheesemaker himself, my old friend Shai Seltzer.

Learn more about Shai, his goats, cheesemaking, and the farm at his nice website.
.
UPDATE: There is a nice new article, "Israeli Cheese Goes Artisanal," that tells about Shai and other "boutique cheesemakers."
UPDATE 2018: Here is a 2017 article about Shai:
https://www.israel21c.org/working-magic-with-cheese-on-har-eitan-farm/
and also
this about fancy cheeses in Israel:  https://www.israel21c.org/for-the-love-of-the-cheese/
.

Baby pine trees!

.
Continuing the previous post, here is what I found when exploring the burned down and chopped down forest next to my village in the Jerusalem Hills.

A sweet little pine shining in the day's last rays of sunlight.

Hundreds of baby pine trees have sprouted around each parent stump!
Enlarge the photo to better see the cuties.

But surely the Keren Kayemet foresters will have to thin them out, no?
That will be a Sisyphean task.
I hope they start before the little ones get too big.

So many pine cones gave so many seeds.
Fire is actually nature's way of releasing the seeds and propagating many more pines.

As I hiked out of the wadi, the moon was rising over the bare hills and of course it got snapped for SkyWatch Friday.

Someday, after a few decades of new growth of trees and vegetation, this may be a historic photo.
.
Meanwhile, Catholics in Israel celebrated Epiphany today while the Armenians marked the feast day of St. James the Minor.
And tonight the Orthodox, Coptic, Syrian, and Ethiopian Christians celebrate Christmas Eve in Bethlehem, while we Jews welcome the Sabbath Eve.

Something for everyone!
Blessings to all.
.
.