Meitar Night Run is on!

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The annual Meitar Night Run is underway!

You can choose either 5K or 10K.
I always choose to stand still and take pictures.  :)

Just as the sun was setting the younger runners ran up and then back down my street.

Here's a brief video so you can hear the fun:

On this cool map you can click the arrow and see the route that goes all around our little town:
https://www.plotaroute.com/route/610820
And you can play around with the map and see where Meitar is, down here in the Negev desert.
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Fireworks for 70th Independence Day

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Like every year, when night came, the heavy day of remembering our fallen soldiers and our victims of terrorism gave way to the joy and exuberance of Independence Day celebrations. 
Last night I watched our town's fireworks display from my place.
Enjoy the little video and its sounds!
Happy 70 years of independence, my dear Israel!  
I am fortunate to have lived here for 50 of those eventful years. 
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Sparkling SodaStream water!

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Happy WORLD WATER DAY!
The 2018 theme is Nature for Water and the idea is to raise awareness about nature-related solutions to the water crisis.
Over the last few years Israel has gotten itself out of our water shortage; now we re-use a whopping 86% of our water.
So I'm going to blog today instead about a more exciting topic--SPARKLING WATER!

On a blustery January day our group's bus pulled up to the gate for a factory tour.
The sign says Welcome to the SodaStream family.

The plant is huge, spread out in many buildings, in the brand-new Idan HaNegev industrial park.
SodaStream moved here and closed its much smaller factory in the West Bank less than four years ago.

Our tour started with a little lecture in the Visitor Center where all the varieties of soda makers are on display.
Here is how to make flavored soda water at home:  https://www.sodastreamusa.com/how-it-works.aspx

We also got to see the funny video with Mayim Bialik and Hodor about the Lost Tribe of the Homoshlepians, the primitive people who used to schlepp water around in plastic bottles.  :)
Watch it here!

Then our guide took us into the factory!

You don't see many workers because so much of the production is automated.

But if something is a bit off, you do need a person to get right in there and fix it!

Our SodaStream guide needed amplification to make her voice heard over the machine noise.

Watching the robots is a bit mesmerizing, even in my little videos!

This man is from Peru!
SodaStream prides itself on fostering a happy work atmosphere filled with mutual respect and equality among its 1,700 employees.
Jews and Arabs, new immigrants and native-born Sabras, all ages, all work together in peace.
Every day a bus from Jerusalem brings 80 of the Palestinians who worked in the previous factory in Mishor Adumim.  (And travel time is paid.)
And 40% of the workforce are Bedouin--Israeli citizens from the close-by Bedouin city of Rahat or from the Negev's many unrecognized villages.
And half of those Bedouin are women!

Just outside SodaStream's gate you can see Rahat (well, you might have to click a few times on the photo to see the houses).

It was early afternoon Friday when our bus left in order to be back home in Meitar before Shabbat.
What warmed my heart that cold day was this picture of two smiling young men bringing platters of food or goodies as a nice little Sabbath Eve extra for the "SodaStream family" that stayed on to work, 24/7.
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At the official website you can click on your country for local information about SodaStream.
SodaStream came to Israel in the 1970s, and today its headquarters are here and the products are exported to 47 countries.  Soon China will join that list too!

Learn all about SodaStream over at Wikipedia and check out the links at the end too.
And happy World Water Day!
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A 21st C Purim Spiel?!

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Today is the happy holiday Purim!
It's also our monthly CDP Theme Day and City Daily Photo bloggers are busy interpreting the idea "play."
I'm going to try to link the two by using PLAY as a noun.

Purim Spiel is the Yiddish term for the boisterous plays, sometimes even mini-musicals, that are thought up and put on every Purim.
So Spiel, pronounced shpeel, means a play and in Europe Jews have been keeping this Purim custom for centuries.

In Meitar this afternoon the Scouts put on a whole carnival. (More about that later.)
On stage was Tooti the Superhero.
Instead of  Esther saving her people from wicked Haman, we had Tooti, a woman with super powers, saving humanity from some kind of alien invasion (or something ...).

Here's a tiny video so you can hear as well as see our modern little Purim Spiel:

Happy Purim!
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UPDATE: Here are nine life lessons we can learn from the Purim story of the Bible.
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At Kasr al-Yahud River Jordan baptism site

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For the Latin church (the Roman Catholics) today is the feast day called the Baptism of the Lord.
Hundreds walk in procession down to the Kasr al Yahud baptism site on this day.
I was there on a much quieter day, just a few weeks ago.

Our bus passed the minus 300 meters sign and continued to descend even lower to the Jordan Valley, a bit north of the Dead Sea (the lowest spot on earth).

Flags greeted us at the entrance.
The Israeli flag and that of Nature & National Parks Protection Agency, and also of the Judea and Samaria Civil Administration (because it is in the West Bank, east of Jericho).

You had better pay attention to the rules.
Don't even THINK of wading across the river.

The other side is already the Kingdom of Jordan.

The border runs down the middle of the River Jordan and that is why the sign says, Do not pass, in Hebrew, English, and Russian. 

A new Greek Orthodox church has been built on the other side and we could see the Jordanian flag waving in the breeze of late afternoon.

Many Christians step into the water for a renewal of their baptism.
Some new Christians get the total immersion with the help of their priest or pastor.

The river is very shallow now after 4-5 years of drought.
In the rainy stormy weekend we just had, the level of the Jordan rose by 35 centimeters.
It's not likely you will need this red lifesaver, but it hangs on the tree just in case.
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(This blog has five posts about Kasr al Yahud baptism site, if you'd like to see more.)
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UPDATE Jan. 10: The Franciscans today published their short video of Sunday's pilgrimage to the baptism site:
http://www.terrasanctablog.org/2018/01/10/faithful-on-a-pilgrimage-to-the-jordan-river-for-the-celebration-of-the-baptism-of-the-lord/

UPDATE April 12, 2020:  good news! --
https://www.timesofisrael.com/just-in-time-for-easter-qasr-al-yahud-site-declared-mine-free-after-53-years/
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(Linking to signs, signs,  inSPIRED Sunday and  Our World Tuesday.)
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Olive oil by the barrel

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T is for tugging.

Dani, the in-charge of Kibbutz Gezer Olives had just driven two heavy barrels of our fresh oil back from the olive press.

And they had to be off-loaded to the entrance of the kibbutz bomb shelter where the oil would later be bottled.

American volunteer Ashlea took a whiff.

Dani made the taste test.

Ashlea got a capful of the precious fruit of our olive-harvesting labor.

Luke, a WWOOFer from New Zealand, tried it too.

Only I, as reflected in the pure oil, was busy with the camera and mercifully too busy to drink.
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UPDATE May 2018:  A brief video of the Kiwi volunteer Luke was just published! He talks about his good experience at Kibbutz Gezer.

(Linking to T-day at ABC Wednesday and OurWorld Tuesday.)
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Jet fighters overhead! 3 videos

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The Independence Day flyover!
Today Israel Air Force plane flew for two hours, all across the country.
I climbed the high hill in Meitar's center to get the best view and be closest to the aircraft.
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These jets demonstrated  mid-air refueling.

A bird and a child's kite got into this clip of some fighter jets.

I think these are our new F-35 Stealth fighters.
They were shown to the public for the first time today.
The Times of Israel writes this:

Israel is the first country outside the United States to receive the state-of-the-art F-35, which is manufactured by Lockheed Martin. In total, the country is planning to purchase 50 of the fifth-generation stealth aircraft, known in Israel as the “Adir,” or “mighty one,” and has thus far received five of them.

You can see clear photos of them in that article.
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And now tonight, we end our happy 69th Independence Day and start our 70th year as a State, thanks, in great part, to the planes and pilots we saw today.
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Never impede a millipede

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Just me and a millipede in my secret cave. 

(Linking to Camera Critters meme.)
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Watch the wind

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Walk four minutes down my street and you will abruptly be in the wilderness. 
Here's a little video I made on a windy afternoon, just because the golden grass was rippling in waves so gracefully.
What was all green during the winter rains now becomes golden and soon, in the long dry summer everything will be brown. 

When I walk alone in the desert at this season I can't help but sing an appropriate song from my youth:

Oklahoma, where the wind comes sweepin' down the plain
And the wavin' wheat can sure smell sweet
When the wind comes right behind the rain.
Oklahoma, Ev'ry night my honey lamb and I
Sit alone and talk and watch a hawk
Makin' lazy circles in the sky.

We know we belong to the land
And the land we belong to is grand!

 -- from the musical Oklahoma! by Oscar Hammerstein 

You can hear it on YouTube. 

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 (As you may have guessed, I'm linking to ABC Wednesday's O Day and to SkyWatch Friday.)
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A weekend away, away

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This is where I am this weekend!
At lovely Sonnenhof, the Community of Grandchamp's "House of Stillness" in the German-speaking region of Switzerland. 
It is in a secluded place on a hillside. Six nuns and right now fifteens retreat guests are staying here. 
Down below is the village of Gelterkinden where the old church rings bells several times an hour.
You can hear the distant church bells in my little video:

To see more about the Canton of Basel-Landschaft, at the very top of Switzerland, see here.
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Listen to the cow bells, on real Swiss cows!

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In Switzerland the cattle herds follow the good weather.
In summer they are taken to progressively higher alpages to live for a while.
Now, with snow on the Jura Mountains, they come down here to graze on the warmer plain. 

Today was the first time I heard the familiar din of cow bells out in the big field (grand champ, in French)!
I walked out from the Community of Grandchamp and into the field, walking carefully along the narrow muddy path in the middle of two fields, being careful not to touch the electric fence. 
I was so happy to see the pretty cows up close!
But how can each one stand wearing (and hearing) a big bell around their neck all their life??

Enjoy seeing and HEARING the videos!

(Linking to Camera Critters.
And for ABC Wednesday, T is for tongues licking a salt-block.)
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Beer Sheva market folks in video

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Tonight everyone in Israel who cares about soccer will be watching the crucial game of HaPoel Beer Sheva vs. Bnei Sakhnin (the team from Arab town Sakhnin).
If Beer Sheva wins, it will be the first time in forty years that the team becomes national champion. 
A One VOD camera crew was in Beer Sheva's huge open-air market, interviewing shuk regulars about their favorite team.

This shot is more interesting because it catches a Bedouin woman's nice dress.
Enlarge the photo to see the intricate embroidery.
Sorry, but spectator sports are not my forte; I can't get into watching games. 

Here in my little snippet a dyed-in-the-wool HaPoel Beer Sheva fan sings for the team.

But I recommend you go to the professional 5-minute ONE VOD video and enjoy seeing the diverse and colorful characters of our shuk (market) as they praise HaPoel.
It's fun even if you don't know Hebrew.  : )

UPDATE Saturday 11 pm:  Wow, we won, Beer Sheva won the game!!  National soccer champions for the first time since 1976.
Big joy in the stadium and in the city and in homes!
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Holiday fireworks in Meitar video

Happy 68th Independence Day, Israel!
Wednesday night at sundown we made the transition from sad Remembrance Day to happy Independence Day.
 Here's a little video of  fireworks in the center of my little town in the Negev, as seen from a friend's roof on the edge of town.
You can hear one of the many neighborhood dogs barking in protest against the explosive noise.

Chag Atsmaut  sameach -- happy Independence Day!
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(Linking to SkyWatch Friday.)
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Holy Sepulchre Dedication Day

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There is almost always a long line of pilgrims waiting for their one minute of time inside the edicule and the tomb.

July 15 is celebrated every year in Jerusalem as Dedication Day of the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre. 
Consecration of the new church (built over earlier destroyed ones)  took place on July 15, 1149, the 50th anniversary of the Crusaders' conquest of Jerusalem.

Solemn Mass will be celebrated at 7:30 a.m. tomorrow by Fr. Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Custos of the Holy Land.
UPDATE: Here is the latest video: http://www.terrasanctablog.org/2015/07/17/the-feast-of-the-dedication-of-the-holy-sepulcher/ 

Here is a 3-minute video of the Mass from several years ago, also presided by the Custos:



(Linking to inSPIRED Sunday.)
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Fountains in the desert

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Beer Sheva is a city in the dry Negev desert.
But it wants to be branded as Israel's "Water City."
And so there are some thirty fountains.

This one, The Globe, turns around and around in a shower of water.
At night it is illuminated with colored lights, or so I learn from this little video of Beer Sheva's fountains:

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Orthodox Pentecost today and a video

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The Orthodox and Eastern Churches are celebrating Pentecost this weekend.
(Catholic and Protestant Pentecost was last Sunday.)
Here in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre the Greek Orthodox clergy's red vestments bring to mind the red tongues of fire of the first Pentecost in Jerusalem.

The prostration goes with the liturgy of the day which has three sets of kneeling prayers for Pentecost.

The first is a prayer of great repentance; the second prayer is a call to the Holy Spirit to help the faithful follow the right path during their life; and the third prayer is to remember those who have gone before.

Some selected lines from the liturgy:
DEACON: For those who incline their hearts as well as the knee before the Lord, let us pray to the Lord.
CANTOR: Lord, have mercy.

DEACON: That He will accept our act of kneeling as incense before Him, let us pray to the Lord.
CANTOR: Lord, have mercy. . . .

DEACON: Again, on bended knees, let us pray to the Lord.
CANTOR: Lord, have mercy. Kyrie eleison.

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My photos are from 2009 but not much changes from year to year.

Wishes for a joyous feast day to all the Orthodox Christians!

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Sister  Dr. Vassa Larin, an American sister of the Russian Orthodox Church, has eleven minutes of good insights about Pentecost/Descent of the Holy Spirit in this new video (Episode 50!):

(You can also follow her meditations and world travels on her Facebook page, Vassa Larin.)

UPDATE: Here is the entire text of Great Vespers on the Sunday Evening of Pentecost with the Kneeling Prayers, in English, from the helpful website http://www.antiochian.org/online-liturgical-guide .
UPDATE June 6: Today the Jerusalem Patriarchate put online the videos and photos of the Orthodox celebration of Pentecost.

(Linking to inSPIRED Sunday.)

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Kawas ceremonial guards at the Ascension

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On their calendar, today was the great Feast of the Ascension for Orthodox and Eastern Christians.
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 Jerusalem's Chapel of the Ascension was first built around 390.
It was destroyed and rebuilt by various conquerors many times.
A mosque and minaret were added next to the chapel in 1620 and the entire site remains in Muslim possession.
The main octagonal edicule surrounds the Ascension rock, said to bear the footprint of Jesus as he ascended, forty days after the resurrection.
It is on the Mount of Olives, in the Arab neighborhood A-Tur.
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You can see photos of the 2012 celebration there in my posts about  Ascension along with links to information about the holiday and the place.
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Today I want to show you only the Kawasim that were at that Ascension celebration.

Since Ottoman Turk times, these Arab ceremonial guards lead the way and clear the way for processions of Jerusalem's Christian clergy, with a rhythmic tapping of their staffs. 
The Kawas is kind of like the Swiss Guard in the Vatican. 
Some of them are Muslims and some are Christians. 
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You can see more nice Kawasim in my posts  about a Papal Mass and in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
They are a wonderful part of Jerusalem.
UPDATE April 2021: The story of Shibly Abu Sada, a kawas for 24 years:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_xJDdyKmQU


UPDATE May 27: The [Orthodox] Jerusalem Patriarchate today published online their photos and videos of their Ascension Day on the Mt. of Olives, May 21.  
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Sr. Dr. Vassa has a new and very interesting brief video about making the transition from Ascension to Pentecost.  It is about what/why is Church.

(Linking to inSPIRED Sunday.)
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UPDATE April 28, 2005:  See a short reel about the history of the kawas in Jerusalem: 
https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1BhQUsrv59/
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Myrrh, women, tombs, and a video

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For Orthodox Christians, today is the Sunday of the Myrrh-Bearers, remembering the women disciples who came to the tomb and found it empty. 
In the picture are two 1st century tombs in the Chapel of St. Joseph of Arimathea and St. Nicodemus, in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
When I visit, I always have a feeling these burial places in the modest Syriac Orthodox chapel may be the real place, instead of the famous one inside the edicule in the rotunda.

Sr. Dr. Vassa Larin, of  Coffee with Sr. Vassa fame, offers a good episode about Sunday of the Myrrh-Bearers (and why the women were right and the Apostles were wrong):

 (Linking this post to InSPIREd Sunday meme.)
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