Caesarea and More…

Thanks to my dear friend, David, and Sar El Tours we have been enjoying an amazing tour of the Holy Land. They have worked hard to make the trip wonderful in every way. I just could not post photos of our day yesterday. I was totally exhausted and jet lagged after the flight and exciting…

Return Us

Here across the ocean: Thoughts on Jerusalem…

Breaking Bread

The Sabbath evening meal is a literal time to break bread together. During the liturgy, the challah or (Sabbath bread) is lifted and God is blessed and thanked for supplying “bread from the earth.” Then the bread is broken and not sliced with a knife. This is very important, because it was with a knife,…

‘As Certain as the Dawn’

This is the break of sun over the Mt. of Olives. I stood on our veranda and watched the sun light up the sky this morning. What is it about morning? I’m definitely a morning person, so those early hours may seem surreal to me; but I can never get over their freshness and sense…

Jerusalem Market

After ten days in Ethiopia, we eagerly returned to our home in Jerusalem. The first task at hand was filling our empty fridge and cupboards, so we made a fun trek to the Jerusalem open-city market. I love this place on any day; but the week of Sukkot, the feeling in the air rings with…

The Last Dawn…

… well this is the last dawn for a while… over Mt. Zion. We leave this evening for Ethiopia and will be in both Gondar and the capital, Addis Ababa for about two weeks.  We are eager about the trip and to reconnect with dear friends. Today will be spent in packing and tying up…

For a Sweet Year

We celebrated the Jewish New Year last evening with dear friends. They live not far from us in Jerusalem. The meal was amazing with four, round braided Sabbath breads, some with raisins, cinnamon, plain, and whole wheat. We feasted on it. I kid you not, it was better than any dessert. Later we had a…

Like Children

Jerusalem is preparing for the Jewish New Year, Rosh HaShanah. The city is scurrying to buy Gefilte fish, special Sabbath bread, apples and honey, matza ball soup (one of my favorites!) and all the special foods of the holiday. These two Orthodox boys playing on the streets are in another world today… occupied with the…

Ice, Salt, and Lot’s Wife…

This looks like ice or snow on the water, but it is the salty crust on the Dead Sea. The beautiful mountains in the background are Jordan. It is amazing that the water is so aqua… I just the color of the Dead Sea. The clearer the sky and atmosphere, the bluer the water. We…