Purim-Israeli costume festival

What Is Purim?

Purim is a festive Jewish holiday recounting the deliverance of the Jewish people from extermination plot by Haman the Agagite. It is an annual celebration held every 14th of Adar, or Adar II in leap years, which is a month in the Hebrew calendar. In walled cities that existed during the time of Joshua, like Shushan and Jerusalem, it is celebrated on the 15th and is called Shushan Purim.

The Story Of Purim

The story behind Purim can be found in the Biblical Book Of Esther. Esther is a Jewish orphan girl who was raised by her cousin Mordecai. She grows into a beautiful woman that is crowned queen by the King Ahasuerus.

          The king loved Esther most among all of his wives, but was unaware that she was Jewish.    Esther and Mordecai further gained favour under the king's eyes when Mordecai successfully revealed a plot to assassinate the king. Because of this, Haman, the king's advisor, harboured a great hate for Mordecai, which finally came to a head when Mordecai, on one occasion, refused to bow down to Haman. Haman later on learned that Mordecai was a Jew, which is why he resolved to kill not only Mordecai, but also Esther and all of the Jewish people under the Persian rule.

          Being the king's advisor, Haman gets the king to approve of his plan. Esther learns of this, so she fasts for three days with all of the Jews in the land in her preparation to approach the king to ask him to spare her and her people. In a spectacular turn of events, Ahasuerus recalls the time Mordecai saved him from death through the court records and instead, welcomes Esther, honors Mordecai and saves the Jews. Haman and his ten sons are then hanged on the gallows that  were intended for Mordecai.

How Purim Is Celebrated

          Purim is treated more as a national holiday, like Hannukkah. Work is even allowed in most places but it is encouraged that the occasion be prioritized and celebrated in a joyous manner. Jewish mitzvot dictate that Jews observe these four activities during Purim:

• K'riat megillah - listening to the readings of the Book Of Esther in the evening and again in the following morning
• Mishloach manot- giving food gifts to friends
• Matanot la'evyonim - giving charity to the poor
• Se`udah – partaking in a festive meal
• 

THE GRAND KIDS,MOUSY & COWBOY.

THE BEAUTIFUL BUTTERFLY

SUN & MOON,we got the third price in our friends party.

SOMETIMES IT IS GOOD TO BE BEHIND A MASK….

Day trip around South Jerusalem

Jerusalem is surrounded by seven mountain chains that creates many beautiful hiking opportunities.
Spring is the best time to hike in this area,flowers and trees are blooming,the weather is just right for hiking and the smell is incredible.
Ancient ruins,glimpse on the Holy City,beautiful nature is just apart of these trails.
One of the most incredible sights was when we passed through a burned area and saw how "new life" is created by nature.
Here are some pictures.

Burma Road

Our daughter and her husband took off for a ski week in Italy and we became a full time baby sitters for a week to our 3 grand kids.
From time to time it is a great pleasure to see them 24/7 and learn many things about them that usually can not be seen when we meet them periodically
I am sure that part of you can understand and relate to this connection between us the grand parents and the grand kids especially when they are not infants and can teach us a thing or two.
Our eldest Grand Daughter Yuval is 12 years old and has to present a project on the Jerusalem Siege during the independence war in 1948.

On top of telling her the story and the involvement of our parents in this battle we decided to take a day trip to the area including the Burma Road that was built and used to break the siege on Jerusalem.


Background
Building Burma Road

During the early phase of the Israeli war of independence (from November 29, 1947 to May 15, 1948), local Arab forces took control of the hills overlooking the road to Jerusalem (today Highway 1), between Sha'ar HaGai (Bab el-Wad) and Al Qastal. Vehicles attempting to use the road, Jerusalem's only link to the coast, took heavy fire, in effect besieging the city's Jewish population. Convoys carrying food, weapons, and medical supplies sent by the Yishuv sustained heavy losses, and often didn't get through to the city.

On May 15, 1948, British forces withdrew from the Latrun monastery and police fort that dominated the road and prevented supplies from reaching Jerusalem. Latrun was immediately occupied by the Palmach's Harel Brigade. However, on the night of May 18, British officered Arab Legion forces from Transjordan seized Latrun, and subsequent Jewish attempts to gain a foothold in the region failed.

The growing need for supplies amongst Jerusalem's Jewish population weakened the Jewish foothold within the city considerably. A small amount of supplies, mostly munitions, were ferried by air, but the shortage of food, water, fuel and medicines was acute. The Jewish leadership, under David Ben Gurion feared that the city would surrender to the Arab Legion, and a search for a way to bypass the Arab blockade commenced.

It was a great and beautiful day,we are blessed to have such a family, here are some picture that can show what we went through much better than I can put in words.

Hiking around Jerusalem

We took the advantage of a great Spring weather day to hike part of so called "THE TRAIL OF JERUSALEM"
The whole trail is 42KM and can be done in two days but we decided to do part of it and hike the rest in another opportunity.
Spring was in the air , a symphony of Colors,Smells,History was all over us, add to it great weather , good company and you have a WIN WIN situation.
We have hiked all over the country but hiking in Jerusalem or around this Historical city always brings an extra thrill to us.

Here is a sideshow of our daily trip, we hope you enjoy it:

Thank you for visiting our site, till we meet again.

Spring in our garden

In the last few days I was reading some of the blogs I follow and found myself envying the ones that are currently traveling ,especially the ones that are in the warm "weather zones".
So instead of feeling miserable I took my camera to the garden and invited one of our sons family for a Spring BBQ.
Unfortunately I can not add the effect of smell to some pictures so till this technic will be available you will have to use you imagination,it worked on the bees that are all over the flowers...
We still have 2 months to wait till we start our 2011 summer RV trip and I know it is not a substitute to a day on the road but it was pretty good Saturday... take a look.



Thank you for visiting.

Day trip to Keren Carmel Forest

18 February and what a great weather for a day trip to see some flowers in bloom.

Accordingly to The nature foundation the PRIMROSES and the ANEMONES are starting to show up in certain areas around the country,so we took the opportunity of having a great weather and took off to the Carmel Forest just South of Haifa.

It was after a few days of rain and the mud already turned to be solid , the air was clear and crispy and you could see all the way  down the valley while standing on top of the mountain.

 

We parked the car and hiked this loop trail walking among the flowers to a beautiful look out facing the North Valley of Carmel.On the way besides the fantastic bloom of the flowers we could hear cows and birds enjoying the pasture, I would add some running water to make it perfect…(I started to become greedy..running water in our country….very rare unfortunately.)

After wondering around inhaling the beauty,smell and fresh air  we became hungry so we headed to a local Druz restaurant that specializes   in Sheep stew,fresh salads and to top this up sweet tea and home made biscuits with honey and nuts..I will have to go on a diet after that…..

It was a great day,good company,good weather,good food –what else one can ask for?

 

Technorati Tags: 2011,Carmel,Israel

DRUZE People see explanation HERE

Technorati Tags: Druze

Beit Guvrin Caves,Israel-Day trip.

It looks like winter ,cloudy and it rains now and then but this did not stop us from taking a day trip back in time and I mean back in time to Beit Guvrin Caves N.P & Tel Marisha.

We took the old road to Jerusalem through the Yela Valley where the great event of David and Goliath took place ,it is a beautiful and preferred way to get to Jerusalem when you are not in a hurry, each time we drive this road we try to imagine “small” red head David with a sling shot facing Goliath the giant and putting him down with one shot between his eyes…amazing.

On the way we stopped at a local sculpture that put together few replicas of Bible scenes.

An ancient seed grinner .The stone was tied to a mule and turned in the pan where the seeds were placed.

 2 women came before King Solomon with one child,each one claiming it is her child.King Solomon ordered to cut him in half and then one women cried out “Do not cut him,give it to her….”  King Solomon now was sure who is the baby’s mother and gave her the child (Clever ah…)

Here is a short History of Beit Guvrin Caves as it appears on the website.

Land of a thousand caves

Bet Guvrin-Maresha National Park encompasses approximately 5,000 dunams (1,250 acres) of rolling hills in the Judean Lowlands. The hills, approximately 400 m above sea level, consist mainly of chalk overlaid with harder rock called nari. For thousands of years people have been cutting into the rock beneath the nari as quarries, burial caves, storerooms, industrial facilities, hideouts and dovecotes. They dug small openings into the nari, normally no more than two meters thick, and expanded the caves into the softer chalk beneath. Hundreds of such caves were dug at Bet Guvrin and its surroundings, creating subterranean networks of unparalleled complexity.
At a high point in the park is Tel Maresha, the highest city in the Judean Lowlands. It was fortified by King Rehoboam of Judah following the campaign to the region of the Egyptian Pharaoh Shishak: “And Rehoboam...built cities for defense in Judah...Gath, and Mareshah, and Ziph” (2 Chron. 11:5–8).
The city reached its height during the Hellenistic period (third–second centuries BCE). The Hasmonean king, John Hyrcanus conquered the city in the second century BCE and forcibly converted its inhabitants. During the Roman period the inhabitants of Maresha abandoned it, building the city of Bet Guvrin nearby and transforming the latter into the capital of the region of western Idumea.

Bet Guvrin was an important city in the Crusader era as well. Eventually, the Arab village of Beit Jubrin was established among its ruins. It was abandoned during Israel’s War of Independence in 1948.
Visitors can follow the marked trail through the park using the map provided at the entrance, or drive from spot to spot.

The park is located off the Bet Shemesh-Kiryat Gat road (no. 35) opposite Kibbutz Bet Guvrin.
Main sites in the national park .
3 Columbarium Caves: Caves used for the raising of doves.
5 Agricultural area: an olive-oil press and grape-vat that can be operated by visitors.
6 Complex cistern systems: Huge cisterns that served the inhabitants of Maresha during the Hellenistic period.
7 Maze Cave (Complex 61): A system of about 30 interconnected caves, which visitors can traverse underground to understand how people made use of such spaces in antiquity, sensing the natural climate control. The exit turns out to be only a few meters away from the entrance.
8 Sidonian Burial Caves: A series of impressive burial caves from the Hellenistic period (third–second centuries BCE), located at the foot of Tel Maresha and featuring reconstructed wall paintings. The paintings, proof of the presence of other cultures at Maresha, depict hunting scenes with wild and mythological creatures and shed light on ancient artistic techniques and crafts.
14 The Bell Caves: A series of 80 large caves, which the ancient inhabitants connected by passageways. The caves, the largest of which are over 5 meters high, were dug into the hard surface rock and quarried downward in the shape of a bell. Arabic inscriptions and crosses found on the walls show that many of the caves were dug during the Early Arab period, in the seventh–tenth centuries CE.
The Roman Amphitheater: This amphitheater was originally intended for gladiator fights to entertain the masses. Visitors can see the arena (a Latin word meaning sand), the ruler’s seat and the place where the wild animals emerged.

After the visit in the Caves we drove to a Kibbutz (Agriculture collective farm)  for lunch.

       

                                                       Kibbutz     Dinning   Room

     

Kitchen Dishwasher…..                                             Water,Soda tubs.

What a great day it was,we traveled in time touching history as it was THOUSANDS of years ago.

Thank you for watching,till we meet again.