The size of Israel

I was asked by many of my friends that live in the USA,Canada and Europe about the size of Israel and the geographical location,so with out many words I will let the pictures tell the story.

 

 

 

                

                

 

So as you can see it is small BUT beautiful take a look Imax fly over Jerusalem

Now you can also understand what goes through our heads when we RV in the USA or around lake Michigan that is the size of the whole country.

We used to say that we have everything - small and only ONE,one lake,one Mountain,One river ,one desert and one Dead Sea.

On one of our RV trips in the US  I saw a vehicle plate from  Minnesota that says “10000 lake State” (they have more than 16000 lakes) so I asked the person to give us ONE lake so it will Double the number of lakes we have and Minnesota will not even notice ….It did not work somehow…

Thank you for your interest.

Purim-Jewish festival

Purim is a Holyday where we all wear costumes  ,have street parades and have fun.

The events that led to the holiday of Purim can be found in Megillat Esther ,

Megillat Esther is the only book in the Scriptures that never mentions Hashem's name even once. The miracle of Purim is a hidden one, (with the hand of Hashem only revealed through the incredible events). But when you 'read between the lines' you see the Hand of Hashem. There are no coincidences in the story.

If you want to read more about it please hit this link PURIM.

This is one of the holidays the kids love the most because of the following reasons:

*NO SCHOOL.

*USE MOM’S BEAUTY CASE.

*BE WHAT YOU WANT FOR ONE DAY.

Here are some pictures of this exhausting day (For us).

 

Shula is getting Rony (our Grand Daughter)a beauty treatment.

Rony “the Queen”

It is not a Holyday without some snacks.

Me and the Major of the Village as THE SHERIFF.

 

Not exactly the Carnival in Rio but still a great street fest.

Now that it is over we need to take a rest but the kids are already waiting for the next year celebrations.

Technorati Tags: PURIM

Spring is in the air

The 2 months that I  less like weather wise are January and February ,it is always cold,windy,grey and colorless.

This year we had an extremely cold February and for the first time after many years we had heavy snow on mountain tops and in Jerusalem what brought some joy especially to kids that had a chance to skip school and play in the snow.

At the first week of March the weather changed ,some blue skies are seen again ,temperatures are rising and effects everyone and everything-yes the weather is dictating our lives, we seem more joyful when it is sunny and warm and become more open and welcoming.

The first that feels the turnover from Winter to Spring are the animals,the trees and the flowers,so we took a drive up north to Mount Tavor and this is what we saw….

One picture worth a 1000 words.

Till we meet again..

Technorati Tags: Mount Tavor

Day trip to see the bloom on Valentine Day

After a week of constant rain we found out that at the foot of the Israeli desert there is an outstanding bloom of  the “KALANIT” and in English the Anemone red flower.

In general we love to hike in the desert especially in the winters where the climate is very mild and suitable for any out door activities except when there is a flood,then you better stay away from the place.

To avoid the heavy traffic we chose not to go during the weekend what later we found as a very wise decision as only few visitors were in the area  and it made all the difference.

  It did not take us long to get our things ready for a 2 hour drive South towards Sederot and from there another 12 KM towards the village of Shokeda .

Due to the beautiful bloom many visitors came to the area what forced the village to make a path around the village for the visitors and avoid going through the village.

.

 

The first thought that came to our mind when we got closer that there is a fire in the woods but it was the carpets of the red blooming flowers,unfortunately I can show you only the pictures  without the smell and the buzz of the bees.

We walked the paths along the colored carpets as  in a dream,sometimes you could see the red color as far as the horizon,some people just sat and enjoyed the red show as the wind moved the flowers as waves in the sea and some sat down to paint the scenery-it was an OUTSTANDING sight.

We also loved the fact that people and especially kids were very careful not to step on the flowers,look enjoy and let the nature take care of itself.

This weekend there will be a storm and next week this magnificent sight will turn green again-till next year.

It is a small country (Florida is 8 times larger) but it is beautiful and diverse.

Day Hike in South Golan Heights.

While in Europe the cold weather front is taking a toll we are experiencing the most beautiful climate at this time,it is cold crispy and the skies are perfect blue, of course there is a downside to this   and is a luck of rain but as one said before “we can not control the weather so why waist energy on the issue ?” and so we did not and took advantage of this lovely day to hike 8 miles along the MEZARR Wadi in South Golan Heights.

The bus collected the hiking group starting at 630AM and at 8AM off loaded us at the starting point,we carried the breakfast ,lunch and water with us all the way and eat on the route.

During the day the wind changed as we climbed and we had to peal and add clothing like an onion.

This hiking group exists more than 15 years with more or less the same people,so it is always great to meet old friends on these occasions.

The Golan Heights are blessed with gorgeous mountain views and few waterfalls that are beautiful to watch in the spring after the rain and the melting snow from Hermon Mountain that has its South sloops in Israel and the North sloops in Lebanon.

We are  winter “seasonal” hikers because for the last 10 years we RV in N.America every summer with our 5W and are happy to find the “balance” between our HOME in Israel and our “Home on wheels” in North America,lets hope this will last for many more years….We arrived at home at 8PM after a great day, tired but happy and are looking forward for the next day trip at the end of this month,this does not mean that I am not working on our 11th RV trip that will start in late May and that will be fun too….

Till we meet again.

Hanuka 2011

Hanuka is a holiday that symbols LIGHT , you can read all about it here http://danyshula.blogspot.com/search/label/HANUKA

Time passes the kids and the grand kids get older and we get wiser  ….it is always overwhelming to have this traditional Holidays together,singing the songs , praying and  having the tradition pass from one generation to another.

There is Happiness and a sense of achievement together with a regular concern of the unknown .

  

THE FIVE ANGELS…..

We want to wish you and you families Happy Holidays where ever you are combined with Health,Happiness and a lot of laughter.

Our small garden in December

There is no balance in the world ,some places are flooded and some are dry as a bone,some have to much snow and some never experienced the magic of the white flake,some places are over crowded and in some you can walk days with out seeing another person.

We would like very much to have snow now as the Holidays are approaching but instead  we took advantage of a sunny warm weather  in our region to do some work in the garden – You can’t have it all…..

Our dear friends the Padgett’s  were kind enough to send us Flower Bulbs all the way from Indiana and today they found their way to the “Holy soil in our garden”.

Happy Holidays to you all.

I once asked a person from the 10000 lakes State (Minnesota)to give us one lake,it will double the number of lakes we have and they will not feel a thing...somehow it did not work..