PURIM - Then & Now

Purim - the Biblical festival celebrating the deliverance of the people of Israel during the time of Esther.
 

While this is not one of the main seven Feasts of the Lord listed in the Bible, it is said in Esther 9:27, 28 that these two days should be remembered and kept according to their appointed time every year throughout every generation.

So, ever since the time of the exile of the Jewish people to the land of Persia, they have been remembering God's Hand of protection, keeping them as a people, and against all odds.  Today the festival is joyous (as we're sure it was then as well) with children and adults alike dressing up as characters of the original time period.  Many have also decided to dress as other characters as well.

Children in the Old City.

Purim is also a time to share loving kindness with those around you, to give to the poor, and to give gifts of candy and baked goods - especially Hamantashan cookies (sugar cookies in the shape of a triangular hat - Haman's hat - filled with chocolate, date or fruit spread, etc).

Our very own Kilo (2.2 lbs) of chocolate filled Hamantashan.
They tasted like Chips Ahoy chocolate chip cookies :)

In most congregations the entire book of Esther is read - the best way to never forget the original event.  Also many will have a Purim play depicting the story in a joyous light-hearted way, with all the children booing whenever the name of Haman is mentioned, and twirling groggers (noise makers made especially for Purim).  We participated in such a play last year in the States - a parody using the Wizard of Oz to depict the story of the book of Esther.  Linda was Dorothy (Esther), and Jim was King Az (short for Ahasuerus).  We were excited to be able to participate again in a Purim play here in Jerusalem! Linda was a "banquet guest" of the King, and Jim played the part of Mordecai (Esther's cousin who adopted her after her parent's death).  It was great fun with much laughter. 

As Purim officially began in Jerusalem Sunday evening, we decided to begin our celebration at the Kotel (Western Wall).  We noticed a gathering of reporters by the Western Wall Tunnels entrance, and decided to find out what all the fuss was about. Jim wedged his way into the crowd just in time to get this photo of Sarah Palin who was visiting Jerusalem and expressing her support of Israel.  

So, to the reality of now.  We live in a time when the spirit of Haman (the one who sought to destroy the Jewish people in Esther's time) is alive and well.  It's interesting to know that the geographical place of Persia in the book of Esther is now called Iran.   It should come as no surprise to any of us that the leader of the nation of Iran has repeatedly stated his desire to wipe Israel off the face of the earth.  Additionally, it should also come as no surprise to see the influence that Iran has in this region...in Lebanon - just to Israel's north, in Syria - northeast, and in Gaza - closer than just around the corner...

So this past weekend, while the people of Israel and Jews all around the world were celebrating and remembering the deliverance of their ancestors so very long ago - mortars and rockets were once again launched into southern Israel.  A little farther east- more rockets were launched into Beer Sheva, the largest city in Israel's south.  Then again, more were launched north on the coast - landing only about 11 miles south of Tel Aviv.  Well over 50 attacks within less than a week.

While the nation was grieving the loss of a family brutally murdered in their beds on Shabbat just a few weeks ago, the recent bombing at a bus stop in central Jerusalem is being dealt with.  It's been interesting to see how the people here react to tragedy.  While there are different viewpoints to every situation, the people pull together as one. 

The people here are so resilient.  Within minutes, the mayor immediately went to the scene and encouraged the nation to resume there normal lives.  And they did.  He stated that we will not let the terrorists win.  Within hours the scene was cleared.  The very next day, we rode our bus and went by the bus stop that had blown up.  You never would have known it had happened.  The phone booth was replaced, the food shack that was destroyed was rebuilt and open for business, and there were people at the bus stop waiting for their bus.  A kind older woman on our bus pointed to the scene, and asked if we were aware what had happened there just the day before.  We sadly nodded our heads and shared that moment with the others on the bus.

If you look at the history of the Jewish people, both Biblical and modern, you can't help but see the Hand of God protecting them.  As awful as the holocaust was with its Haman of the day, they did survive - amazingly, and God brought them back to the Land that He promised their forefathers, way back before the time of Esther.  "I will plant Israel in their own land, never again to be uprooted from the land I have given them," says the LORD your God. Amos 9:15  Then, in the many wars they've been in since , including the war waged against them immediately as they were declared as a Nation in 1948, God's supernatural Hand of protection has always been evident.  How else could a nation the size of New Jersey survive against all her neighboring enemies??

We choose to stand with Israel and her people

~ In Such a Time As This ~

Will you?

One Shabbat Drive

Shabbat - Sabbath - Day of Rest

Most cultures around the world have a day of rest or a day of worship, depending on their religious convictions.  In Israel it is Saturday, which according to the Bible begins at sun down on Friday evening - "and there was evening and there was morning, one day" Gen 1:5 and "And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done; and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done.  And God blessed the seventh day, set it apart as His own, and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all His work which He had created and done." Gen 2:2-3

On Erev Shabbat (Friday evening) many people have a special dinner with their families and invited guests.  This dinner will usually include blessings and prayers being spoken over each other and giving thanks for all that God continues to provide.  It is a special honor to be invited to Erev Shabbat dinner in someone's home.

About a month after we'd arrived, we and 2 other couples were invited to share this special time with the directors of where we volunteer.  Since we were all traveling pretty far, and buses didn't run after 3 pm, Jim was told to use one of the vans to "escort" our entourage for our evening out.  We were given specific directions to our destination, and had a map as well.  With Linda in the front seat at his side, Jim set out with our little group.  While we made it to our destination with time to spare (we left early incase we had "trouble", since many times maps, directions, and reality don't always match...) we still made a couple of wrong turns since Linda didn't realize some of the "turns" were on round-abouts or traffic circles, so she wasn't sure which "spoke" to get off...

Nonetheless, we all had a wonderful evening, with food, fun, and laughter; each sharing stories and getting to know one another better.  When it began to get rather late, it came time to go home...

Since we had the directions, map, and had now traveled these roads to get to dinner, it should have been a piece of cake getting home, right? Ha!!  Well, now that we had done this once, and everyone in the car had been around Jerusalem before, we thought we could mix things up a little and take a short cut on the main highway that goes North-South through the city. Thanks Dr. Bill :)  The only problem was the person with the knowledge of where we were to get off was in the far back seat of the van, and we missed our exit...

Now normal common sense thinking (which we used) tells you to get off at the next exit and make your way back, since we had a map, right? While the roads did look like familiar places we had traveled before, our only concern was not to be too far North and enter into the Arab neighborhoods where we may not want to find ourselves.  So here we are, 3 American couples all dressed up driving around northern Jerusalem late on Friday evening.  The dome light is on in the car so Linda can try to discern the map and give Jim some direction to get us back to city center so we can take our traveling companions home.

We're on the main roads, and all is good.  Then, we see a couple of Jewish men walking down the street, even better, we know we're doing okay.  Next thing we know, we're in a residential neighborhood, and there are people everywhere - and they are staring at us!  Many were walking in the road, and everyone was wearing black...it is very dark, there are no lights - not even stop lights.  It was very strange to us.  And these people who were out enjoying this beautiful evening with a late night stroll - and it was now quite late - did not look very happy with our presence in their neighborhood.

It didn't take long to realize that we were the only vehicle being driven anywhere in sight - and not only that, we had the dome light still on trying to figure how to get out of there - which meant they could see these 6 wide-eyed Americans - we can only imagine what we looked like to them...Thanks to Jim, we managed to squeeze our way through the street (they weren't wanting to move, and were coming towards the van...) every turn we made there was more of the same, but Jim was able to get us out of the neighborhood, back to where we knew where we were.  Only problem then, was that there was a road barrier in the way to keep vehicles from entering the neighborhood!  So one of our brave passengers - thanks Gary - jumped out quickly and moved the road block so we could drive through.  Yes, we did slow down long enough to let him back in... :)  We were then on our way to safely deliver our friends to their apartments...having had an Adventure in Israel with Jim & Linda that they will never forget!!


So what happened? We had entered into the well known neighborhood in Jerusalem called Mea She'arim.  It's an Ultra-Orthdox neighborhood and among other things, tradition teaches that vehicles should not be driven on Shabbat.  Although we may not agree with everything they practice, it is not our desire to disrespect and we never would have driven in their neighborhood had we known where we were.

The interesting thing is that the very next day (Saturday - Shabbat), Jim went to return the van, and not knowing, ran into this same neighborhood issue again!  Linda had stayed home, but when Jim went down a road that we travel all week long, it was crowded with people (some sort of demonstration).  There were police and IDF making the people get out of the way so cars could get through on the well traveled, busy road.  Jim's first thought was - oh, no - not again, but another driver encouraged him that it was ok to continue.

Notice in the Mea She'arim neighborhood.

The very next day, Sunday, we decided to go to the Mount of Olives (see previous blog).  We looked at the bus website to see what lines to take to get to the Lion Gate of the Old City, we would then walk up the mountain.  One of the options was the number 1 bus to the Lion Gate, so that was what we did.  What we didn't know, was that the number 1 bus goes all through the neighborhoods of Mea She'arim!!  So here we were again - 3rd day in a row - visiting the Mea She'arim neighborhood.  This time, though, we were not driving, it wasn't Shabbat, and we were on a bus where we could observe and enjoy the surroundings of a culture we had never experienced before this exciting weekend.

Picture taken from our bus ride.

Hmmmm......it has to make one wonder the meaning of all this occurring.  While we are still meditating on all we were to receive from this appointed weekend - and we do believe it was not a coincidence, we know that we are called here to serve the people of Israel.  It's important to know her people.  There are many different people groups in Israel, even among the Jewish people, and we believe we are being allowed face-to-face , real, hands-on experiences.  Not just reading books or articles about people, but learning about them firsthand.  What they believe, and why they believe it.  To gain a better understanding of whom we're here to try and help.  Needs know no limits, and whether someone is a secular Jew, an observant Jew, an orthodox Jew or an Ultra orthodox Jew, we want to help meet the needs of God's chosen people and share His love with them.

Yellow - the color of friendship - outside our apartment.
We desire to present ourselves like this rose to the people we serve.

~WHAT A PRIVILEGE, WHAT AN HONOR, TO BE ON THIS ADVENTURE IN HIS LAND~

Kitties

Okay, so we know that some people are already thinking they're not interested in reading this particular blog because they are not cat lovers, or maybe they don't even like cats.  But maybe you'll continue on to see how Father God cares so much about our heart's desires....


Zack



Jim had never in his life been a lover (or even liker) of cats.  We had a wonderful dog for 14 years - a collie - that looked just like Lassie.  But somehow, when Jim picked out his first cat that he had ever called his own from the animal shelter, that all changed.  The word CAT now turned to kitty...a little 6 week old black & white one in which he called Panda.

Linda also chose a kitten that day, little Hadassah Grace - who actually began as a smaller kitten than Jim's, but didn't stay that way for long :)



Panda



Hadassah Grace

Well, needless to say, these 2 little kitties grew up, and were best friends & sisters to each other.  And of course, they were tightly wrapped around our hearts.  There were a few things that were difficult in leaving everything behind to come to Israel.  Family is a given, but high on the list was our precious kitties. 

Many of you in our local area had received the chain of emails we had sent out trying to find a home for them.  We're quite sure we waited far too long to look for a home, it was difficult even having to face the thought of leaving them.  Although we received several encouraging responses from our friends, no one had responded to take them. 

It was very important to us that they stay together - they had been "sisters" since they were in the cage together at the animal shelter at only 6 weeks of age.  It would be difficult enough being with new owners in a new home - they should at least have each other.

Jerusalem Kitty

Well, it got down to just a few days before we were leaving, so Jim called and made an appointment with the animal shelter to bring them back to where we had rescued them.  It was breaking our hearts to think that they would go back in a cage, and probably not both go to the same home, but there was no other option.

Jerusalem Kitty

We know, of course, that in the big scheme of things, that pets are trivial compared to what God was calling us to do.  We understand that.  But our Heavenly Father knew our hearts, and how much the kitties meant to us.

The day Jim was supposed to take them (the day before we left our home) he came home and said, "I don't think I'm supposed to take them today, we're supposed to give it one more day."  Well, Linda was going to have nothing to do with the removal of these precious kitties (she had let Jim carry this burden) and agreed with him completely. 

Jerusalem Kitty

The next day (the day we were leaving our home) Jim was ourt running some last minute errands and about 15 minutes from home (where he was headed to pick up the kitties to take to the shelter) when he received a phone call.  Someone was going to take the 2 kitties - both of them!!! (Thanks Lisa!) Father God is so good!!!  We quickly packed up all their toys, food, bed, bowls, and house (yes, they had a play house) and Jim took them to their new home - in our same town!! 

Now only God could work this out in this timing, and that we could actually give away our precious ones with a smile on our faces and in our hearts.

Jerusalem Kitty

Although we know many of you may have already heard this story, we wanted to share it again.  To proclaim His goodness.  And that He does care about the little things in our lives.  What causes us to hurt, or be concerned about.  His love as a Father is deeper than most of us have ever experienced on this earth.  And for those with amazing Dads, He surpasses even their love.

So....here we are in Jerusalem.  And as anyone who's been to Israel before knows, there are cats EVERYWHERE!!!  We see so many cats each day.  And they're not a nuisance like you would think.  And they are generally very clean - and well fed - the people take care of them and leave food out for them to eat.  We've even been able to pet a few....

Kitty outside our apartment

So, even if you're not a lover of cats - or any other animals - see this story as a reminder of Someone who loves you so dearly, that not only will He take care of what you care for, but He will bring something else to replace what you may have to give up...in abundance :)

Jerusalem Kitty

PS ~ We just bought some birdfood at the shuk (market) and are looking forward

 to attracting all the native birds to our window ~ stay tuned....