"For Adonai your God is bringing you into a good land, a land with streams, springs and water welling up from the depths in valleys and on hillsides. It is a land of wheat and barley, grapevines, fig trees and pomegranates; a land of olive oil and honey; a land where you will eat food in abundance and lack nothing in it; a land where the stones contain iron and the hills can be mined for copper. So you will eat and be satisfied, and you will bless Adonai your God for the good land he has given you."
Deuteronomy 8:7-10
Okay, so our favorite place to shop (or at least Linda's) is the Mahane Yehuda Market (shuk in Hebrew). Here are a few of our favorite things.....
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| Early morning setting up. |
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Largest sweet potatoes ever!!
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Crunchy, seedless grapes and sweet mangos!! Had these for breakfast this morning!!
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| Watch out! Pita delivery! |
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What do you need? Fruit? Eggs? Olives? you can find it here!
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Ahhhh....glorious cherry season.....
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| Hey!! Someone deserted this pita cart! |
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If you can't tell from the picture, these peaches are ginormous!!
And they were also quite tasty. So were the cherries... :)
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Grapes anyone? We get ours here, if all a man sells are grapes, the must be good!!
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Now THIS is the temptation table!!
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Chocolate croissants, warm from the oven - Jim's one weakness. :)
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Just incase it's not obvious - it's watermelon season.
Check out all the ones in the back!
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Need a shopping cart on wheels (everyone here uses these)? Paper & plastic goods?
Just about anything you could possibly need can be found at the shuk.
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The fruits and vegetables in Israel are BIG and delicious!
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Yes, we know, we already had grape pictures.....
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Outdoor deli - Yumm!!!!!
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Underwear? Socks? Towels? Find them here.
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More household goods.
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Roasted nuts, candied nuts, raw nuts - of every kind!
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Another temptation table!
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Every dried fruit you can imagine as well.
Cranberries, prunes, dates, apricots, figs, pineapple, mango....
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Even though they're the cheapest, the red skinned roasted peanuts are really delicious!
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And of course there are several candy shops throughout the shuk.
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These olives were HUGE!! The small one on the bottom is the regular size.
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| OH my GOODNESS!!! |
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Yes, you really CAN find anything you need - even a toilet. :)
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Biggest question around town when talking about the shuk is,
"What in the world are those stupid, red, droopy flower things??"
Recently, we found a supermarket in our neighborhood (well, somewhat close - about a 15-20 minute walk, which is great on the way there, but more challenging on the way back with your purchases...). It is the most modern looking, clean, wide-isled store we've seen in Israel.
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| WIDE isles - and clean!!! |
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| Some of our favorites - raw beets, kohlrabi, and radishes. |
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Mango, mango - let's all celebrate - it's mango season!!
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This place is amazing!
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On the left - fresh figs (GREAT with cheese).
On the right - fruit from the sabra cactus - in which the Israelis are named after-
prickly on the outside, but sweet on the inside! :) |
More and more products from the Untied States are making their way to the Israeli supermarket shelves. Here's one from North Carolina!
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| Is there any better way to enjoy these chips than at the Mediterranean Sea?? |
While we truly love to partake of the fruit of the Land, what brings us the most pleasure is visiting those who make it possible for everyone in Israel to live and enjoy what the Lord has provided - the Israel Defense Forces.
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| Israel Air Force logo. |
A few weeks ago we had the opportunity to visit with commanders at an Air Force base in the north. It is the base you see when looking down from the Elijah site on Mt. Carmel.
The unit we visited flies the helicopters that work in conjunction with the Israeli Navy ships. They land on the ships and sometimes spend days there on a mission.
When we first arrived and greeted the commander of this unit in his office, there was a bit of tension. As he began to question us, it became clear that he was uncertain of our motives and intents as a Christian organization, and was quite wary of our visit. His skepticism was understandable for two reasons.
First, the new IDF chief of staff has been tightening things up on civilian donations being given to the IDF. He is wanting to make sure that all donations are given according to proper procedure. Assuring that more prominent units are not receiving more than they need because they are well known, or that a wealthy relative or benefactor is not focussing their resources on one unit. This is a good thing, and they are streamlining the processes so "one hand knows what the other hand is doing." We were able to assure him that as an amuta (not for profit organization), we abide by all of Israel's procedures and protocols - including receiving authorized permission for each and every donation we make.
Second, he recently had a negative experience with a Christian tour group that had come through. It was not said what had happened, but it was obvious it had left a bad impression on this commander. We took the time to tell him about what we do as an organization helping the different people groups in Israel - holocaust survivors, terror victims, new immigrants, IDF, etc.
We took the opportunity to tell him that because of our belief in the Bible and the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob - we truly see the IDF as the physical guardians of Israel. The modern day King David's army protecting the Land and people. We also explained to him the challenge we have as Christians who live in the land - when tour groups come, do or say things that are unhelpful - and we are left to live with the consequences of their actions. He sat there listening, as we explained that we choose to "label" ourselves as Christian Zionists - that way the people of Israel will understand who we are, and what we believe. We believe in the Jewish people's right to the Land of Israel and to protect it. We told him that not all people who call themselves Christians believe this, and it's important that he know we, and CFI are in solidarity with Israel and the IDF.
We continued to tell him about the recent Aharai race we sponsored, and how we shared the scripture from Proverbs 17:17 "A friend loves at all times." That the key word is ALL - not only when it is easy, but when it is hard! And how CFI has been in Jerusalem for 30 years - through wars and intifadas. Not leaving, but staying. That personally, we have been in the Land for 4 1/2 years, through the last 2 Gaza wars. Visiting the soldiers on the front lines, looking in their eyes and saying, "We are proud of you!" That our purpose as a Christian organization was to encourage the Jewish people, and to tell the world the truth that is going on here.
By the time we had completely shared our heart, and explained that we do nothing without proper procedures in place, this commander - who was a little unwelcoming at the beginning - softened before our very eyes. He could sense the sincerity of our visit and our desire to help. He was now telling us thank you, and that we do so much for them. He even went as far as to say that we were always welcome to come back any time, that we were to consider this base our home! And if we ever wanted to bring a group to visit we were welcome to do so.
This could be the very reason we were to visit this particular base. Not just to offer ball caps or t-shirts, but to be used to help change the perception this man had about Christians because of a bad experience. We praise God for using us in any way He sees fit. We praise God for this kind of fruit we experienced today.
After our meeting with the commander in his office, he had one of his men (who was also in the meeting) give us a tour and to see the helicopters they fly. We even got to watch one come in from a mission. While we were not allowed to take any pictures while on this base, they took this for us and sent it to us.
After walking around with one of the pilots, he shared his heart for wanting to make the base look nicer for the unit. On the top of the list was a flag pole with the unit flag on it with a small patch of stones and pots of flowers - as a morale booster. He also showed us a section he made for them to relax when not on missions - with trees to shade, picnic tables, etc. You could really see he wants something nice for the squadron to come back to after working so hard. It's really important, actually. They give their all, risking their lives - it's good for them to have a place they come back to and relax.
Jim - through CFI and Project David's Shield - is going to pursue helping this unit to get their flagpole and flag, and make the area look nice. It's the least we can do. The picture below is where the flagpole will be.
~ LORD ~
THANK YOU FOR LETTING US BE YOUR REPRESENTATIVES IN THIS LAND.
THANK YOU FOR LEADING US WHERE TO GO.
THANK YOU FOR KEEPING AND PROTECTING US IN THE MIDST OF WARS AND RUMORS OF WARS.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR PEACE ~ MAY THIS LAND SENSE YOUR HAND OF PROTECTION.
AMEN
