The Health Department

I've heard it said that travel broadens your horizons.  I never really gave that particular statement much thought, I guess because it seemed so obvious, new horizons, new vistas, new all kinds of things.  But you really never think about things being different.  Even if you know things will be, your expectation is likely that everyone basically does everything they way they do it, whatever that is, at home.  Well, if you've done any traveling, even within your home country, you know that’s not always true.  So why do we continue to expect what we expect!?

I was walking through a market in Tel Aviv recently shaking my head once again at the differences I find here.   This time it is in the way food is sold, especially in the open markets.  We have some markets like these, but they are the exception, usually have a connection to organic something or other, and sell food items that we would wash anyway when we get them home.

In nearly every neighborhood there are street markets that sell, in addition to just about anything you might need, all manner of food, open and exposed to all the elements; everything in the air is on the product. Everywhere I go I pass racks of breads and pastries displayed at front doors or on the sidewalk, sometimes within reach of the street, waiting for someone to take them home.  I know  a few people who would be Very uncomfortable with this. 

Even in the grocery store, fresh bread products are in open bins.  Now this could be ok from an, “I’m from the United States and we have local Health Departments and copious local, state and federal regulations about the selling of food, kind of way, if there were like, grabber tong thingies to pick up the bread” but no, not so much.  I haven’t seen tongs. Not yet. 

But does this worry me?  Not so much actually.  I like to buy a small loaf/roll every week from my local co-op.  The size works for me, I don’t need a whole loaf and since there are no preservatives, well, I prefer to avoid the spectacular mold that forms after a couple of days. 

Recently I was in the grocery store just before closing for the Sabbath and as I walked around the end of the aisle to get my bread, I watched another shopper pick up and examine the poppy seed rolls.  All four of them.  Put them in the bag, change his mind and toss one back into the bin.  Now, I like poppy seed rolls, but I decided what I really wanted was the Sesame this week.  Granted, it is likely that ALL the rolls had been ‘inspected’ but I didn't see it, so I felt my roll had plausible deniability in the touched by others department.  Don’t judge me

Back on the street, just about anything that can be sold, may be sold, and without the precise inspections and protections our faithful health department inspectors require.  Fruit, and meat, olives of every kind, bread and other baked delicacies, cheese and meat, all out there without even a sneeze guard.    

So, it’s not what I’m used to, but I've always believed we need to encourage our bodies to build resistance and antibodies so that we will not be victims of every Tom, Dick, and virus that comes along, and certainly this experience is evidence of that.  There are lots of happy, healthy people shopping all around me.

And don't get me wrong, I appreciate the work our Health Departments do back home, there are all kinds of other issues that they address in food storage and cleaning, those things that go on behind the scenes.  At least here  you could argue, everything is out in the open!  

Hey!! Grabbers!

Hard Truth

Burning books.  

It’s never been a good thing in my opinion.  Usually it is a political or social statement about the text.  That was certainly part of the book burning that happened last week at the Jerusalem Hand in Hand school.

Many of you are aware that this has been a difficult week for the Hand in Hand family.   Last Saturday night, a fire was set using Arabic/Hebrew text books in the center of a first grade classroom, destroying that room and badly damaging a second.  Racist, violent graffiti was written, not for the first time on the walls, but this time, the rhetoric was amped up, as if calling for death to anyone wasn't disturbing enough.

The immediate response, was, NO! not here, and the week that followed has been a testament to the commitment of not only the Hand In Hand community in Jerusalem and Israel, but the extended family in the local neighborhoods and indeed the world. 

There was no hesitation.  On the night of the arson, parents and staff rallied to prepare classrooms for the 1^st graders and assure the rest of the students would find, as much as possible, business as usual when they came to school the next day.  This is a choice people make every day. A cross that they pick up if you will.  But at the end of the day, differences and all, this is family, and family sticks together.

While the web site home page is currently scrolling photos of the destruction, the media page is filled with articles of outrage and support, for the children and their families, for the path of co-existence between Jews and Arabs, for the dream of Hand In Hand, 

from a world who sees this school, as the model for the future. 

 

On Thursday while I was at the school working with the English class, hundreds of local students walked by on the path below the campus cheering and chanting for the students here.  On Friday, we walked in Solidarity on that same path.  Students came from all over Israel to stand with the students at the school.  Parents, students, staff, family, alumni, community members all walked side by side, all carrying the motto, in Arabic, Hebrew and English, “We’re All Hand In Hand”!

I walked among these pioneers, proud and humbled to be a small part of the work that will continue here, because, it is the right thing to do.  Hate is wrong, violence is wrong, racism is wrong.  We’re sick and tired of it all.

For those of you who have not liked the Hand in Hand Facebook page, may I ask that if  you are on Facebook that you not only like us, but share the page by inviting all of our friends to like us as well.  

For access to the international media response visit our website, HandinHandk12.org

A windmill? Really?

Not that I gave it much thought before I came, but there are certain things I didn’t expect to see here, one was a big white windmill on the top of a hill overlooking the Old City.  Built in 1857 to do what wind mills were meant to do, grind flour, Moses Montefiore purchased the land, built the windmill and the first neighborhood outside the protection of the Old City, Mishkenot Sha’ananim (1860). 

 

Sir Moses Montefiore, was a visionary who loved Israel, and believed that with the blessing of wealth comes the responsibility to give back, to be philanthropic, what the nobility called Noblesse oblige.   Sir Moses is described in several places as religious, with a strong sense of social justice, who helped all Jews, regardless of their affiliation and non-Jews as well.

As the first neighborhood outside of the Old City 

sitting on a hill, the people who moved here lived a mixed blessing.     Much like that scene in Catch 22 when Danby is giving the condition report for the pilots, “Weather conditions have improved tremendously over the mainland, so you won't have any trouble at all seeing the target. Of course, we mustn't forget, that means that they won't have any trouble at all seeing you.”  (Sniper fire from the city was a constant threat from 1948 until 1967 while Jordan controlled the Old City.)

Apparently Moses didn't consider maintenance and the difficulty in shipping parts from England, so after about 18 years the mill stopped milling.  (All supplies were still being brought in over land, the first train route from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem wasn’t built until 1892).  In 2012 through the efforts of a Dutch windmill enthusiast and lover of Israel, D.G. Schutte and about $1.25 Million dollars raised by Jewish, and Christian organizations, state, local and business groups, the Windmill was restored and the hope is that at some point it may mill grain again.  Is there a need to mill grain for a modern Israel? Probably not, but seeing the dream fulfilled, Moses is surely smiling.  Much like I smile when I see this icon in the middle of Jerusalem, completely out of place, unless you know the history.

So what are the chances there are two windmills in Jerusalem? Pretty good actually, the second is not a functioning but decorative mill, for I kid you not, an Asian Fusion Kosher restaurant.  You know I have to eat here before I leave, and I’m sure there’s a story!

 
Read more: A second wind for Montefiore's magnificent Jerusalem windmill | The Times of Israel http://www.timesofisrael.com/a-second-wind-for-montefiores-magnificent-jerusalem-windmill/#ixzz3Jiqjk1VC
Follow us: @timesofisrael on Twitter | timesofisrael on Facebook

"View of building and windmill built by Sir Moses Montefiore." 
 The negative was probably made by British Sergeant Henry 
Phillips in May 1866 -- a period when the mill was operational.
 (Palestine Exploration Fund)

http://www.israeldailypicture.com/2012/08/the-jerusalem-windmill-will-soon-turn.html

It’s not all sunshine and lollipops is it.

I've shared with some of you that it’s been a tense couple of weeks in the neighborhood. Several weeks ago, a horrible driver who turned out to be a terrorist, drove into the platform of the Light Rail at Ammunition Hill, killing a 3 month old and later a second person who succumbed to their injuries in the hospital.  Then there was a shooting of a Knesset member.  Last week there were more attacks, confrontations with the Jerusalem police, another terrorist car attack at the light rail, and a tragic “accident” planned and executed by a member of Hamas.  This Tuesday saw the attack during morning prayers at a synagogue that left four dead and a policeman gravely injured and packed my facebook and inbox with concern messages from home.   

The university is of course concerned with the welfare of their students, so we have gotten regular updates regarding heightened security and awareness as well as locations we should not frequent.  We are all aware that we live in a potentially dangerous city, so it is safe to say we all pay closer attention to our surroundings, and avoid those places we’re asked to avoid. 

But I ask, are we really safe anywhere? I’m watching the insanity that continues to unfold in Ferguson Missouri from my dorm room in Jerusalem, and wonder, do people stop going to St Louis because of it? Even when the danger intrudes into the city and shows up at Rams games or the Symphony, how do we respond to the danger and evil at home?   

I can’t help but see the correlation between the dangers and evil in our world and the culture drifting further and further from our faith and heritage in scripture.  As the children of God forget the God who loves them and submerge themselves in the world around them, things go wrong, often in dramatic and devastating ways.

Happily for me, you probably see more news from Israel than I do.  I don’t have a television so I’m not seeing instant replays over and over or hearing sound bites that sell advertising for the networks mired in the 24/7 news cycle .  I don’t have a radio so I can’t hear immediately where an attack is going on.  I can hear the fireworks explosions from my dorm room at night (along with Molotov cocktails the current assault weapons of the protesters) and I admit that is troublesome because I know what is going on, but life goes on all around me.

I would ask that you continue to pray for Israel and all of her people.  I have come to believe that the word complicated was originally created to be used here, not for personal relationship status’ on social media.

Remember to visit the Hand in Hand website and facebook page to keep up on the way they are working through these times, not ignoring reality, but facing it head on. 

Unhappily, I see more bad news online both from Israel and the United States, so now I’m going to spend some time looking up adorable kitten videos on the internet.   

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CgcIBRxjBjY

http://www.handinhandk12.org/

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Hand-in-Hand-Center-for-Jewish-Arab-Education-in-Israel/132094370146131

Millions of Cats!

Jerusalem reminds me of a children’s story that I remembered so fondly, I bought it for my own children and have a copy just in case I’m someday blessed with grandchildren to read to.  Millions of Cats is a story of a very lonely, elderly couple.  The wife decides that if they had a cat to love things would be wonderful so her dear husband sets out to find the perfect, beautiful, feline companion.   After a while, he comes to a place where he discovers, “Cats here, cats there, cats and kittens everywhere.  Hundreds of cats, thousands of cats, millions and billions and trillions of cats.”  Kind of like Jerusalem.    

Some are friendly, some not so much, some skinny, some not so much, and no, it is not because of crazy cat ladies gone wild feeding them, although I do admit to feeding several here on campus, and I know a tender hearted school guard who feeds upwards of 50. 

Coffee Shop buddy

Winnie, my 'window' buddy

The most reliable story behind the cat population is one that is not new.  Cats were not so prevalent in Israel until sometime in the 30’s when some bright someone got the “novel” idea to bring them in to combat the rat problem.  You would think that we would learn somewhere along the way that introducing animals and plants to places where they do not occur naturally is not the smartest idea.  Think of people moving to the desert regions to escape allergy problems bringing their favorite trees, flowers, and pollen along, rabbits in Australia and Russian Olives in central Illinois, to name a few examples.

No one seems to know how many cats are roaming the streets in these parts, some estimate about two million.  Wow.  I love cats, but I’m sentimental about them and think even barn cats need love, right? And care? And happily I’m not alone.  There are several groups in Israel who do what they can to spay, neuter, and inoculate the cat population including, as of last year, the government.    Meow Mitzvah Mission of Israel is one group that works to provide long-term, ethical solutions for reducing and controlling the street cat overpopulation.   Once the cats have received their “breeding intervention” the vet clips the tip of the left ear, the international symbol that the cat has been cared for.  

As the years pass the theory is that natural attrition will cause the wild population to decrease, and then perhaps become manageable or nonexistent.  

That’s what happened in the story, but not quite in the same way.  When the little old man went home he was followed by ALL of the many, many cats.  His wife, a wise woman realized they couldn’t care for all of them and so suggests the cats decide by asking “Which one of you is the prettiest?”  This naturally causes a cat fight of Epic proportions, frightening the couple who run back into the safety of their house.  When all is quiet they emerge to find only one skinny little unattractive cat who turns out, with a little food and love, to be exactly the cat they’d wanted.

Tel Aviv Graffiti cats

So, while I’m here I’ll feed my little friends when they show up for dinner, They're generally cuter than rats, and a lot friendlier. 

Tel Aviv carved cat

http://www.meowmission.org/

It is well with my soul.

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,

When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well with my soul.

Many of us have sung this hymn time and again, and as hymns do, it has drawn from us whatever healing or assurance we needed or wanted at the time.  “It is well with my soul,” is a universal desire, is it not?  But do you know the story behind the hymn? 

Horatio Spafford, his wife Anna and their four daughters lived in Chicago where he was a prosperous lawyer, a Presbyterian church elder described as devout, and real-estate investor.  The Spaffords were active in the abolitionist crusade, friends and hosts to many reform movements and their leaders, including Frances Willard of the National Women’s Christian Temperance Union and Dwight Moody who we remember as one of those igniting a religious revival in the US and Europe.  In the spring of 1871, the Great Fire of Chicago, decimated the city and by the end of the year had destroyed Spafford’s sizable real-estate investments. 

In 1873, the family was going to vacation in Europe but Horatio was delayed at the last minute; Anna and their daughters went ahead as planned on the SS Ville de Havre.  On November 21^st, their ship was rammed and sunk.  Anna, the only one of the family rescued, sent a cable to her husband saying only, “Saved alone. What shall I do…”

He booked passage immediately to reunite with his wife (can you imagine, booking passage and the travel time that entailed?)  As the ship approached the spot where his daughters had died, the captain notified Horatio and in that place he wrote the words to the hymn we sing today.  Imagine all he’d lost and yet he found comfort.  A letter written to his sister shared, “On Thursday last we passed over the spot where she went down, in mid ocean, the waters three miles deep. But I do not think of our dear ones there. They are safe, folded, the dear lambs.” (1)

Spurred by what has been referred to as a Messianic fervor, a belief that Jesus’ return was imminent and so the work of paramount importance, in 1881, Anna and Horatio with a small number of other Americans (the Overcomers) traveled to Jerusalem to create a Christian Utopian society, later called the American Colony, and grew a variety of philanthropic ministries including, hospitals, orphanages, and ‘soup kitchens’ that remain in some form today. 

I’d read the stories years ago, and I've sung the hymn countless times, but last week, the Horatio’s became real to me when I saw the name in the Protestant Cemetery in the Old City of Jerusalem. 

In a time when missionaries likely never returned to the places they called home;  when bringing your coffin with you into the mission field was not unheard of; after the heartbreaking tragedies that the Spaffords had endured, their love of God and desire to bring that love to others and with it the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ carried them through.  From Chicago to Jerusalem and then home.  

Will you ever sing this hymn in quite the same way, ever again?  

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well with my soul.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Ville_du_Havre

http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/americancolony/index.html

(1) The Prized Possession: Finding Hope, Worth, and Purpose in a Wounded World ; It Is Well, Jill Schaible, pg 150.  

Sukkot

“On the first day you shall take the product of Hadar trees, branches of palm trees, boughs of leafy trees and willows of the brook” (Leviticus 23:40)   “You shall live in booths seven days; all citizens in Israel shall live in booths, in order that future generations may know that I made the Israelite people live in booths with I brought them out of the land of Egypt” (Leviticus 23:42-43)

Restaurants set up for customers 

on balconies and patios

 








These “hastily” built booths starting springing up about a week before the Sukkot Festival began.



In yards and open spaces everywhere.  In balconies, and roofs, in front of restaurants and in alleyways.  Many made with what looks like plywood, sheets, some in plastic over p.v.c. frames.  People who have made Aliyah, return to Israel, frequently reuse the shipping container that brought their

possessions to their new home, and some use cardboard.   

Sukkot is one of the three pilgrimages the Israelites made to the Temple and is still one of the three major holidays celebrated nationally.

500 Shekel for a Succot of your own
from the "Dollar Store" 

from the Hardware store
in our building 

In the courtyard at
the Student Village 

My intent is not to try to teach you about Sukkot, I’m sure many of you already know, and I know the dialogue group in Houston had an opportunity recently to learn about the holiday, its history and celebration.  I just wanted to share some of the booths that sprang up in Jerusalem. 

Chag Sameach!  (Happy Holiday!)

http://www.jewishagency.org/aliyah

http://www.jewfaq.org/holiday5.htm