Travel, Tours and Eretz Israel

Well we've been home in Canada for almost 3 weeks now. That's longer than the time we were in Israel. That feels so odd!

Hubby and I went to Israel with a tour group this spring. It was our first "real" trip together in almost 18 years of marriage. We never had a honeymoon either. So this was a real special event for us. We planned and dreamed about it for almost a year and then in 2 quick weeks it was over. It leaves me with an almost "empty" feeling. I didn't expect that. I knew I would probably come home with a "traveller's infatuation" but I really did fall in love with The Land in the brief time we were there and I'm left with a feeling similar to homesickness.

Israel is too amazing for words! My experience was all I had expected it to be and more. However, the tour experience isn't for us. Don't get me wrong, the tour we were with was great. It was organized by terrific people, the guide and driver were fantastic and the other tour participants were a very nice group to travel with. But it was a first tour experience for us and I guess we hadn't really put much thought into what a tour experience is like. Our biggest frustration was not being able to spend more time in the places we visited, especially those places that we were really taken with. But now we know where to spend more time and where we didn't get to visit that we would like to next trip. And, yes, there will be another trip G-d willing! :)

My favourite places were, of course; Jerusalem, the Kinneret, the Golan, Tel Aviv, the Dead Sea and Ein Gedi. The view from Mount Carmel is spectacular. Oh and I also really enjoyed our camel ride! Wouldn't have missed that. :)

We arrived our first night in Israel to Jerusalem just as Shabbat preparations were in full swing. I was disappointed with not being able to attend Erev Shabbat prayers at the Wall but we spent time there Shabbat afternoon. I will treasure that time in my heart always. The atmosphere in Jerusalem and in particular in the Old City and near the Wall is incredible. I felt I could "taste" Shabbat.

We met some very special people while in Israel and we quickly became friends. That also was a blessing.

If you are interested in seeing some of our pictures they are posted on our Flicker page.

With Friends Like This, Who Needs Enemies?

According to this Jerusalem Post article, the US is aiding Fatah terrorists. I'm aghast.

I first read about this on Mystical Paths blog. He sums it pretty well and has additional links.

Another Death By Kassam In Sderot

The man killed in yesterday's Qassam attack drove to Sderot twice a week to service the computer networks of one of his clients - the Peretz Bonei Hanegev construction company. Oshri Oz, 35, had about 200 meters left to go to the company offices when the Qassam struck near his car.

Oz was born and raised in Bat Yam. In sixth grade he joined the Jaffa branch of the Sea Scouts and developed a great love for seafaring and marine animals. While he was in high school he was a volunteer instructor for informal marine-related educational activities, and he remained close to other volunteers. The evening before he was killed he had been at a reunion of the Sea Scouts. visiting and laughing with old friends, including - as it turns out - the paramedic who treated him at the scene of the attack the following day.

The deputy director of Peretz Bonei Hanegev, Eldar Tzror, said that, "Oshri was like a member of the family in the company. Yesterday morning he was late, and I thought he had gone to check the computers in one of our branch offices. But then the news came in. He was one minute away from our offices when it happened. Oshri was a charming, smiling guy, ready for any project. This is a great loss to our family and to us as an organization. We are in shock and can't absorb it."

He is survived by his wife Suzanna, who is in her sixth month of pregnancy, a three-year-old daughter and two sisters.

(This news report comes from The Lekarev Report 5/28/07. Sign up at www.lekarev.org )

New Music for My Soul

Just got a new CD today and it's very cool. The band is called Moshav and the CD is titled Misplaced. You can check out their website and listen to some tracks off the CD. They are playing the Folk Festival in Calgary this year so you can bet I'll be there!

www.moshavband.com

Did You Ask To Be Born?

This is the title of an article on the Chabad.org website. It is a very interesting interpretation/explanation/teaching (call it what you will) on Beresheit (Genesis) 1:26. I found it a fascinating concept to try to get my brain around. Judging by the comments left by readers on the website many did not find this take on scripture as fascinating as I did and some became quite offended. As was clearly stated in the article, the material being presented for consideration is only one of many explanations that have been offered over time.

It's been several months since I first read the article and it is never far from my thoughts. I can't help it, I find it well.....fascinating! :) As I have ruminated over this interpretation I have been motivated to "look for the good I chose". I have been battling with depression and/or depressive thoughts for many years now. Sometimes the only thought I seem to be able to express is "my life sucks". If this life was arbitrarily given to me, then I feel I have excellent grounds to complain to the one in charge of assigning lives because they screwed up majorly. OR perhaps, if I'm brave enough to open my mind and consider this powerful idea, I just might be motivated to look for this good I "chose". Obviously, if I did agree to this life I have, there must have been something worthwhile to choose. On days when the "my life sucks" tape in my brain is stuck in the on position, thinking through this article renews the hope in me that I do have a purpose in life and when I come to the end of this life, it won't have been lived in vain. Because if that "good that I chose" is/was used to bring light to someone else's darkness then it's all worth it, right?! Rats, that just sounds so cliche but you know what I mean, don't you? Because, my life really does suck when I'm living it so self-centeredly (is that a word?).

There is always a bigger picture in life, one that we can't see until our perspective changes.

If you are interested in reading the article for yourself go here: http://www.chabad.org/library/article.asp?AID=425923

Sderot: What IF this was your home town?

The world is standing idly by while the Kassam rockets rain down on Sderot. We need to make some noise on their behalf over here. The media is ignoring it and only reports if Israel reacts. Write your newspapers, write your tv stations, write your elected officials, tell someone! This is wrong and the Israeli people need and deserve our help however we can. Here's a video you can watch, then write a letter to the newspaper. Send it to all your family and friends. ws.collactive.com/points/point?id=t58xjwleEPOM Click on the link "Honest Reporting" in the sidebar for more info on the situation in Sderot and media bias.

Late Night Musings

This is from an email conversation with one of my closest friends. She felt it was worth being a blog post, so here it is. I'm sure someone will have something to respond. :) I feel very vulnerable at this moment as I click the "publish post" button.

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Do you think that our problems with acceptance and love for our self (or lack there of) stems from an unconscious (or perhaps even conscious) belief that we are unlovable? If so, why would we believe such a thing when we've been taught that Jsus/G-d loves us? Maybe deep down we don't believe He really loves us? Is this strictly a problem we have because of life experience or is it shaped and fed by our religious ideas/beliefs? If we truly are able to grasp that we are loved by Jsus/G-d then what prevents us from loving and accepting ourselves? If we struggle with self-love and self-acceptance doesn't this reinforce our perception that we are unlovable or that we are failing at practicing our religion?

Somehow there has been a seed imbedded in our psyche and it has grown into an uncontrollable weed, much like a dandelion. We do our best to eradicate it but it always comes back. We cannot love ourselves because we are not perfect. We are not perfect because there is something wrong with us and it's our own fault. We are taught that since the Fall in the Garden we are depraved creatures, born sinners. Even with the Jsus religion telling us that only He can make us perfect we still keep trying. Because we are taught that any sign of imperfection is our fault. We are failing somewhere in our faith and that failure is manifesting itself in our lives through our constant struggling with ______ (fill in the blank).

Why do we always feel dissatisfaction with the fruits of our faith? Why do we feel farther away from our spiritual goals even though we try harder and harder? Why do we keep going from one Christian sect to another hoping to find "the Way"? Why do we always blame ourselves for taking back our burdens after having "given it all to G-d"? What is the reason we don't seem to have victory over the struggles in our lives when it seems like we do all that is asked of us and more? Doesn't this just keep the blame game (to ourselves) going?

Perhaps the problem isn't with us and our perceived inabilities to fully grasp the spirit-filled life or truly understand His Grace. Perhaps the problem is with the actual religion??? Perhaps what we think G-d expects of us (what our religion tells us He expects) and what He actually expects are vastly different? Perhaps Christianity is a man-made religion of fear, bondage and oppression and that's why it's not working for us.

Or perhaps there is no real G-d after all and the problem is religion period.