9 Favorites of Israel Independence Day

Yom Haatzmaut 5775, Israel Independence Day 2015

will be remembered for its wild weather.

It was stormy and windy, rainy and cold in Jerusalem, Israel.

But the favorite flyovers starting

helicopter

with large helicopters flew in spite of the dark clouds,

flyover

while these planes found a time with some blue sky.

smoke from grill

Before noon, smoke rose from the mangals (grills).

blue and white for Israel independence day

A few adventurous families arrived at Gan Sacher, Sacher Park,

prepared with large blue and white plastic hammers and more.

volunteers on Yom Haatzmaut

One family came all the way from New Jersey to

help out with a mangal for the

Lone Soldier Center in memory of Michael Levin.

independence day Israel

With fewer people in the park this year,

these sellers of foam spray had to use it up themselves.

blue and white for Yom Haazmaut

Dark clouds were not going to keep these girls away,

gan sacher yom haatzmaut

nor those with the lone soldiers group.

Yom Haatzmaut 5775 100b

Their Israeli flag was easy to find,

lone soldier mangal

along with lots of good food.

What a little rain?

There was no questionn but to go ahead and celebrate.

air show

The afternoon flyovers added to the fun.

Gans sacher on Independence day

There were tall people with kites,

yom haatzmaut

little people with bubbles and flags,

couple in blue and white

and lots of blue and white.

And if not that was enough,

Nachman truck on streets

these vans going around with music blasting

would stop and share their music and dance.

But then,

just as people were groaning that they ate too much,

and getting around to cleaning up,

a rocket was launched from Gaza landing in southern Israel

and exploded.

 Friday morning in Jerusalem,

the lines in supermarkets are long

and supplies of chicken are short.

They keep trying to kill us.

They fail,

We eat.

שבת שלום

Shabbat Shalom.

9 Photos of Israel near Gaza Border

I was in southern Israel.

image Israel, photo southern Israel , picture Israel

It was a beautiful day.

image Israel, southern Israel

The land so green

image Israel, south Israel photo

and the sky blue with amazing clouds.

image southern Israel, photo Israel

Jerusalem, Israel was wet and dark, but the south was post card perfect.

iamge south

Heavy rain the night before produced swimming pools, puddles and mud,

image south Israel, photo southern Israel

and wonderful wild flowers.

image animals Israel,

Flocks roamed and birds flew along the road.

image Israel near Gaza, road photo near Gaza

The views so spectacular that I took photo

image south under fire, photo Israel

after photo.

Then it started raining rockets from Gaza.

For two hours we stayed in a bomb shelter

before it was safe to drive home,

back to Jerusalem and the cold wet rain.

Wishing all a Shabbat shalom!

25 New Reasons There’s Hope for Future in Israel

Human Rights Watch finally called Hamas’ firing on Israel a “war crime,”

however, a month after Operation Pillar of Defense,

 new rockets were launched toward Israel from Gaza that fell short.

As the year 2012 comes to an end, how about some good news?

Last week I got out of Jerusalem, Israel, and went south,

sign Gaza photo

    near the Gaza border, where the sign was only in Hebrew and Arabic.

Sign Kibbutz Alumim

Kinneret was kind enough to show me around Kibbutz Alumim,

field near GAza

whose fields are 4 kilometers from Gaza, which can be seen in the distance.

factory on kibbutz

Carrots from the fields are sorted in this factory,

bomb shelter

whose bomb shelter is at its entrance.

bomb shelter children playgournd

Another shelter is placed on the children’s playground

bomb shelter Israel

and all the housing has safe rooms added on.

cows photo

 Alumim also has cows and avocado trees,

sunset photo

and impressive sunsets.

Like a pearl that started from a grain of sand in the ocean,

in this seemingly unlikely place, and because of “the situation”

Mechinat Yonatan

a new program began called Southern Task Force-Yonatan

or Mechinat Yonatan, for Yoni Netanyahu.

Started last year by a few idealistic girls who found others on Facebook,

study group

this co-ed, religious group of 25 young people

are taking a year after high school to work on the kibbutz,

class room lesson

 study Torah, and volunteer in schools in nearby cities.

music photo

They get up early and work hard, but still find time to relax,

Israeli tank

and all of them plan to join the army next year.

With young leaders like these, I say we have 25 new reasons to hope

Mechinat Yonatan

 for a better future in Israel.

sunset

The young people I spoke with talked of wanting

to work the land, learn Torah, and make a difference.

As 2012 comes to an end, can you think of a better hope for the future?

To see more photos, click HERE.