Jerusalem and Netanya

Tiyul to Jerusalem

Last night we had a wonderful evening listening to the Israel Philharmonic.  Today we went on a bus the long way to Jerusalem, with many stops along the way to learn the history of the “Burma Road” – the beginning of the state of Israel, the siege etc.  The guide was fascinating and Joe bought her book to read. We also learned about the engineering of the road, saw the difficulties with construction due to the hills and valleys.

We had lunch at a kibbutz, then onto the Kotel (Western Wall) for a brief prayer before the return to Netanya. Since it was Rosh Chodesh (new month), there was a large crowd. Also a famous rabbi’s son was sick, so there were many prayers being said for him.  This is the first time I have heard a leader of the prayers wailing the prayer for the sick. It sounded like a lamentation.  I prayed for my friends and family, but there were too many people there to go up to the wall.  We’ll have time to go again in March. I hope it won’t be so crowded then.

We are volunteering time in the mornings to teaching English. Two mornings a week we are at a religious school for boys (mostly boarding students). Many of them are Ethiopian immigrants to Israel and are learning both English and Hebrew.  They are also studying regular subjects and technology subjects.  Two mornings a week we volunteer at the regular high school in Netanya.  Our help has been welcomed and the students cannot figure out why we are happy to help them.

 We have Hebrew classes in the afternoon and usually a lecture.  Joe and I finally had an hour this afternoon to go walk on the beach (and the weather was cooperative). I posted the Netanya pictures here:

https://picasaweb.google.com/110223074396610202868/Netanya?authkey=Gv1sRgCJyU0LWdoMCIswE#

The Jerusalem pictures are posted here: https://picasaweb.google.com/110223074396610202868/Jerusalem?authkey=Gv1sRgCJDgxYexrr-7jQE#