Ezuz and Ashkelon ... by Hannah

Shalom Y'all,

Tommy and I are now in Jerusalem ... actually, right outside of Jerusalem in a small town called Maoz Tzion. We plan to spend several days here in the area, and will then go to Tel-Aviv/Yafo.

Here are a few of the last pictures we took in Ezuz.

Ruins ... I think they are from the past hundred years or so.

There was a hole in one of the walls.

Naomi and me ... on the morning we left ... she got up early to see us off :)  Love you Naomi :)

The rest of these are from Ashkelon.

The Mediterranean. 

We really enjoyed swimming in it.

Tommy and his friend Uriel ... they had several in-depth conversations while sitting on the rocks.

This is a bakery in Ashkelon ... we used to eat here sometimes when we came to the shuk (marketplace). Tommy and I visited this area on Friday morning, and had borekas for breakfast! Borekas are pastries that have different fillings - cheese, mushrooms, corn, potatoes, etc. Very yummy :)

This is the old part of the city.

Count the cranes! These are jokingly called the state bird of Israel :)

Israelis work hard to keep things beautiful ... especially city landscapes.

See the tall grey tower? This is a water tower, and is right down the street from the house that we lived in as a family.

A pretty bush.

Taking a break! Tommy and I did A LOT of walking on Thursday and Friday.

A clock tower ... near where we used to live.

A street sign ... Tsfanya is the Hebrew word for Stephen.

Domino's! This shopping area is a short walk from where we lived.

Supersol ... an Israeli grocery store where we used to do our shopping.

Ha'Atsma'ut ... the Hebrew word for independence. We lived one street off of this street :)

In the same vicinity ... a Masonic lodge.

The house that we lived in.

When we lived in Ashkelon five years ago, Tommy bought a huge Israeli flag, and hung it in the tallest tree in our backyard. The house that we lived in was on a hill, and you could see the flag from quite a distance. The original flag is no more, so Tommy bought another one and we took it to the house!

See how big it is?!

The tree house where my younger siblings spent lots of time playing :)

Tommy was concerned he might be too big to climb the tree now :)

The birds did not appreciate Tommy's intrusion. There were probably 15 or 20 of them flying around Tommy's head, screaming at him!

Compare this picture with the one below that was taken five years ago :)

The back of the house.

This is my bedroom window ... we children performed several plays while we were living here, and "our actors" would jump out of this window to come in the back door to the living room, which was the stage area :)

 These berries form a sort of hedge in the back yard ... very pretty flowers.

This is the marble column that my sister Ruthie found on the beach, and we rolled it up to the house one night. It weighs hundreds of pounds ... my father and brother could not lift it, so we used a hand-truck to pull it home. It was a couple miles to bring it from where we found it to the house.

Some of the pottery that we collected when we were here as a family ... there was so much on the beach.

We really enjoyed this house ... the way that we were led to it was a huge blessing ... and we had a lot of good times here.

The friends that we stayed with ... Moshe and his sons Uriel (far right) and Eyal, and his mother ... we called her Savta - Hebrew for grandmother :)

Saying good-bye at the bus stop.

Tommy and Uriel.

I plan to post pictures of our visit to the Dead Sea and Ein Gedi soon!

Swimming In The Yarden (Jordan) ... by Hannah

Shalom Y'all,

These pictures were taken last week ... the day before we left Poriya Illit. We went swimming in the Jordan river with Arena, and then joined the rest of the family at a pool in a nearby kibbutz.

Tommy was the first one to get into the water.

It's not a very big river, is it?!

Tommy kept trying to get me into the water and get me wet!

This picture was taken between the time that Tommy let go of the rope swing, and entered the water.

Arena was taking photos of us.

Another action shot.

Yosi and me in the pool.

The lighting was strange, because this part of the pool was covered with large blue tarps.

Tommy and me with Ahava and Yosi.

The people that we were staying with have a business where they take pictures of people dressed up in Bible costumes, and then place their pictures in a scene such as the Negev (desert), or the Kinneret (Sea of Galilee).

Saying good-bye to Yosi.

Our dear friends and wonderful hosts :)

Below is just an ordinary bus stop, but it has a funny memory for us. When we were here as a family, we rented a small car when we needed to go somewhere (and weren't riding the bus), and never had room for anyone besides our family. We often saw soldiers hitch-hiking, and talked about picking one up if we ever had room. It is now illegal for a soldier to hitch-hike, but at the time, it was not. 

One weekend, we rented a 15-passenger van, and went to visit our friends in Poriya Illit. As we were returning to Ashkelon early in the morning, we saw a soldier hitch-hiking. My father pulled over, and he climbed in on the front bench next to Tommy, Lydia, and me. We soon realized that he did not speak any English, but when asked where he wanted to go, he said "Lamala". That means "up", and we didn't understand. He tried to call someone on his cell phone, but didn't get ahold of them. Then my mother had the brilliant idea to give him a map. The only problem was, the map was in booklet form ... each section of the country was on a different page ... and it was all in English.

Mama handed him the map from where she was sitting in the front seat, so she didn't see his reaction. Tommy and I did :)  He opened it from the back (Hebrew is read right to left, instead of left to right like English) ... turned it upside down ... and finally realized that it was in English. Under his breath, he muttered; "Ze gam ba'Anglit".

That means; "It is also in English!" I almost burst out laughing ... I thought it was so funny that he added the word "also", even though he was muttering to himself and didn't think we could understand him. A moment later, Mama turns around to ask if he had found the place he was looking for. Just then, she realized that she had handed him an English map, and started laughing hilariously. It was right about then that we turned onto another road, and this bus stop came into view. The soldier said; "Out here! Out here!" He hurried out of the van as soon as my father had pulled to a stop, and we all laughed and laughed ... we decided he must have called his other army friends and told them not to hitch a ride with the crazy American family in the big white van!

This is farmland in the Jezreel Valley.

This is Har Megiddo ... known in English as Armageddon. We visited the ruins here as a family, but Tommy and I were not able to do it again this time.

Tomorrow we are going to Ashkelon, and will stay with some friends for several days. I'm not sure what the internet connection will be like, but we'll try to post again soon!

P.S. Thank you all for the comments! They are always fun to receive :)

Videos From The Kinneret ... by Hannah

Shalom Y'all,

Here are two videos from our boat ride with Daniel Carmel and a Bulgarian tour group! We had a wonderful time :)









I will try to post some pictures of our swim in the Jordan River soon.

Today was Naksa Day ... the day that the Arab world commemorates Israel's repossession of Jerusalem and other parts of Israel. There have been protests in Jerusalem, as well as in the north where protestors have tried to cross the Syrian border. Things have been quiet here where we are. The thing that I want to point out is this ...

Tommy went to the Yahoo homepage this afternoon, and here were the headlines: "14 Dead As Israeli Troops Fire Along Syrian Border".

What does that sound like to you? It sounds as if Israel is taking the offensive, and attacking people on the Syrian border, right? The headlines neglect to tell you that these protestors have been trying to cut the  border fence and come into Israel, and it was after issuing warnings in Arabic, that the Israeli troops fired. Isn't it amazing the way the media is so biased against Israel?

Just now I went back to find that article, and saw that they had changed the headlines. Now it reads: "Israeli troops battle protesters in Syria, 20 dead". Does that not sound like Israel has crossed the border into Syria, and is battling protestors? Grammar was not my top subject while homeschooling, so correct me if I'm wrong ... however, I think it would be more appropriate to say something like "Israeli troops battle protestors trying to cross the Syrian border".

Once again we ask ourselves, why does the world hate Israel? Why do the media reporters make it sound as if Israel is this terrible aggressor, terrorizing the poor Palestinians? It's such a lie! And yet, this will continue on as it has for thousands of years ... people will continue to hate Israel simply because they are the chosen nation ... until Mashiach (Messiah) comes. When we were in Israel as a family, we met a man from Finland whose name is Yochanan. So often he would start out a sentence with; "When Mashiach comes ..." and then he would go on to explain how different and how wonderful it will be.

When Mashiach comes, there will be peace. Until then, we wish you this blessing ... "And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Messiah Yeshua." Philippians 4:7

Update And Prayer Request ... by Hannah

Shalom Y'all,

Tommy and I are back in Ezuz with the Hirshfelds ... we arrived yesterday afternoon, and will stay until next Tuesday. We had a wonderful time up in the Galil area, and have some more pictures to share of our swim in the Jordan River :)

I do have a prayer request though. For the past several years, I have struggled with headaches. I don't have them everyday, but quite often. Last year, I started going to a chiropractor for adjustments, and it helped a lot. I usually get adjusted once a month, and I can feel when I need an adjustment - my neck starts really hurting and I get bad headaches. It has been just over four weeks since my last adjustment, and my neck is starting to hurt. We have 2 1/2 weeks before we return to the States (I can hardly believe how fast the time has flown), and I really do not want to be fighting headaches all that time! I can if I need to, but I would much rather not :)

So if you all could pray for me, and that my neck would be in alignment and not be hurting anymore, I would very much appreciate it.

I will try to post some pictures and videos soon!