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Psalms 122:1-3 “I was glad when they said to me, The house of Adonai, let’s go! Our feet were already standing at your gates, Yerushalayim”, Yerushalayim, built as a city fostering friendship and unity.”

Shabbat Shalom!

Another beautiful sunny day in Jerusalem.

I had the great blessing of visiting with my friends at Blue and White art gallery. Udi and Israel are like family. Udi showed us around the old city and where he played as a child. His father bought the first piece of property in 1967 in the Cardo from a Jordanian who was more than happy to sell at a hefty profit. He bought the property; he did not steal it or occupy it. Most land in Israel has been bought—most often for four or five times what it was worth. Just worth remembering.

I have done little shopping while I have been in Israel, but I did buy a pair of Naot sandals. A new store opened at the Inbal Hotel and the Israeli-made shoes are a great buy here. I would pay double in the states for the same shoes. Just doing my part to bless Israel.

Each morning as I go out to buy the paper at the corner store, I pass the Frankforter Center for senior citizens. Next door to the center is a gift shop with all kinds of things that are hand made by the seniors. I try and stop in each visit and support them in some way. Yesterday, I saw some hand-crocheted dolls about six inches tall—just precious. Since my grandchildren are older, I called Becky to see if she wanted any of them—yes, indeed. I ended up getting about six for her grandchildren. This morning, as I was walking to get my paper, Nahal ran out the door to tell me that he had some more dolls. I told him I would be back for them after breakfast. Understand, this gift shop opens at seven AM—I love it. So, after breakfast and on my way to the grocery store, I stopped in and got two more. I may keep these. Nahal also had fresh baked Shabbat bread and sweets. Oh yes, I bought several.

The dreaded laundry day. They never ask me my name, they just say, Will’s ema (mother). I left my small amount of laundry after apologizing a hundred times for the small amount. It will be ready before two pm.

So, I steeled myself for the grocery store. Very little is written in English—it is in Hebrew. I do not expect it to be in English. This is Israel. I am the visitor and if I lived here, I would learn the language. I appreciate when it is in English, but it is a privilege, not a right.

I decided to go to the small neighborhood store. I just am not ready for the big store. The aisles are so close together and hardly one person can get down them with baskets or carts, much less two. But, mission accomplished. The chicken is cooking and the pecan pie is made. We have friends coming for Shabbat dinner.

This entry was posted by Sandra on Friday, November 2nd, 2007 at 7:20 am and is filed under From Israel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.