new thread
Seeing as we have a multi-faith crew here, Happy December. I have been visiting the site off and on for a while in the last few months and am happy to see people being themselves and such. I am happy to see that there are new people posting and glad to see people from Russia on board here too.
I want to give a shout out to Don in Israel and say I am happy that you are having a good time in Israel and that you are enjoying the Holy Land. I really appreciated the general invitation to join you in Israel because depending on how long standing that is, I may end up taking you up on that. It would help me as a Orthodox Christian because it would allow me to have a base from which to jump off in order to get to the sites I would want to see.
I am not so sure about doing synagogue stuff without permission of an Orthodox Priest or Bishop, but I would enjoy getting to know the local area from your perspective. I enjoy "Jewish" food like latkes and Hammantaschens since I hung out with the Hillel group at college. I learned how to cook Kosher and was kind of off and on with a lady who was part of the Hillel, so I have gotten to see some Jewish life from the close up without being Jewish myself.
Hitting up Haifa and the Med. would be fun. I keep watching the developments with the move of the U.S. Embassy from Tel-Aviv-Yafo to Jerusalem. I hope that Israel does not get invaded when and if the Trump administration moves the Embassy. The U.N. resolution against the U.S. and Israel yesterday was disheartening. Let's hope there is not another intifada with the move.
One interesting connection between the Cherokee and the Jews is that there appears to have been Jewish people among the Cherokee early on in the history of the Jewish presence in North America. Check out People of One Fire and see what you think. It is a web-site run by an unenrolled Muscogee man. He points out that cultural things seem to be similar between Jewish people and Cherokee people in some cases. Whether there is a strong case for the Cherokee giving refuge to the Jewish people or not when the Jewish people were fleeing the effects of the Inquisition in Spain, is a question, but it is an interesting thing to check out nonetheless. I am an unenrolled person but I speak Cherokee as one of my first languages and I would be fascinated to see Israel from a Hebrew's perspective.
If this sort of thing does come up in the future, I would want to set-up some kind of payment for the stay and food if that were part of the visit. I would also want to make sure that you would be comfortable with Orthodox Christian items being in your home such as icons or books. I wear a cross like most Orthodox Christians do and I do not know if that would be offensive to you or not. I usually wear it under the clothing but for events like swimming, the cross would probably be seen if a shirt were not worn. If you needed help around the house or something like that while I were there, then that would be fine if you wanted to do in kind payment or something like that. Being that I am culturally American Indian, doing in kind trades and stuff like that is normal for me, just to put that out there.
Hope everyone is having a good December.
But not surprising. The UN is anti Israel and never condemns the other side no matter how egregious their actions.
The U.N. resolution against the U.S. and Israel yesterday was disheartening.
This whole anti-Israel crap is disheartening. The U.N. is a big joke.
Thanks for the good wishes, Native! Merry Christmas to you...although I know that the Orthodox Christmas comes a bit later.
By all means if you'd like to experience the Holy Land let me know and I would love to host you and get to know you in person if/when you come, and accompany you to Jerusalem to experience your pilgrimage with you. I have no problem with your bringing Christian books and icons into my home.
The invitation goes for all my brothers here on MLHH. A joyous holiday and best wishes for a successful New Year.
Don
Don-
Happy New Year, Mozel Tov 2018, Shalom. Thank you for your kind reply. I had a chance to read it but not really a chance to follow up to it. Thank you for telling me you have no problem on my bringing Christian books and icons into your home, I just wanted to pass that one by you. Thank you for the offer to accompany me to Jerusalem. I really appreciate it.
I read recently that the officials in charge of high speed rail planning in Israel are deciding to possibly name a train station at the Western Wall after Donald Trump in honor of his moving the capital from Tel-Aviv-Yafo to Jerusalem in U.S. foreign policy. The way things are going in Iran, the current Islamic Republic may have to change its own Levantine diplomacy a little if it wants to remain the Islamic Republic. As it is, it would be nice to see them push the Ayatollah into the Sea.
If it is the will of Adonai Eloheinu, then I hope to be able to be there in Israel to see everything.
Hope the weather in your part of Israel is much warmer than the cold Winter which is happening in much of the United States at the moment. Best Wishes.
Dear Native,
We're having a mild winter here. Last week we had a little wind and cold, nothing like what you folks have been dealing with in the US, but today it was breezy and 23 degrees Celsius (about 73 Farhenheit) in Tel Aviv, where I was for most of the day.
Yes, I've read that a new train station is to be named after President Trump. He's rather popular here, as you can imagine! The Israeli Left likes him no more than the Left in the the US or the rest of the Western World, but they're perhaps less apoplectic about it...
G-d knows what will be the end of the story in Iran. I don't know if that country will ever threaten Israel with nuclear weapons, but there is a very present and real threat of Iranian manipulation of pro-Assad forces in Syrian, right on Israel's northern border. With Jordan relatively friendly, and Egypt more so all the time, Syria is the last of the 'confrontation states' to cause us worry. Gaza will always be a thorn in our side, but unlikely to be an existential threat. The Palestinians are less a threat than a challenge for the respective peoples to find the leadership with the vision to work out the remaining sticky points. So Syria/Iran is definitely receiving the full attention of the best strategic thinkers here. Thank G-d there is now good chemistry between Jerusalem and Washington.
Okay, enough hand-wringing! I'm about to post a periodic update separately. Only be well...
Don
