I wasn't clear about the three Important days in Israel that occur in the space of less than a week and a half. These days are Holocaust Remembrance Day, Memorial Day and Independence Day. I am writing from Haifa, Israel.
2017 Holocaust Memorial/Remembrance Day (Yom HaShoah) has passed. It began in Israel the evening of Sunday, April 23rd and ended in the evening of Monday, April 24th
There were two sirens of silence in honor of Israeli defense forces war victims - one last night at 8 pm for one minute and today at 11 am for 2 minutes. Our bus stopped on the road; we all disembarked and stood soundlessly with the other motorists along the road.
2017 Independence Day (Yom Ha'atzmaut) in Israel began in the evening of Monday, May 1st (about an hour ago) and ends in the evening of Tuesday, May 2nd.
Now is the time for celebrating! Our Haifa hotel window is open again; outside the sounds of celebration. Think Israeli rock concert with lots of horn honking & noise-makers!! Fireworks have just begun, the sound and light are reflecting off the glass facade of the building next door. It sounds like Haifa is being bombed... I ate an entire chocolate bar to prevent shell-shock.
Why do these days start at sundown of one day and end at sundown of the next day? According to the Jewish calendar, not only Jewish holidays begin at nightfall, but every day does!
Ethiopian Jews
Over 125,000 Ethiopian Jews have come to Israel to live, with help from the Israeli government. They come from a subsistence life and often can't read or write Hebrew. Multiple assimilation centers around the country provide housing, education and training for these Ethiopian Jews. Our OAT group visited the Haifa center and heard the story of a woman who recently immigrated to Israel to join her parents after a 30 year separation. We visited two classrooms of children learning Hebrew. These two young girls were having fun while learning & preparing for Israeli Independence day.
Kfar Hasidim (Kfar = Hebrew word meaning village)
Kfar Hasidim, a village near Haifa, was founded in 1924 by a group of Hasidic immigrants from Poland, with the aim to create an agricultural settlement rather than an urban one. We heard the fascinating history from our hostess Shoshi; she is an oliver farmer, educator, mother, grandmother, and all-around amazing person.
Ofer asks our hostess Shoshi a few questions about the village
A tour of the olive grove. It's a good start for this year's crop, the blossums are giving way to the new olives
Adventures with Pita bread
Our OAT group made pita bread with the help of our hostess.
- She prepared the dough (thank goodness) and gave each person a ball of dough
- We shaped it into round discs or other fanastastic shapes
- One of two provided topping were applied - olive oil with herbs or ground carrots with sweet pepper
- A brave person or our hostess dropped it onto a HOT metal disc
- We drooled in anticipation while it cooked...
" Look", Jim says proudly, "I made holey bread!"
"Really? It's not a round circle??"
Great job, Moe
Propane fired from above and below, the metal cooking surface is very hot. Flat dough discs cook quickly from top and bottom, causing the surfaces to separate and creating the pocket
Sandy cuts the bread so we can share each person's creation
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