Shabbat Shalom

Fancy Bread in the Market

Along with quaint little restaurants, clothes boutiques, and Judaica vendors, fancy bread stands are the rage in the Jerusalem market. The prices are competitive with factory produced whole wheat breads, so they may have a real chance at making it in the market.

Imagine My Surprise

After our thrilling win against Mexico, which secured the bronze medal for our team, we went to celebrate at a nearby restaurant. I ordered a chopped fillet hamburger, and asked for it to be cooked well done. So, imagine my surprise when I opened it to find that it was not only under-cooked, but also stuffed with carrots.

Actually, I wasn't surprised that the meat was undercooked - that's normal for Israel. It was the carrots that took me by surprise. I've never heard of stuffing a hamburger with cooked carrots.

The Sabra: In the Store

Most sabra consumers prefer to not deal with the thorns and roadsides and inconvenience, so they simply purchase their sabra at the local grocer or market. These do not have thorns and cost about $1.15 per pound.

The Sabra: Thorns

The Sabra is in season now, and it is common to see people stopped on the roadside gathering some of the fruit. There are a variety of ways to avoid the hair-like thorns, but none are guaranteed to be pain free.

The Sabra

In Israel, this prickly pear cactus is called a Sabra. That is also the word used for native-born Israelis, because, as the saying goes, once you get past the thorns on the outside, you find a sweet person inside.

Shabbat Shalom

Fresh Asparagus

For $2.00 per pound, you can get fresh asparagus in the market. If you're interested to know, I'm not an asparagus eater.

Okra

Okra is now selling in the market for about $0.80 per pound. These okra are smaller than I'm accustomed to seeing in the States. However, it really doesn't matter since I don't eat okra.

Bronze Medal: Team Israel

Here's a group of guys that I'm very proud of. We finished the tournament with a 4-4 record and received the bronze medal. Two of our victories came in extra innings, 0ne against Canada, the other against Mexico.

Meerkat Manor

On one of our extended trips to the States, we saw a show on one of the cable channels called Meerkat Manor. It was an insider's look at the life of a group of Meerkats. We really enjoyed that show, and were very happy to find a group of Meerkats at the Jerusalem Zoo.

Red Dragon Fly

Nectarines in the Market

Nectarines are available in the Jerusalem market for only $1.05 per pound.

Graffiti: A Romantic Evening

This wall can be found near the central bus station in south Tel Aviv.

Shabbat Shalom

Opening Ceremony: The Wait

This is what it looks like after more than 5,000 athletes with access to free food, water, and popsicles, have milled around for three hours. For some reason, we had to be in the staging area at 17:30 even though the grand entry wasn't scheduled to start until 20:30.

Israel 9, Mexico 2

Canada vs. Israel

The Maccabiah opened yesterday with us playing Canada. Unfortunately, we lost 7-3, but we are still very much in the mix and have no reason to hang our heads.

Today, we play Mexico and then have the official opening ceremony. We'll march into Ramat Gan stadium with over 6,000 other athletes to the thunderous applause of more than 40,000 people. I'm excited about both events.

Another Opinion of President Obama

I saw this poster along the Jerusalem-Tel Aviv highway.

In Israel, it has become common to Photoshop a traditional Arab head covering on political opponents who are not Arabs. Here, the words are as telling as the photo.

Maccabiah 18 Starts Tomorrow

The Maccabiah is a quadrennial sports competition modeled after the Olympic Games. The difference is that the Maccabiah is for Jewish athletes.

This year, almost 8,000 athletes from 52 nations will compete in 31 different sports. I have the privilege of coaching the Israel national baseball team that will compete in these games.

In the round robin section of the baseball tournament each of the four teams - Israel, Mexico, USA, and Canada - will play the other teams twice each.

After the round robin, the teams will be seeded 1 through 4 based on the outcome of the round robin preliminary. Seed 1 will play 4, and 2 will play 3. The winners of those games will then play for Gold and Silver, while the losers will play for Bronze and consolation.

You can follow the games - whether your interest is swimming, gymnastics, soccer, bowling, basketball, tennis, squash, baseball, or something else - at the Maccabiah 18 website.

Shabbat Shalom

Frogs Part III

Frogs Part Deux

Frogs

Two Interesting Articles

The first article, "Watch out, Missionaries!", details the difficulties that two messianic congregations - one in Arad and one in Beersheva - face on a regular basis. The writer does a good job of representing things as I know them.

The second article, "Shoah victims - reincarnated sinners", gives some insight in to the more mysterious side of Judaism. Clearly, not all orthodox Jews believe in reincarnation, but when the former chief rabbi declares it as a fact, one should take note. By the way, this isn't the first time he has made this announcement, or other similar ones.

I Got a Parking Ticket

I recently received a parking ticket that I didn't deserve. You can see the no parking sign about 20 feet in front of my car. There was no kind of signage or marking next to or behind my car. But I should have known not to park there.

When I pulled out my camera to take some photos of this injustice a passerby warned me that I shouldn't park in that spot because "they give tickets there everyday." "If it's not marked and I don't stand here everyday watching, how am I supposed to know that," I asked. "I don't know, but you shouldn't park there," he mumbled as he walked away.

Unfortunately, a $65 ticket is painful, but not so painful that it's worth going to court to fight.

The Effect of Time

Shabbat Shalom

Is This a Type of Zucchini Squash?

Separating Two Peoples

There is much talk these days about separating the Jews and Palestinians into two states. Currently, there is a separation wall in certain areas separating the two, but many people don't think through the trickle down effect of separation. It's more than build a wall/fence and put one group on one side, and the other on the opposite side.

Here is one example of the trickle down effect of separation: