It's Saturday. It's a good day. It's not a work day.

Don't get me wrong. It's not that I hate work. It's just a very different day when you can sit in your jammies around the house until YOU decide you should shower and get dressed. Breakfast can be eaten at your own pace, not rushed. The newspaper can be read at leisure or the internet explored until you reach the last page.

So here I am, this very Saturday morning. My son is home after a night out with his friends to a concert and then sleeping over at Tommy Trash's (don't ask) house. My husband is off playing his very first round of golf for the year. My daughter is home with new husband and new dog.

And I am FREE!

(Well, apart from the fact that I need to go shopping at some point.)

This leaves time for some ponderings about life.

In particular, a recent episode in life:
Our trip to Israel and my continuing trip to Jordan, well pictured out on Picasaweb.

This marked my fourth trip in just over two years. Four trips to Israel in two years (and six in total), what does that say about Elke...and about the land?

It says this:

* Israel is not what you see on the news; I have yet to encounter any trouble.
* Israel is an amazingly beautiful country full of awe-inspiring contrasts that I would visit any day, every day.
* It is fascinating in an almost undescribable way and in all aspects.
* It has immediate and extreme spiritual impact.
* It has given me more insights into who I am than anything, or rather anyone, other than my Heavenly Father.
* It has made the Scriptures (Old and New Covenant) come to a real and 3-D life and has borne out everything I believe.
* It has brought me wonderful friends, Yael and Mosher and their families, as well as my Israeli colleagues in Ra'anana and in the US whom I also consider friends (Nir M., Roman, Hal, Sidney, Etay, Jason, Amir, Aliza, Lea, Nir, Leah, Ido, Or, Izzy, Gal, Barak, Daniel...).
* It brought my employer some incredibly talented people from its shores (some are above, another definitely is Shai Agassi).
* It has taught me about being Jewish in a land surrounded by Arabs.
* It has taught me about being Arab in a Jewish land and surrounded by Arabs who won't let them travel to their countries (go figure).
* It has taught me to be still.
* It has made me more passionate about life and politics, especially as they pertain to the Middle East.
* It made me renew my search for my genetic ancestry - am I part of the tribe, as my colleague Richard (aka wonderful and most interesting discussion partner) says? I sense it, but I cannot prove it...yet (but making headways - see yesterday's post.
* It has decorated my house.
* It was the setting for my 45th birthday last year, celebrated in the midst of people of all faiths (or non-faiths, however their personal view might be). My girlfriend Sabine called it "Elke's personal peace accord". It was a wonderful evening of people just getting along, sharing a delicious meal and generally enjoying life.
* It has become my second home - there are days when I feel more lightblue and white, than red, white and blue, and certainly more than black, red and gold.
* It has taught me you can do a lot with little; the pioneering spirit is similar to the US, but in a much fresher, more recent way.
* It has taught me that not all things are pretty there; one example is the persecution of Messianic Jews by some Orthodox Jews; another the disdain most Jews have for their Israeli Arab fellow citizens.
* It is the land where my precious Lord, Jesus Christ, Yeshua HaMashiach, lived, died and was resurrected and to which He will return in glory.
* It cemented in my head and heart one wisdom: I will bless Israel (Genesis 12:3) and pray for the peace of Jerusalem (Psalm 122:6)!

I love you, Israel, I am proud of your accomplishments and pray for you and those within your borders. May you be blessed now and always, Israel!
And may you soon come to love Yeshua, your Messiah.


Hatikvah - Israel's National Anthem

Kol 'od balevav P'nimah -
Nefesh Yehudi homiyah
Ulfa'atey mizrakh kadimah
'Ayin le'tzion tzofiyah --

'Od lo avdah tikvatenu
Hatikvah bat shnot alpayim:
Lihyot 'am khofshi be'artzenu -
Eretz Tziyon virushalayim.


As long as in the heart, within,
A Jewish soul still yearns,
And towards the end of the East
An eye still watches toward Zion --

Our hope is not yet lost,
The hope of two thousand years,
To be a free nation in our own land,
The land of Zion and Jerusalem.
posted by Elke at 1:23 PM