Last Week in Israel

The last several days we had in Israel showed promise of future rain! One morning the air was distinctly laden with the scent of rain… the sky was cloudy, and we so hoped it would just pour. The fires of the north had subsided, and we heard that area actually got rain, but a little too late to help extinguish the flames. It was a great loss of forest, homes and most importantly, 41 lives. We were only in this very area weeks before, and as we followed along the news reports, we knew exactly where the fire was raging. Israel welcomed the many countries who came to her aid with firefighters, trained dogs, and air support with water…and finally the BIG weapon sent by a private American company, a Boeing 747 that held so much water and fire retardant that two swipes over the fire and it was out. Even countries who are not Israel’s close friends came to the aid, and we are hoping that some of those barriers of animosity were crossed.

Celebrating Marius’ birthday was special, as all of Boaz & Rinah’s kids & grandkids got together for a huge picnic and we loved being a part of their family. A Poyke was put together, ingredients were chicken pieces, corn, veggies, sauces and spices. Two hours after bubbling away on the grill, voila - it’s "chow time!" This park was a paradise for the little kids as they had natural pools around, intended for children to have a wet play. Shown left are Rinah's daughters Erica with Amit (pronounced Ah-meet) (1-1/2 year old boy) and Karen with Shoham (pronounced Show-haam). (2-1/2 yr. old girl)

I checked on my hot-house
plants for the last time, and remarked how much they had grown! I so enjoyed participating in this venture, having learned greatly from Boaz’ expertise and Rinah’s patience. There’s just something about getting your fingers in black dirt and helping something grow! Tiny little seedlings actually made it into small plastic containers to large black plastic bags, next step being into the ground.

Our last day in Israel was memorable! Boaz took the day off and with Rinah, plus a new friend Katrin from France whose husband was away for 10 days, and her little 6-month baby Eyelet (pronounced Eye-ye-let) joined us. We had rented a car several days earlier because of the need for convenience, so we followed the Dreyer’s car and made a day of seeing wonderful parts of Israel yet not discovered by us. It was also wonderful for Katrin as she was new to Israel, and did not have a car. Being cooped-up with a baby alone without transportation for 10 days could have been quite lonely, but Rinah took care to make sure Katrin and Eyelet were kept company.


Boaz took us into the eastern part of Israel, to The Valley of Tzin, but desert none-the-less. We went to the summer desert home of David Ben-Gurion, in Kabbutz Sde Boker. Ben-Gurion was a most beloved man of Israel, and former President – who was tremendously successful in bringing Israel into statehood. We toured his simple small home, with the only one vast room which was his library, filled with hundreds of books. He and his wife were simple Israeli’s with huge hearts and tremendous love for their fellow men and this beautiful land.

Not far from this place was a nature park I’ll soon not forget. We walked around on wonderful paths that encircled woody-rocky-hills where several Mountain Sheep called home. Very much like America’s Rocky-Mountain-Sheep, these “big boys” had tremendous racks of antlers and two sheep gave us quite a show sparring. The clack of their antlers making contact ricocheted off the canyon. Boaz, who has a business making shofars (see his website Shefa Shofars) was truly admiring these antlers, but said this particular sheep’s antlers were used exclusively for High Priests use.

We looked out into the vast expanse of the northern-tip of Mizpah Rimon, and could not believe the beauty of this wilderness. Each turn of the eye was a totally different vista.

Finally the day came for our departure. For our “last supper”, I made a huge pot of chili and Rinah made a fine pan of corn bread. There were even leftovers for them to enjoy, remembering us even as we were no longer joining their table. It’s always melancholy when fare-wells are said, and there’s always something at the airport or in the airplane you remember you wish you said.

Our last sight-seeing trip was made to the Israeli Air Force Museum. The day was perfect with mild weather, and walking around this vast outdoor museum was great. We found old and new jets, transporters, tanks and helicopters. As it became dusk, we bid our friends farewell, Rinah and I hugged and hugged! Almost 3 months working side-by-side Boaz and Rinah were finally ended, and as they returned to the Negev with Katrin and Eyelet in tow, we took our rental car the hour’s drive north to Tel Aviv area where Ben Gurion Airport is located.

We had been told that at Ben Gurion Airport, before we ever get on the airplane, we are checked visually by their security people at least 4 times, but the thing was – these people were milling around incognito, just watching peoples behavior as they make their way to their gate.
There was never any frisking, we kept our shoes on and did not need to remove belts or heavy jewelry, or remove the computer from its case. And this airport has never had an incident of security breach. There’s much America can learn from Israel in this regard. The inside of this new airport was just beautiful, and modern as any airport I’ve ever seen. As you can see, our flight home worked! We are here, now have Milo back in custody, and getting our hours switched around ever-so-slowly. Next episode to this adventure will bring everything to a close, with our favorites list in Israel! Already I can tell you, our favorite part of returning to America is… our bed! Not food, not shopping or large stores, but our bed. Hooray!

The Final Two Weeks

Work awaited Jerry and Boaz at the house they had been working on. Joining them was Marius, son of Boaz, who had just learned he secured a "real paying job" with a local dish network company. He'll soon be leaving home, beginning his new job first week in January. So now the guys are pressed to get as much work done as possible. The project they work on now is laying tile. Hard work, but the finished product will be lovely. The photo of Jerry in the house is old, that room is now completely tiled, along with 85% of the house. Wahoo!

Something else Jerry has been working on, is Boaz's website. Already established, Boaz wanted to add and change some things, so Jerry has been very helpful to Boaz. Much of Jerry's downtime has been computer work, not only with Boaz, but also with a man we met in Alfe Menashe, Steve Kramer. Steve and his wife Michal are from New Jersey, and made Aliya many years ago, and raised their 2 sons (now adults) in Israel. Steve needed a website, and Jerry has been working with him to make that happen. Before the American elections a few weeks ago, Jerry was working for a group in Phoenix, building and updating their website, which he still does now and again.

We've been privileged to be a part of the Dreyer families birthday celebrations of late. . . there was a family gathering for Boaz' birthday early in the month, and their two younger daughters came, Carolyn is single but seeing a particular guy who came, and Erica and her husband Danny, and their little baby, Amit, came, and of course Marius was already here. Recently their oldest daughter Karen came with husband Leandro, and their little girl (age 2) Shoham. Carolyn lives in Tel Aviv, the other two daughters live about 30-40 minutes drive from here. This weekend we will be celebrating Marius' birthday, with a big outing to a National Park, not too far from home. We'll have our last opportunity to visit with Boaz & Rinah's children, whom we love as if they were our own. Actually, it makes us homesick to know our own children aren't here with us! The birthday plan for Marius is to bring the ingredients to make Chamin, a big special cook pot filled with all sorts of things, chicken and veggies, cooked on an open fire right there on an open flame. We are so looking forward to this outing! We hope the weather holds for us, as lately it's been just beautiful during the days. We know winter will eventually arrive in Israel, but we hope we’re enjoying Arizona winter by then. Actually, Israel is suffering from a serious drought. . . if the Sea of Galilee (Lake Kinnerett) drops down any more, the damages could be irreversible. We constantly pray for rain.

The Dreyer household has had their problems with colds, bronchitis and the like, and we are doing our best to stay as healthy as possible! But not feeling well didn't stop Boaz and Rinah taking us to a birthday celebration of a friend of theirs yesterday, in Be'er Sheva. Held on Shabbat, which typically means nothing is open, this restaurant is secular and was open. We were two of about 13 people, and all conversation was in Hebrew. Interestingly enough, watching the animated faces I could imagine the kinds of conversations these friends were having. Israeli's are very animated, using hands and loud voices – kind of Italian, in a way. Every now and then someone across the table, who knew we did not speak Hebrew, would translate for us, and that was such an act of kindness. One man read something of some length, and read it again for our understanding… it was a most compassionate piece, and I complimented him on his writing. He said he takes no credit, as Charlie Chaplin was the author of the piece he read.

One of the more interesting (and costly) things we did a couple of weeks ago, was package up things we didn't want to load our suitcases down with. I fastidiously put all sorts of things for ourselves, and gifts for the family, in a large box. It was tight as a nutshell, and heavy as Jerry's tool-box. We groaned when we saw how much this precious box of cargo weighed, and cost, to send to our son Joel. All my most favorite precious things I bought were in this box. Thankfully, nothing was breakable, but we did have a plastic jar of date honey included, which I regret to this very day not putting it in a plastic bag. I was a bit paranoid as when the young girl finished labeling the box, she put it on a counter behind her, when only minutes later, in slow-mo, I saw this box lean over the side of the counter and come crashing onto the floor. Of course, I cried out to catch the postal clerk's attention, but she didn't understand my jabbering and frantic waves in time to do anything about it. I could see that things I carefully arranged in perfect tidy order went askew and imagined the bottle of date honey splitting open and coating my favorite things. I sent a much smaller box to our friends in New Zealand, which they do have, minus 2 small rocks from Israel I wanted them to have. Apparently the New Zealand Customs people didn't want rocks from Israel in anybody’s home. After what seemed an eternity, we heard from Joel that our box arrived in perfect order. Praise God!

As I write, the IDF continues its War Games, but when I use those words to our friends, they will remind me of the days when they weren't Games at all, but the real thing. I need to remember to use my words with caution, as not to offend. Jets are streaking across these deserts, below radar, rattling windows and brains alike. I hear them coming, run outside to see them, and by that time they are already out of sight. Now, that's fast. At night we hear the tanks having artillery practice. We always wonder if they know something we don’t, and of course, they do. So, we praise God that they are looking out for Israel, and every inhabitant. They will be sharp as tacks should the situation arise, and surely it will. We’re thankful that our Heavenly Abba’s words:

"I will lift up eyes to the hills – where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot slip – he who watches over you will not slumber; indeed he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep." Psalm 121:1-3

He is watching out for His precious children here in the Land. Israel is bordered by countries that abhor Israel – this tiny piece of property is sought-out to be annihilated by its enemies. It is the history of these people, and they are used to it…hate it, but they are used to it. This photo depicts a sad new scene to Israel, a fence or barrier that separates Moslems from Jews. It is a fact, that Israel is a place of unrest, but our God is greater than any fence, and He alone can create peace when there is none.