Blogs from Haifa District, Israel, Middle East - page 12

Tonight we went to a service at a very impressive Reform Temple in Haifa. They were very welcoming. All the woman participated in lighting Shabbat candles, the kids went up to sing a song and Cantor Rica sang with the Rabbi. While most of the service was in Hebrew, we did get a good feeling for what was going on. After the service, we had a lovely dinner with the Rabbi and some temple members. We went around the room and we each got up, Temple Beth-El members and Israeli temple member both, and said something about ourselves and our connection to Israel and this trip. It was an US-Israeli bonding event. Even though the younger kids were starting to fall asleep (including Issac who slept on a couch thru dinner), we had an interesting Q&A ... read more

Everyone arrived during the day. We arrived after the sightsighting, but in time for a group dinner with everyone. We were tired but excited about starting the next day. - Caroline & Jeff Silver Most of us arrived on an ELAL flight together and although exhausted, we were excited to arrive and hit the ground running. Larry and Shari our tour guide met us at the airport and we were off on our own bus (and Avner, our driver) to Ceasaria. Our first stop was at the aqueduct and famous arches on the beach. We almost lost a couple of kids who were thrilled to see the Mediterranean Sea. Pretty quickly we discovered that our oldest kids, Murray and Charles, each found their way to the top of the ruins and Shari learned that she'll need ... read more

We met a French/American couple, which lives in Israel while hiking in Simian Mountain in Ethiopia. Sounds like the beginning of a joke but isn't. Before we separated we exchanged email addresses and we promised to pop by when we are in Israel and so we did. It’s not only that we liked them and that Haifa sounded like a great place but also the promise of staying in a proper flat and not a hotel, which added to our excitement. Haifa itself is the North Ryde (Silicon Valley for everyone not living in Sydney) of Israel and is a nice city but without too many attractions. Next to it is however Acre which has a 3500 year tradition and a virtually intact old town within some great city walls. As usual in Israel everyone owned ... read more

Asaf (Jason's Hebrew name, seems appropriate to refer to him that way while we are in his homeland) wrote the below at 3am: It is 3 AM here in Israel, and we are wide awake. We just got back from my brother Nadav's wedding. It was a really wonderful event. Especially considering that he only planned it a few weeks earlier, and seemed very casual about the whole thing (we were hanging out and swimming on the beach with him less than 2 hours before the wedding). But that's often the way it is here. And yet, they had a beautiful wedding in a beautiful garden, with great food and music. Of course, being Israel, there were 200+ people, most of them relatives. Our family alone is having at least 4 or 5 weddings in Israel ... read more

Iris atropurpurea, a huge, gorgeous, purple iris, is endemic to the Mediterranean coast of Israel. The remaining populations are scattered among a couple of dozen nature reserves, most of them tiny (less than 2 acres), but a couple of them large (probably 200 acres). These reserves were established specially for protection of the irises, but although they protect the iris plants themselves, they may not be big enough because of a peculiarity about the ecological interactions between the irises and their pollinators. Unlike most plants, the irises offer no nectar to reward their pollinators for visiting. They do have pollen that several insect species, including honeybees, collect, and these pollen collectors may pollinate the iris flowers occasionally. However, the main pollinators are the males of several species of Eucera bees that don’t collect pollen or nectar; ... read more