SIZZLING SUMMER HEAT

 

It has been a hot summer here in Israel, with August temperatures breaking records all over the country. What do we do to cool off?  Here is one solution - the pool at Kibbutz Ramat Rachel on the outskirts of Jerusalem.

 

 

It has been three weeks since I have updated my blog, as I have been enjoying my summer vacation and hosting friends from abroad. Now I have been back at work two weeks already and this week classes began. The majority of Israeli schools open on the first of September, and so over the next week many families will be coming home and preparing for the new school year ahead.

 

This summer we have all been rejoicing that we had a summer without a war, in contrast to last summer when we spent most of the time listening for 'code red' alerts and rushing off to our shelters when they sounded. Ironically, one day I went to the pool at Ramat Rachel and was just saying to myself how lovely it was to be able to swim without wondering where I would have to run to should the siren sound, when suddenly the siren went off. We all stopped with beating hearts and prepared to make a run for it, but then the head lifeguard announced that it was just an exercise. Even so, everything went deadly quiet and we all stood still until the siren stopped. I know my pulse was racing and my stomach clenched. Exercise or no, it was a sobering reminder of the reality in which we all live. The thought is always hovering somewhere in the back of our minds that at any instant the peace  and normal life could be shattered and our lives changed forever.

 

How does one live with such a degree of insecurity? On one hand Israelis live for the moment, counting every 'normal' minute a blessing, and trying desperately to get as much  out of life as possible. This creates a vibrant, life-affirming, though somewhat hedonistic, culture. On the other hand, it also causes us to look for comfort and hope in God. Even though Israel is sharply divided between those called 'secular' and those called 'religious', most believe in God, and recognize, to some degree at least,  His hand in our survival as a people and state.  Recent polls showed that 95% of Jewish Israelis own a Bible and 42% study it at least once a week (http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/95-percent-of-Jewish-Israelis-have-Bible-in-home-poll-finds-409250).

 

This last week has highlighted our insecurities. It has been a hot one, in many ways. As the thermometer was hovering in the 40s  all over the country, anger and violence simmered. A spate of terrorist incidents occurred in Jerusalem and the West Bank, in the most part carried out by 'lone-wolf' perpetrators and mobs throwing stones at vehicles. At least some of the unrest was a result of a hunger strike by a Palestinian prisoner, Mohammed Allaan. He had been fasting some 60 days and this week hovered between life and death. An Israeli court ruled that he could be force fed, but instead it was in the end decided to release him, when it became apparent that he had suffered brain damage as a result of his fast. This incident created a severe dilemma for Israel. If he were to die it would unleash a backlash of violence, but if he were released, this could cause many other prisoners to try the same tactic. In any case the whole affair has done nothing to calm the situation here.

Allaan after ending his hunger strike
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4693117,00.html

 

 

 On Thursday, the same day that Britain returned its diplomatic personnel to Iran, 5 rockets were deliberately fired into Israel by Iranian-backed Islamic Jihad from Syrian soil.  

 

 



A fire near Kfar Sold in the Golan caused by rocket fire from Syria
http://www.timesofisrael.com/at-least-one-killed-in-israeli-strikes-on-syrian-targets/
 

Since the outbreak of the Syrian civil war a number of stray rockets have landed on the Israeli side of the border with Syria,  but this attack appeared deliberate and planned according to the range and direction of the firing. No one was injured in the attacks, but sirens sounded in the Golan and northern Galilee towns sending residents running into their shelters.  The following day Israel retaliated by attacking an Islamic Jihad cell in Syria killing six and wounding seven. Israel has no intention of ratcheting up the tensions in the north but feels it must send the message that it will not tolerate rocket fire emanating from Syria.

 

Today Iran unveiled its new Fateh-313 surface-to-surface missile which it claims has pin-point accuracy to a range of 500 km. This is a direct violation of UN Resolution 2231 which endorsed the nuclear deal between Iran and world powers, led by the US last month, and which contains an arms embargo prohibiting the import and export of conventional weapons by Iran for five years.  Iran has already declared openly that it will not abide by this part of the resolution. Iranian President, Hassan Rouhani, in a speech broadcast live on state television in Iran stated that, " We will buy, sell and develop any weapons we need and we will not ask for permission or abide by any resolution for that" (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4693227,00.html ).

 

Last night I walked out onto my balcony feeling that a vast tide of evil was enveloping the world. Everything seemed full of darkness, violence, hatred, suffering, loss and sadness. But then I looked at the night sky with its twinkling stars and the thought came to me - most of the universe is dark, but it is the tiny points of light, the stars and galaxies, that matter. I was encouraged. As dark as the world might become, as long as there are points of light, it is the light that matters and I must endeavor to be one of those points as long as I live. In the end, light will drive out the darkness.

 

This morning I read  Psalm 125 which says,

 

Those who trust in the Lord
Are like Mount Zion,
Which cannot be moved, but abides forever.
² As the mountains surround Jerusalem,
So the Lord surrounds His people
From this time forth and forever.

³ For the scepter of wickedness shall not rest
On the land allotted to the righteous,
Lest the righteous reach out their hands to iniquity.

⁴ Do good, O Lord, to those who are good,
And to those who are upright in their hearts.

⁵ As for such as turn aside to their crooked ways,
The Lord shall lead them away
With the workers of iniquity.

Peace be upon Israel!

 

Last week I visited the site of Beit Shean in the Jezreel Valley with some friends. We participated in a night tour of the archaeological excavations there. We were astounded by the size and magnificence of the Roman city that once existed there, one of the wealthiest and largest of the ancient world. We were told by the guide that the city had been completely destroyed in the 8th Century of the Common Era (AD) by a catastrophic earthquake. Considering the size and strength of the massive Roman columns, and the solid construction of the buildings, it must have been a massive earthquake to have brought them down. All except one of the many the columns now standing were found lying on the ground.  I also remembered how when I first visited the site, some 35 years ago, there was little evidence of the ruins below ground -  just  a few columns protruding from the grassy mound. How reduced is this once proud and wealthy city and the Empire it belonged to. 

Bet Shean by night

 

 

Today too I saw a TV program about the restoration work currently taking place at Babylon in Iraq. All that remains of that once proud civilization are dusty and crumbling rocks.  

 

Sadam Hussein's palace overlooking the ruins of Babylon.
http://globalheritagefund.org/images/uploads/blogs/hotw_babylon1.jpg

These great Empires once sought to destroy Israel, but Israel still stands today while they are lost in the dust of time.  So too will be the fate of all who come against Israel as the LORD has promised. The LORD surrounds his people, as mountains surround Jerusalem.

 

As the mountains surround Jerusalem,
So the Lord surrounds His people
From this time forth and forever.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

AMEN

The ancient city of Jerusalem, Mt Moriah and Mt Zion,  completely surrounded by mountains.