venturing out and about

The husband and i had some time on our hands so we decided to take the 

opportunity to visit the Israel Museum. One of the exhibits is the "Shrine of the Book," which is a collection of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Perhaps some of you went to a similar exhibit when some of the scrolls came to the U.S.? While we were at the museum, we saw many people dressed up in costumes because they were celebrating Purim. In fact, later that evening we also got dressed up in order that we may go to a synagogue and experience the celebration ourselves. 

 One of the couples that we are friends with is expecting a baby and that baby was craving for some non-kosher Mexican food, so the parents decided to satisfy the little one by taking it to Tel Aviv on Sunday. We had the privilege of tagging along and enjoying the day of relaxing and feasting. We were able to catch some sun for a few hours and even took a dip in the Mediterranean Sea. It was great to get out and do some fun things with friends. We met a few more couples for dinner and finished the day with a walk on the pier and a cup of ice cream. 

 

While at the museum we saw a flash mob, not sure if i can officially call it that since the true definition doesn't 100% match it. But nonetheless, these museum workers randomly broke out in song and dance in the middle of the hall. 

The Shrine of the Book

 

This jar held some of the Dead Sea Scrolls

 

 The book of Esther talks about Purim. It is the celebration that commemorates the deliverance of the Jewish people from the Persian Empire, especially the plans of Haman. So these days the Israeli people celebrate that deliverance from death by giving gifts, sharing a meal, and disguising themselves. The reasons for the costumes are: 1) that Esther was pretending to be Persian rather than what she really was, Jewish; 2) It is a way of emphasizing the celebration from other celebrations; 3) God "disguised" Himself in the book of Esther by not being mentioned but still working out His plans.

Onto Tel Aviv...

 

 

 

 

Old City Jaffa, believed to be one of the oldest ports in the world. Mentioned in the Bible as "port-of-entry." This area also belonged to the tribe of Dan (Josh 19:46). 

 

Jaffa is also associated with Jonah as he departed to Tarshish (Jonah 1:3).