This is a sculpture that reminds us of the many children that died during the Holocaust. It means "Unfinished". Children who were born, but could not live out their lives.

The display itself is unforgettable. It is a dark room with little lights, one for each child that was killed. So, the room is not actually dark, but glitters with these little lights everywhere you look, up, down, or sideways. You need the banister or you lose your way, and orientation. In the background you hear the names mentioned one after another.

This is the 4th part of a wall sculpture called "Rebirth". "Symbolised by the righting of the Sabbath candles (they were upside down in an earlier part of the wall sculpture) and the sabra fruit on the cactus plants representing the new generation, even as the tears of the lions eyes evoke the memories of the Holocaust."

The Jews lost 6 million in the Holocaust, one third of their total population. There are 14 million Jews in the world today. There were 18 million before this tragedy. They have not yet caught up to their former number.

Israel is prepared to accept any Jewish person who is suffering persecution anywhere in the world. They will do all they can to bring them home to Israel.

The day ended with Rory and Wendy, the owners of God TV, at another dramatic outdoor venue with Jerusalem in the background, saying "Thank you and Good-bye" to everyone. The tour was over. Then next day we were on our way to the airport in Tel aviv and home.

L to R: Larry & Odia, Wilma and Clif.
Here we are, we survived the tour! It was a life changing experience. We pinched ourselves many times, just to make sure it was all real.

Thank you for following this blog of our journey in the Holy Land. We hope it will inspire you to seriously consider
visiting this amazing country. It will change your life.
May God Bless you All.

It's another body of water to touch....
the Mediterranean Sea no less!
Let's get into the water boys and girls!

It's another beautiful Israeli morning and we are off to Caesarea on the Mediterranean coastline. We file into the bus, make sure we sit in our own seats, as by now to take a random seat would be an insult to the friends we have made in our group on the bus. We each get our daily bottle of water, stow our packs and settle in for the adventure ahead. Caesarea is a 120 km. distant, so it will take about one and a half hours to drive.

Gilla our tour guide, true to form begins to point out items of interest as we move along the highway.

She begins by pointing out wreaked trucks on the side of the road left as a reminder of the 1948 blockade of Jerusalem. We drove by too fast for me to get a photo! Many people died in the attempt to break through and get food to the residents of Jerusalem.

Then, there is the road to Emmaus where Jesus appeared to some of his disciples after the resurrection. Next was the valley of Ashkelon where the sun stood still for Joshua.

Suddenly we got a shock. Gella pointed out this new soccer stadium and us Winnipeggers just about fell off the bus. This is practically a replica of our new football stadium "Investors Field" in Winnipeg. How did this happen? Who copied who? Suddenly we remembered, we have the Aspers in Winnipeg, a longstanding Jewish family who were behind the push for our new stadium. AAAhhh.... ????

Here is a little known fact. We were all surprised to learn that Caesarea has the only golf course in all of Israel! What is that all about? Does that mean these people here don't relax? I always thought business people needed golf courses to network and do business deals as they hack their way along. But, I guess not. Israel has shown you don't need a golf course to do business. I guess we here in the west are really busted on this one. Oh well, hope no one notices!

Let's talk about Caesarea. Above is a photo of the shore-line and some of the ruins of Herod the Greats many building projects. This is where Peter met the centurion. Paul was jailed here for two years, then sent to Rome. Philip the evangelist lived here. It became a major Christian centre.

What it is known for most is the numerous and amazing building projects Herod the Great built here, mostly to impress his Roman bosses. He dedicated all his lavish accomplishments to Augustus Caesar.

Here is the huge Hippodrome (One of the largest in the whole Roman Empire.) where chariot races happened. I took this photo from where Harrod's palace was located at the end of the racetrack. This way he could just step out onto his patio and watch the races at his leisure. This photo is of the end where the contestants had to round the corner and begin the other direction. Lots of dramatic accidents happened reight here. Nice seat he had.

This is a diagram of the state of the art harbour he built. This was his crowning achievement. His goal was to rival the port of Alexandria in Egypt. It had a market, an aqueduct, baths, government and business offices, villas, pagan temples, a circus  and so on. The port was a masterpiece in engineering. He used a special new kind of cement that hardened under water!

There is a lot more I could talk about, but let me end with this. The Roman Theater. This theater could seat 3, 500 people.
 
Here our group of 950 people, pilgrems from 40 countries are moving into this Roman Theater for a special event. That evening we had a show by a group called "The Planetshakers" and it was awesome. Can you imagine, sitting in a theater, listening to a music group, with the Mediterranean Sea in the background. Wow.

Below is the view we had as we came to the parking lot to look for our buses after the show. Here they are, 20 buses lined up in a row and in order from # 1 - 20. Our bus was bus number six, the best bus group of all, of course.

In an hour and a half, we would be back in our hotel in Jerusalem, ready for a good nights sleep.

The last place we went to see was "The Place of the Skull". Three of the Gospels called the place where Jesus was crucified, by exactly that name. They also confirmed that it was just outside the city walls. Unfortunately, they did not say where nor near which gate.

At this point, there are 3 places that are considered prime possibilities for the crucifixion. The other two are The Church of the Holy Sepulchre and another location to the N. E. side just outside the walls also. Today I will just present the information we got on this location just north of the existing walls of Jerusalem near the Damascus Gate. It is marked on the map below as numbers 1 and 2. (Golgotha an Garden Tomb.)

It is being taken care of by a non-profit organization which made a very clear, realistic, honest and factual presentation about the possibility of this place being the place of choice for the true location of the crucifixion.

In 1883 a British General Charles Gordon was visiting Jerusalem and as he looked north from inside the walls, he noticed a cliff with the indentations you see in both the photo above and the photo below. What he noticed was the image of a face or skull marked by indentations or caves in the rock face. It looked like a skull. Would that be why it was called exactly that?

The photo above was taken in 1883. The photo below was taken by me in 2013. The photo above has the mouth part of the face, mine below dose not. By this time a bus stop parking lot has been build which now covers the mouth part of the image.

General Gordon remembered the Gospels description as the place of the skull and so began an investigation. Over time several discoveries made it clear that this could certainly be the place. First, there was a tomb carved out of the rock nearby. Secondly, a hug wine press was discovered. One of the things to consider was that it would have taken money to carve out a personal tomb. Who had that kind of money? The person who owned this tomb was Joseph of Arimathia and it turns out he was wealthy. Near the tomb a huge winepress was also discovered. Confirming, by it's size that whoever owned it was a person of means. Could it be this Joseph dude?

Also, the Romans did their executions In public places. On high ground and in a place of high traffic. The purpose was that this was to be seen by the people to let them know that there were consequences for criminal activity. It had to do with deterrence. This location fit all of those criteria.

Also, the Bible mentions there was a garden nearby. For that to work would mean there would have to be a water source for this garden. Would you believe that near this tomb there is also one of the largest water cisterns ever found in Jerusalem!

This is the photo I took, and as you can see a parking lot covers the lower part of the face today.

The grey area of this map is Jerusalem at the time of Jesus. 

Below is the tomb found nearby. This was no ordinary tomb. First, it was large. You can see from the illustration it even had a "weeping chamber". You will also notice that of the two locations for bodies the upper one is longer. Upon examining this oddity, it was noticed that the longer one was "hurriedly lengthened". It is thought that the tomb was build for Joseph of Arimathea and that when he donated it for Christ body, he had to get it lengthened as Jesus must have been taller than he was. Of note here is the Shroud of Turin which indicated that Jesus would have been 5' 11" tall.

The tomb also has a trough for a large stone that would be rolled to cover the opening. The opening originally was smaller , as it was enlarged for the ease of public entry. The round stone is no longer in existence. 

This is the large winepress, also nearby.

What do the archeologists think? My book "Eyewitness Travel" page 126 says that archeologists have concluded that the tombs are of a different configuration than in Jesus day and actually date back to the 9th - 7th century BC. Seems interesting that there is this quick dismissal on their part. Archeologists have been know to have been wrong or make conclusions base on personal biases! Hmmmm.

Regardless, pilgrims are coming regularly, and in droves. We had a very special time, sitting in the beautiful garden. Contemplating what Christ had done for us. We sang and worshiped together. The story of Christ's crucifixion and resurrection was read. It all fit, every part of the story clicking into place as we listened, seeing it all before our eyes. A sense of the reality of it all had a huge impact on me. Then we partook of the Lords Supper together. It was a very special moving experience.

Did it matter, the actual location? This may not be the location, it may be the exact place it all happened. It was enough that we were in Jerusalem. That we could feel His presence. That we were seeing what Jesus saw. He was so near.

For me it is a matter of the heart. That's what really matters! 

A stunning morning view of Jerusalem
and the Dome of the Rock
from the top of the Mount of Olives,
east of Jerusalem.

Early in the morning we had a worship service on the Mount of Olives with the vista above as the background.

One of the first things we had to adjust to was the many peddlers who zeroed in on our group of 950 people. It was a worship service so the fellow with the camel never did get anyone to take a ride. The Gentleman with the donkey had better luck.

Interestingly, the speaker (lower left) spoke of the humility of Christ as he rode the donkey on Palm Sunday from the Mount of Olives into Jerusalem. Here I had a real donkey standing in front of me!

The Mount of Olives has a lot of cemeteries on it's slops. These are still open for business. You see the coffins above. Why are there so many stones on them? I learned that when people visit the burial site of their loved one, they leave a rock as a remembrance and sign of their visit.

Next was a visit to the Garden of Gethsemane.

It had been this very morning that we had received the news that Wilma's youngest sister's cancer had returned with a vengeance. She had had a bout with cancer, had an operation and just over a month ago, had been declared free of cancer. Then on the Aug. long weekend, having a backache, she had gone in to emergency. The result was that her cancer had returned with a vengeance. Today, this morning we had received a commination that the diagnosis now was terminal. She had at best a few weeks to live, that is without treatment. So our hearts were already heavy, as we entered the gates above to see the place Jesus agonized and suffered with the expectation of pain, suffering and the death, for us, that was to come. It was a very emotional experience for all four of us.

In Gethsemane above is an olive tree that is believed to be 2000 years old. It has been carbon dated and the belief is that it stood here when Jesus prayed, sweating blood while his disciples slept.

The photo beside it is of the beautiful "Basilica of Agony" located beside the Garden of Gethsemane.

This may seem like a wasted picture. In fact, this is the "Eastern Gate" of the city. It is sealed shut. Despite this, this gate is the most important and significant gate of the whole Old City of Jerusalem. It has been said that this gate is to remain closed, sealed until the Messiah comes. When he dose come, it will be a replay of his triumphal Palm Sunday march into Jerusalem. On that day he rode the "new" untrained donkey down the Mount of Olives, through the Kidron Valley and into Jerusalem through this Eastern Gate.

Since many of us unfortunately never read about or hear about this kind of prophetic stuff in our churches, let me just give you an inkling of what prophecy has to do with this particular gate.

In the book of Ezekiel the prophet is writing about a "tour" God is giving him of the future temple during the Millennium. In chapter 43 God gives him a vision of God's glory entering this Millennial Temple from the east, through the Eastern Gate. In v. 7 he says, "Son of man, this is the place of My throne and the place of the soles of my feet where I will dwell among the sons of Israel forever." Then in 44:1-3 He reveals that the Eastern Gate will be closed and will not be opened until the Messiah returns in glory.

Four hundred years ago in 1517 the Turks ruled Jerusalem under Suleiman the Magnificent. He commanded that the ancient walls be rebuilt. But, ordered that the Eastern Gate be sealed up with stones.

There are many story's as to why he did this. Probably the most believable one suggested by commentators is that there was a rumor while the walls were being rebuilt, that the Messiah was coming. He called a meeting with some Jewish Rabbis and asked them to tell him about Messiah. He learned from them that he was a great military leader who would be sent by God from the east and enter the city through the Eastern Gate and liberate the city from foreign control.

In response, he had the gate sealed. Plus he put a Muslim cemetery in front of the gate, thinking that no Jewish holy man or Messiah would defile himself by walking through a Muslim cemetery.

Since that time the gate has remained sealed. All the other eight gates are open. Could this mean that we are living in the latter times, and that this gate is waiting it's opening, with the return of the Messiah? According to the Bible this time he would be coming with all of his saints as a victorious conqueror riding a white horse. This is a different Jesus than we are used to. Here He will be splattered with blood. He will have a tattoo, He will be conquering warrior...He will be awesome! And He will open this gate and enter Jerusalem through it like he did when he rode the donkey 2000 years ago. Only this time to stay and rule forever. (Check Rev. 19, Isa. 61, Zechariah 14. & Psa. 24.)

Next stop was a store of antiquities where we could part with some of our shekels.

Here in the menorah section you can see the ladies found some things they were interested in.

I found something interesting also, only it was in a far corner of the store. Ancient knives and daggers.

I spoke to the sales person on the right here holding a $1,800 dollar blade from Abraham's time. The others were mostly from Roman times. He offered to sell this one for $1000 but I graciously declined.
 
I've just finished a Throne of Swords so these old blades caught my interest.

There is one more thing we did on this day, but I will explain it in my next blog.

This is the valley of Elah
where David killed Goliath.

We are walking in the dry riverbed of the brook here, up ahead you can see a lot of small stones. I, like many others took home five smooth stones. The hillside you see above to the left of the brook, was the Israelite side of the valley.

Gilla our tour guide had an interesting observation. She had been in the army and commented how some people are naturally gifted as to what to do and what approach to take on a battlefield. Many famous generals like Patton, Eisenhower, Ulysses S. Grant, Alexander the Great, etc. had this gift naturally. So did David. She made the point that even at this young age David knew he could not use Saul's armor. That he needed to go with a weapon like the sling. That this was the right weapon because in this way he could stay out of range of Goliaths sword.

She also reminded us that in the Biblical story in 1 Samuel 17 the word or name of "God" doesn't show up till around vs. 26 when David asserts  that Goliath, in mocking Israel is mocking the God of Israel. No leader of Israel's army had mentioned God up to this point, only David, even at that tender age and limited experience had an incredible understanding of what was going on.

Artwork in one of the parks in Tel aviv
represents Abraham offering Isaac, Jacob's ladder
and the defeat of Jericho.

After that we visited the city of Joppa, now known as Tel  Avive.
In Joppa, now known as the "Old City" section in Tela vive, was the home of Simon the Tanner where Peter praying on the rooftop got the vision of the ritually unclean animals. Meanwhile the Roman Centurion a gentile who served God with deep devotion, sent messengers for Peter to come and see him in Caesarea. Peter, put his doubts and religious restrictions aside and journeyed to Caesarea. It would have been, like it is now, a beautiful scenic one day walk along the Mediterranean Sea. In the end, these gentiles received the Holy Spirit and thus it was clear they to were to be part of God's family of faith.

Skyline of modern Tel Aviv
along the shores of the Mediterranean Sea.

Then, we were on or way north to Caesarea. On the way we passed a new soccer sports stadium which looked very suspiciously like our own new Investor's Group stadium here in Winnipeg. We began speculating as to who was copying who here. Very interesting is it not? I wonder if the Asper's had anything to do with this, using this as an idea for our stadium?

Then, at last, for the first time on the tour we drove "up" to Jerusalem. (2,700 ft. above sea level) It was something we had all come for, to see and to walk on the streets of Jerusalem. It was an emotional moment when, as we approached the city the song "Oh Jerusalem" was played on the bus sound system. I don't think there was a dry eye in the bus.

Jerusalem is the Holiest city of the world. Every stone breaths history and story. Pilgrims have come for centuries from all corners of the world to visit, to this city that promises a spiritual experience, interesting tours and experiences of wonder and spiritual expansion of the soul. It is a place of culture, history, archeology, theater, music, food, architecture and mystery.

But the heart of Jerusalem is the Old City. Surrounded by a medieval wall. Housing the Holy sites of the main religions of the world. But it's main feature being the Western Wall, also known as the "Wailing Wall".

This is a photo of the Old City taken from the south. Right in the centre is the Dome of the Rock which is where the temple would have stood. You can see the southern walls of the Old City spreading out before the Dome site.

To the right of the Old City you can see there is a valley coming towards us and veering off the photo to the for-ground right. This is the Kidron Valley. You can see the steep cliff on the left side of the Kidron Valley in front of the walls, or south of the walls. On the top of this cliff, was the site of the original Jebusite city King David seized and called Jerusalem, making it his capital city. When Solomon became king and began building the temple the city simply extended itself towards the north taking in the area where the Dome of the Rock now stands. Solomon then also extending the city walls around the whole temple area, dramatically increasing the size of the city.

That evening after supper Larry, Odia, Wilma and I took the 15 min. walk to the Old City for the first time. It was Larry and Odia's first time walking the streets of Jerusalem. We entered at the Jaffa Gate and just sat down on the benches in the centre of the open area there to take it all in. Sabbath services were just ending and a wide variety of worshipers in their various hats, prayer shawls, robes and dress walked by us on their way out of the Old City and home. What an interesting assortment of the different nationalities and  branches of Judaism to see. It was awesome.

It was great to see our kids so excited and enthralled. Larry did his FBI thing, taking photos from some discreet position of some of the folk walking by. Whenever he had the chance he'd greet someone with "Shalom Chabot" and got responses. We were kind of giddy, pinching ourselves over the reality of being there. We were in Jerusalem. Who would have believed it, a dream come true.

Tomorrow, we were going to begin to explore this ancient city, we could hardly wait.

This is the scene that greeted us
 as we got off the Bus
 in the middle of the Judean Desert.

As the bus pulled up to park we could see the scene through the windows. Camel rides awaited us. What hit me as I stepped off the bus was, yes the heat, but also the sound and smell of camels. Camels seem to do a lot of grunting. Also, they are not toilet trained, so there is a smell, plus one must watch were one steps!

When we signed up for the tour, we had been informed that we would be staying one night in a Bedouin tent. We had just finished four nights in a 4 star hotel, and this was to be the night, the night of all nights, where we would have to forgo some 4 star comforts and actually sleep overnight in a Bedouin tent! We had not been given any details so expectations and guesses as to what would ensue were rampant. Anticipation was at a fever pitch.

The morning sun shines through the tent material.

This particular place was set up for group rentals, large or small. The compound was arranged with several different kinds of tents in a circle formation. The centre open area then being a kind of courtyard where small and large groups can gather. You can relax under a canopy for shade, conversation and drinks. Or larger groups can have meetings. Our group of 950 for example had a worship service that night in this courtyard, under the stars.

The various tents are for sleeping, for meals or for group meetings/seminars or workshops. The tents are permanent and decorated with colorful rugs and blankets woven from goats hair. All the floors were covered, also with colorful matts. There were wood stoves in the dining tent and a variety of table and chair combinations for the guest to chose from to eat their meals. 

Being warm, a lot of the side walls of the tent were tied up so the desert air could move through keeping the tents cool.

The dining tent.

This is one of the "speaking" tents. It was here that the owner give us his welcome speech explaining what the life of the Bedouin is all about. He also opened it up for questions and we discovered 
that he had three wives and 21 children.

The open courtyard.
Notice the matts on the ground.

Above is another one of the many impressive desert vistas
all around our Bedouin accommodations.

If you are ever visiting Israel, I would recommend taking in a night at a Bedouin Oasis in the desert. It is exciting and different and informs you of another aspect of life in Israel. Feels like actually touching a very real, core part of the country and people.

Then you can appreciate the life of the Bedouin and also your good fortune in your modern hotel, B&B etc. accommodations.

Here some of our new friends from our bus are trying to look like real Bedouin desert travelers!

And so, after the "Cry in the Desert" worship service in the courtyard, we all went to sleep. Aug. 29 - day 11 had been a long one. One of the women on our bus had a walker calculator and she had clocked 6.5 miles and 82 flights of stairs for this day. No wonder we were tired.

Compared to Israel, we are very boring
in our cultural and religious dress.

On Sept. 4, 2013 - 8:00am. we stood in the new Winnipeg airport waiting for our baggage to appear. We were home.

The strange thing was, it is a new airport here in Winnipeg and so we were not used to it. Only Wilma, who travels quite a bit felt at home, for the rest of us it felt like just another foreign airport.

Another thing, it all seemed so boring. No strange people walking around in interesting and different kindress. We'd become so accustomed to seeing a raft of different religious and cultural garb everywhere we went in Jerusalem. We are a very boring bunch here in Canada.

When we got to the house, I had to go shopping for groceries. No more buffets! Too bad! Another thing, I had not driven a vehicle since Aug. 16. so it was strange to hop into a vehicle and drive again. Felt good.

But, most of all, we were grateful and overwhelmed by the experience of having been to Israel. We still cannot believe it actually happened. We could not stop processing and talking about our impressions and thoughts. It was an experience of a lifetime and will impact us forever.

It's strange right now to know you have changed, but not to know quite where or how much exactly.

It was fantastic to come home to family and our grandson. It did not take long for him to become comfortable with us again and we got right back into the business of Grandparents. Getting him all wound up and excited, running around the house with him.

But boy were we tired. Wanting to keep our sleeping for night-time, we all battled against nodding off. Some of us won, others lost. After supper, I nodded off for bit, would you believe sitting on the couch, in the midst of a social situation! Embarrassing or what!

But, the demands of life are pressing in. We all want to get back to our normal lives. We know we have bee impacted but its only with the passing of time that we will realize just how much and in what ways we have been impacted by this experience. Possibly you, our friends will see it before we do and alert us to some of this as time goes by.

We are overwhelmed and grateful for the experience.

Also, it is good to be home.

We have arrived at Toronto at around 12:45am. Our next flight departs at 6:30pm. We have again parked ourselves in a corner near a Tim Horton's to wait the 5.5 hrs. before our next flight.

If you would like to know, and I'm sure you would, we have now been at this traveling home thing for a few hours. Here's the facts:

1. We waited at the Ben Gurion airport, due to the initial delay for 8 hours. We played Phase 10 to pass the time. Odia won. As usual!!!We finally had enough time to actually finish the whole 10 phases of the game. Fantastic.

2. The flight from Ben Gurion Airport to Toronto was 12 hours.

3. We will wait here in Toronto 5.5 hours.

4. The flight to Winnipeg will take just over 2 hours I believe.

So, if you have been counting, that is a total of about 27.75 hours. I would show you a picture of us but will not as I do want to live to see tomorrow. Here in Toronto we are snacking, have our baggage around us, and we are on our computers and I-phones catching up, emailing etc. I would show you a group photo but I look a bit scraggly, well quite scraggly, so no photos.

Looking forward to Winnipeg....!

Later,
Cliff

This hole on the face of this cliff
 is "Cave # 4" where several clay containers
 of scrolls were found.

During our first week in Israel, Wilma and I had visited the Israel Museum and visited the exhibit showing some of the original fragments of scripture that had  been found in Qumran desert caves. I was very interested and excited that now I got to go to the very place these many scrolls of Biblical texts had been found.

This discovery, around the time Israel became a nation, was the most important and spectacular discovery in a long time. This find jumped back 1000 years from the latest Biblical texts that had been found up to that point. This find was of scriptures that had been copied 300 years AD. Questions of authenticity were now erased as for example the complete book of Isaiah was found in one of the caves, completely intact and as we have it in our Bibles today. That is so reassuring is it not?

How was it that these texts were found in this remote wilderness? Our guide told us the interesting story. It was so interesting that it all began with some Bedouin shepherds looking for their lost goats. So innocent yet profound.

Not finding their goats they began checking everywhere. Seeing a hole in the ground, thinking they might be in there, they threw pebbles into the cavern. Upon hearing a strange sound, like breaking pottery, they were confused. Climbing down into the cave, they discovered pots filled with ancient scrolls of writing. The thought was that these could be good for making a few shekels at the market, so brought some home to see if the rest of the Bedouin group felt the same. They did!

That was how, slowly, the archeological world became aware that someone had made some kind of an amazing find. It's quite a long and involved story, but they finally followed up on these amazing ancient writings seen in the market, discovered these shepherds and had them show them where they came from. And the rest is history! Amazing.

In the end some 900 valuable fragments were found continuing to confirm that the Bible we are reading to today is authentic. Wow.

Besides that, there was a community of Essenes living there. A Jewish group who broke away from Judaism and lived a more extreme aesthetic life. This was a community of about 200 who were also destroyed by the Romans during the 70AD period when they destroyed the temple.

Below is an illustration of the village and community they created during that time.

Our tour, a "God TV" Tour, had a crew interviewing many of the 950 pilgrims who were part of the group. Here, at the Qumran they found Larry and interviewed him about his personal impressions of what he was seeing and experiencing here and at the different places we had already viseted. He did very well and will probably appear on God TV sometime in the future.

Just a quick note to let you all know we are ok.

At 8:45am we (all four of us) got on the shuttle to the Ben Gourion Airport from our Hotel and in a few minutes learned that there had been an incident at the airport. A service truck had been stolen and had been driven towards the airport. They had gone through two security areas when shots had been fired by security to stop the vehicle. The driver and passenger ran but were arrested. It was not a politically motivated incident.

For security reasons our Air Canada 1:10pm flight had been delayed. As a result our flight is now leavening at about 6:30pm. Therefore we are "Camped Out" in the airport with our luggage in tow. We have found a coffee area and claimed a corner for the duration.

It gives us time to dial down, discuss and process our experiences here in Israel.

I am so impressed with the spirit and attitude of the Israelites. They have all served in the military for two years after high school. Everyone, all civilians are experienced in military matters. Every one is very calm!

Not sure about connecting flights now in Toronto. Will we be staying overnight somewhere? How delayed will we be in the end?
Who knows. 

Later,
Cliff