The Month of Holidays

Yokneam/Megido opened up with their first regular season game last Tuesday night against Kiryat Tivon. The game was played at Kiryat Tivon’s home court. Thomas’s team travels to all their games in two vans because of the close proximity, which I am allowed to come along in as wellJ. Don’t you know that just delights me! All the games are played here in Israel and the farthest away game is no more than two hours. All home games are played in the next village over that’s only about five minutes away. Now, on with the game stats! Thomas had an amazing first game with 23 pts, 17rebs. 4 assist, and 4 steals in the 36 minutes he played! Both Americans, Thomas and Almaad Jackson (also from TexasJ) led the team in minutes and points. The gym was packed full of families and young children supporting and cheering the teams on with drums and air horns which gave the game a great atmosphere, but Megido left the court with a 7 point loss, 83-76. With not much time to think about the loss Yokneam/ Megido will open up with their first home game this Tuesday night against Maccabi Beer Yaakov. I’m looking forward to the first home game and getting to know the local crowd and supporters of Megido!

           

                                               
Coach to the left in white, Thomas, assistant coach in black, strength coach in orange

                                                     #4 Sanders

          

Since being in Israel, Thomas and I have had the opportunity to experience lots of the Jewish Holidays some of which we have already shared with you. The latest two we have had a chance to participate in were Yom Kippur and Sukkoth. Yom Kippur (October 8^th) is considered to be the Day of Atonement and is the most solemn day of the Jewish year. As we observed and learned about the history of this Holiday, we found that most Orthodox and traditional Jews will fast from food and water for the 24 hour period and commit to prayer during this time. As many explained to us, this is a day in which the Jewish community comes before God in their homes, synagogues, or even at the Western Wall to pray for forgiveness. During this Holiday, much of the country comes to a halt, especially in Jewish communities. Almost all the roads are empty, and no one is expected to drive on this particular day.

Thomas and I didn’t fast during Yom Kippur but we did however set aside time to pray and ask the Lord to draw near to us during this time and to continue to show and to teach us about his country.

Sukkoth (October 13^th) is known as the Feast of Tabernacles.  This is a Holiday that Jewish families build open-roof huts or shelters called sukkot on their porches or in their backyards.  This tradition is to remember the makeshift lodging of the Hebrew people under the leadership of Moses as they wandered in the desert for 40 years as nomads. The Sukkots are all designed with palm branch, or other permeable roof-tops, so that you can see the stars as you sleep.  This Tradition is also to commemorate the way life would have been thousands of years ago for the Hebrew people. Orthodox and traditional Jews will eat most of their meals in the sukkot and some will even sleep there for the duration of the holiday (7days). We were invited by our neighbors on Wednesday evening to have the first meal in their sukkah. Israel (the father) had been preparing and building this sukkot ever since Yom kippur and we had no idea what it was until a few days before when we learned there was another holiday approaching. Thomas and I kept guessing what it was going to be. I thought it was going to be a greenhouse for plants or some type of shelter for his wife to garden in and Thomas was sure it was going to be another addition to their house. As you have read, we were both wrong. It was to be a sukkot. The meal was done the same way as Shabbat but brought a much different atmosphere being in the sukkah eating.  The sukkah was creatively decorated by drapes of dates, old artwork from Israel’s daughter’s and family pictures. The roof was covered with bamboo and palm leaves that allowed you to still see the night sky and the bright stars as you ate. Next Thursday (October 20^th) marks the last day of the Sukkoth festival season called Simhat Torah. On this day, those reading the Torah will finish and immediately begin the annual cycle again. 

Below are pictures I took of different Sukkot's in the area. The first picture is our neighbors and the second one is the inside of it where we ate. The last two are other sukkot's I thought we unique and wanted to share. 

 Thomas and I went to a Sukkoth celebration at a near by village the evening after we ate with our neighbors in their sukkah. The celebration consisted of several dances that represented the Hebrew people as they walked through the Egyptian desert.

           This dance with the palm leaves represented the Hebrew departure from Egyptian slavery.

           This dance was done by the children to represent the building of a sukkot.

         The meaning of this dance with the colorful dresses was to show Jews should offer good hospitality during this holiday.

                    

This final dance represented praying for the rain for their crops they had planted.

With much thanks to Grandpa Sanders :), who shared a preview of an I-Max movie that will be showing in 2013 on Jerusalem, I would like to share with you all as well. Thomas and I have traveled to many of the sites they show and discuss in this preview clip, and we can’t wait for this I-Max to be released. 

Jerusalem  To watch the 7 minute preview click on the link to the left, Jerusalem.

Special thanks to my mom and dad whose packaged arrived this week!!! We sure have been enjoying all our goodies!! Thank you!! Love you.