Shabat, April 22 - Ma Nishma! Which is Hebrew for a general “Hi, how are you doing?” sort of greeting. And a blessed Eastertide to all of you who are reading my blog. Christ is truly risen indeed, and I’m still feeling the meaning and power of this reality after the incredible Holy Week that I experienced here in Jerusalem.

This week has been exceptional in another way as well: I hardly had much work to do! Because it was the end of Passover, and we at Bridges observe the Jewish holidays to accommodate the people we serve, we only worked a half day on Tuesday (the holiday eve) and had Wednesday completely off (conclusion of Passover). On Thursday, I HAD to go to Netanya for the day to do spring cleaning at the apartment that Bridges has available there for retreats, staff getaways, volunteer breaks, family vacations, etc. Netyana is a recreation community north of Tel Aviv, on the Mediterranean, and the Bridges apartment sits right on the beach there! Thursday was warm and sunny too, so we completely opened up the huge patio windows as we worked and let the sea air blow through the rooms. With six of us washing windows, dusting, scrubbing shelves, cleaning the oven, sweeping floors, and doing general maintenance, it didn’t take too long to accomplish our task. We took a mid-morning coffeebreak, sitting on the patio and soaking up the warmth and beauty of the Mediterranean, right there at our feet, took an extended lunch outdoors, and just before we left for home, James (my supervisor) insisted that I go for a walk on the beach and wade in the clear warm water, since I wasn’t staying for the weekend with the rest of the group. On the drive home, he took me on a gorgeous backroads route that he discovered during his five years of serving with Bridges, through rolling farmland, green forests, vineyards, steep mountainous terrain--always ascending, going up and up to Jerusalem. James is a pretty aweome boss! Finally, as ever, Friday is the eve of shabat and so we only worked a half day again. We had a similar schedule the week of Passover too, so it’s going to be rough returning to a regular, full week next week. Fortunately, James has promised us that we have a variety of jobs to do so that will make the week interesting.

The pictures will show you what I did over the past week. Enjoy!






Photos: Monday’s work project: putting up handrails at an apartment complex for a blind and ailing Jewish woman so she can get out more easily. Her daughter generously provided us with coffee, tea, and cookies (no yeast--it was Passover!)