Shalom chaverim!

It's spring in Israel! I brought home a bouquet of wild flowers. As Pesach (Passover) approached, you could find flowers for sale on every street corner, so I also bought my sweet seven roses. (Lest you think I've suddenly become extraordinarily romantic, let me point out that flowers in Israel are also extraordinarily abundant and inexpensive at this time of year. Also, the Holy Spirit encouraged me . . . Is God a romantic? Well, he did invent flowers, singing birds, man and woman, and even inspired Song of Songs!)

Our Pesach was relatively quiet. We couldn't find a public congregational seder in Jerusalem or Haifa, so we celebrated as a family. Our new friends and home group leaders, Marc and Leah Chopinsky, lent us some nice dishes, wine glasses, haggadot, etc. (They had 14 invited guests already, or they would have invited us as well . . .) The next day we went up to the Carmel Assembly for a Passover celebration. This congregation has a new building in a Druse Village on Mount Carmel. The views are spectacular, looking down on Haifa Bay and the K'rayot, where we live. Riding around Haifa, up and down a steep ridge, is an adventure! Instead of a seder, the folks at Carmel Assembly put on a play about the theme of the sacrifice lamb in the Bible, from Abraham's sacrifice to the Passover lamb to Messiah the Lamb. Then they put out a feast of a Passover meal, from eggplants and other hor d'oeveses to strawberries and Passover cookies. A great time . . . but still, we all missed the Seders at home with family and friends and Beit Simcha. Thanks, Melody and Shelley for the good reports from home!

We're settling in at Ohalei Rachamim. As I mentioned already, Marc and Leah Chopinsky are our home group leaders and fast becoming friends. Some of you might recognize Marc from the musical group Israel's Hope. Marc co-leads the worship team here - he has the big beard, behind Eitan Shiskoff, who leads the congregation). Adam enjoys the big screen TV and Sega games while he visits with their son Eli. We're also getting to know Moshe (Marvin) and Katya Morrison and their children - probably more so after Pesach, when things settle down for them. Moshe led a congregation in Baltimore before making aliyah.

Adam and Abigail enjoy the park around the corner from our apartment. Aren't they cute, clambering on a camel?

This week we finally head out on our first major expedition, to Jerusalem, then to Arad (where we'll visit with Milt and Lura Maimon) near Massada and the Dead Sea. Hopefully the children will soon get a ride on a real camel!

From: Glenn David Blank