Half day break

24 degrees in Tel Aviv/Jaffa today

A rare break today not from work but from Jerusalem. I was called to go help our Jaffa community this afternoon. I took advantage of a free car ride as the parish priest of Jaffa was in Jerusalem for a meeting. We drove to Jaffa at 2pm and much as I love to see the scene of the central plains in winter ... I fell asleep in the car because months of exhaustion crept up on me. When I woke up ... I found myself in Rishon leZion, a city 20 minutes from Tel Aviv. The parish priest needed to go to a non-kosher supermarket to get some groceries ... meaning he needed to buy pork. Imagine my surprise (or horror) to find the cold storage section filled with various parts of the pig ... from tail to ears. Pork is an absolute no-no for jews and muslims so there are very very few shop that sell pork and always at a very high price. In Rishon lesson there are few ultra-orthodox jews so such a supermarket is possible. If it were in Jerusalem, the ultra-orthodox would have burnt the place down.

10 degrees in Jerusalem at the
same time

Once I finished my job, I prepared to go home. It was a nice 4 hour break to get out of Jerusalem. I'm beginning to find it suffocating to live and work in there. I need to get far away for some fresh air. And coincidentally it was the superior of the Jaffa monastery's birthday. He asked me to stay for dinner and prepared a room for me to stay overnight but I couldn't. I have to meet the bishop in Jerusalem at 8am tomorrow and then confessions at 3.30pm. Too bad for me. I would have loved to stay overnight and get a very well deserved sleep with no worries.

Tel Aviv was warm and sunny ... 24 degrees. It was like summer. A T-shirt was enough. But after the 45 min. ride back to Jerusalem, I had to wear to hoodies to keep warm. Jerusalem was only 10 degrees. It's amazing how the weather can be so different in 2 places 60 km apart.

In the news, there's a shocking article of how rightwing groups coerce arabs into selling their property ... including blackmail and threats.  https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.833169

One positive news though is that the Syrian city of Raqa has seen the first Mass celebrated since it's liberation from ISIS control. The surviving christians celebrated Christmas in the bombed out church and lit candles ... there was little cheer but lots of thanksgiving.  

Meantime the Post Office has warned that letters and parcels will face major delays because they're changing their operating system which require several days closure of the entire postal system in Israel. Horrors.