Weekend

Cloudy morning that turned sunny

It was a beautiful day today, the sun was shining after a rather cloudy sunrise but the wind remains very cold. The temperature hovered around 6 degrees. I had a conference/workshop to attend so I was busy all morning. It was quite interesting and I did learn a little something. That's because I had no chance to fall asleep ... the Custos was sitting behind me.

Beautiful bare tree

The weather will keep on being sunny till Tuesday when another storm will whip up. Further news today about the wreckage the storm wrought during the last 2 days. There are videos of huge waves crashing over the beaches in Tel Aviv onto the street and buildings along the coast. Scary. It was like the videos of last year's typhoon in Hong Kong and Macau.  And we're now told that winds were as strong as 120 km p hr. The desert landscape has changed because of rivers of water washing away sand, stone and boulders. Several cities had their electricity cut and many highways were flooded. I guess we'll see a repeat performance next Tuesday. 

Winter usually strips trees bare but with the storm, absolutely all leaves were blown off. Many trees lay totally bare and are amazing beautiful especially when the Municipality put lights under them. There is an iconic tree at Damascus Gate which everyone notices for it's stark beauty every winter. 

And a storm of a different kind: the Chief Rabbi of Israel openly supported the army chaplain rabbi against women serving in the army. Now the Minister of Defense has ordered the army to ban the Chief Rabbi from army events. https://www.timesofisrael.com/liberman-bans-top-rabbis-from-idf-events-over-anti-women-comments/

We read of a report that an Indonesian christian was whipped because he sold alcohol. Such intolerance in Indonesia ... which has a track record of muslim fanaticism. Christian persecution is everywhere ... but nobody bats an eyelid. It's sickening.  https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/indonesian-christian-whipped-for-selling-sharia-banned-booze-9877576?cid=FBcna