School reopens

Ap. Admin. presides
at Mass

Yesterday was the inauguration of the new academic year. The opening Mass was presided by the Apostolic Administrator (who is also a franciscan and alumnus of our school). There's a bumper of new students this year in both the BA level and postgrad level. There're not enough rooms in our monasteries around Jerusalem so other convents and hostels have to take them in.

Yom Kippur begins tonight ... solemn day of fasting for the jews. Even most non-observant jews will fast at least on Yom Kippur. It's not simply for the atonement of sins, as what is commonly thought, but also the removal of sins and a consideration of the severe consequence of sins that this feast is all about. And it begins at sunset with a strange prayer called the Kol Nidre. It's a prayer which pre-empts any sins committed in the coming year regarding vows and promises made but cannot be fulfilled. It asks for pardon and forgiveness of all these future sins ... so it sounds like you can go ahead and make empty promises anyway. Well I'm sure it's not meant to be like that ... but it sure offer a loophole.

Felled palm branches

5 days from now is the feast of Sukkoth or booths or huts. Public palm trees have been cut so that the palm branches are given to poor jews who can't afford to buy them to build huts for the feast. For 8 days they must eat all their meals inside these huts. A lot of food sold in shops will be fruit and vegetable based reflecting the autumn harvest ... so that's good for me.

The whole country is in jitters as the utterly inconsistent Trump announced he's pulling US troops out of Syria, leaving the ally Kurds to be killed by Turkish troops. It's a betrayal ... after the Kurds supported the US troops fighting off ISIS. Now Trump pulls the rug off their feet. Everyone from both parties as well as around the world condemns Trump as ungrateful and disloyal to allies. Which makes Israel panic because now they realise they cannot count on Trump to watch their back. He will betray anyone anywhere anytime. Utterly immoral. View this in the context of Iran's growing threat in our region and you can understand why it's a scary situation.