New beginnings

Pomegranates

 The Jewish New Year begins in 24 hours and there's tension in the air. More jews are walking to the Wailing Wall to pray and there has been some altercations between them and arabs. Still other arab shopkeepers are undaunted and make brisk sales of fruit and veggies with the jews who are forbidden to work (cook) on the New Year's day. Pomegranates are the symbol of the New Year as the many seeds symbolize the many mercies of God. Locals also eat apples with honey ... a sweet beginning to the year. It's actually quite nice if you can get the tart, green variety that goes well with honey.

The New Year ushers a series of other holy days such as Yom Kippur and Sukkot and Simhat Torah which are also no-work days. Public transport, shops and government offices will all shut. The country practically comes to a standstill for 3 weeks. I read an italian article saying anyone who who doesn't like work but still wants to be paid, should work in Israel.

I've had a very tiring day. I had Mass at 5.45am at the Ivrea convent, then walked 4 km to the Ratisbon chapel for the Eritrean Mass at 8.45am and then it was finishing off some translations and research. Then someone wanted to bring donations of clothes so I wanted for him to arrive. I'm feeling very tired as for the past few days I've been getting up at 2am and sleeping late because of the dust in my room. I'm hoping they finish the job soon ... 2 months of dust and asthma. I was told only on Monday will it end. Well at least it's the start of the New Year and there's a promise of clean air again.