Thursday 12th was one of our best days here. That morning we did archaeology sifting for 2-3hrs in the morning. It was an absolute ball. Girls loved it, we loved it. We sifted through piles of dirt and found a piece of the marble floor from the 2nd Beit Hamikdash - it was in our hands - unbelievable. The story behind this is that the Muslim Waqf removed a huge amount of debris classified as rubbish(2500y.o. 'rubbish') from the Temple Mount about 15years ago. It caused a furore because they did it without a permit and without a decent archaeology test. Of course the 6000tons of rubbish they removed was 'littered' with priceless items of archaeological significance. After 5 years of this current team of arch. sifters going through it, they're still only about 20% done. You only pay 5bucks and you can help them - lots of fun. And its the only place in the country that does this with very young children, so Hannah was happy playing around. Checkout our pics on Picasa.
We were on the Mount of Olives already so then we jumped into the tunnel and 30mins later we went for a dip and mudpool at our favourite Dead Sea resort Kalia Beach. Always heaps of fun.
Had dinner at the Last Chance restaurant on our way back, and then came home at 7.30.
Friday was a little unspectacular. There is a cute street market at the top of Bezalel (on Fridays) that we wandered through and had b'fast there. We also got to Katzefet(?) ice-cream shop on BenYehuda just before Shabbos - it was raning and cold but it was very yummy. I think it was known as the old 'Dream&Cream' shop.
So my Shabbos plans for going to Hebron for Parshat Chayei Sarah with a group of Chabadniks were nixed, but we had a most enjoyable Shabbos in Nahlaot. Mayanot Shule in the morning, then the Ganz's for lunch (where Hannah went to creche) and then finished off with Seudat Shlishit at the home of Rabbi Brott from Yeshivat Simchat Shlomo (ie. Carlebach). It was a very enjoyable Shabbos. Motzei Shabbos, Rachel&David Salkin came over and we had a nice evening around our kitchen table with them.
Yesterday was a bit of a blur. We spent virtually the entire day at Malcha [Jerusalem] Mall. Hannah was at creche in the morning and i even left the girls at the mall while i went to pickup Hannah at lunchtime. We love their food court where every single vendor is kosher - and it all tastes great. It's a hard choice for lunch! Then last night our very good friends Dalia&Benny came over. They wanted to see how the girls had gone at school (they did a big mitzva and helped us get the girls into Rehavia School). They were most impressed, especially with how well the kids had gotten on socially.
Today, Monday(16th), we slept in a bit and then jumped in the car and drove to Kever Shimshon (Samson's tomb), which is on the top of a mountain in the Eshtaol forest overlooking BetShemesh. It was really terrific. I read out the story of Shimshon's life from Wikipedia(on my mobile) and the girls were captivated. Beautiful scenery surrounded us and the girls were so eager to listen to what came next in his adventurous life. Great.
On the way home we made a quick detour to Kever Shmuel (Samuel's Tomb). By that stage we were all a bit tired but it still made a good impression on all of us.
Now we're starting to pack up as Thursday we drive up to Amirim for a week, which we're using as a base camp to explore the north. Looking forward to seeing the Peterson family again...
Tomorrow is probably our last big tiyul around J'lem - we've hired a private armoured vehicle and we're going to Kever Rachel and the Ma'arat Hamachpela in Hebron. I wanted to jump in our car and drive there, but Rochelle wouldn't have a bar of that idea. The girls are very excited to see the tomb and they understand all about it's history.
We've been gone over 2 months now... See you in 6 weeks!
PRTGEH
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Latest update from the Steinbergs In Israel...
Web photo album: http://picasaweb.google.com/steinbergpicasa
Blog online: http://steinbergsinisrael.blogspot.com
GoogleMaps Steinberg Israel Tour: http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF&msa=0&msid=101845790702321945414.00046ae3bb9b8c8d66f12
Skype Paul username: 'paulsteinberg'
Skype Steinberg Family username: 'prsteinberg'
Jerusalem address: 27 Narkis, Nahlaot.
Telephone: (03) 9015-9718 (local call in Australia)
Telephone: +972-(0)52-3396805 (in Israel)
Time: Melbourne Aust (AEST) minus -9 hours (e.g. Melb 10am=J'lem 1am)
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