Purim Starts Early in Israel

The Purim countdown timer says it is just 10 days and 18.5 hours until Purim. But they start celebrating Purim early in Israel, right after Tu b'Shevat in fact. Tu b'Shevat was Saturday, January 30th this year. As soon as Shabbat ended, preparations for Purim were in full swing.

 Dressed for Purim at Toys-r-Us

We went to Be'er Sheva that Saturday evening and visited the Toys-r-Us store in the "One" shopping center. The clerks were already dressed for Purim and the costume department was under full attack by the children. Just like Christmas after Thanksgiving, but Jewish!

Toys-r-Us in Be'er Sheva immediately after Tu b'Shevat

 

Tu B'Shevat Countdown Timer Started

I have just started the Tu'B'Shevat countdown timer in anticipation of the new year of the trees. (Rosh Chodesh Shevat is this Shabbos, and an annular eclipse of the sun is visible in Africa and Asia on Friday. The sun will be only about 10% eclipsed in Jerusalem around sunrise.) It should be interesting to see what sprouts in the desert after the (light) winter rains.

A Mitzpe Ramon rose garden waits for Spring

Mitzpe Ramon has a number of planted and tended trees and gardens thorough out town. Rose gardens seem to predominate. These plantings are obviously not indigenous to the desert. One park not far from our apartment has antique roses growing over an arbor. Antique roses have multiple bloomings through out the year and are extremely fragrant. Their genetic line is of great antiquity, dating back over 2,000 years to Roman times. I was first introduced to these wonderful roses by Sandy Lerner, one of the founders of Cisco systems, when I moved to Palo Alto in 1984. I had a fence full of different ones, some white, some red, some climbing, others bushes. The climbing roses eventually took over and killed a large locust tree near the house. It was amazing to see a large tree completely covered with blooming roses in the spring, usually during Pesach.

I have missed these roses and was glad to find them growing in Mitzpe Ramon.

Antique roses grow in Mitzpe Ramon