Tonight marks the next to last night we are here and our last erev Shabbat (afaik) until Sukkot! It is a bitter sweet time of impending separation and trips to the airport, but we had a special evening of fish, wine and salad with lively conversation around the table.

Late this afternoon, Rosa and Victor, of Germany, began preparing fish for dinner.  She is some kind of good cook!  Our whole menu and food prep here has been an adventure based on finding the desired ingredients or suitable substitutes, and Rosa has proved to be more than up to the challenge.  Mother of 9, she is quite experienced in the kitchen and tonight proved it again!

Yesterday, we purchased several fresh fish in the shook when we flew through getting ready for the high Shabbat and Rosa turned them and a few vegetables along with potatoes into a sumptuous meal.  Fred and I contributed a salad…

While dinner was being prepared, our gracious host, Tzemach, invited several of our group downstairs to a dinner he had prepared.  I drifted down as they were finishing to ask a question and he had saved wine and a few tasty morsels of his creations.  He can cook, too!!  See pics for his table on the lower patio!

Once we sat down, we ate until we were stuffed, then Marie broke out a box of chocolate to enjoy with the remaining wine. Temperature was perfect on the balcony with a light breeze and fading light.  It was wonderful.

Unfortunately, minutes after dinner, Debbie received a call concerning her very ill father and after a quick gathering for prayer she decided to rapidly pack and head for the airport in hopes of catching an early flight home.  Marie and I took her to the airport where Abba went before us and made a way for her to be on a flight direct to New York before midnight!!  It marked the first departure from our merry international band.

So, for our friends around the world who are celebrating or preparing to celebrate Shabbat, we bid you Shalom from Jerusalem!!