Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem
Most of the "Three-Deckers" in Dorchester were graced with two large porches for each apartment: one in front and one in back. The one in front was mostly ornamental, but the one in back was part of the living space. In the days before clothes dryers, the back porch was for hanging clothes on the clotheslines strung between the rafters. During the hot summer months, the kitchen table got moved onto the porch, and during the worst sweltering nights of summer, people even slept out there.
Every Autumn, something strange happened. The back porches of our Jewish Neighbors suddenly sprouted strange-looking temporary huts, decorated like a Christmas Tree with branches and lights, fruits and flowers. One of my friends explained to me that it was called a "sukkah" and represented the 40 years of wandering in the desert. Uh...OK. Meanwhile, we prepared for Thanksgiving, not having a clue that the two holidays were related.
Nearly a quarter-century later, I visited Israel during the festive time. Everybody had the little huts in their yards, and there were huge ones for the public at the Western Wall and on Mt. Zion. The restaurants and cafes erected them for their guests, and in Haifa, the High-Rise apartment buildings had them on the little balconies that jut out from each apartment...all the way up. The culmination of this wonderful holiday is Simchat Torah (The Joy of the Torah) which signifies the last reading in the yearly calendar of the Reading of the Torah...meaning that tomorrow we start over with Genesis One. Religious people celebrate THIS event by dancing in the streets carrying the Scrolls with their beautiful coverings. I had the privilege of enjoying this spectacle, in the Sukkah, at the Western Wall, on my 32nd Birthday! (BEST BIRTHDAY PARTY EVAH!) The Holiday of Sukkot (Also known as The Feast of Tabernacles or the Feast of Booths) is one of the most joyous "shared meals" on the whole Jewish Calendar.
Come and Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem, For Our FRiends in Need, For Persecuted Believers, and For Our Beloved Nation.
Christ Is Risen. He is Risen Indeed.
God Bless America!
Blessings To All Who Visit This Garden of Prayer.
This Symbol Represents Christians in The Middle East, who desperately need our Prayers.
Hallelujah and Amen
ML/LTOS
