Invited In

It seems that life in Israel, for seven of us at Kaplan Hospital this trip, is ALL about food​!

​We spent five days last week, scraping, cleaning up, serving or eating food. Ray and Annette are the legends when it comes to getting big, ugly, greasy pots clean, and you don't even want to see the conveyor belt dishwasher​. It's as big and long as a small house! The Kaplan staff are assisted by five of us volunteers who do it all with a smile.​ ​We are also in the dining room/cafeteria, doing our best to make it tidy and clean.

Today was a welcome rest day and we all did our own thing​. Ours included a trip to the mall not far from ​our hotel for lunch and coffee. Some of the more adventurous caught a bus into Jerusalem.

Tonight, we all were invited to the homes of Kaplan staff members for Shabbat dinner. Our (Carol and Ray) hosts were Dr​.​ Ehud and Arielle Meltzer who kindly asked us to return after we had been at their home two years ago.​ ​There were lots of big Israeli hugs and a huge welcome was extended​. W​e felt so comfortable​, i​t was like returning home​! Soon after getting there the rest of the family arrived​ - ​grandma, two daughters, their son and daughter​-​in​-​law, their two children and three beautiful puppy dogs! There was lots of laughter as we sat down to catch up over dinner. The food was amazing and we just felt privileged to be a part of their family celebration on Shabbat.

So much of Hesed is about hopefully giving support to Israel and it's people, but more and more we realize that we ourselves receive more blessing than we could ever say! There has been pain, and discomfort, as we are not getting any younger, but we can say we have been truly blessed​. Our God is faithful and true​. Glory to Him!

Carol and Ray Greer
Sydney, Australia