The 'Hebrew Hostel'- shalom and sabbaba

Tsofia- the first of many Israelis to visit us.

About three years ago, we picked up an Israeli girl who was hitchhiking her way around Ethiopia. Her name was Tsofia, and we had such a nice drive together that we invited her to stay with us in Turmi for a few days.
She was visiting the southern tribes before she went back to northern Ethiopia to teach Hebrew at a settlement of Jewish Ethiopians. They are called the ‘fallujah’- a remnant of Jews who migrated from Israel long ago in ancient times.
We said our goodbyes and went our separate ways. Then a week later she came to our town of Arba Minch. Wanting to contact us and come to our house to say hello, she went into an internet cafe. As she was typing an email (the only contact info she had)

This is peanut butter tea. It tastes as bad as it looks. Supposedly it gives you energy when hiking but seems like a waste of good peanut butter, to me!

Shakshuka did'nt last long!

Hadas and Shachar

and looking out the window, outside on the sidewalk Tom walked by! So we had another few days together at our house. Tsofia told all her friends if they are ever in Ethiopia they should call Tom and Teresa. And they did! Then thanks to Facebook, it seems we become the unofficial ‘Hebrew Hostel‘.

Miriam was quite the artist and left me a chalk drawing of a Mursi woman complete with lip plate and ear gages!

Now we have had at least 6 different groups of Israelis visit us since then.
It has been a wonderful experience-learning some of their cultural ways and we have had many interesting talks about God AND Jesus. We have had some guests that kept a kosher diet. The hebrew word ‘kosher’ means ‘fit’ or ‘appropriate’. That means they only eat certain foods, and when preparing those foods they must bring their own pans and utensils to use. My pots and pans are ‘unclean’ by their religious views because I have cooked meat, pork, eggs and milk products in the same pans.
Many of our jewish guests simply follow a vegetarian diet in this modern world today.
In supermarkets, foods that are deemed kosher have a symbol on the package Ou (Orthodox Union). Examples of kosher foods are meat from animals with cloven hooves that chew their cud. (No pork) Fish must have scales and gills (no crab or lobster)
In the Bible New Testament (Acts 10:9-33) the ban on pork and shellfish was released as was the separation of Jews and Gentiles- all were now deemed to be acceptable and good and there was to be no more distinction between people groups.
However, since our Jewish friends don’t believe the New Testament-this restriction still stands.
Some are orthodox and follow their traditions even when they travel. We have been privileged to watch a few of them celebrate shabbat--their holy day of the week
with candles and singing. Shabbat is from sundown on friday until sundown on saturday. It is a reminder of the culmination of Gods creative work done in Genesis-the day He rested from His labors. Also, its a reminder to the Jews how God long ago rescued them from their harsh lives of slavery in Egypt, by setting aside a day of personal freedom from the harsh demands of their labor. So the same for todays Jews- they work during the week, but then on sat. they rest and reflect on Gods goodness. Since there is a ban on travel-they can only walk. They often share the shabbat meal with family and friends. Lighting candles, eating a wonderful meal, laughing and singing--this is a precious part of their lives according to some of our guests. Then since there is also a ban on electronic devices, they pass the day reading, playing board games, taking walks, visiting shut-ins, etc...
And then, some of our guests have been atheists-agnostic-not sure what they believe about this whole God thing. It must be very confusing living in a country like Israel.

Crowded with so many religions-all laying claim to the same small piece of land. (only 8,000 sq miles-about same size as New Jersey-takes less than an hour to drive across the whole country!) We have learned that there are Jewish citizens by nationality, and Jews by religious convictions.

One group I met for the first time at night at the bus station. They had been hitchhiking near Addis and our friend Ben picked them up. When he found out they were headed south to see the tribes, he said “Call Tom and Teresa”--and they did! So I go to the bus station where some pretty sketchy looking guys hang out--and picked up 4 pretty scruffy looking kids with huge backpacks. They were a laughing, good-natured bunch and even cooked a couple of traditional Israeli meals like shakshuba (eggs pouched in tomato sauce) They were only going to stay overnight with us, but we kind of begged them to stay with us a few more days! (we like english speaking company any way we can get it!) They went with us to see the zebras and crocs by the lake near our house.
One of the guys was an excellent guitar player and one night when we had no electricity, we lit a bunch of candles and sang around the ‘campfire’. Hearing those rich, haunting melodies of their traditional music was such a treat-it was a night we will never forget.
So--our lives are the better for opening our house to scruffy strangers who then become friends. And we have a standing invitation to come to Israel and visit them. Maybe someday we will !! Yala bye ! Shalom.