You won't find a dolphin mentioned by name in the King James Version of the Bible. There are people who believe that the Tabernacle in the Wilderness was covered with dolphin hide rather than badgers' skins. Certainly, biblical words sometimes really mean something different than we think at first glance. But dolphins' skins on the Tabernacle is a new one for me. I'd have to do some serious study before I buy into that idea!
Regardless, when my mom came to visit us in 2011, we rented a car and took her on a three-day excursion to Eilat, which is located on the northern tip of the Red Sea. (Aqaba in Jordan is Eilat's "twin" city, separated by a no-man's land.) Eilat has a marvelous Dolphin Reef and we went there one balmy afternoon.
I remember that day as lazy and so relaxing. It is not often that I do nothing for an entire afternoon but doing nothing seemed like the right thing at the Dolphin Reef.
Okay, so this might seem really random. But I had this "aha" moment a while back and thought I would share it with you.
This past Christmas, my mom gave me a cup with the Hebrew alphabet on it. I was thrilled. It was just the kind of gift that I like.
When I was a kid, I read everything I could. I read books as I was walking to school, I read during the day, I read at night when I should have been sleeping. You get the picture. I also read the packaging of food I was eating, from cereal boxes to canned goods. I guess the habit has stayed with me because I was reading the front of a bag of Garden of Eatin' Blue Corn Tortilla Chips. What did I find? The kosher symbol. No big deal, right? It is on a lot of products.
But my brain suddenly linked the kosher symbol to a letter in the Hebrew alphabet that I had just been looking at on my Christmas cup. It is the letter "kaf." It is similar to the English "k." Look at the two photos and you will see it too!
I have learned that there are about 700 companies that issue kosher certification! Each company has its own unique symbol, called a hechsher. The one shown here is the symbol of a kosher supervision company called KOF-K.
Ein Bokek is a hotel complex located at the southern end of the Dead Sea in Israel.
On our days off while working overseas, we make sure to take two essential items with us when we go on our educational sightseeing excursions: Our camera and plenty of water!
I have literally thousands of photos. There are so many things to see and we snap away, sometimes waiting until later - when we have more time - to figure out what we were looking at!
Our photos have been reference points for me time and again when I have been studying a certain subject or place. They are not just memories; they are a photographical record of history.
As to water, especially when it is hot, it is essential. We are not always close to stores so we try to always keep extra water with us.
