Let it snow, let it snow, let is snow????

The Buddhist idea of emptiness or that all things are natural is something I have been struggling with for a while, we are so used to see things as coming from us, we are very selfish creatures and think of most everything as strongly related to us. It’s not a surprise then that reading this line in The Diamond Cutter caused me some anxiety: “The content that we see it in-that is, whether we experience something as pleasant or unpleasant-is not something that is coming from its own side. Rather, it seems to be coming from our side, though not-apparently-in a way we can control at the moment.”

Friends have asked me many times what I think of the practice of Yoga in a heated room, I explained that I believe that the “tapas,” the Sanskrit word for heat or energy, should come from the inside, recognizing the Buddhist idea that the greatest affects come from inside.

This brought me to think of the one element that has the most affect on our body from the outside, considering the fact that the skin is our largest organ, I think the WEATHER might be the one element that has the most affect on our body. Wherever you are in the globe these days I am sure you have noticed the very weird winter we are experiencing, most certainly the result of our wrongdoing to Mother Earth. This is not a smooth transaction but now I would like to talk about the weather in Israel. The Israel Ministry of Tourism describes the weather in Israel as follow:

Israel enjoys long, warm, dry summers (April-October) and generally mild winters (November-March) with somewhat drier, cooler weather in hilly regions, such as Jerusalem and Safed. Rainfall is relatively heavy in the north and center of the country, with much less in the northern Negev and almost negligible Regional conditions vary considerably, with humid summers and mild winters on the coast; dry summers and moderately cold winters in the hill regions; hot dry summers and pleasant winters in the Jordan Valley; and year-round semi-desert conditions in the Negev. Weather extremes range from occasional winter snowfall in the mountain regions to periodic oppressively hot dry winds that send temperatures soaring, particularly in spring and autumn.

In summary, we have it all! Name it, we have it! Israel is a micro-cosmos of earth’s climates. And Israelis know how to enjoy it. Israel is really a micro-cosmos of earth, the divers people bring a mixture of culture that can be found only here, the surprising fact is that Israeli’s total area is only 8,5501 sq mi and its population is just over 7 million people (less then NYC alone.) The distance between the worm most southern point of Eilat and the north mountain of the Hermon is only 345 Mil.

Speaking of the Hermon, which is the highest mountain in Israel at 9,230 feet above sea level, and borders with Syria as well as Lebanon, I went there on Wednesday. It is the only Skiing site in Israel and the guys from Profimex invited me to join them for a day of sun, ski and fun. Considering I haven't skied for about 3 years and I was never that good, I did quite well, though I crashed several time because of my ego, so far for my Buddhist practice…




I spent most of the day with my Dad, my brother-in-law Ilan and Itay Kastel. We also saw the IDF Mountain Special Unit in training, it was really cool! To see more photos click here.

This is where I end my homage to Jeff’s Weather Blog and give honors to my friend Eric:

We have a train! Israel Railways! The first train ran in 1892 from Yaffo (AKA Jaffa) to Jerusalem (AKA my hometown.) It took 4 hours to make a trip that takes about 50 min today. Before the 48 Independence war, trains ran all the way to Lebanon, making is possible to travel between Damasks and Cairo by train. Today there are about 40 train stops, spanning from Nahariya נהריה in the north, to Be'er Sheva באר שבע in the south, this trip can take between 3 and 3.5 hours. Israel Railways uses the InterCity 3 (IC3) train which is a Danish-built high-comfort medium/long distance diesel multiple-unit train. These trains are capable of a speed of 200 KM/H but because of infrastructure of the Israeli rail-ways they only run 160 KM/H. Trains are kind of cool on Fridays and Sundays when you will find mostly soldiers on their way to and from their army camps. What a thrill.