Independence Day in the Jaffa kehilla

A few families met together to celebrate Independence Day, Thursday, April 23, 2015, both to pray and to spend time together in a beautiful, quiet pace, at the Monastery of Saint John in the Wilderness, near Jerusalem. Despite the weather that was not very good, rainy with heavy winds, it was very joyful to be together.

In the morning we went for a walk through the forest. We passed alongside the Tomb of Saint Elizabeth, mother of John the Baptist, and we prayed there. We also visited the cave where John lived until the day of his manifestation to the people of Israel. After the trip, we participated in the mass, celebrated by Father Apolinary, and in which we asked God to bless the State of Israel and all its residents. After the prayer, we made a barbecue together, people from the Jaffa kehilla, friends who were visiting from Russia and the Ukraine and some members of other kehillot.