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{{bheadernew|Apr 13th|http://ronware.org/devar/shemini5772.pdf}}

Hi, again!

<center>{{hebs|חג פסח כשר ושמח לכולם!}}</center>
<center>A ''kasher'' and happy ''pesaḥ'' holiday to all of you!</center>

We're rounding up a week of ''mo`ed'', the intermediate days of the ''pesaḥ'' holiday, so the blog is coming out a day ahead of schedule.  I hope you don't mind!  As you can tell, we weren't exactly [http://ronware.org/deprivation.jpeg deprived] during our ''mo`ed''.  The ''seder'' was as pleasant as usual, and I think our guests from the Olde Country enjoyed themselves.

At the beginning of the week it was very hot, so Esther and I decided to make a trip outside the Land.  We went to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Makhtesh_Ramon Makhtesh Ramon], which is about an hour and a half south of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beersheba Be'er Sheva`] (outside the Biblical limits of the Land).  We figured it would take us about two and a half hours to get there, but it took us four instead.  Partly because the site we were going to was "off the road", on a really bad dirt road.  And partly because the road-sign for "highway 6 southbound" were notably missing and we were delayed twenty minutes trying to figure out how to get onto 6 going south! We did find [http://ronware.org/camels-on-road.jpeg other helpful road-signs] though.

Apparently people used to travel through there, stopping
[http://ronware.org/esther-khan.jpeg other helpful at the khan] to refresh themselves.  Despite the arid and (very!) hot climate, [http://ronware.org/kotsim.jpeg there are plants] and close-by was a somewhat stagnant-looking body of water.  It was an interesting trip, but a very long an hot one; I don't think we need to revisit the place any time soon.  It was 32C at home, but 43C at the Makhtesh! 

The next day, we took it easy and were joined by a friend of mine and his family.  They stayed several hours and partook of our ''asado'' (not a ''real'' one, since we didn't have time to cook properly -- it was a faster-paced ''asado'' than is really required... but the food was good!).  

Yesterday we went on another long and grueling trip -- a whole 20 minutes from home -- to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wadi_Qelt Naḥal Perat].  This is one of the most beautiful well-kept secrets around.  A real oasis in the middle of the desert.  Here's Esther and I [http://ronware.org/feet.jpeg dipping our feet] in the cool, refreshing water.  There's actually  [http://ronware.org/waterfall.jpeg a waterfall], and here Esther is again, [http://ronware.org/in-the-stream.jpeg in the stream].  I highly recommend the place to anyone visiting the area, and most particularly to those who think a desert has no water at all.  We were there a couple hours, walking in and hiking around the stream; and there were a lot of other people there along with us, but it wasn't especially crowded.

I also was able to make serious progress on my ''zemanim'' Android application.  I gave it to a couple people to check, and they gave me valuable feedback -- including discovering a few bugs which resulted from using the application in a way I had not yet done.  So I anticipate releasing it next week. Here you can take a peek at [http://ronware.org/zemanim.png what it looks like], running on my phone.

This week the last day of ''pesaḥ'' is on Friday, so we effectively have a two-day "yom-tov" just like our friends and family in the Exile.  We'll have guests for two of the six upcoming festive meals, who will have some combination of:
egg salad,
''schnitzel'',
''salatim'',
brisket,
chicken soup,
leek ''kefta'',
chicken salad,
smoked fish,
eggplant, 
homemade ice cream,
chocolate brownies,
and chocolate covered [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macaroon macaroons] (our penance for not having sufficient deserts last week...)



Until next week,<br>
''ḥag sameaḥ'' and ''shabbat shalom''!

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