I'm sitting on a bench looking down into the valley beneath us as I write this. It's a peaceful afternoon here. Ican barely make out the hills of Jerusalem in the distance through the haze. There are some clouds in the sky, a welcome shade from the sun, and a beautifully refreshing breeze is blowing.
We harvested grapes here on Har Bracha today, so it was within walking distance which was nice. Today felt like one of the hottest days we've had yet. Thankfully we had the afternoon pretty much free to be able to cool off.
We picked a lot of grapes today. Partway through we realized that it lifted spirits and made us work quicker to play songs so several of us played some worship music. 
We had our snack break at around 9 and before we knew it, we had picked about 10 tons of grapes and it was time to walk back to the base for lunch.
I feel like out of the time we have been here so far, Friday was the most emotional. We began the day early, on the bus by 4:45am to climb up to Elon Moreh, where God spoke to Abraham. 
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There we enjoyed a sunrise breakfast and had a time of worship beneath the ancient oak tree.
A fire had burned the mountainside and turned the leaves brown, but the tree will survive. It has endured fires before over the years. We had our group photo taken with our harvest 2024 shirts, which say in Hebrew and English the phrase that has been so common through the last 11 months- "Together we will win. "
From there we headed over to the community of Itamar. 
It is a significant community for my congregation. Our first visit was three months after the Fogel family was tragically massacred by terrorists who broke through the fence back in 2011, killing the mother, father, and 3 children- the youngest of which was only 3 months old. Those kinds of things always impact me, but for some reason the Fogel family hits a much deeper place. The response of the community was amazing though. Instead of turning to violence and retaliation, they chose instead to build. 
Their new synagogue is dedicated to the victims of terrorist attacks from the community...26 I believe.
It has grown exponentially since we last visited. Our guide, Batya, is an amazing woman with a story of moving from the city to the mountains of Israel simply because she saw it in the Scriptures. She began as a goat herder. And in that farming community, where they still produce goat milk products, they are amazingly strong and resilient people who truly capture the heart of faith. Nothing shakes them or scares them away.
And in the wake of October 7th.... which was many Fogel families... they have chosen to help survivors from the communities around Gaza. Helping them to heal and learn how to move on after such unspeakable tragedies.
We also visited the grave of a soldier from the community who lost his life on October 7th.
A friend called saying what was going on down there in the communities. He didn't hesitate, just jumped on a motorcycle and went to Kfar Aza. He managed to defend many and help many people get to safety, even after he was shot through the neck. Eventually he was hit in the head and died. As I laid a stone on the grave as is traditional in Judaism, that was the first moment since being here that the reality of October 7th really hit and tears began to come down my cheeks that I couldn't stop. This whole nation has been affected. And here, 11 months later, a couple hours from where I'm sitting, hostages are still being held in tunnels beneath Gaza.
This is why we are here now. In the middle of a war. To help the people of Israel however we can.
We ate lunch and purchased a couple things from the Cafe before getting back on the bus and driving across the valley to Har Bracha. We made a quick stop at the overlook above the city of Nablus. 
It's kind of eerie to stand just above a city that so much terrorism comes out of. Joseph's tomb is in this city, as is Jacob's well.
Many biblical events happened in Nablus, which is the ancient city of Shechem.
A group of Jewish men were at the overlook praying, and then they blew the shofar as is customary every day during the month of Elul leading up to Rosh Hashana. We drove back through the Samaritan community that still lives on Mount Gerazim (Mount Gerazim, the Mount of Blessing in the Bible, is the mountain which Har Bracha is on).
When we got back we began preparing for Shabbat. Everyone showed up to dinner dressed up and it was a wonderful welcome to shabbat. Yesterday we had the opportunity to sleep in and have a relaxing day which was a welcome break after the early mornings and hard work. In the afternoon we took our usual shabbat walk around the complex here. It was a beautiful afternoon, not too hot.
When we got back I got everything set up for our church broadcast and live streamed from here. It was a very professional setup I had, I might add! ;D
Today we have heard more of the air force going over us than usual. The assumption is they're headed to the border with Lebanon. There's been a few situations there but nothing we can hear here. Overall it's been so peaceful, I have to stop and recall that the nation is at war. How is it that a nation surrounded by enemies who want to destroy it can have so much peace? It is truly amazing. Not once have I felt unsafe on this trip. This is a place where you truly realize that God is fighting for His people.
This featured blog entry was written by Jordan Long from the blog Harvest 2024.
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