Hamsin – Desert wind chokes the Galilee

I opened the front door this morning and it was hard to breathe.

Instead of feeling the fresh morning country air, my eyes and lungs were assaulted by gritty sand. While walking to synagogue I had to cover my mouth with my talit (prayer shawl).

About fifty days out of each year (hence the name Hamsin – which is Arabic for 50 – by the way Chamishim is 50 in Hebrew) – the prevailing westerly winds are replaced by hot winds coming from the south. Since the desert (Negev and Sinai) are in the south, the hot winds bring along with them a foggy, itchy cloud of sand.

We woke up to a thick layer of sand that had settled on all the palm trees, car windshields and patio furniture. I wrote Hamsin in the photo above in the sand that had settled on our glass patio table!

Here’s a picture from our front porch during the Hamsin. Compare it to how the scene usually looks in the picture below!!

So kids will be kept indoors during recess today and we’ll be staying inside working on the computer and doing household chores.

We have an expression that the stoic Israeli people like to use… “Gam Zeh Ya’avor b’ezrat HaShem!” — “With God’s help, This too shall pass!”