Dear Doves,
      I was curious about some names in the news lately. Zealand is a name of Scandinavian origin. Abel Tasman, a Dutch man, was the first European man to find New Zealand in the 1680's. He was from Zeeland in Holland. The name Zealand means from the sea land. This reminds me of Elul 23 and the story about the dove sent from the ark by Noah in search of land after the Great Flood. It returns and is sent out again 7 days later. This time the dove does not return. From Elul 23 to Tishri 1 this year, on the Hillel calendar, gives us the day 9-8. The new moon conjunction is on this day at 10:30 U.T. A number of us are reflecting on the story in Genesis about the family Noah, the ark, the dove, and the Great Flood.
      There are 21 names listed for hurricanes in the 2010 season. We are currently at Hermine, which is number 8.The number of the members of the Noah family was 8! In recent days Hermine has been moving toward Corpus Christi, Texas. This name is of Latin origin and means the body of Christ! The next names are Igor, Julia, Karl, Lisa, Matthew, Nicole, Otto, Paula, Richard, Shary, Tomas, Virginie, and Walter. Hermine means complete, universal, messenger, or earthly. Igor means warrier archer. It also means Ing's warrier. This was the Norse god of peace and fertility.
      May the day of The Blessed Hope be soon.
 
With Love and Shalom,
Jean