Last post from Israel

Shalom chaverim,

Today, we meet to leave in just four hours. This was our last day in Israel as well as our last free day, so I used it to do what I have not yet had time to do.

First, I returned to the Garden Tomb. I got there with my Bible and my iPod, so I could listen to some music if there were too many distractions. I arrived at 9, when they opened, and stayed for close to two hours. For awhile, I wandered around the garden, quietly. It definitely is a place conducive to feeling close to God. Almost nobody was there, so it was devoid of human noise. There was much noise from birds, and occasionally I could hear sounds of traffic. Eventually, I went and sat on a step overlooking the tomb. I did not go in yet, but just sat. The only other people around were a few individuals and a tour group. Eventually the tour group approached the tomb, and the guide related the story of Easter, as they got very excited because Christ is Risen!, as they kept shouting. I read through the various empty tomb narratives in the Bible...in Luke I actually started with the Last Supper and went to the end. The group went up onto a platform and had a communion service. I was wanting to be a part of a community there, but I did not know them, so I sat below and sang along with them as they sang Easter songs. They actually brought me some communion. They only had enough juice for them, but I was given bread, when they noticed me sitting there. It made my day. That gesture meant quite a lot to me. After they finished and we sang "Because He Lives," they filed down and out past me. Many of them stopped to speak to me. I was thanked for joining them, and people said to me "Shabbat Shalom" and "He is Risen," to which I responded without thinking "He is Risen Indeed." I was given a hug, and wished luck with my studies. I found out that they were a group of 7th Day Adventist pastors from Ohio, so it pleased them to hear that I am from Indiana. I did not think to tell them that I was going to Ohio next year. Their gestures to me meant a lot, and it alleviated my desire to be there with a community. I thank them, even though none of them will probably ever read this blog. After the service, I went down one last time into the tomb then left.

After my morning at the Garden Tomb, I feel rather refreshed. I went shopping on my way back through the Old City, and I finished off my souvenir shopping. I sent a postcard, am pretty much packed except for this computer, had some olive pizza (ran into a lot of DePauw people in doing so), and now just have to figure out what to do for the next 4 hours.

We get on the plane late tonight and I will land tomorrow in the middle of the day.

From Israel, for the last time this trip, Shalom.

Reaching the end

Shalom chaverim,

Tomorrow, we leave Israel late in the evening, but for now, I will talk about today.

This morning, at breakfast, many of us were still responding to the Holocaust museum. It started as a discussion between Adam and me and then Professor Arnold was part of it. Others would listen in occasionally. Adam and I started in on a very involved discussion about the appropriateness of singling out the people who did not do anything but could have to help save lives in the Holocaust. Some of the question was...is it the place of a church leader to say something, knowing that it may put their followers in danger? Should we point fingers at these people knowing that other genocides have happened and are still happening and the world is still not responding? Does it even serve a purpose to point at the people who did nothing in this one event? This came about because much of the museum and our guide did talk about how the world did nothing and many many people did nothing and some people even thought it was deserved. I still maintain that we should point out who did nothing. The church leaders should have said something. People will follow a leader, so you have to give them a choice for good. You have to stand against evil. I do not want to lead a church someday that lives in evil and allows evil to continue, so I will lead a church to save lives, whatever it takes. They have the choice of what to do, always, but I will not stand by and let evil happen without even opening my mouth. I cannot accept that this is ok. I cannot accept that the countries with the opportunity to do something needed to plan carefully for as long as they did. They could have saved lives. Then we moved into discussing other genocides. We talked about whether or not the Holocaust is unique, should it be as set apart as it is? Why aren't we pointing at the people who can do something but do nothing today? My only answer is that things should be done. Yes, it is wrong that nothing happens in many cases, but that should not stop us from pointing at the people of the Holocaust. We should remember those who helped and those who didn't as an example for how we should act. Many people today just don't take the responsibility that such remembrance must bring. That does not excuse anything, nor does it mean we should forget those who did nothing in the Holocaust. They can be an example for what we should not do as much as the people who helped can be an example for what we should do. Just look at how many people died. How many could have been saved? Today, how many people can be saved? Is the Holocaust unique? I don't know. I just know that by learning about one genocide, perhaps we can remember the others and do something.

Now, on to a happier topic...We spent the morning in museums. First we went to David's citadel and the museum attached. One thing that struck me about the museum was that in about 10 small rooms it attempts to cover about 5000 years from Canaanite period to now. I have to admit, it bothered me a little. I just can't understand how a museum can cover that much in so little time and space and do any sort of justice. All the museums here (as in all museums everywhere) are very slanted in one direction. Most here are Zionist slanted, and I think by covering so much time so briefly it would be even easier to slant. It makes me wonder how much information I have missed in museums because it didn't fit their spin on history (this applies to every museum, not just in Israel). I didn't notice as much of one in this museum as at some others, but it just felt vaguely uncomfortable to me.

The next mseum we visited was the Israel Museum. Outside was a giant model of the city of Jerusalem in the Second Temple Period. Some parts were incorrect because it was built before certain excavations and some parts were certainly somebody's interpretation, but it was still pretty cool. You could see the Temple, Herod's palace, the Antonia Fortress, and many many houses. You could see how Jerusalem was truly on a hill and how that might protect it. Today, Jerusalem is so sprawled out that the hill is hard to see as the location of the city.

When we went into the museum, we went to what is called the Shrine of the Book. It holds many manuscripts, many of which are Dead Sea Scrolls or found in the desert. I trailed Prof. Arnold there so i could hear his comments on each exhibit. Some of the cool things we saw there were the clay pots some of the scrolls were found in, some TINY leather tefillin worn by the men of Qumran, and some of their other everday artifacts. The tefillin were cool because of how small they actually were. They were perhaps a centimeter by two centimeters and completely flat. Today, tefillin are big black boxes, about two inches by two inches by two inches. Prof Arnold pointed out that it really brings to mind Jesus' comment about not having your phylacteries big or you fringes long. We also saw a number of manuscripts from the DSS. I could see where people had made corrections in the texts or used a different type of writing to write YHWH, the name of God. It was pretty cool to see, I just wish I read Hebrew so I could read them. We also saw the full length of the scroll of Isaiah that they found. We could not actually see the scroll. It was taken out for preservation purposes, but we saw a very detailed picture of it that was completely rolled out so you could see the length. The thing that shocked me was that it was written completely as prose, not poetry. I had not realized that, and I don't understand why our English translations tend to put it in poetry form. I also expected a scroll of Isaiah to be much longer than this. Perhaps if it was in poetry form, it would have been longer. In any case, it was pretty cool to see the oldest manuscript that we have of the book I wrote my thesis on. Once again, I just wish I could read it. We also looked at some codexes from later times, like the Aleppo Codex.

After we left the Shrine of the Book and had lunch in a very busy marketplace, we went to the Garden Tomb. Here, we actually had one of their guides show us around, as per the site rules. He was very definitely talking from a Christian stance rather than academic. It didn't bother me, but then I didn't listen to him much since I knew the site. I listened enough to tell if he was saying something new or different. He mainly told the stories. We saw a rock that some speculate might have been Calvary, then we saw the tomb itself. It was all set in a beautiful garden. While walking between Calvary and the tomb, I was chatting with Adam about the site. I asked what he thought, and he said that he wanted to wait for more evidence. I said, that I don't know that this is the real site, I also don't know that it matters. What matters is that this garden is a very nice place to remember. It doesn't need to be historically accurate to do that. Not five minutes later, our guide said exactly the same thing to the group, in almost the same words. I know he didn't hear me, and I think it was part of what he says to everybody. All in all, I think it is a good place to remember and pray. Some groups have communion there. I think it is a place that can be more accessible to people not comfortable in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, like most Protestants. I can definitely identify with and understand the need to have somewhere of that type. For that reason, I think I am going back tomorrow and spending some time there. I got some funny looks when I sat apparently staring off into space. I was asked if I was ok and asked why i wasn't moving around. Oh well, I will be glad to go back tomorrow, but today was still a good experience. It was beautiful there. Our guide at one time said that when we went into the tomb we would not see Jesus in there, but we can take him in with us, just please bring him back out to share :). Jakob (7year old) asked me why God didn't help Jesus and save him from dying. I said, he did, he brought him back. Before I had a chance to continue, he said "How?" I said, "I don't know, how does God do anything?" He said, "Are you going to take Jesus in there?" I said "Sure" Then Jakob ran off. I think everybody should spend days with a very inquisitive 7 year old child. It really makes you think.

We were back at the hotel fairly early today, and tomorrow is our last day here. Some people are going to Bethlehem, some are spending tonight in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, I think that I will spend some time in the Garden Tomb then do my final shopping and pack, perhaps also walking the ramparts of the city if my knee can handle it.

I'll see you all soon!!!

L'hitraot.

Hate and Hope

Shalom,

Today that word makes me think, since it means peace. They greet each other in Israel with the word peace. How astounding with all that has happened to many of their families. I just got back to the hotel from Yad Vashem, the Holocaust museum and memorials. Today, as I write this to you, I am not going to write in chronological order, but instead will start with Yad Vashem this afternoon. I cannot move back to this morning until I have responded to the museum/memorial.

We met with a tour guide, Danny, from Keshet, our tour group, in the museum. He is one who we met in Indiana before we left, and he is one who apparently is an expert on the Holocaust. He is also wonderful at guiding through it, as I learned today. Our visit started with a brief explanation of World War 2 and how the Holocaust began. We were each given headsets, and Danny had a microphone, so he could speak softly and we could hear him anywhere in each room while wandering and looking at the exhibits. Because he had to speak softly so as not to disturb other people or groups, his voice was gentle. Because it was gentle, it added to the solemnity of the museum and made it easier to stay in the mood intended. I appreciated that. It was a very solemn tour, and we were in the museum for at least two and a half hours, probably more. I did not have any clue how long we were in there until we left and I looked at my watch. In the museum we proceeded from room to room looking at early laws and ideals pushed by the Nazis and present in Europe. We looked at ghettos, occupations, work camps, death camps. It was a horrible thing to see and hear. We listened to and read translations of stories that people told about their various experiences. One man told about how as a 15 year old boy he did all that he could to survive, which meant preying on the weak. Others talked of family who died or how they survived. It was powerful and terrible to sit and be given these stories, one after another after another. Danny told us a story he heard from a man who survived. This man had been a boy, right on the edge of manhood. He, his sister, and his mother had been in the train for 3 days when they arrived at the death camp. Tensions were high in the family, as in any family where two siblings are close to each other for too long without relief. They seen death in the train and were very hungry. His mother, perhaps sensing something or guessing something, pushed him over into the men's line when she and his sister went to the women's line. He screamed, wanting to go with his mother, and went back to her. She pushed him back. Three times this happened. Finally, he had to stay there and he screamed at the "I hate you, I hope you die!" He had no idea what was coming. They thought this was just a work camp, and he was a boy. The line of women and children all went to their deaths. This story almost set me to tears, and by this point in the museum I was nauseous and upset, as you would expect. We also saw the stories and remembrances of the people who helped the Jews, because they were humans, so what else would they do? or they were Christians, so what else should they do? We talked about the countries who did nothing or little even after knowing everything that was going on. It was terrible. As we moved forward, we went into the final room of the museum where there were shelves of binders, presumably holding the stories, and many pictures. We were encouraged here to look at them as individuals, not as one of six million. Remember their lives, not just the way that they died. These were people. How would we like to be remembered someday...by how we died or how we lived? We were encouraged to think of how they lived. We walked from that room to the outside of the museum. you walk straight and see from a balcony, Jerusalem. You see the beauty of Israel and you see the city of Jerusalem, a city holy to so many, and a refuge for so many. This was the end of the museum. Everybody reacted in different ways. Some people immediately started joking around and talking about how they wanted McDonalds. Some people sat in small groups and talked quietly, I don't know what about. A few people went off and sat on a bench by themselves. I walked a bit by myself then went and sat on a bench alone until it was time to move on. I was not ready to talk.

From the museum, we went toward the bus but stopped at 3 of the hundreds of memorials on the properties. The first was to the heroes. It looked triumphant, and it makes sense for a people who choose to longer be victims. The second was the children's memorial. We walked through it single file and silently. I walked second in line, behind Danny, and let my hand trail the railing. The room we entered was dark. You could hear a recording in various languages saying names, ages, and home countries of the children who died. First, we walked straight through a room with about 10 pictures of children of the walls, which opened into a circular room. this circular room had a walkway somewhat like a donut. You walked in a circle in a dark room that has glass on either side of you. Behind the glass are small lights that then reflect all over the room in the glass, making it look a little like walking in stars, when the stars are more of a fire color than white. We walked around the room, slowly, one and a half times then out the exit door. When we got out, I do not know what my face looked like, but Danny tuned around, we locked eyes, and he kind of nodded then looked away to watch everybody else walk out behind us. I felt understanding, which was nice. I turned to look at everybody walking out and looked in their eyes. I saw people recently crying, people shocked, people numb, people with pain and people who showed no reaction. for the rest of the walk, I continued to walk in the front, because I did not want to see anybody else's reactions, because they were either reacting like me or they weren't. Either way, I did not want to deal with it. The final memorial was for a man who ran an orphanage and protected the children to their death. After the memorials, we walked through a garden where trees were planted for the "Righteous Gentiles" who helped the Jews. We saw the trees for Oskar Schindler and his wife, which makes me feel better about not seeing his grave.

I spoke with Danny some about the museum and the Holocaust museum in Washington D.C., which I went to about 9 1/2 years ago. Apparently, when the D.C. museum came out, it put to shame what was in Israel, so Israel built Yad Vashem, causing new scholarship and some competition, improving the museum. Danny took us through the museum and memorials at exactly the right pace for me. I did not see everything, and some day I will go back and spend days there to see as much as possible, but for today, the pace was perfect. I could not have handled more, and would have been dissatisfied with less. As you may know, I have been fascinated, obsessed, with the Holocaust since I was a young child. This museum, was perfect, horrible, terrible, and perfect. I got onto the bus, still not wanting to speak to anybody. Perhaps others had this reaction, since they also sat in silence as we waited for the bus doors to open so we could go on. Some people by now were joking around and back to normal moods. When I got on the bus, since human conversation was out of the realm of conceivability for me--I was not ready yet--I listened to some soft music on my iPod. My raw response is this blog, so now I feel like I can deal with talking to people again. This museum gave me the same ultimate feeling that I felt when I walked from the Washington D.C. museum 9 1/2 years ago. I do not know if this museum was better or worse. For me, it was at least equal. I felt sick at 12 in D.C. and felt sick at 22 in Jerusalem. I learned from both and took away the feeling of horror but hope from both. I am grateful to everyone who knew not to talk to me as I dealt with this.

Now that I have written about Yad Vashem, I will relate to you this morning's experiences. First, we started the day early with a visit to the Temple Mount. We had to pass through security to enter. Just as I got to the walk-through metal detector, the power went out and I had to stand and wait. Everybody else in the class had gone through or moved over to the other metal detector that was working. The guard had me stay where I was. Eventually, the power came back on, I walked through, and my bag went on the belt. It got to the end, they picked it up, and put it through again. Then they opened my purse and emptied everything out. I guess my ipod, camera, wallet, and medicine looked threatening. So, then I had the joy of stuffing it all back in and catching up with the group. Prof. Arnold was waiting for me and accused me of being a suspicious person. Finally, we made it on to the Mount. We were not allowed to go into either the Al-Aqsa Mosque or the Dome of the Rock, but it was still pretty cool to be where the temple had been. as it was cold outside, we moved on rather quickly to look at the excavations to the Roman road, outside the Temple Mount. We sat in the giant freezing wind tunnel of the Roman road, at the level where Jesus would have walked, as we listened to many explanations of the site. It was neat to be there, but the excitement was dulled by the shivering. I still don't understand why we couldn't sit in the sun to hear the explanations then go down and see what was talked about. Finally, after all these excavations, we got back on the warm bus for a ride to the Herzel cemetery, where we saw the military cemetery and Theodore Herzel's grave, among others. For there, we went to the Holocaust museum, Yad Vashem, which I have already told you about.

Well, I am drained and hungry, though I did have a chocolate bar upon arrival at the hotel. As we all know from Happy Potter, chocolate helps when you have been faced with evil. So, I am going to leave off for the night.

Shalom.

Camels, tents, salt, and scrolls

Shalom,

We have had an eventful two days, but since I had no internet yesterday, today I am going to write about both at once.

Much of yesterday was spent on the bus, but still much happened. We started the day with a stop at Tel Azeka and looked over the area of the story of David and Goliath. It was a pretty place, but I was tired and my knee was sore and I was tired at looking at valleys, so it didn't really hold much interest for me.

The next place we went, was much more interesting, because it was a site of an actual archaeological dig. At Tel Maresha, there are many man-made caves, and we got to help with the excavation. Now, this site has been almost completely excavated by amateur volunteers, but still, some pretty amazing things are found (whole pottery, bones, coins, etc.). They find so many things that most of it is thrown away after they catalogue it. We went down into a man-made cave, where much excavation has already occurred, and were taught how to search. Each of us was given a pick and a flat spade-like tool. First, we firmly dug into the earth with the pick. Next, with the spade, we pick up the now loose dirt and sift it over a bucket, looking for artifacts. I didn't find anything, but some people did. All of us managed to get completely covered in dirt from sitting on the ground digging. After some time, we formed a bucket line and sent all the buckets of dirt to the surface, passing it from person to person. We had dug enough that I had 5-6 buckets that I had filled, and everybody else was the same. Once all the dirt was on the surface, we formed groups of three. In each group, two people held a wire sifter and one person poured dirt into it. Unfortunately, about 2 minutes in, I discovered that contacts were a VERY bad idea. It was windy and dirt was flying, so I ended up being so teared up and in pain that i couldn't open my eyes. With my luck, the bus had left. So, I was walked out of the wind and sat on a rock as everybody else sifted and found artifacts. Eventually my eyes cleared up, but they were still dry and going back to the dirt seemed like a bad idea. I was upset that I missed out on that, both because it was cool to be engaged in searching for artifacts and because I did not expect my eyes to be what kept me from doing something. I expected my knee or my asthma, but not my eyes. A few minutes later, my knee did stop me from doing something, but it was something that I would not have wanted to do anyway. The group went through a cave that has not been excavated. It was man-made, but that was over 2000 years ago, so it was small and very cave-like, and some awkward duck-walking and crawling was required. I stayed outside and took pictures of people going in and coming out. At the end of the experience, he let us take pot shards with us. These are Hellenistic pot shards, so they are about 2200 years old, and I get to take some home. I will have something truly ancient on my shelf, and that is cool. I could not believe that I was holding ancient artifacts, and now I own them. Wow.

After that, we headed to a Bedouin Ranch, where we were to spend the night. The first thing we did was take a camel ride. We rode two people per camel, and about 5 camels were tied together in a line. Before we started, the man in charge was cautioning us not to touch the camels' heads because they might bite. Be very careful, because we don't want you to get bitten. Then he says, but don't worry because nobody has ever been bitten here before. It was funny because he kept switching between the two extremes. Once we were on the camels, they stood up back feet first, so we were leaning forward as they stood up very quickly. The ride itself was fun, but very very bumpy. We went through the desert, up and down sand dunes rocking on the backs of camels. At one point we passed the bones of a dead camel, which was QUITE pleasant to see and smell, let me tell you. My camel, who we named Bob Ahmed, was very friendly with the people in front of us and apparently wanted to be at the front of the line. He kept walking up beside the camel in front of us, and even bumping the people on the camel's back. We were glad for the camel ride, but also very glad to get off.

We next went into a tent to learn about the Bedouin people. Our tour guide translated what one of the Bedouin was saying to us. As the man talked, we were first given a cup of tea then a cup of coffee with very little coffee in it. As it was, both cups were very small, perhaps a quarter or third of the size of a normal coffee cup. What the Bedouin man had to say was very interesting. He told us how they are a very hospitable people and the proper protocol for a visitor to stay in the tent. Apparently, if it is time for the visitor to leave, the Bedouin will fill the coffee cup to the brim instead of a few sips. The Bedouin may have up to 4 wives, and this is a kindness to the wives, so they have less work. They are typically nomads and herders, and they are a very secluded people, only marrying other Bedouins. He told us quite a bit more, but you can google it as easily as I can write it. After the talk, we had dinner.

Dinner was at tables about a foot and a half off the ground, and we reclined on cushions to eat. It was a lot of fun, though a few of us could only think of it as Roman style, not Bedouin. The food was fantastic, consisting of fresh pitta bread, meatballs, some kind of poultry, veggies, and more tea. We all ate until we were satisfied, and continuously exclaimed at the amazing food. I wish I could eat that way everyday, but then, if I was Bedouin, I would be the one to cook it. I do have funny story with dinner however. Drinks for dinner was juice in large glass pitchers (not really pitchers, but I don't know what else to call them). Jakob looked at them at some point during the meal and said "They use these for kitty and dog litter." We, at our table, just looked at him and said "What? I don't think so, Jakob." He insisted, "yes they do." We asked why he thought that, and he pointed at the pitcher, getting a little upset because nobody believed him, and said "It says litter on it." We looked, it said liter, and we all rolled on the floor laughing (literally, because we were already reclining on the floor).

After dinner, we went to our tent. It was a very large tent with pallets laid out and one light for the entire tent. On the pallets were thin sleeping bags. The pallets themselves were very thin, and I had a hard time sleeping that night. Apparently, I did fall asleep, however, because when they turned on the light at 4:45 in the morning to wake us, I heard stories of a gigantic porcupine that came into the tent during the night. Apparently it woke Professor Arnold, who was sleeping near the door, and he pointed a flashlight at it. It retreated from the light, after lifting its quills threateningly. Prof. Arnold said that he didn't know what he would have done if the light hadn't worked. It was the only thing he could think of to do without waking the other 25 of us sleeping in the tent.

As I said, we woke at 4:45 so we could hike up to Masada for the sunrise. Before we left the Bedouins, we had some tea and biscuits, then we were on our way. The bus dropped us at the bottom of the Roman ramp, which we walked up to get to the top of the mountain. There was not easier way up, so it was not pleasant for my knee. In fact, it was hard, but I did manage to get up with only some soreness and two slips. We then went to watch for the sunrise. When it did finally come, the promised beauty was not there. Clouds were there instead. I must say, the sunrise was a bit anticlimactic. We then proceeded to walk all over Masada, including up and down tons of stairs, and by the end my knee was truly hurting and I was lifting myself up stairs by the railings. Masada itself was cool, but I think I missed out on how cool because I was preoccupied with my knee, or it could be that I am getting tired of ruins. We'll see which it is as the week finishes up. To get down Masada, most of the class went down the Snake Path, but 5 of us rode the cable car. I heard later that I never could have done the snake path, so I made the right choice with the cable car. When we landed, we had to walk through some deseart around a building to a hostel so we could have breakfast.

After breakfast, the day got enormously better. We went to the Dead Sea, where almost all of us got into swim suits and got in. It was very cold at first, but we discovered, as we got deeper, that you could recline in the water and stay afloat. You could even stand vertically on nothing without treading water and you would float at upper chest level. The water felt thick, so it was hard to move around in, but we did it anyway. You could go pretty far out in the sea, because it was impossible to sink. I had been told a few days ago that it would make my knee feel better, so I was hoping for that when my knee was hurting this morning, but I didn't believe it. It actually did help quite a lot. I could move around without pain, and I stayed in there for over an hour. Since I left, I have had no pain and almost no aching. I wish I could spend every day going in and out of the Dead Sea, because my knee would almost never hurt.

After the Dead Sea, we went to Qumran, the place where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found. As we waited at the gate, it was funny because Prof. Arnold was quite literally bouncing in anticipation. When he sat, he couldn't sit still because he was so excited. He has spent a lot of time studying the Dead Sea Scrolls, and did his dissertation on them, so he was very very excited to see Qumran. We were chatting before we went into the introductory movie. Every movie we have see in Israel has promoted Zionism and stressed that Judaism has been there pretty much forever. We were trying to figure out how they would do this with Qumran, since it didn't really fit. They actually did not do it, but instead went rather crazy. Sometime during the movie they started talking about how John the Baptist had gone there and learned and left just before he was initiated. I was sitting there in shock, then I looked over at Prof. Arnold who was either laughing very hard or writhing in pain. It was terrible, because there is no good evidence for that. Later Prof. Arnold told us why some people say that, and it is all pretty sketchy and could be applied to pretty much any community. So, the movie was terrible, but the site was really quite amazing. We coulding walk on all the wood bridges set up for visitors, since they were being repared, and so there was only one entrance to the site. We explored that, quickly, and saw the city (town? settlement?). I saw things there that I have only seen pictures of, which was also true for Prof. Arnold and everybody else. It was cool to look up at the caves and imagine how people would have gotten up there.I don't know that the city was as cool for me as the caves, though. Those caves are something new. They are not another set of ruins but instead are where so many ancient scrolls have been found. Now, I just want to see the Isaiah scroll that came out pretty much whole, and it will be complete for me. We did get a little rushed through the city and didn't get to see everything, just to end up back at the hotel by 5, which seems silly to me.

All in all, it has been a good couple of days, and a more relaxing couple of days than we have had on this trip. We relaxed with the Bedouins and relaxed in the Dead Sea. We have spent a lot of time on the bus, so we haven't seen as much in such a short amount of time, which makes it easier to digest. It was a good time in the trip to slow down, so tomorrow we can pick the pace back up.

L'hitraot chaverim, see you later friends.

Free Day!!!

Shalom chaverim,

Today was a long and eventful day, and it was also one of our free days in Jerusalem. My day started early with a walk down to the Catholic cemetery to see Oskar Schindler's grave. I got there, after half an hour, and there was a huge padlock around the gate (yes I have pictures). I figured that it just was not open yet, since it was 8:30 in the morning, so I planned a return trip later in the day. Instead, as I walked back to the hotel for some breakfast, I passed Mt. Zion and went in to see what is traditionally King David's tomb. It was very interesting, because it was set up for prayer with a men's side and a women's side. There was a wooden divider between the two, dividing the room equally. The tomb itself was huge, with a cloth on it and plastic protecting the cloth. I figured that the room was divided equally because the wooden divider actually divided the star of David on the cloth in half. This way both men and women can pray at King David's tomb and touch it, if they chose. It was a tiny little room, but it was interesting to see. I am glad I stopped by, though I did wish that I had seen Oskar Schindler's grave in the process.

After breakfast I joined Professor Schindler and her son Jakob to go to an archaeological museum, which turned out to be closed because the power was out, technical difficulties. Instead, we went to a place called the Burnt House, where they found a house that was burnt by the Romans in 70, during the destruction of Jerusalem. It was cool to see a first century house, and they think that the level we saw was actually the basement. They had a very kid friendly presentation of the house, which is a movie that tells a possible story that could have been attached to the house. The archaeologists surmise that this might have been the house of a priest, and the story they came up with had some conflict between the priest father and the Zealot son. Everybody but the son ends up being killed by the Romans and the Temple is burned, which can be seen from the window. There was a bit of a Zionist slant to the story, explaining how the people of Israel will return one day and the children will play in the streets because it is their birthright(though it never uses the word). It ended with pictures of Jewish children in modern Jerusalem. I found it to be very interesting, and i was glad I went. the Zionist slant was subtle, but it was definitely there, which makes sense considering we were in the Jewish quarter of the Old City. I actually thought it was a nice explanation of the pain that the Jewish people may feel/have felt with the loss of Jerusalem, and it did no without being over the top or putting down another group of people (like the Muslims) as I have heard elsewhere.

After the museum we went searching for another museum in the same chain of museums (we thought our ticket price included that one). I learned something in this search. Before allowing somebody to give you directions, make sure it is free. One man came up to us and insisted on guiding us to the museum, and as we are half-way there, he starts talking about how this is his job and Prof. Schindler should give him money, even a few shekels would do, and "you will give me something, even a few shekels." She tried to talk him into leaving us and that we could find it ourselves, but he insisted. In the end, she gave him a few coins to get rid of him. The irony...we ended up not going to the museum because it was too old for Jacob and close to 2000 years too late in time for Prof. Schindler's or my interests. this episode put me more on guard with the men of Jerusalem.

At this point, I split form them and tried Schindler's grave again, resulting in nothing. The padlock remained, convincing me that I am not going to see it, because I don't know where to go to ask for it to be unlocked. I continued back into the Old City, now in search of lunch, and perhaps Christ Church (the Anglican church). I was interested to see if they had any services during the week, but they don't have anything that I can do with our schedule that is in English. Then, I backtracked a bit into the Armenian quarter and ducked into a little Armenian restaurant. I wasn't really sure what Armenian food was, but the menu on the wall looked promising. As I sat and looked at the menu, knowing that they do not accept credit cards, I realized that i should count my cash. I had 26 shekels and 20 cents, which was enough for the cheapest appetizer (Armenian pizza, which is not recognizable as pizza but apparently very good) and some baklava plus the tip. So, that is what I ordered, and it was not enough to fill me up, but it was very good and some AMAZING baklava. So, I handed the man my last shekel and left in pursuit of an ATM so I could grab some more food somewhere.

In search of the ATM, I wandered the streets of the market place throughout multiple quarters of Jerusalem. I had no idea where I was, but I did have a map in my pocket for when I decided to find my way. Along the way, most of the shopkeepers called out to me asking me to come into their shops. I discovered that telling them I spent my last shekel on lunch stopped a number of people. Some said that they woud accept plastic, and then I had to say I wasn't interested. In the process of walking, though, I had some very interesting conversations. I suppose the look on my face was getting to be a little unhappy and angry by the time one particular shopkeeper, Ahmed, hailed me. Somehow he convinced me to go and chat with him in his shop (small shop so very visible from the street). I kept telling him I had not money, and he says, I would like to give you a gift. I say, "but I have no money," and he says, "no it is a present, no charge." I didn't quite understand or believe this, and kept protesting that I had no money. He proceeded to explain that it was a gift, a present, and he then said ti in a few other languages. He says, "I just want to see you smile" "I just want you to be happy" "You are right to be careful with most people, but I want to be your friend" "This is a gift, and you can remember me and my shop the next time you come to Jerusalem." He went and got a basket of beads and picked out a few and twisted a wire through them making me a pendant, and gave this to me as a gift. I have to admit, it did succeed in making me smile and making me happy. I will remember this day fondly in part because of him and can think well of Jerusalem's men. After I left his shop I chatted with a few more people, and I was asked three times in a row by three different men what I study and then what religion I am. When I told them Christian, they all seemed pleased, so I have a hunch that i was in the Christian quarter. The first of the three was Ahmed and the third was a man who I talked to for about 20 minutes a little farther down the street. This man was older, perhaps in his 60s or 70s, and he did not try to sell m anything. We started talking about school and that I am going to be a pastor. He started talking about a friend of his who is studying to be a priest. He then proceeds to act like many other people and gives advice. He told me stories about why I should not ever start to smoke or drink. At one point he asked me why I chose to be a pastor, and I told him that I believe it is what God wants me to do. At this he became very pleased and said "That is an excellent answer." It was important to him to say to me over and over that I must not listen to my friends and just to God. Most of the rest of the conversation revolved around doing what God wants you to do because otherwise you will never ever be happy with your life, don't ever smoke because you hurt others, and don't ever drink. Eventually the guy studying to be a priest walked down the street. It turns out that he was from South Dakota and about my age, but he was in a hurry to get somewhere, so we had no time to chat. Before he could run off, however, the shopkeeper had us write down a phrase that he sai was very important. "God gives us life as a gift, what we have to do is to look after our life as a gift to God." I have to admit, I never expected to end up in a conversation about Christianity with a random stranger on the street or a conversation about faith and following God. It isn't something that happens everyday in the US, and I have no idea if it is normal here. It is true that I have these conversations all the time, but usually I at least know the person before, if even for a few minutes. It was fun though. I do not regret those twenty minutes and am glad he hailed me. I wonder what it says about a city that people will hail strangers and then get into religious conversations with them. It does seem appropriate to Jerusalem, though it also seems like it would be a stereotype. I guess stereotypes are based on truth.

After wandering around for about 45 more minutes, I returned to Jaffa Gate, where I was meeting some of my group and Prof. Arnold to re-visit the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. We all wanted to go into the tomb, after being cut off yesterday. We arrived at about 2:10, and did not get into the tomb until after 4. When we arrived, an Armenian mass was going on right in front of the tomb, and parts were inside the tomb. None of us knew that it was an Armenian mass until much later when somebody asked. The best I was able to deduce was that it was not Greek but it was Orthodox. We watched this for some time, then went to explore the church a bit while we waited. The main place we explored was the chapel devoted to St. Helen, who traditionally found the true cross. We actually had a lot of fun in that deserted chapel. Prof. Arnold, Jon, and I had some fun trying to guess what the paintings on the wall were supposed to be and why the same old guy was in all of them, but dressed differently. They seemed to be strange paintings that mixed old and later clothing on the people in the paintings. We never did figure them out, though I found one on the internet as the finding of the cross (for some reason, Helen was not in the picture). We never did find out who the old guy was. We did, however, observe that the Armenian bishop was dressed like Dumbledore with a shorter beard. Actually, Prof. Arnold pointed out that he looked like a wizard, and we ran with it from there. He did have on a very purple robe with a black cape-like thing and a black somewhat-pointy hat. Eventually, we heard what sounded like movement from the Armenians. We rushed back to discover that they had just started with the incense. We watched through the rest of the service, where they did processions and distributed the communion elements to the waiting people, who were presumably Armenian. Eventually, they left and we lined up very quickly to get into the tomb of Jesus.

We were close to the front of the line, so we got in fairly quickly at this point. You walk into a small door of what looks like a cubic ornate tiny church. When you get inside, there is a small rock (I don't know what it is) with two candles on it. From there, you go a few people at a time into a tiny room through a door about 4 feet high. When you get through there, you see the platform rock where many people believe Jesus was laid in the tomb. There are many flowers and candles and decorations at the platform. There is also a piece of cloth that said christos anickte, which mean Christ is Risen, in Greek. Many people pray there, and I even saw the man who left just before I went in crawling backwards when he left the small room, kissing the floor between every step. He did not walk until he reached the first room inside the small church-like building. It was pretty cool to be in there, even though I don't know for sure that this was definitely the place where Jesus' body laid. Sometimes, just having a place to go and remember and pray is enough. In the end, some of my classmates said that it was anticlimactic, since we had to wait so long. I thought it was still worth it, and that I am glad I went. I got to see much of an Armenian mass, discuss mysterious pictures on a wall, and remember Easter at a place that is very very holy to many denominations of Christendom. I would call that a successful trip. A bit more exploration of the city later, we went back to the hostel for dinner, packing, and soon bed.

Tomorrow we go to a Bedouin camp to sleep in tents. I will not have a blog up tomorrow night, though I will hopefully catch up the following night.

Shalom, L'hitraot.

Sunday: a full day of Christianity

Shalom again, finally I am getting caught up on this ting, just to fall behind the day that I do not have internet in a few days.

Today was Sunday in Jerusalem, and we had a variety of options for church if we wished. I chose the 8 AM service at an Episcopal church, about a half hour from the hotel, since the Anglican service, much closer, was late enough that I probably would have had to leave early. I really wanted communion, so it needed to be an Anglican Church, among my options. Nobody else was interested in going to an 8 o'clock service, so Professor Arnold went with me, which I appreciated since I never would have found it on my own, and I would not have liked walking that far on my own through Jerusalem. Because it was the earliest service, it was also the smallest service. There were perhaps 12 or 13 people there, and there was no music. Most of the times that you would normally sing a song, we did not, but we did sing about a song and a half throughout the service. It is interesting to go to a service with very little music, especially the day after going to synagogue where everything was music. One thing I noticed today was how close you can feel to God in just silence together or going through the liturgy together, without music. It is an experience that might be good to try at Grace once, just to show how worship comes in many shapes and sizes, including lack of music. When we did sing, it was during the offering and right after communion, both times without any music accompanying us. The priest impressed me, and he was one of the best Anglican or Episcopal priests at preaching that I have seen. He really got into the reading of the Gospel as well as the sermon, and the sermon was very good. He spoke about how we need to proclaim Jesus, since you tell any other good news. He also spoke about how he sees Muslims stopping and praying, without shame, in Jerusalem, and said that we should be like that. It was very good. When time came for communion, he had us all come up and stand in a circle around the altar as he served us, which was a very nice way of doing it, and we sang "Open my eyes that I may see." I am very glad that I went, and it is amazing to know that I had communion in the city (well, expanded city) in which Jesus did the Last Supper.

After church, Prof. Arnold and I wandered the Old City a bit, through most of quarters, and back up to the Western Wall. I was able to see a little better what was happening at the wall, since the crowds were significantly smaller. It was a cool way to take in the city, with someone who knows what things are, yet not in a huge group. Surprisingly, we didn't get dragged into any shops as we walked through market places.

we had to be on the bus by 10:30, and we went to hear a speaker and look through ancient remains. The speaker went for over an hour, and he got cut off by our tour guide who told him that we really needed to go into the next part. This speaker was...well...boring. He basically told me things that I already know, explaining the history of the Temple. It wouldn't be so bad except that we have heard this many many times in Jerusalem, since every speaker feel the need to retell the common Bible stories. It just makes me want to stand up and say, "We know already, give us something new or deeper or at least make it interesting like the guy yesterday!!" This guy talked way longer than any of us imagined, and he was hard to listen to after a while. He was very much on the side of Judaism in the conflict (not necessarily armed conflict but any conflict) to a fault. He didn't seem to have any tolerance at all, to the point that when the Muslim call for prayer rang out over the city, he kept interrupting his sentences to say "just be quiet." Obviously the person could not hear him, because they were using a speaker from a mosque somewhere, but it still bothered me. When we finally got through him and heard what we were doing, however, it was quite exciting. Apparently, the Muslims dug a gate from the temple mount and just threw the dirt away about 5 years ago. Currently, no excavations are allowed up there. What these people are doing is taking the piles of dirt and slowly sifting through them trying to find ancient artifacts. There are problems, they don't know exactly where each thing came from, but they still find some significant items. We were actually sifting through the rocks and dirt to find any ancient artifacts, and we found some pretty cool ones. Our table found some metal, bones, lots of pottery, and many mosaic stones. Some others found significant pieces of pottery and even coins.

The rest of the day was devoted to Christianity. I cannot make a record here of everywhere we went, mainly because we went to so many churches that it would be utterly impossible. We started on the Mount of Olives and walked down visiting churches, such as ones devoted to Mary or various parts of Holy Week. We did visit the Garden of Gethsemane, which was pretty cool. It was beautiful. I spent most of this walk answering questions for Jacob (who is 7). That boy can ask some very tough questions, and did so throughout most of the day. Among them were...what is a Methodist? What do you do on an altar? Why do we care where Jesus walked to die? etc etc etc. In short...very normal 7 year old questions. I was speaking to his mom who said that perhaps part of the steps to pass to become a pastor should be to sit in a room with a 7-year-old for 3-4 hours. It actually might not be a bad idea, because you have to figure out how to explain things simply...it is even more difficult if that little child is Jewish so everything has to be explained. It was fun though.

eventually, we walked down the Via Dolorosa. Each of us in our class had to give a presentation on site, and the Via Dolorosa was mine. The presentation was supposed to be 20 minutes. It think mine's start and end were about an hour from each other. It was an interesting presentation, though. As I was giving the introduction to the whole site, the Muslim call to prayer started, very close to us. They do pray 5 times a day. So they would chant for a few seconds then I would talk for 20 seconds and get stopped mid-sentence as they started again. This happened about 5 or 6 times before nobody could stop laughing because it was so funny. Then we realized that I can talk over the call to prayer and everybody could hear me. I am still wondering if this means I have a big mouth. Eventually, we started down the Via Dolorosa, and we stopped at each site so i could explain what happened there, traditionally. This is what took so long, the walking down the streets to the places. One interesting thing was that we were following a group of pilgrims singing in Latin the entire time, so we could see what I was talking about. When we arrived at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which has the last few sites inside, I finished up outside. When we went inside, it was pretty cool, but mainly to see the different traditions lined up beside one another. In one step you can move from Catholic to Greek Orthodox. When we got to the tomb, I really wanted to go in, because it is just cool to go in a place that is traditionally Jesus' tomb. We got in line, and they closed the gate right in front of us and told us that they were closing. So, we had to leave, but some of us will be going back tomorrow.

It was pretty cool to do a presentation on the site that I was talking about. I could point and say...right there is the spot where people congregate to remember Jesus being condemned to death. There is where they remember Jesus getting stripped of his clothes. It is like the ultimate visual aid, and you cannot get it any other way. I did not think it would be that neat, but it was. It was also just fun, because I like to speak.

That was most of my day, and I apologize for the very long entry, but so much happened that I could not cut anything more out. Tonight, I did at least manage to have some semblance of a social life, by going out to dinner with 9 other people. That was kind of fun, though I am not used to doing anything like that since I typically don't do much except homework, classes, church, meetings, homework, and homework. It was fun to go out, and I am glad that I have winter term when I can do it, especially since I am doing it in Jerusalem.

laila tov chaverim, good night friends.

Super Shabbat

Shalom chaverim,

So, I am still trying to catch up on the blog. Yesterday was Shabbat, which means Sabbath, so I naturally followed my professors and some other students to synagogue in the morning. Most of us who went were not Jewish, but some were. We went to a Conservative synagogue, and the person who sang the prayers for the first part was a woman. Then, when the Torah part came, they had men and women doing each part, and a woman gave the sermon. The service was entirely in Hebrew, except the sermon, though on of the men would call out the page number in English every so often. I sat next to Professor Schindler and her 7-year-old Jacob, so as she ran her finger along the Hebrew for him, I was able to watch her and follow along. Some of the time she even reached over and showed me in my book. Most of the service did not have phonetic pronunciations in English, though it did have an English translation. We ended up having to leave early to get back to the hotel for a scheduled talk. Synagogue was fascinating, especially since it has probably been 8 years since I have been to any synagogue. I have been about 3 times, but it has been a long time. It is constant chanting, with very little silence of speaking, except the sermon. At the same time, watching the people was interesting. There was a man walking up and down the aisles asking people to do things, one student went up and held the Torah scroll as they wrapped it back up in its cloth case. They were very welcoming to us in general, even though it was probably completely obvious that most of us were not Jewish. They placed us in the middle so we could see everything and the Rabbi could see that the room was full. Overall, I am glad I went, though I may still be processing it all.

We returned from synagogue to listen to a speaker. He is a man who started an organization in Jerusalem that does three things. He aids children whose families have been killed or injured in terrorist attacks, or who themselves were victims. He makes sure they have what they need, and gets them to school since you cannot stay up in society without education. Second, he works to stop the sex slavery in Israel. Third, well, I don't remember the third one right now. Perhaps I will later. He had many people who thought he was insane, trying to give away thousands of dollars that were just given to him to give to families in need, but he persisted and got the information he needed to help the families. Now, he functions mostly off donations from the US. He talked about this, but he also told many Bible stories. I am not sure what their relevance was, but he told them so well, that I don't care. It was funny to listen to him talking and supposing what the characters were thinking at the time. i am also familiar enough with the stories, both of the Bible and other Jewish texts, that I could listen to them with knowledge about what they actually say and his spin on them. It was just fun.

In the afternoon we went on a walking tour to Mishkanot Shananim (sp?), where we saw one of the first settlements outside the walls of Jerusalem in modern times. It was pretty cool to see, because I have read about it before, and it affords a great view of the Old City, though, to be honest, I have great pictures of the Old City from all angles by now. I have seen it from so many locations, yet it is still breathtaking every time. I don't know how people don't just stand and stare at it all day. I can't imagine having the view Jerusalem become commonplace, and I hope it never does for me.

Well, I will write again soon, probably today, to catch up on another blog entry. In the meantime, L'hitraot (see you later).

From the depths of Hell to the peaks of Zion and beyond

Shabbat Shalom (though technically Sabbath is over now, but it was Sabbath a few hours ago).

Sorry about the lack of blog yesterday, but I was exhausted and couldn't stomach any more writing.

Yesterday was a fascinating day devoted to learning about and seeing much of Jerusalem. Our first stop of the day was at a viewing platform from which every picture of Jerusalem seems to have been taken. As I stood there, I remarked to one of my friends that I could not believe that I was there. I have seen the pictures, and now I am taking the pictures. It was completely breathtaking, and I could not look away, even when the guide started taking about buildings that were beind us. I could not believe that I was actually looking at Jerusalem. A city with so much importance, history, and significance because of its past residents (like David and Jesus). I could not believe it and just had to stare.

After we left the viewing platform, we went up into the city by way of the Valley that's name is connected to the word for Gehenna, or Hell. Looking up into the city was daunting, and realizing that thousands of years ago it was even deeper makes you wonder how anybody could ever conquer the city. All along, we could watch the walls of the Old City coming closer and closer.

Our eventual stop led us to taking pictures of the walls before we headed into David's Jerusalem. Our guide has us time how long it took us to walk from one side to another, and it was about 45 seconds for me, indicating how skinny the city itself actually was. As if that wasn't enough, we went and walked on platforms over the ruins of what they have good reason to believe was actually David's palace. Even a few years ago, they had not been allowed to excavate more than just the outside wall, but they managed to buy the property and excavate much more of the house. You could still see the rooms and walls of the house.

As cool as David's palace was, it could not be topped by Warren's Shaft. I have been excited to see Warren's Shaft since even before I knew I was coming to Israel. It is fed by the Gihon spring and it how the city got to its water source. More importantly, however, it is possibly how David managed to conquer the city, by sending a man up the shaft to open the gates. We looked down into Hezekiah's Tunnel, but it has water almost up to your waist, so we passed on traveling through. That was fine with me, because, as I discovered in the last leg of the trip through the shaft, the final part is a narrow tunnel that looks very much like a cave. I do not like caves, in fact they are my phobia, so walking through the tunnel was fairly frightening for me. I was practically running at one point to get out, and I was not the only one. Looking back, however, it was completely worth it, because I got to see Warren's shaft. I got to see the place that might have been integral to David's conquering of Jerusalem, starting its history as the capital of Israel. It was so cool.

We left Warren's shaft and proceeded to Mt. Zion to see the traditional site of the Upper room and David's tomb. Our guide pointed out that this site is a conglomeration of the three major religions of Jerusalem. It has Judaism, with David's tomb, Christianity, with the Upper room, and Islam, with a minaret on top of the building and various Muslim decorations throughout (because they took the site and made it a mosque, as they were prone to do). We didn't get to see David's tomb because we got there too late and the Sabbath was approaching, but otherwise, it was neat to be there. I ended up in discussions about the importance of pilgrimage, even if we can be pretty sure that where you go is not the actual place that it happened. The need for connection to Jesus is more important to many than the need for authenticity. The place is symbolic, and thus is good enough.

As we walked down the cardo, with its broken pillars, I ended up in a discussion with another friend about how you can worship even when you don't know what the words mean, which turned into a discussion of what a pastor/minister/priest does for the congregation (such as sacraments). The discussion continue later at dinner and evolved into a discussion of the role of pastors in various denominations, ending in me pulling out my Book of Discipline and showing the rules of the church, our social principles, and essentially explaining the United Methodist Church. It was quite an interesting prolonged discussion that included much Bible, tradition, experience, and reason :).

We left the cardo to visit the Western Wall. We were given 45 minutes to people watch, visit the wall, pray if we wished, basically take it all in. First I watched as sundown approached and the wall area grew more and more crowded. I noted the outfits, some of which I had only read about in Chaim Potok's The Chosen. I had seen some of these outfits throughout Israel, but there were more ultra-Orthodox Jews than I could imagine. Many wore all black with long black coats, black hats (either of fur, shaped sort of like a top hat, or a yamaka). SOme wore black pants, black tights, or white tights. Some groups dressed this same way but with a tan coat. There were also many soldiers, and many Jews who were apparently less orthodox, all crowding forward to the wall. The men's side was larger than the women's, and it filled much faster. In the end it was completely packed on both sides, but still more full on the men's side. Also, on the men's side were many tables for Torah reading, while the women's side had one. At one point, I went into the women's side, and it was fairly early on just before Shabbat began. About two to three rows of women were up by the wall. I probably could have touched the wall if I really tied, but I didn't want to push. Along the divider between the men and women, a handful of women were standing on chairs watching over into the men's side. Many were very obviously tourists, so it upset me a little. Later Professor Arnold said that this happens in normal synagogues when women watch over the wall to see their son's Bar Mitzvah. I stayed by the wall for about 10-15 minutes, and then I left. To exit, you have to walk backwards without turning from the wall, if at all possible. I did so and turned to walk normally when the woman beside me did. Apparently, the men's side was eventually so crowded that it was impossible to walk out backwards.

We returned to the hostel for Shabbat dinner, where we had the blessings over the bread and wine (here grape juice). And with that, the day was over. My discussions with my friend continued into the night, then I went to bed. I will write about today later, so for now,

shalom.

Capernaum, Sea of Galilee, Tiberius, Nazareth and Jerusalem

Shalom chaverim, hello friends,

Today was a long eventful day with many many things that happened, so I will try to remember everything to tell you.

Because of the lack of luggage, today I wore clothes borrowed from the kibbutz, clothes of the staff of the hotel. So, I did everything you about to read in a long black skirt and a white polo shirt, yes, I have pictures.

This morning our first stop was Capernaum, along the Sea of Galilee where Jesus called his first disciples then went to heal Simon Peter's mother-in-law. Jesus also read and taught in the synagogue there. As we walked into the area of Capernaum, the first thing we did was walk over and stand by the Sea of Galilee, and we looked over the water and down the rocky coast. As we looked over the area, I did as I had been previously asked by the tour guide and read out loud the passage from Mark 1 where Jesus calls the first disciples from their boats, walking on that coast. Next, we went and looked at Peter's mother-in-law's house, and I read that story from Mark. The house has had multiple churches built on it, and the latest is modern, but it is built on stilts and with a big hole in the floor so you can look into the ruins of the house and the older churches. The church itself was beautiful. It is Catholic and in Byzantine style and shaped like an octagon. Inside, it looks like it might hold 100 people, and the front of the altar had a mosaic on it. By far, one of the coolest things we did was visit the synagogue. It is actually the 4th century synagogue built on top of the synagogue that Jesus taught in. At this site, I read the passage in Mark where Jesus teaches in the synagogue. The tour guide asked me last night to read for two reasons. 1) I am a religious studies major who has studied the Bible a lot, and 2) I am going to seminary next year and going to be a pastor. He has taken to calling me reverend or pastor Melissa, though I am not sure why he decided that :). Anyway, being asked to read from Mark on site at Capernaum was very exciting for me. He said he could do it, but he wanted to give me the opportunity. There was just something special about reading from the Bible on a site like that, where Jesus was. I did not actually get to walk on the level of ground that Jesus walked on, because of the fence, but I was there. I stood above where Jesus walked. I looked over the sea where Jesus looked. I read the Bible to people where Jesus taught people the Torah. I can't explain what that felt like, but it felt pretty cool, a powerful and awesome experience.

Then, as we went to the bus we looked up in the hills to see a church built on a site supposed to be the place of the Sermon on the Mount. We then headed down the coast to see a 2000 year old fishing boat that was found in the 80s. We stood and looked at a wooden boat that has managed to survive this long from the time of Jesus or shortly after. Boats like this may have been used by jesus or used to fight the Romans. In either case, it is something almost completely in tact made of wood that has survived this long. It truly puts a picture in your head of one more aspect of 1st century life on the Sea of Galilee.

After viewing a boat, we climbed into a newer boat. This boat was wooden and looks old and raggedy, though it is truly just made to look that way. On this boat, we went across the Sea to Tiberius. The surface of the boat had benches all the way around the sides, but the center was completely empty. It flew the Israeli flag. They asked where we were from and then put up the US flag and played our national anthem for us. After exchanging glances, we all stood and removed our hats and gradually started to sing along to this instrumental version of the Star Spangled Banner. Next came the Israeli national anthem, which some people sang along with. The rest of the ride was full of fun. We took pictures of all the coast of the Sea of Galilee and group pictures together. They played music the entire time, and at some point Hava Nagila came on. So, we gathered in a circle, linked arms and danced in a frenzy, following the lead of our guide and Professor Arnold. I ended up in a bit of pain in my knee, but it was worth it because it was a lot of fun. The entire boat ride was just laughing together and spending time together, enjoying the sea and the sun. Probably I will remember that ride as much as or more than many other parts on this trip.

We had lunch in Tiberius. I had swarma and a free orange. Chris, on of my friends, and I were walking around and saw a juice stand. They had many oranges, and I didn't want juice, just a Mediterranean orange. I went up and asked if I could buy one orange. When he figured out what I wanted, he reached down into his fridge and put two oranges in a bag for me and handed it to me saying "Don't worry about it." I thanked him with a big smile and both Chris and I had the best oranges that I have had since Greece. Maybe he was being hospitable, maybe it didn't cost him anything, maybe he liked that I was a girl and blond. I don't know, but I do know that I appreciated it and have been quite impressed by Israeli hospitality so far.

Next we visited an ancient synagogue to see a mosaic on the floor that has pagan symbolism in it. There are a few synagogues of the kind in the world, and there is lots of speculation as to why they would have a large picture of a zodiac with the words written in Hebrew. I am not surprised by it, because I have learned about it n class, but it was neat to see something that I have only seen pictures of. It was exciting because there are few of these in the world.

Nazareth was or next stop to see the Church of the Annunciation, dedicated to the Virgin Mary. That is all we saw in Nazareth, because we didn't have huge amounts of time. Images of Mary were all over the place, though one in particular caught my eye. It was a statue of Mary standing with her arms up in the air. Behind her, on the wall, is a chi-rho symbol in red (looks like a P with an X through it), with an alpha and omega on either side of the chi (the X). Around the statue is a labyrinth with Mary at the center. Usually when I think of a labyrinth, I think of a place that you walk to pray, it may symbolize a spiritual journey. I am not sure that I have ever considered Mary worthy of being at the center, at the goal of the journey. Of course, I am not Catholic, so perhaps I wouldn't. It was a beautiful setup, but I am not sure what I think about it. From an academic perspective, it interests me that the Catholic people hold Mary at such high esteem. I knew that they did, but this was a visual representation that I had not before considered, opening my eyes more fully to exactly how important Mary is to them. Knowing it is one thing, seeing it is another.

After Naareth, we returned to the bus for a few hours of driving, culminating in a stop in Jerusalem. We stopped to get out and look at the Old City all lit up, and then continued to the hotel, where my suitcase awaited me. People actually clapped and congratulated me on getting my suitcase. It was sure nice to put on clean clothes and my own clothes.

All in all, this has been a good day, and a long day. I have had some good conversations with people (with Prof. Schindler about pilgrimage in Protestant traditions, with Prof. Arnold speculating on Joseph and if he was dead when Jesus died, with Schindler's 7 year old son about everything that he could think of to talk about mainly because I would sit and listen to him, and many many more). I have learned a lot and had some new and powerful experiences. I am ready to collapse into bed, but I know that I need to do more school work. Tomorrow, we truly experience Jerusalem for the first time, and I can't wait. Today, I truly feel as if I am in Israel.

shalom

Kibbutz, Dan and Kabbalah

Erev tov, good evening,

Today was once again a long and eventful day, which culminated in still no luggage for me, but we will discuss that later.

This morning began with a 7:30 walking tour of the kibbutz (which I explained in the last post). We saw how the people actually live and where they farm. The kibbutz members live in very small houses, but at least they do have running water these days. Young adults who return to the kibbutz live in their own places, but they are not the same size that a family would live in. For young adults and for children they have organized programming. Children go to the "children's houses" before and after school for community building, activities, games, play...basically it is like a daycare. By high school, they go to school farther away and so this type of thing cannot happen as easily. In all cases however, they strive to create for the children, and all people, community. We saw the synagogue, well one of them. There we learned that tis kibbutz is one of the largest suppliers of synagogue furniture in the world, and they even supply to some churches. As you look around the synagogue, the men sit in the middle and the women sit on either side behind strings of beads that separate them. I did count the pillars in the main area to be sure that there were twelve pillars for the twelve tribes of Israel, and there were. It was interesting to see how these people live in such simple conditions, but not to the extreme point of asceticism. They just have different priorities than owning things or watching tv or playing around too much on the computer. They are a socialist society, in that they share everything, which may not be the way for me, but it sure works for them.

Next, we visited Tel Dan, which is where the Dan spring stats, which is the start of the Jordan River. Yes, I got pictures. Later, we took pictures of the actual Jordan River, but I bet you anything that this was not where John did his baptizing. The water was a bit rough and fast. Nevertheless, it was neat to see this river that is discussed throughout the Bible (Jesus' baptism, Joshua crosses it, etc.) On the same hike, we visited the Biblical city of Dan, which was of the northern kingdom. It was more ruins, but it was different ruins than most that I see. For one, the rocks were not cut, just built up. Also, there was a place for sacrifice, an altar, which would have been built by the Israelites before it wasn't allowed. I was walking around in a truly Biblical city from during the monarchy, after the split of Israel and Judah, and it was pretty cool. Today, I walked where the northern kings walked.

Also, as we drove through this northern edge of Israel, we could see both Jordan and Syria, showing how thin the land of Israel was both now and some years ago. We also heard some shelling, but I won't worry you about that.

After lunch in a Kosher food court, we went to Tzfat, a Jewish city known for mysticism, Kabalah. We met a Kabalistic artist who showed us some of his work, which all has to do with Jewish mysticism, and explained very briefly some of Jewish mysticism. I actually bought one of his pieces, because it say "there is no other than God" in Hebrew. He explained that they read this passage and remember that everything that happens, God is there with you and he will bring good out of it. God is always with us. I liked that, and bought the piece to hang in my seminary apartment, in hopes that some day I can read it, and in the meantime know what it means.

When we returned from our travels, I went to the front desk to retrieve my luggage, and discovered that it still was not there. After many phone calls, my guide managed to get a hold of the airport who said that they tried to deliver the luggage. The hotel says that nobody tried to deliver luggage. So, tomorrow I will be wearing the garb of a kibbutz member, a skirt and loose shirt. It will be an interesting experience when I shall be on a boat on the sea of Galilee, but I am very grateful to the kibbutz. They have been extremely helpful in loaning me clothing and opening the store after it closed so we could get me everything I needed. I will leave this place with fond memories of the kibbutz and not so fond memories of the airlines.

So, after a long night of hunting down clothing, I bid you good night, laila tov.

Gunfire at Armageddon

Shalom,

Today was an eventful and long day full of visits to ruins and listening to talks. On the plus side, I had a little more sleep last night, so I could enjoy it. On the downside, my luggage has yet to show up. It is in Israel, but because it arrived without a person it has to go through another round of security before they send it to me. So, I am now borrowing clothes to get through tomorrow. I am getting a little annoyed, because it is not as if I chose to not have my suitcase with me. However, I did know that Israel's airport has more security than we are used to.

This morning we rose early to meet the day and visit Ceasaria, where we toured the ruins. It was interesting to tour these ruins, which were Roman, so I have not seen many in that style. As we sat in the theater and looked around, I was trying to decide all the ways that a Roman theater differs from a Greek theater. I managed them all except for one, the most obvious. Our professor pointed out that Greek theaters were built on natural hills and Roman theaters were built up so they were more impressive. I was a bit embarrassed to have missed such an obvious difference, luckily, nobody knew that I was thinking through this list and missed it, well, until you all read this. As we continued to walk the ruins, I did not feel the novelty at being in ancient ruins that I had felt in Greece, perhaps because ancient ruins are no longer a novelty for me for the reason that they are ancient. They are still exciting if they are cool ruins or something amazing happened there, they are just not so exciting simply because of their age. While walking through the ruins toward the hippodrome, I was asked by another student if this was anything like Greece, because he did not expect to ever get to go there. This caused me to stop and think for a moment. I wasn't entirely sure how to respond but I tried. I told him that in some ways it is obviously very different, because this is Roman and Greek ruins are, well, Greek. But, the feeling of being in an ancient place is similar, because I felt comfortable in the ruins. It felt familiar. Thinking about the question now, I think that the feeling of ruins as familiar and comfortable can be gained anywhere and will spill over into visits to other ruins. I also think that because I am past the "wow it's so cool because it's ancient" stage, I can look at it with a different eye. I did also enjoy it when we walked past a stone with Greek writing on it and three of us immediately veered toward it to play with the Greek. We also visited aqueducts while we were there, but we did not spend much time by them. There wasn't exactly much to see.

Next, at lunch, I had falafel (not sure if I spelled that correctly) for the first time, in a restaurant with an all Hebrew menu. It was actually very good, though I am still not sure what is in it. One thing I learned in Greece and have put into practice here, is to try everything and hope something turns out to be good. Often in our hostels we have buffet style meals, all Kosher since we have stayed in Jewish hostels so far, and I have no clue what I have been eating. I just put it on my plate and ate, and it turned out well.

After lunch, we went to Meggido. the word Armageddon come from the Hebrew for "to Meggido." Now, these were some cool ruins. As we started up to the ruins, about 6-8 older people who seemed to be traveling together started following our group around, listening to the guide, and listening to the student presentations. Eventually they got bored and left, but they were with us for a good hour. I think they were really enjoying it until some became tired and bored and so all had to move on. As the presentations were happening we kept hearing noises that sounded a bit like gunshots in the distance, but I pretty much ignored it, until somebody finally asked what it was. We were told "gunshots." As we looked at the professor in horror, they explained that army drills/maneuvers were happening on the other side of the mountain a little ways away. There were also planes flying overhead in formation. It was a bit odd to be staing on a site where traditionally the battle between good and evil will happen, where more than 30 major battles have been fought over the years, listening to gunfire. It was somewhat disconcerting and odd, but not frightening. Today, we stood in a city where Joshua was, where Solomon was, and where many people have lived since. That was pretty cool. Also, standing on the top, we could look out over Jezreel Valley. If the weather had been nice, we could have looked straight into Jordan.

Even though there had been gunshots, the scariest part for me was actually leaving the site. To leave, we walked through the tunnel that they dug for access to water. I do not like caves. Natural ones are worse, but this one was bad enough. We walked through a little tunnel in the mostly dark, as I was just trying to remind myself that we were almost out. Of course, the people around me were also reminding me that we were almost out. Then we had to climb stairs to exit. My knee twinged a bit, but that is the first time on the trip, and it wasn't too bad.

Tonight we are staying at a Kibbutz, Kibbutz Lavi, which is a religious Kibbutz. Because of this, tonight we listened to and spoke with a Kibbutz member who explained what a Kibbutz is. A Kibbutz is a settlement of people. It can be religious or non-religious. The members of the Kibbutz live there and may either work there or outside the Kibbutz. If they work outside, their pay is given directly to the Kibbutz. If they work inside, they are not payed. They own no property, but all is owned by the Kibbutz. They are each given money according to their needs, which they live on. In this Kibbutz, you must follow the Jewish laws. In all kibbutzim, you must always work. Being born into a Kibbutz does not automatically make you a member, but instead after your mandatory military service (required because they are Israeli citizens) a young adult may choose to become a member of the kibbutz. If they go to school, the kibbutz will pay it. If they wish to work, they may do so. I asked him about young people returning, and he said that they tend to have 30-40 percent returning, but the community stays not too old because they bring spouses and sometimes children back with them. As in most situations, the Kibbutz says it is doing what needs to be done to attract the young people to return, but the young people say that it is not enough. One practice is that they do not have to leave the kibbutz if they cannot decide right away, yet they can keep their wages while in college. It gives them more time to make a decision without as much pressure or difficulty. My reaction to this is that I am surprised that they have such a high retention rate. They must be doing something right, that it is working as well as it is, even though it is lower than in previous times. Obviously they teach their children well what they believe and why if those children leave for 3-4 years, exposed to all other Israeli cultures, and then choose to come back as adults. They must teach them well why they do as they do for them to come back so freely, even if it is not in as large quantities as they used to have.

For now, shalom chaverim.

Arrival in Israel!!!!!

Shalom!
Hey everybody, welcome back!!

This January I will be in Israel for 2 weeks, starting today. I should be blogging pretty frequently because I have to keep a journal for class.

Yesterday evening we got on the plane in Indianapolis, flew to Philadelphia, and on to Tel Aviv. I dozed a grand total of 30 minutes during that whole flight. Unfortunately, we all made it to Tel Aviv but my suitcase got left behind. In Philadelphia. They said it should show up by tomorrow, but we leave this hotel for the next one at 8:30 AM, which means that they will need to send it to the right hotel. Not fun. This was not a wonderful beginning for the trip. Professors Arnold and Schindler asked me what I needed, and I told them that I was fine because I have all my meds and a change of clothes in my carry-on. When the tour guide found out that I didn't have luggage, he asks, "well what can we do for you? what do you need?" Before I have a chance to respond, Prof. Schindler pipes up with "She's fine, she's an experienced traveler." That made me laugh, which was nice because I was very annoyed and somewhat upset at the missing luggage.

Next, we got on the bus and discovered how pampered we are going to be. Today, we got a large assorted snack box, a water bottle in cloth water bottle holder, a hat, a shirt, an info book, and maps. We went from there into Tel Aviv, and over to Joffa. We walked a bit of ancient Joffa and, for fun, saw a statue of a whale for Jonah, because Jonah was leaving Joffa when he got swallowed. We also saw a piece of modern art, which was an orange tree growing in a large orange shaped pot suspended over the sidewalk by cables.

As we drove around on the bus, I looked down at Tel Aviv and tried to compare what I saw with other places, yet I did not have much luck. It had some of the shorter buildings and tile roofs like those found in Greece. The walls were all weathered and old, like some seen in Greece. Unlike any city I have been to, there is not a central spot full of tall buildings. There are tall buildings, but they are spread throughout the city as if on a whim, rarely congregated in clumps of more than 4 or 5, and never getting as tall as some of the skyscrapers of cities like New York city. It did look like a modern city, but it also looked like it sprang up rather haphazardly, with the height of the building built just for the need at the moment, not with any intention to put the tall buildings together, as is seen in the sky lines of many a city. My only conclusion was that Tel Aviv is like a mixture of Athens and New York City with a few other things thrown in.

After Joffa, we went back into Tel Aviv. We went to a monument in front of Independence hall. As we walked up to this monument, which had the 66 names of families who built Tel Aviv, following our Israeli tour guide, an old slightly darker skinned man waked through our group. He muttered to me and a couple others "Please, don't believe everything he says." (referring to the tour guide). We gathered from this that he was probably Palestinian and did not want us to hear only one side of the story with regards to the beginning of modern Israel. It was a little weird, but we didn't worry too much about it. I had already been warned to think through what I was told, and I try to do so anyway with tour guides. Then, after our tour guide finished showing us the monument, we sat on some benches as he gave us information about how to be safe and about facts we should know. The old Palestinian man came up again and this time stoo, very obviously watching our tour guide, listening to what he had to say about terrorism, staying safe, pickpockets, etc. The man left when our tour guide started talking about the dangers of dehydration. This was probably one of the most interesting things that happened this first day, because it seemed to show tension between the peoples in a tangible way. He did not trust our tour guide to give us a balanced opinion, and our tour guide pretty much ignored him (as he probably should have). So far, our tour guide doesn't seem to be unreasonably biased, and he seems to be making an effort to stay that way. I will reserve judgment until more of the tour has happened.

We next went into Independence Hall, where David Ben-Gurion declared Israel's independence in 1948. By this time I was completely exhausted and barely focusing on anything. They took us into a room to watch a short introductory film on Ben-Gurion, turned off the lights, and closed the door. The lady who set up the movie asked us to do the best we could to watch it, but she knew that many of us would "rest our eyes." I must admit, I made it about 2/3 of the way through before my eyes shut, until Chris (another student), woke me. So, I can't really tell you what was going on in the movie. After the movie, we went into the small room where the declaration was proclaimed and signed. We sat in chairs as the museum guide explained what had happened that day. I was fine with that, as with the passion she had for how amazing and important it was. At some point, however, it devolved into her pleading with us about how important peace is between Israel and Palestine and explaining that they do not live in peace. It is not that I do not agree with this, it is just that when I go to a museum to hear about what happened, I don't expect to hear what amounts to preaching and witnessing on behalf of her cause for Israel. I do agree that Israel and Palestine need peace, and I admire her for having passion for it. It just seemed that the talk quickly went from the story and passion to a persuasive speech designed to make our hearts melt in sympathy. Now, perhaps I was just tired and not very tolerant because of that, or perhaps this is a legitimate impression. Either way, it has colored my first day in Israel.

After dinner at our hostel, almost all of us in my class went out to see the night life of Tel Aviv. I think, perhaps, the night life of Tel Aviv does not start at 8:30, since people didn't start showing up until a few of us were leaving. On the plus side, the place we ended up going was non-smoking and had non-alcoholic drinks, so I was happy and got to spend time hanging out with friends somewhere other than the hostel.

So, the day is ending, a long tired, stressful day. Hopefully tomorrow I will have luggage and I will see a bit more of Ancient Israel (since I truly don't want to dwell upon the modern sections as much as the ancient). Unfortunately, I have yet to have a sense that I am "in Israel." With Greece, I felt it the first day. I think leaving the city tomorrow, however will aid in this perception.

For now, shalom!