Tel Aviv Market

   

Tel Aviv was so beautiful!  Today was simply a day of fun.  We did get to stop by some Biblical, historical, and recreational stops.  Our first stop was at Jaffa.

Jaffa was also known as Joppa where Jonah sailed out of to flee from the Lord, and also where Peter had a vision of the unclean animals in the sheet in Acts 10.  It was after this event that the Gospel began to spread to the Gentiles!  When Peter shared the Gospel with Cornelius, he later went to the brothers in Jerusalem and explained to them what had happened.  God had given the Gentiles the same gift (the Holy Spirit) as the Jews.  That's me!  I am a Gentile!  But the Lord has graciously extended his "repentance that leads to life" to me as well! (Acts 11:18)

We walked to the harbor from the church and saw the big blue Mediterranean sea! It was beautiful!  We wandered around, took pictures of street art and then walked over next door to Tel Aviv, a city, literally built on sand!  There we went to the location where Israel declared their independence on May 14, 1948.  The declaration only lasted a total of 32 minutes as it started at 4pm on a Friday.  They had to make the ceremony short so they could still hold the Sabbath. It was very interesting hearing about the history of the declaration.  Apparently 350 people were invited secretly the day before. They all crammed into a little art museum in Tel Aviv.  Ben Gurion was the first to sign the declaration (later in the semester we will go to his house in the desert!)

After this historical location we then found our way to the art fair in Tel Aviv.  There were venders everywhere selling their special creations.  Some made mini flowers, cut out pictures, puppets, hand sewn kids toys, leather pieces, jewelry of all sorts, one girl even sold necklaces and bracelets with names written on rice!  So neat!  We then hung out at the beach, played in the water and tried to make sand castles.  I loved walking along and actually finding whole sea shells!

Our lunch was the best I had yet. Next to the fair was a street market where we found fruit smoothie stands and this amazing kiosk restaurant area- it was so good!  YUM!

Shephelah Trip Part 1

     Our first day in the Shephelah comprised of the Sorek Valley (Beth-Shemesh), the Elah Valley (Gath, Azekah, and Socoh), the Guvrin Valley (Mareshet-gath Caves), and the Lachish Valley (Lachish). (Our second trip to the Shephelah was a week later)

     Beth-Shemesh lies in the border between the tribes of Judah and Dan. From Beth-Shemesh you could see Zorah, the place of the judge Samson’s birth (Judges 13:24-25) as well as Timnah, where he sought a Philistine wife, riddled with local Philistines, set fire to the in-laws for re-marrying his wife, as well as near the location where he would later be betrayed by Delilah. Beth-Shemesh is specifically mentioned in 1 Samuel 6:10-21. It was here that the Ark of the Covenant was returned by the Philistines drawn by two milk cows, as well as where 70 locals died for looking into the ark. After our little discussion of the events that occurred there we were able to explore the tel.  Along the edge of the tel were several empty tombs that we could crawl into and explore, and all the various paths were full of pottery shards from the residents who lived there throughout history.

     Our next visit was to the Elah Valley.  We first stopped at Gath, a Philistine city, also known as the hometown of Goliath. (1 Sam. 17:4) Benj showed us a Syrian siege trench that probably went around 3/4ths of the city when it was in use.  They would have used the trench to keep people from coming out until they starved to death.  This is the only siege trench that has been found in Israel. We also saw some of the ruins from the city that even non-believing archaeologists attested to proving historical truths in the Bible.  The rooms we saw appeared to have been supported by two central pillars as also noted in the account of Samson’s death when he killed the Philistines at Gaza in the building by pulling down the pillars. (Judges 16:26)

     There are a few other references of Gath in the Bible.  Gath was one of the Philistine cities that the Ark of the Covenant stayed at while it was in possession of the Philistines, (1 Sam. 5:8) it also was referenced a few times with David.  He escaped the king of Gath by pretending to be crazy (1 Sam. 21:10), later made a treaty with Gath (1 Sam. 27), and after becoming king, took over the city of Gath (1 Chron. 18:1). The last stop in the Elah Valley was quick.  The valley is known to be the location of where David had slain Goliath.  On top of the tel of Azekah there was a nice view and we read through the account in 1 Samuel 17.  It is always nice to be reminded of the power of our God.  Many people know the story of David and Goliath, and to some it is a fairy tale, or legend.  But it is a real event, with real people, and with a real God, our God. He loves to use the humble to shame the proud!

      We drove over to the neighboring Guvrin Valley and walked to the top of a mountain at Socoh.  It was full of beautiful flowers of all types!  People have said that springtime is the best time to come to Israel because it is green and full of flowers, and Sucouh definitely was! Benj demonstrated for us how a slingshot worked, and some of the guys tried it out while the girls were enjoying taking pictures in the flowers.  On our way back down a friendly Israeli man serenaded us and we got to sing “Hodu Ladonai ki Tov” with him!

     In the same valley near the hometown of Micah the prophet, Moreshet-gath are a couple of caves left from the Bar-Kochba revolt.  The rebels would dig tunnels and caves into the ground to hide in.  The tunnels were specifically designed to be small and narrow so that Roman soldiers would be unable to enter in with their armor and swords.  Inside the caves the rebels would raise pigeons for a source of food and sacrifice. We got to crawl in the caves.  There was one   Some tunnels were possible to crawl through on hands and knees, and some required an army crawl.  At first I was terribly afraid to go in, but once I made it to the inside chamber my inner adventurer came out and I explored a few other tunnels!  It is fascinating to imagine people living there and what it must have took for them to get by day after day.
entrance cave that led to a big hollow cavern with several other tunnels leading to separate chamber-like rooms.

     Our last stop of the day, perfectly timed at sunset too, was the ancient site of Lachish. The city of Lachish is at a strategic location for kings to protect their land, and was mentioned in Biblical texts as well as extra Biblical texts.  One of the extra Biblical references was from 701 BC when Sennacherib of Assyria conquered Lachish and 45 other fortified cities of Judah (2 Kings 18:13) He decorated a room in his palace with a depiction of its capture, now in the British Museum. One of the Biblical references to Lachish is from Jer. 34:6-7.  Lachish, Azekah, and Jerusalem were the only fortified cities of Judah that remained when the King of Babylon was fighting against King Zedekiah (the last king of Judah before the Babylonian Exile and first destruction of the Temple). There were several helmets and arrowheads found at this tel as well as 18 letters written on potsherds giving detailed communication between the cities at the time of the Babylonian Destruction. Our day came to a close as the sun disappeared beyond the hills and we descended back down the tel to the bus.  It had been a long, busy, dusty day. But fun and memorable! 

The Art of Challah Making

 Making the dough for the yummy and wonderful Shabbat Challah bread!  Our professor's wife invited the girls over to make this traditional bread and it was so much fun!

Alexandria and I decided to make a Star of David stuffed with a  peanut butter, brown sugar, honey mixture and glazed on top with egg and cinnamon!  It was gone as soon as it was set out at dinner!

The other girls made some very pretty braided loaves filled with cinnamon, sugar, some with Nutella, and a few other combinations!  They were all so delicious and fun to form.

     Here is a sample on how to do a nice and fancy six strand Challah loaf!  They had all sorts of options, braided, grape clusters, mini stars, etc.  What we did with ours was flatten the individual strands and fill them with the yummy peanut butter mixture and then rolled them closed.  Then we took the strands and worked with them!

Bethlehem, Herodium, and Hebron

This week we took a trip to the Southern West Bank visiting Bethlehem, Herodium, and Hebron.  We were looking at the different approaches into Jerusalem, specifically the Hinnom Valley, the Way of the Patriarchs, and the Rephaim Valley.

     We started our day near Jerusalem on the Hinnom Valley on the Kitef Hinnom at the Begin Center. There we looked at tombs from the 7^th - 6^th century B.C.  They had spots for bodies to rest for a year during which the family would come visit and leave gifts to help the deceased in their transition from this world to the next. They believed it took the soul a year to leave the body, but later believed the soul left on the fourth day (hence more stress on raising Lazarus from the dead on the “fourth day”). After one year, the bones were “gathered to their fathers” and thrown into a repository under the benches with the bones of generations past.

Starbucks anyone? Wait...

     After taking pictures and trying out the tombs for size, we traveled back down the Way of the Patriarchs (the North-South Route that goes by Jerusalem and connects cities like Gibeah and Bethlehem together)  towards Bethlehem. As we were approaching the West Bank, Chris McKinney our field trip leader, gave us a little of the history before we crossed the West Bank Security Wall.  Apparently access into the West Bank is always a little uncertain, especially Bethlehem. Some groups have not been able to go in the past, but we were able to get through with no problems, which was a great treat and blessing. We drove through Bethlehem towards the Church of the Nativity. It was fairly poverty ridden and dirty, not like what you would expect from the typical American Christmas card.  

     Our main stop in Bethlehem was none other than the Church of the Nativity.  Built in 313 A.D. and commissioned by Constantine’s mother Helena (who also commissioned the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and the Church of the Ascension) this is the oldest church in the country and for the most part still has its basic architectural framework. Below the floor of the church are two grottos; one is the traditional site of the birthplace of Jesus, and the other the living quarters of Jerome (writer of the Latin Vulgate in the 300’s AD).  Inside the church are lamps, incense, gold and all sorts of ornaments of homage and worship.  The whole place is a little overwhelming, and because of the shrine-like essence it was hard to get an idea of what it actually looked like.  The spot where the manger sat was covered with marble and gold and a little circular glass looking at the bedrock underneath.  But besides that there were tapestries, lamps, pictures, and coverings.  It did not really look like a stable at all.  In fact as our professors have been telling us there is no mention of a stable in the Christmas account, only a manger.  Stables in those days were probably caves under the house to provide heating in the cold months.

Entering the grotto where Jesus was born

Women praying to Mary

The site of the birth of Jesus

    We left the church and made our way through Bethlehem looking at the fields and imagining David being a shepherd and even imagining the shepherds when the angels found them to tell them of the birth of the Savior. I love that part of the Christmas Story by the way.  Just imagining the lowly shepherds being invited to the birth of the King.  It is just wonderful!

     We then drove through the West Bank and arrived at Herodium, Herod the Great's personal monument to himself. It was found in 2009 by Edward Netzer who specialized in Herodian Architecture and was able to find Herod’s palace and tomb a year before he died from a fall on the excavation itself.  Herod won a battle against the Hasmoneans in 37 B.C. and he thought his mom died- he was about to commit suicide when he found out that his mother still lived.  In honor of the victory and life of his mom he set in his mind to come back and build a monument.  He built the mountain using retaining walls with dirt filling from the nearby hills. The Palace had four towers with one entrance that faced Jerusalem.

Remains of the main tower

Model of Herodium

View facing Jerusalem

     The exterior had a theater that had been filled in with dirt, and the remains of Herod’s Nephesh (monument/tomb) that had been purposely destroyed probably during one of the Jewish Revolts. The Jews had used Herodium as a fortress when revolting the Romans in 67-70 AD as well as 132-135 AD.  They had destroyed some of the painful reminders of Herod and had dug tunnels into the mountain and cisterns for protection.  Some of the cisterns could hold ½ million gallons and the pools were supplied with water from a 35-mile aqueduct from Solomon’s Pool. It was quite an amazing place to walk around and explore.  There were remains from the bathroom, a synagogue, and stones that the rebels would use to roll down the hill onto the Roman Army.

Cistern beneath Herodium

Theater at Herodium

Model of the Tomb of Herod

     We watched a little video on the life of Herod the Great before leaving the site, and then continued south to Hebron. Hebron is inhabited by Jews and Muslims and though it is geographically and politically significant it has little biblical historical significance.  It was once the site of King David’s capital, but its main claim to fame is that it is the location of the tomb of the Patriarchs, believed to be the Cave of Macpaleh. It actually has at least a 2,000-year tradition, for the building at this site was built by Herod the Great himself and is one of the only complete structures left from the life of Christ.  It also is a visual example of what the Temple Mount would have looked like if it had not been destroyed. In the typical Herodian style the rocks are all cut the same way, set in an inch from the previous row, and decorated with pilasters that resemble columns from a distance. We were not able to look at the tomb, the building itself is half Jewish and half Muslim and we were only allowed on the Jewish side, which has replicas to resemble the idea and memory of the patriarchs.  Everything was in Hebrew and while we were there a circumcision ceremony was taking place. The men and women were separated and there was chanting and much rocking back and forth. While we had our cameras out to take pictures, the Jewish men in the group also had their cameras to record this special tradition.

The Pilasters built by Herod the Great

Circumcision Ceremony

Streets of Hebron

    As we were loading the bus we were pressed by a few poor adorable children asking for money.  They went from one of us to the next and next with hands out and big pleading eyes.  Our professor warned us that they might come to us as we loaded the bus and sure enough they did.  We were able to watch them run away back into their little homes here and there as we drove away.  Quite a different world than what we had previously seen. 

    Our last stop before returning to the campus was off of the Rephaim Valley, one of the South western approaches to Jerusalem that was most likely used by Philistines in David’s day in 2 Samuel 5.  When David became king, the Philistines all gathered to fight against him and battled in the valley of Rephaim near Baal-Perazim. This battle showed a contrast with David and Saul.  In previous battles Saul would inquire of the Lord through Samuel, but in this battle David asked the Lord directly demonstrating his personal relationship.  After looking over the valley we loaded back into the bus and I personally enjoyed a little short nap on the ride back.  It had been a long day and we were all pretty tired!

Life in the midst of ruins at Herodium

Dead Sea and Nahal Arugot Hike

     Originally we were going to hike elsewhere, but it just so happened that the rains were causing flash floods so our plans changed.  We ended up hiking along the Nahal Arugot, which is in the Judean Wilderness right next to the Dead Sea. At first the incline was overbearing- it was probably the first real "hike" of the semester. But it was definitely worth it.  We had a beautiful view of the Dead Sea, and were able to find waterfalls and pools to swim in.   There were moments were we were walking through bamboo trees and cavelike tunnels that felt like I was in an Indiana Jones movie!

     There are rocks everywhere here, and there were definitely some steep climbs down.  As hard as I thought going uphill was, I think I would prefer uphill ascents over downhill paths.  One wrong step and you could slip and take out everyone in front of you too!

     Along the trail out we were able to see some real ibex, and oddly enough crabs here and there. When we came out we enjoyed some lunch and then bussed over to the Dead Sea where we got to float!  Our guide for the day, Bill Schlegel led us to a spot where we could coat ourselves with Dead Sea mud and then rinse it off in the water.  The mud was warm and soft, and occasionally clumpy- but it felt nice!

     The Sea was really pretty- very blue, and the rocks were all crystalized rough and hard from the minerals.  There definitely were some cuts and sores that burned like crazy when I went in.  Apparently they don't advise you to shave a day or two before going in.  Well, I missed that memo, and heard it after I went in- finding my legs stinging with pain.  :)  Note to future Dead Sea visitors: DON'T shave anything before going in- OUCH!



 

To end off the day we stopped at a lookout of the Judean Wilderness and soaked in the endless hills for a little while before it started to really poor down rain.  It had been sprinkling on an off all day, and now it decided to come down in full force!  What an awesome God- the beauty of His creation is incredible- but to think of the one who made all these beautiful places!  Wow!  "How Great Thou Art" comes to mind.

Church of the Holy Sepulcher Re-visited

My roommate Ann and I spent our Shabbat afternoon in Jerusalem together and were able to roam around the city.   It was really nice going as the two of us.  Previous trips there has always been a large group which sometimes attracts more attention and more confusion.  Ann and I were able to maneuver through the merchant's streets and stop at stores along the way when we wished. I had been wanting to go back to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and so we found our way there along with 10 other tour bus groups!  It was a packed day.  I could not believe how big the church really was!  There were altars here and niches there, and many shrine like spots everywhere.

The first time we went in we were told that there were stairs leading up to part of the mountain where Jesus was actually crucified.  Once we reached the top it was overwhelming.  Sadly it was not overwhelming because of what our savior had done, but because of what mankind had done to this traditional holy site.  There was gold everywhere, lit candles, incense and lamps. It was honestly sickening to my heart to see how enshrined the place was.  My soul, as well as Ann's were both upset by what we saw so we made our way to some other spots but the unsettledness just grew.  There were prayers from the years thrown into displays protecting the real mountain, as well as papers here and there in the walls from all over the world.

We happened to be there right at the time for the priestly...I am not sure what to call it...I guess it was a parade of sorts, or a blessing.  They blocked off the entrance to the tomb itself and were preparing a path for the Greek Orthodox Priests to make their way down town so the High Priest could go and offer a prayer in the tomb.  The ceremony only took a little bit of time and we could not really see anything but could hear some of the prayer as well as feel the stillness in the church from the many pilgrims.  I am not sure what I expected the Holy sites to be like, but I guess I was not thinking I would find it so disturbing.  I would rather places be preserved in their natural state so that people can worship God without distraction or clutter around.  Personally I love being able to walk around the hill country and look at the trees and the sky and the people that God made-it reminds me more of Him as opposed to gold, murals, and statues.

Benjamin Territory...and the Walls of Jericho. :)

Today we took a trip beyond Jerusalem and explored the territory of Benjamin and the Northern West Bank. The group of us bussed from Yad HaShmona to Emmaus to Nebi Samwil around to Gibeah, then through the Zeboim Route to Jericho and back up through the Ascent of Adummin towards Jerusalem and back to Yad HaShmona.

Before we even left our campus, we walked to the end of the parking lot and looked over at our neighbor, Kiriat-Jearim that we visited on our first week.  Kiriat-Jearim lies on the border of the tribe of Benjamin and Judah (Josh. 15:60; 18:28) and is where the Ark of the Covenant rested for a short time. This was our first glimpse into Benjamin, we then piled into the bus and drove about 15 minutes away and found ourselves in a field at Emmaus Nicopolis.

This is one of the nine possible locations for the site mentioned in Luke 24:13-35 where Jesus walked with two of His disciples after His resurrection.  Emmaus is described as being 60 stadia (7 miles) away from Jerusalem, but where we were at was 160 stadia (17 miles). So most likely our location was not the same as the Biblical site. Other possibilities are Abu Gosh from the Crusader Period, Motza that is 3.5 miles away from Jerusalem, and Chubebe.  We don’t really know where Emmaus is, but we can learn from the words spoken on the road leading to it.  Christ’s sacrifice was not a mistake, or a plan B, it was always the intention and plan from the beginning. Luke 24:25 “Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory? And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.”

Next we drove to Nebi Samwil the traditional Crusader location for the tomb of the Prophet Samuel (1 Sam. 25:1) There was not much to see other than the ruins of a crusader castle, Jerusalem in the distance, as well as Gibeon and Mizpah, and some really neat old looking trees. This site is also identified as the “high place at Gibeon” (2 Chron. 1:2) and overlooking the place where the Battle of Gibeon from 2 Samuel 2 took place. (While we were there the boys in our group actually re-enacted the battle!) Leaving the tomb we drove over to Gibeah and climbed the abandoned fortress of King Hussein’s palace from 1967.  We had a clear look out of the Judean Wilderness.  Gibeah was the site of Saul’s capital (1 Sam. 15:34) and the site of the story of Benjamin and the Levite’s concubine (Judges 19-20). The whole morning up to this point had been clear weather but crazy winds.  When we were on top of the palace foundation the winds were so intense it felt like we would blow off! 

     

Once back in the bus we drove through some more of the central Benjamin Plateau. We pulled off the main road and jumped over the guardrail and walked up a mountain looking at “The Pass” mentioned in 1 Samuel 13-14 with Jonathan’s attack of the Philistines.  The Pass connects Geba and Mickmash. Geba was built and fortified by King Asa of Judah when he bribed Ben-Hadad to fight Israel, giving him the green light to expand his borders.  While Israel was occupied in the North, Asa took down Ramah and built up Geba and Mizpah. While he was good to protect his people, he also stumbled in that he used the Temple goods to achieve these goals relying on man rather than on God.  In his earlier years when there was no hope, Asa had fully relied on God.  Our professor noted that sometimes it is easy to rely on God when all hope seems to be lost, but like Asa when things tend to be easy it is easier to rely on man and our selves.  Benj reminded us that we can learn from Asa’s life of the importance to trust in God at all times.

Descending down from the mountain and back onto our bus we made our way into the Judean Wilderness.  Rolling desert hills!  We saw some Bedouin camps here and there as well as a few shepherds and their flocks!  I have been waiting to see them as I love the imagery of God as our shepherd.  We drove by them, so we did not get to observe them for very long, but it was still amazing to see how they walked with their sheep and looked after their needs. Once we made it through the Zebuim Route we came to the Jericho Tel.  The oldest and lowest city on earth.  This Tel has been the second most excavated city besides Jerusalem.  It was actually relatively small only about 10-9 acres and the excavations over the years have kind of left it in a tumble of rocks.

Over the years there had been several excavations starting from the 1860’s.  It seemed most people agreed that this Jericho was the site of the city whose walls came tumbling down in Joshua 6.  But when Kathleen Kenyon excavated the site in the 1900’s she argued that the date of the Tel was older than Joshua’s conquest for its lack of a specific imported pottery. Bryant Wood, a specialist in Canaanite Pottery, argued that the pottery found at the excavations reveal that the city is from the time of Joshua’s conquest.  So there seem to be some differing opinions on date, but both archaeologists do agree that the walls did collapse!

The Wall itself was built of red mud brick and stood atop a retaining wall. In a documentary we watched, they explained that when the mud brick wall collapsed it would have made a ramp leading up into the city enabling the soldiers to go in and take it.  We read the account of the Battle of Jericho and again were reminded of trusting in the Lord.  When the Israelites crossed the land they were circumcised, then they celebrated Passover, then they walked around seven times, then they had to fight, also they were told to burn everything, including perfectly good food.  According to human logic, these actions do not make sense, but we are still called to trust in the Lord even when His wisdom and our “wisdom” do not line up.

Across the street from Jericho is the Ein Sultan Spring, the water purified by Elisha the Prophet in 2 Kings 1:15-22.  Just as verse 25 says, “the water has been healed to this day” and it tasted fine to me when I drank from it!

When our bus came to pick us up we drove to a ministry called Seeds of Hope and learned about their work and the miracle of salvation in the founder’s life.  He wrote a book about his story, “Once an Arafat Man” all about how he went from being a PLO sniper, and chauffer for Yasser Arafat to living in America and becoming a Christian.  

After leaving Seeds of Hope, we headed towards Jerusalem, it seemed fitting to stop and share the story of Jesus leaving (or entering) Jericho (Matt 20:29 and Luke 18:35) where he healed a blind man between Jericho and the road to Jerusalem, and the story of Jesus and Zaccheaus (Luke 19:1-10) and so we stopped for a few minutes at a ruin of Herod’s Palace in Jericho.  While we were there a boy with his donkey met us and was offering people the chance to sit on it. But by this time, the sun had set, so we filtered onto the bus and traveled towards Jerusalem through the Ascent of Adummim (the path of the Good Samaritain) back to our little campus.