A String of Jewish Sites

We went to a Synagogue during one of their Friday night services to welcome in the Sabbath. The men and women were separate with a veil dividing them. In the middle was their prayer leader who had a shawl. It was mostly the Congregation singing or speaking portions of their prayer book some of which was directly from the Torah (like the shema). Sometimes all stood and once we turned and faced the other direction - though I can't remember the significance of that at the moment. There was a short sermon given in hebrew about the color red and during it I picked out the words Thanksgiving and America. Anyway that was pretty cool.

On Saturday we observed Sabbath - which of course is an exception for this area. I went out to the Old City and just walked the streets this afternoon. And I talked to my family this night after a fireside given by Elder Larry S. Kacher. Loved it!

The next day we went on a tour first through the Wohl Museum which is in the Jewish Quarter. It shows 3 nice ruins of homes during the 2nd temple period. These excavations are inside the Old City and also present pottery from that time period. Next was the Burnt House which was altogether similar to the Wohl Museum. It presented a movie of the period of destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans. It showed that Jerusalem was destroyed and sieged in parts.

Next we went through the Jerusalem Archaeological Park which is a massive archaeological dig on the other side of the western wall on the corner. I saw the mikvahs that travelers would use to ritually purify themselves before going toward the temple as well as steps leading up to two points of entry on the southern side. I had already walked the bottom portion of this flight of stairs during the Hezekiah's tunnel tour. But we were there at the top where a closed three arch gate was visible as well as a visible corner of another gate series. Well there was also some ruins of Byzantine dwellings nearby as well as ruins of an Umayyad Palace. But more interesting to me of course were the unearthed entire plaza sections which were there during the time of Christ. It's certain that Christ - his diciples - and Paul walked on these plaza stones. Amazing - truly.

Afterward we were not picked up I went with a group to shop around. I went on the light rail out a couple stops. Asia Rikard insisted I try a Jelly Filled donut and I am glad I did the man even let us make some of the donuts ourselves.

Next was a Free Day ☺!!! Katherine Redd organized a trip to Tel Aviv which was awesome. We went around Jaffa and saw a tree in an egg suspended in the air. Also in Jaffa I saw a Egyptian gate which I have no idea why it was there! We went to the beach between Jaffa and Tel Aviv and went to our knees in the sea. We threw around a frisbee and Cameron McCord made a really impressive arched sand castle. We were walking through some shops and some people bought souvenirs. Further into Tel Aviv we stopped at a restaurant and I had Chicken Schnitzel which was awesome but I tried the other dishes - their being: Risotto; Spinach Ravioli; & white sauce spaghetti. So delicious! We saw the plaza overlooking the beach in Tel Aviv and were basically picked up there. Man that was Fun!

And just today we had the Kotel Tunnel tour. Were we went to the Western Wall and then proceeded north under the Muslim quarter but along the wall of the Temple mount. We saw a section of Robison's arch also saw a filled in arch which used to lead to a Jewish Synagogue under the Temple mount. There were prayer rolls in these Herodian walls just like at the Temple mount. The Romans of course destroyed the temple and threw off the wall stones on the plaza and road below. The most northern section actually had to be dug out so that the temple mount would be flat therefore the bedrock actually came up to where we were eventually. And we exited at a part of the old city I had passed probably a dozen times! Haha. Anyway it was way fun - Have a good one!

Paradise

I hope all these quick site descriptions are helpful to have you picture the sites yourselves. On this day we began with Mt. Tabor the traditional site of the Transfiguration - a wonderful site with a large church on top. There is a triple dome at the very back of the basilica with Jesus in the middle. As you go forward there are stairs down to a mosaic room containing symbolic representations of Christ. At the opposing side of the Church there are also Domes to commemorate Moses and Elijah who appeared on the mount. Of course this shows Jesus as the thing to which the Law and the Prophets pointed towards. There was a monastery set apart which we did not go to. There were also ruins of many shrines there from past times. 

Directly after this a priest from this Chapel took us to the Church at Nain commemorating the raising of a widows only son at Nain found in Luke 7. The Chapel was simple but there were two large stirring painting of the miracle. Outside was unkept  but the priest informed us that the same monastery had recently been granted permission to construct a garden there. Near this chapel was a mosque with many Muslims outside whom we found out were having a funeral procession. That and Bro Huntsman's stirring personal stories and testimony concerning death brought this relatively short literary miracle to a forefront in my mind. Really its a very important miracle to show Christ's ultimate power over death. 

Next was Megiddo a good tel. This city used to overlook all of the valley of Jezreel and as such was an important hold for any period to maintain. They showed us the Canaanite worship areas. Some of the pictures of their figurines showing their ritual worship were cool. There was an interesting model which showed not only what was visible nowadays but also what was torn away to get to what is now visible. The name of the site in hebrew is Har Meggido where we get our Armageddon (Greek). So many battles occurred here that in Revelations (16:16) it is referred to as the site of the final battle. The reference therefore may be more typological. (This site is also reference in Zech 12 & Joel 3). To finish out this site we walked through and out of the water system. Which had lights coming out the handrails. 

Gan Ha-Shelosha - This is simply a "warm spring" site. It was raining here - which made it fun. As I did not have my swim suit I simply waded up to my knees. 

Upper Galilee 

These sites basically lie North of the Sea of Galilee. It was a beautiful day filled with walks through the forests there. It was all so green. And with Nazareth so close and really with many events relating to Jesus happening in this area - I couldn't help draw a connection with the beautiful scenery with the Gardens in Galilee being yet another Garden which our Lord could be associated with. 

The first site on this day was Hazor which was considered the head of the Canaanite tribes of the time. I got to walk through the ruins of the palace structure of the "upper Hazor" complex where the ruler Jabin likely walked. It is said that perhaps the Israelite utter destruction of the Canaanites were not so complete. However with Hazor Josh 11:11 explicitly states that it was burned to the ground. Which makes sense as I learned that palace used to have magnificent wooden flooring. Later after Isrealite conquest it was left largely unoccupied till Solomon had others build it up as a fortress to guard the north. As such there was a Solomonic gate (6 chambered) there which we could walk through. That being said really we can tell much of what is actually original and what is simply built up by the archeologists to give a better picture by a line of cement on the ruin/wall. So for instance the original wall may have been about calf height and archaeologists put it to thigh height. So it is intimately clear when there is a large wall that much of it is really original - I find that rather cool. Also at this site was a large hole which you can step down into by a series of steel stairs. It was a cistern structure. 

The next site was Dan and man was that cool. We walked through part of a trail of a National Forest to get there. We were walking along stones where it seemed nearly that water was literally coming up from between the stones to form a stream which fed into a larger stream. Brother Huntsman talked here about the Living Water imagery that Christ uses with the woman of the well. Not that there aren't beautiful places and gardens in Jerusalem but I saw in Galilee here that there are real forests and waterfalls. That Christ likely walked through these places always is a motivating factor for me to heighten my senses and try to remember every moment of my experience here. We came to Dan's high place which I got the feeling was just the sacred part of the city. The Northern Kingdom or Israel set up two altars when they broke away from Judah, one in Dan and one in Beth-El. They erected bulls (likely a more acceptable symbol relating to God than we can perceive in this modern age) there which they eventually worshiped in idolatry. Anyway so we saw where the altar used to be as well as where their temple complex was. Near this site were trenches from battles - when they were built and to what specific purpose I've no idea. A short trek down a path and we saw the Mud Gate which dates back to Abraham's time. Likely it's the closest site I'll come to relating to Abraham as he very likely walked through it when it was still Canaanite land and a huge city. This arch was not accessible for us to go up to but I could sense it's magnificence. A short walk from that site and we saw the Israelite city walls and gate. 


Next we went to Caesarea Philippi The site of Matthew 16:16  where Peter Declares his belief of Jesus as the Son of God. It was dominated by a rock cliff which is iconic of the whole Petros - Petra wordplay Jesus uses in His response to Peter. There is actually here cut into the rock and ruins to boot around there Temples and sacred structures of a Roman persuasion. There is a Temple to Pan there and to Nemesis.


Next was "Nimrod's Castle" a ruin castle built over a crusader castle. The ruin now is a Muslim castle. Anyway the main reason we went there it seemed was the beautiful vistas. I will never forget it. Truly it was beautiful. And overlooked many green valleys. Directly after this we stopped our bus during our trek and saw a view of Syria. And during this night we had a bonfire on the beach of the Sea of Galilee.

West of Galilee 

Our first site this day we saw in the hills - Chorazin which is a site that is not specifically allotted to a miracle and so undesignated miracles could have taken place here. It is specifically mentioned in Matt 11:21 as a woed city. There was a synagogue there from the new testament times and a remnant of "Moses' Seat" some sort of special seat in the synagogue.


The next site was Sepphoris where we first viewed a mosiac depicting the Jewish religion right beside the zodiac and other Hellenistic influences. There is the famous "Mona Lisa" of Sepphoris a mosaic piece which depicts an unnamed woman. As it is during Christs time with this site only 4 miles away it's possible while growing up he frequented this city. Also this is where the Jewish Mishna was written down.


Finally we stopped at Acco a Port city to the Mediterranean Sea. It was a city before the Crusaders but during that period it was named Acre and really became quite a stronghold for them. We saw their cafeteria area as well as a great port structure. We saw catacombs and tombstones. And went on a walk through the market there. 


That night we had a fireside devotional and bearing of testimonies


The Last day in the Galilee area was marked first by our packing up and leaving the site we were staying at for the duration of our time there. We then went to a graveyard near Haifa where two LDS missionaries are buried - they were both called to serve in Israel and both served in a German colony of Christians. There was a story presented to us of a miracle vision leading to a conversion here. Amazing - really amazing. 


We went to the top of Mt Carmel where or very near where Elijah had his confrontation with Baal. Some of the students acted out the account in 1 Kings 18 - we went to the chapel there and sang some hymns then went up to the overlook which gave a grand view of the Jezreel Valley. And Brother Huntsman pointed out the stream where Elijah is said to have personally slain the priests of Baal. 


The final site we went to is likely where Paul appealed to Caesar after being held for 2 years. This site is Caesarea - a port city which had a great Greco-Roman influence. As the Temple was Herod the Great's effort to impress the Jews the build up of Caesarea was meant to impress his Roman associates. So there was a small theater here. I walked and saw the palace structure which i saw had mosaic flooring. These things were on the beach front so I went to the water a bit. The beach was mostly sand but had a strip of mostly shell fragments. There was a hippodrome there and there really were some great views. There were ruins also of living quarters both from crusader and New testament time frames. It seemed to also be simply a pleasant shop area and many students bought some ice cream there.


So we got back into the bus and took off for the Jerusalem Center. When we arrived it was full of Christmas decorations and we had the Thanksgiving meal right there, which of course was a great feast. Man that was great! Love ya~

Some hikes around Jesus Land

Here I will series several days events:

Gamla - Actually a supposed site of Gamla as it seems that is somewhat is in dispute. But if it is Gamla then it features closely with the Jewish historian Josephus. As it was he who helped construct such an impressive defensive position with two walls to protect their city set on a hill (it's ruins are beautiful). However he was in a neighboring village when the Romans overtook it and was captured. And Gamla fell not long after that. It is suspected that Josephus gave the Romans information to help them in their conquest - as he is favored in Roman society and given citizenship. He then become a historian and writes much about the history of all Israel. -- Featured at the site is a synagogue which is cool as Jesus may have taught there in his teaching in the synagogues all around the area. This city is set on a hill and is not too far from where the Sermon on the Mount discourse was given - so perhaps it is the very city the Lord was referring to in Matt 5:14. There was an choice to see the ruins OR seeing a waterfall. I opted to try and see both and though I made it to both sites it was too foggy to see the site of the waterfall.  

Qazrin Village - Before entering this site we watched a video which illustrated the Mishna by sharing one of its stories. The Mishna is the written oral torah which was passed down orally through the ages definitely during Christs time (by Pharisees) and claims to be from God's whispering in Moses' ear and informing him not to write it but instead to transmit it orally. Though what it held when finally written down included stories of many varieties and sometimes presents conflicting stories rather than resolving ones. Like the one presented in the story was of a Rabbi talking to his disaffected heretic Rabbi and still learning from him. Presenting the idea that one can learn from anywhere - but seriously the video was way cheesy. 


     As for the actual Village the site was from the 4th century I think and had actually been partly restructured. So they had made the rooms back up and filled them as if they were still in use. Anyway that was that.

Golan hike with Eric Maltzman - This was the next day. Eric was a tour guide and was a pretty good and safe instructor and hiker. He led us through a National forest and brought us to the Black Waterfall (featuring Basalt stone) and Then to the White Waterfall (featuring Limestone). All very picturesque - loved it and there were some great views. 


Today was Sabbath (Saturday) so we celebrated church in a members home which had a large open window overlooking the Sea of Galilee. Really great service. I thoroughly enjoyed it. 


Love ya! 

A day filled with things of Jesus

Alright lots of cool stuff has happened. We had a boat ride across Sea of Galilee which began with 3 songs of Gospel music which was fun. We stopped the boat in the middle and our teacher gave us a discourse on Jesus' walking on the water (which showed not only that he had power over the elements but also gave reference to the creation as he created order out of chaos). We sang Master the Tempest is Raging which didn't really fit the scene as it was perfectly sunny and calm (with little to no waves) - I suppose it did fit the geographical location (obviously haha). 


Next was the "Nof Ginosar Ancient Boat" - We watched a video there about it which was very interesting as a marine archaeology success story. They were concerned with this revealed boat that it would disintegrate if it was allowed to dry. Finally after digging it out they surrounded it with fiber glass type stuff allowing it to take one last trek into the Sea of Galilee. They then soaked this boat in a particular type of wax so that it would be okay. One note about it is that it's potentially old enough to be from the time of christ - it's made out of a plethora of different types of wood. Anyways it's a big deal.  


Mt. of Beatitudes was next which had at it's top a Octagonal church which was convenient as there are 8 beattitudes but really an octagonal church is a type historical architecture which means that it is a memorial  church to commemorate a sacred site. It's a wonderful church with stained glass holding in greek the beattitudes. We sang some hymns to set the scene and then Brother Huntsman gave a short lecture allowing us afterward a reflective session - which I used to read the entire sermon on the mount and the recitation to the Nephites in 3 Nephi. The gardens were beautiful and green. 


Tabgha - In this location lies The Church of the Multiplication of the Loaves and the Fishes where an iconic mosaic lies. I remember the windows to this church were full panel but shaded with a cool tan splotchy type of glass. I think it's pretty obvious what this church commemorates

St. Peter’s Primacy - This was on the beachfront and had been identified as a site related to the feeding of the apostles after the resurrection (where Peter jumps into the water and swims to the Lord) and after ward asks Peter "Do you love me? then feed my sheep". There's a "Table of the Lord" there which is supposed to be where they Lord laid out his meal for the apostles. 


Next was Capernaum the city ruins. As we entered we first went to the remains of the synagogue where various levels were visible but not accessible. Showing where Jesus may have taught during his life near the time of  his healing of Peters mother in law (also in Capernaum). They have a place in the city ruins (which your really can't enter) where they have designated an very early Christian meeting place. Like historically they are sure the time frame of this room coordinates with the time Peter was alive (actually he was a successful fisher/ business man). So venerated was this site that an octagonal church was built there - however this was destroyed. Now there is a suspended octagonal church above the city ruins and directly above the ruins of this room where it is highly suspected that the early chirstians met here and that possibly it could be Peter's Home.


Kursi is an archaeological site made of the black basalt stone which is definitely more prevalent in this area. This church was to commemorate the place where Legion went into a herd of swine and ran into the sea. This was the final site of the day and we were all ready to be finished after such a long day. We walked up the steep hill a bit and looked out to see the sea was likely very much closer to the cliff base we were at - no one guesses exactly where this event took place - but that it was near here it is clear. 


All that was yesterday 


So Today was just lecture doing a good part of Mark and beginning Matthew - I'm learning a lot and really like the familiarity I am gaining with the gospels so far. I have gained an deeper understanding and connection with their separate records - If I put my mind to it I'm sure I will nail this information into a part of my being so I'll never forget it. 


In the evening we went out by bus to a fish restaurant where we were served St. Peter's Galilean fish (the supposed very variety of fish which held the coin miraculously). I had Fish and Spaghetti there as well as the ice cream they provided - it was all good. We then went to the city Tiberius where we just walked around the shops and all - it was fairly late so it was about half closed down. And we saw ruins of 1 of 8 synagogues in the area. 


Yeah that's what happened  

The Galilee Begins

Now! My trip through the Jerusalem lands continue! On to The Galilee -- 

This is exciting for me because I know Jesus spent a lot of his time here - and I know I'll gain further insights not only into that time period but those surrounding it. 

Our first stop was to Bet Shean a large city which begins the "Patriarchs Way" (or the series of cities along a prominent trade route) from the North. It has had several very different names. For instance it is the same as the Decapolis city Scythopolis (during that time the city moved away from what is now the Tel there {which itself covers the Canaanite period and many occupations in between} and built around it creating a grand city). This was the first city which used basalt stone for building - meaning many stones were of a black color. And in the theater here there were pink colored pillars which I was told came from Egypt which is awesome because this is very far North and must have taken the pillars quite a while to get to their destination. This city presents the best preserved Bath house (it has gymnasium influence in its architecture) - the ground beneath the hot room was pumped with hot water and hot air to allow shafts at the sides emit steam and shafts in the middle with no opening to the top to heat the floor. So that was interesting. We saw all the natural things to see in a Greco-Roman city like a main cardo (north/south) and decumanus (east/west) running streets etc. We ran to the top of the Tel (real Bet Shean) and had a great viewpoint of the city below and to the north saw the remains of a grand bridge which spanned a valley. The events that occurred here seem from the gruesome account that Saul and his sons bodies were hung here on the walls for a time (1 Sam 31). Though this route was immensely well traveled in Jesus' time so it's possible that Jesus walked through here and certainly some of the apostles did. 

Next was Nazareth which of course was a extremely small town at the time of Jesus' living there after the Egyptian refuge. The first stop here was the Church of Annunication which is a recently built church really. We started at the basement section from which you can see some of the original church in a middle circular section. Down in there some priest led a congregations proceedings - they prayed and recited latin. We went up to the second floor (which had in the same location a viewing circular hole downwards). There was a great dome on top and mosaics from many countries there - I spotted USA's, Canada's, Chile's, 3 from Spain - but couldn't find any from Peru (all the areas of my brother's & father's missions). Next in Nazareth came St. Joseph’s Church - which featured Joseph the Carpenters workshop in a grotto below. Though really we couldn't see much of the grotto - more visible is the remains of the church built on top of it (with a basin) - on top of which the current church sits. The interesting things I learned here was that the word "Carpenter" could have as easily been translated as "craftsman" so really and especially in such a small town as Nazareth Joseph was most likely a man of many trades. Some suggest Joseph was also a stone mason. Also that a figure in history  Eusebius calls out Jude's (the step brother of Jesus) grandchildren but discounts their testimony as lunatic as they speak of a spiritual kingdom not a temporal one (so they were not killed). Finally in Nazareth was the Synagogue church - built over the traditional spot of Jesus' reciting scripture in Luke 4:16-22. That accounts retains a good representation of a normal scripture reading practice of that time. We sang there some hymns and one line particularly struck me Hymn 117 Come Unto Jesus where it said "Oh know you not that Angels are near you" - I just love that. 

Finally was more of an outlook point than anything else in the form of Mt. Arbel Where you climb a slight hill until you reach a cliff face. The Trek up is marked by large stones all around you although in between these stones you can see dark green grass visible. Apparently during some periods of history this location with it's natural caves in the middle of the cliff faces. Soldiers or warriors would hide out in the caves - one clever assaulter built cranes and lowered parts of his army in large crates down to do battle with those in the caves. Anyways we got a good viewpoint where we were able to see Tiberias and Safed (Tiberias was one of the cities to which the rabbis fled after being expelled from Jerusalem and its locals - Safed is where Jewish Mysticism flourished in the 16th Century). And we saw from a distance a good number of the sites I will see in Galilee.

And finally we arrived at Ein Gev where our residence seems really good. It's 4 to a room and there are like 6 beds. We are on the beach of the enclosed sea of Galilee and so far I feel like the food will be pretty good. We'll be doing some pretty intensive classwork here as well as our field trips so - Wish Me Luck! 

Brother Harpers Old Testament Class

Well I've recently finished the Old Testament section and will be getting into New Testament like a man on fire these upcoming days so I thought this would be a good time to reference you to my google doc of all my essays which I prepared for his class. This will give you an insight to the types of things I learned in Harpers class

Enjoy!

The Holocaust and Heroism

Wow, just wow. I've been to the Holocaust museum here in West Jerusalem named Yad Vashem (taken from Isa 56:5 KJV "a place and a name" - so referenced as the custom goes childless Jew couples would build buildings to bring their own name into a state of remembrance - so these 6 million Jew dead receive this museum as a remembrance). Upon our first entering our Judaism instructor Ophir Yarden pointed out the many carob trees at the entrance (the carob traditionally being a sweet remembrance). These are for the "Avenue of the Righteous" and each tree is dedicated to an individual or a family who risked their lives in order to save the Jews (there are some thousands of trees). He pointed out that any Jew going through would be reminded that though there were many atrocities which the Gentile inflicted on them there are these righteous examples (highlighted in the museum is not only German and surrounded conquered countries Holocaust actions but also how foreign countries refused to accept the immigrants who were trying to get out before and during the Holocaust). We first came to a plaza which illustrated well the theme of the day and that is Heroism and the Holocaust. Relief 1 and Relief 2 Two statues displayed the opposing reactions to the Holocaust events. Relief 1 shows an Heroic image of the ghetto fighters - those who saw the signs did not believe the illusions and fought and tried to convince others to do the same (this group is an minority). Relief 2 shows dejected Jews following orders and numbly praying to God (a note I made was that this group was holding the Torah and the other was not). This brings to my mind a deep question of national identity complex - are we Heroes or are we that other group (whom the ghetto fighters said were going like sheep to the slaughter). Just before the 67 war (6 day war) much Holocaust imagery was written. People saying for instance that I've been told to be heroic like the ghetto fighters but I'm not sure I will measure up. Also, for example the Israeli Olympic athletes being killed by the group Black September - it was reported that none of the athletes fought back (This was viewed as that second group behavior).


Our first stop was to the Hall of Remembrance where they usually take dignitaries of foreign lands - there is an eternal flame lit there next to a tomb like stone as well as names of the extermination camps (a note is that the Holocaust did not occur, both geographically or chronologically, in the State of Israel - so in bringing foreign dignities here Israel is declaring its Jewish ties and implies they speak for the Jews of all Nations). On the opposing wall is a steel hebrew letter quote of Isaiah 56:5. 


Next was the Memorial for the Children. As you enter there is darkness - I had to grab a iron rod and continue forward. There are candles in the center of a circular walkway. Glass panels and mirrors elegantly constructed shroud where these candles exactly are and mirrors on the tops and bottoms give the imagery which seems to me to be the stars in the sky. And in English are read the names of those children killed in the Holocaust. Upon exiting it is explained that a teacher in a ghetto planted a tree against Nazi regulations (because that Jewish holiday called for planting trees). So in this modern day it is realized and being acted upon that planting trees and education as well as protecting children all are extreme Heroic acts (a shaft of that same tree is planted there on the path as you exit the Memorial). 


Now for the more traditional Museum section - this section should be taken with a six hour self tour for maximum intake - we had two hours. I will try no exhaustive essay on the subject I learned here - there is too much. There were some 9 sections in the museum - some focused on ghetto life another on Hitler and Nazi actions against Jews throughout different sections of history. Things I learned were that in West countries it was more focused on extreme limiting of Jews in a legal sense (and the deportation of many Jews to the East), and that in the East is were the ghettos were set up as well as where the extermination camps were. I learned that those in ghettos would sometimes be asked to "Resettle" to "Work Camps". In the museum there were signs similar to the ones over those work camps which basically read Work brings freedom. Up until the very last moments these Jews might have been under the impression that they were actually working in Labor camps for the Nazi war machine - these Jews were killed. There were many variations to the theme but the degree to which the Nazi's wanted all Jews dead was never fully realized by me till now. One could say the last acts the SS and Nazis were committing was an outright killing of as many Jews as they could. Logistics for the bodies were presented at length. I tended to listen to survivors testimonies which were on the television screen - most tended to say how they didn't understand that their nationalism to their country meant nothing to that country. One survivor was smiling while describing it all - the internment camps - ghetto life and living of the holidays under quite grim circumstances - he said "many ask me that, how I can smile, I tell them that smiling saves me. Because if it were not for that I would be crying endlessly". Those ghetto fighters staged a number of revolutions against the Nazis one of the largest was in Warsaw. I can hardly say more - if I think of anything unique to the general obvious theme I will edit this page to add it. 


Next to the peak of Mt Herzl


4 Questions now:
David moved an item to a mountain in order to improve the spiritual centrality of the new capital
Who is David?
What is the item?
What mountain?
How did it improve the centrality?


There are two answers and this displays well the Orthodox Jew (left) vs Zionist (right) ideology:

King David (Biblical) - David Ben Gurion (1st Prime Minister of Israel)

Ark of the Covenant - Theodor Herzl's body 

Mount Moriah (Temple mount) - Mt Herzl (where there is a large plaza and ceremonies held)

Most sacred object to the capital - Theodor Herzl is Zionisms originator 

You see Herzl did not much care for Jerusalem in truth - he considered it full of religious peoples who were not altogether with him in his dream. So when trying to follow his will there was a great debate about where it should be laid (he requested it be moved to the State of Israel when it was created). The final argument went that it would improve the spirituality of the State of Israel. To what spirit? one could ask - Herzl cared very little about the religious segment of Jewish life. It was presented to us there is a battle between two mountains Mount Herzl and Mount Moriah. 


The Zionists (who equate themselves as Heroics - and with the Maccabees ) are secular. Their versions of songs for the Hanukkah display this perfectly - It is Israel doing the miracles (Not God) - There was no jug of oil provided by God to the Maccabees and it is Zionism lighting the darkness (a tradition was that this jug lasted for 8 days rather than 1 in the temple by Gods power - which actually is the basis for the Hanukkah holiday) etc. The Orthodox have their versions for Hanukkah which include God of course, but these are examples from the most popular songs of the Hanukkah holiday. We went up to Herzls grave which is the head of a great plaza. There is a ceremony for Hanukkah performed on top of this mount where the speaker for the Knesset lights the Hanukkahs and on the first time this was done the newspapers reported that the lights emanated as it was in old from Jerusalem to the mountains and hilltops throughout Israel (But it was Moriah not Herzl mount from which the lights emanated of old). Also on top the mountain is a hill of cedar trees each planted by a foreign dignitary visiting the new state of Israel - this ceremony is now next to never performed and in it's stead is laying wreaths at the aforementioned Hall of Remembrance. 


/end that day


Today's activities are worth mentioning - I went out with a group to see what we could see. We walked along the Ottoman wall of the Old City but turned right at nearly the first chance into what I thought was mostly a shopping district. To my surprise there was a festival going on (we saw another festival later) I'm not entirely sure what it was commemorating. There was a Ferris wheel and horse rides (as well as a mechanical bull, roller coaster, and bouncy house at the other place). Anyways these young kids gathered around us and were good natured at first - it was pretty fun really. I was teaching them fun hand shakes to do. I took a short walk over to the ferris wheel to look at it. The rest of the group stayed back there basically and after a short bit I realized they were gone and one member Taylor Crane was talking with those who had just led him on a horse ride. Unable to pay them the amount they wanted I was there to bail him out and get out of there as well. When it was revealed to me the things I had missed - I did not get to see how things escalated to the harassment of the girls of the group (shocking to me). That's why we opted not to go into the second festival we saw in the old city. The old city was flooded with kids and they seemed to be taking a lot of pictures (there were 2 guys with snakes to take pictures with). Then we went to Jimmy's a woodshop owner and saw some of the pieces there very cool. Well have a good one! 

Shepherd's field!

This period marks my transition from Old Testament Study to New Testament Study. As such our first field trip was to Bethlehem and came with a new professor in Brother Huntsman (whose blog I'm sure will feature more pictures including me). This field trip began with a trip to the Herodian a fortress tower near Bethlehem. We ascended to the top through Cisterns cut from its first usage as well as during the Bar Kokhba revolt (against rome). It's possible that this is the site that Herod met with the wise men (perhaps Nabotean Zorianastranists). From the highest point you can see Jerusalem, the dead sea, and Bethlehem. I learned at the time that Herod killed the children in an attempt to kill Christ it is suspected he killed perhaps 20 children. At the Herodian was found the defaced tomb of Herod (it was destroyed in large measure by Jews some time after his death). The structure itself is circular with four additional towers intermixed at four places lying on the edge of the circle. The center had rooms for dining (which later was a synagog) and Herod's residence among other structures.

Next we stopped at the Bethlehem University - as we approached students were playing basketball. We were shown a video highlighting some of the history of the place and were shown the catholic brother's chapel inside as well much of the campus. Very nice atmosphere I thought - it was a nice campus. It's curriculum as I heard is very much like our college system. We had lunch in a tent restaraunt which served as an appetizer as all places seem to - hot pita bread with many many dippings.

Next was the actual Bethlehem tour. During this excursion we met up with an the former palestinian teacher who lead us in a rather quick tour of the city including Star St (the Star is the symbol of choice for this town). We entered a plaza where you could see the Omar Mosque (palm trees adorned the front as their belief matches Jesus' birth near a palm tree) as well as the longest continuously running church in existence the "Church of the Nativity" So named as it was local tradition that Jesus was born in a cave right there even before the church was built in 327 AD (with some earlier writers hinting at the type of place it would be even before that). To be honest before I came here I was filled with confusion as to where and what exactly the circumstances would be as to Christs birth. I had heard there were some supposed 3 sites claiming to be the place - and believe me I am the first to put into my mind the question as to really whether all these 'traditional' places really are the places. Nevertheless I think it a excellent possibility - nigh unto convincing - that this cave was the place (Bro Huntsman pointed out that inn could be translated as guest house - and that Joseph was then at his own or a relatives house - the cave then was for privacy). Also at the site were graves supposed to be for the children Herod killed. And this was the site of a very early translator of the bible, St Jerome, who lived in the cave while translating in order to be closer to the Lord. We sang hymns in that section of the cave. I rather enjoyed going this way in to the greater part of the cave (there is a Pilgrimage destination in the Grotto Star which was pointed out by the Catholics to be the place of Christs actual birth)


The next and final section of our tour was a trip to a semi rock hillside which is near and very much like the  shepherd's hillside when they heard the angels announced the birth of Christ. We sang perhaps 7 hymns of Christmas and then had some contemplative time. I stood there and took in the scene. There was a valley right in front of us, the ground was about 40 % visible rock, there were buildings on the other side of the valley probably a city, to our right Bethlehem, and at the base of the valley to our left another village. I could see three towers with green lights emanating from the top - a Muslim belief has green as the color of heaven. A half moon clearly visible and the stars were speckled - I bet during the shepherd's day the stars were much more brilliant. Oh yeah and during our singing a herd of sheep lead by an Arab on a donkey flocked by - Oh how fitting.


Well I hope you had a good read - Love ya!

Alright, Alright

I know many of you are wondering what I did for Haloween,

The answer begins, on Oct 30, with a groups failed attempt to go to the Tower of David museum (we were 8 minutes late). Oh well no matter I'll try another day. The group split away and was left with Andrew Zenger, Jeff Nuckols, Taylor Crane, and myself - we all agreed we wanted to go to a pizza place and then to the acclaimed "Ghost Tour" (spooky right?) Well we got there and we took some pictures of some pretty epic costumes featuring the provided lanterns for the tour (2 ghosts, a mummy, and myself). I mainly was excited for the historical backing of all these true stories. [[graphic stories follow]] The first story told that many occupants of the city were buried in stone graves too short so to compensate they would be buried without heads (an then an expanded story of a lost head of a dead architect whose head was sent to England for examination). Next was an further explanation of the  "Valley of Hell" which I already knew was used to burn trash all the time and was typo-logical of Hell. But I learned from this man who must have said the word 'blood' like maybe 15 times during the 2 hours we had- that the valley was also used to sacrifice children to a strange God. Also that the same french fellow who tight roped walked 8 times between the two towers went only once across a cable which runs over the "Valley of Hell" (which cable was used during a war to transport supplies). Next explained a bit of history during the period when the walls of the city enclosed quite a bit of the populous, a set of buildings were built near it and promised to be protected but the people would not leave the city not even for a free living space - eventually they were paid to live there but they would still run to the Jerusalem city walls during the night to feel safe. Next was a general retelling of how much of paranoid person Herod was and a retelling of much of his killings near his family tomb (not his own tomb). Next a story about a Scottish man during some period of crusades or some such. He requested at his death that his heart be taken to Jerusalem and buried there however it was lost and buried instead in Scotland over much bloodshed.

On Halloween itself we were graced to watch the silent movie Phantom of the Opera while Pres Ohman played the organ to accompany (as organs should be played to silent movies). It was more different from our modern Phantom than I thought it would - kindof makes me want to read the book or the original story to see the true story. I dressed as a tourist for my costume. That there was basically the climax there were also treats and a dance. Enjoyable? Yes.

(Several days ago I walked down the Ultra Orthodox lane which is outside the old city. There was a sign saying "Girls please do not dress immodestly in our neighbor hood". There were plenty of lock laden black hat wearing men there. Pretty cool to see)