one of the more startling things about wandering around in Israel is the extreme military presence that is everywhere you go. Soldiers carry their huge automatic weapons everywhere - into restaurants, around on the streets, shopping... they're huge guns that the little 19 year old girl soldiers have slung over their shoulders like purses.
Then there are the more elite soldiers who guard sites and people who literally keep their finger on the trigger at all times.
The IDF (Israeli defense force) is for real. They are a huge military power and they are fierce. I was talking to a friend at home that said the US should adopt a military style like Israels because there would be no invade and occupy, it would be burn this to the ground and claim it as our own (i'm not sure i'm advocating that position... it's certainly effective for Israel though).
There has been a major war in this country for every decade since it claimed independence in the 1940s. One of the more horrifying wars was in 1973 - here it is known as the Yom Kippour war.
Yom Kippour is the most holy of all Jewish holy days... there is NO work done, no cars are driven, televisions and radios stay off, people barely leave their houses. So it was on this day in 1973 that Syria decided to cross the Northern Israeli boarder to try and take back their disputed territory, the Golan Heights.
The IDF has a huge outpost up on a volcanic cone in this region where they have extremely strategically placed tanks and bunkers. So even on this most holy of days where nobody was meant to work, let alone fight, the IDF held the line in the northeastern most part of the country and even pushed Syrian troops all the way back to Damascus while the rest of the country had no idea what was happening because their radios were all off.
We went and visited one of these bunkers yesterday. We happened to go during a major rain/thunder storm. We raced through the parking lot and down underground into where this bunker was. It was so cool - tiny and metal and wet and dark, these soldiers are bad a for living down there for weeks at a time. Because of the storm, thunder kept clapping above us and the doors were slamming open and shut with the wind. I screamed outloud everytime this happened which brought the boys I was traveling with a lot of joy in the form of hilarious laughter. They thought it was even funnier to turn all their flashlights off and stay silent and in hiding. it was horrifying. like a scary military haunted house.
I wouldn't cut it as a soldier...
Friday, January 22, 2010
Jesus walked on this water
Traveling in Galilee has been an extra treat for me this week. As we've explored so much of Old Testament history and geography over the past two weeks in Jerusalem and in the desert, it's really neat to be in the region that Jesus called home. Cities I've read the names of 100 times in the Gospels, familiar sites, sounds and scripture coming to life before my eyes. It's been fun.
A huge part of the tourism industry in Israel is people wanting to stand where Jesus stood. As locals have caught onto the fact that tourists with pay a lot of money to do this so much of this area is little towns or shops claiming to have some unique piece of Jesus' history that you just can't miss. The truth is there are precious few places that we can say for sure Jesus stood. We know the vicinity and general idea, but here exactly is a hard science to master (there are in Jerusalem even two tombs that claim to be THE tomb where Jesus was buried and resurrected).
For all the places where we can't say for sure "Jesus stood for sure on this land" it is so neat to know that looking out on the water of the sea of Galilee we CAN say, Jesus FOR SURE stood here. The sea is breathtaking... it's small and simple and beautiful. It's the perfect place to picture the life of Jesus.
Jesus Boat
In the 1980's there was a for real drought in Israel and as a result the levels of the Sea of Galilee were drastically lowered. This gave archeologists and treasure hunters an excellent opportunity to find ancient things buried in the mud at the bottom of the lake, the coolest of which is called "The Jesus Boat"
Over the course of 11 days then dug out and pulled up a fully intact fishing boat from the 1st century. It was this huge task that included dozens of people and extreme care because of its age and how long it was under water and mud. The wood from the boats sides was so waterlogged that if you left it out of water for very long it would crumble... like wet cardboard. And the joints were falling apart. To transport it they came up with this crazy foamy substance that they covered the entire boat in then floated it up and out to safety. It's a crazy story. the result is really cool - a fully intact 1st century boat.
the boat being floated to shore in its foam enclosure
So many of the gospel stories, and so many of my favorite gospel stories, revolve around the fishing industry in the sea of galilee... Jesus taught from boats, he called disciples out of boats, he slept in boats and walked on the water past boats. To see a real life one is such a treat for my imagination - it barely has to work at all to get a picture of Jesus in the boat with Peter and all their pals.
There is of course no way to know if this was actually Jesus' boat. It may have been used in the great sea battle with the Romans in the 60s or it might have just been a boat. But it's a cool boat. I loved it.
Asians, Nigerians... tourists of all kinds
What's been really funny for me as I've wandered all over this land is the number of huge tourist groups that are also wandering around this land. Tourism in Israel is a HUGE industry... people come from literally all over the world to glimpse certain holy sites and to stand in the very footsteps of Abraham, Jesus or Mohammed.
They travel in big groups and ride on big buses and usually wear some sort of matching article of clothing (hat, vest, tshirt...) and they all wear cameras, those stupid money protector necklace things that you tuck into your shirt (but you can OBVIOUSLY see it under there) and are constantly pointing and giggling. I'm altogether entertained and amused by them. there are super charismatic ones who weep uncontrollably at certain sites. there are super nonchalant ones who try and look cool and blend in with their surroundings. there are old groups, young groups, groups of priests, rabbis, you name it, they have traveled to Israel this January.
Up in Galilee for the week I had some of my best encounters with them. First, on a boat ride across the Sea of Galilee. Fun Fact... did you know in Israel they don't call it the Sea of Galilee, that is purely a biblical term and everyone here the lake the "Chinnereth" (pronounced kin-er-it). So one morning I got up early and rode a boat across to see what I could see. I ended up on the Nigerian tourist boat, which at first smelled funny and made me nervous, but immediately because AWESOME when they put a CD of really up beat really cheesy worship music on. They all gathered in the middle of the boat and started lifting hands and singing (in english) and dancing. I didn't pay any attention to the boat ride but watched in awe all of them instead. I was extra delighted that many of them took pictures with me since they don't see many white people.
THEN we were up in Ceasarea - a sea town that I will have much more to write about later - and as we walked into the ancient theatre a HUGE group of asian tourists were standing in the middle singing and waving scarves around. A small group of my classmates and I gathered and watched and loved it. When they noticed this, they all turned and waved and then did a choreographed dance while singing "father abraham" in another language. It was a truly joyful moment for me. It's like disney land here... but much older with many more emotions.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Temple Mount Archeology
Last weekend we volunteered at the massive dig through the dirt expelled from underneath the temple mount 10 years ago. I spent all day sifting through sand and dirt discovering hidden treasures from centuries past- it was extremely adventurous and awesome.
I think I've written a bit about the situation on the temple mount before but I learned so so SO much more about it during my time at the dig site so if you would indulge me and let me share;
The story really starts with Bill Clinton. Okay, actually it starts in 70ad when the 2nd temple was destroyed then the 600s when it fell under Islamic control and they built a mosque there- but modernly this is a story about President Clinton. While he was president he commissioned a whole ton of people to get together on little think tanks and come up with a solution to the Israel/Palestine conflict. One of those proposed solutions was that in Jerusalem at the temple mount the Muslims- specifically the waqf, their spiritual police who secure their holy sites- would have control of everything above ground on the temple mount and the Israelis would control verything below ground. A horizontal border line drawn if you will.
At the same time as this idea was leaking out president Clinton allowed yassir Arafat to return to this land and he became the leader of the Palestinians.
So, with great fear and anticipation that the horizontal border may be drawn at the temple, the Muslims and the waqf led by arafat started furiously building on the site. Where one mosque and one monument once stood now three mosques- including one that can accomodate up to 10.000 people at one time for prayer- and the holy site of the dome of the rock are.
As a side- the horizontal border makes little to no sense. How can a building be in one country and its plumbing in another? Or how could Israelis explore the ancient temple remains while the access points to these remains belong to Palestinians. Bad plan mr president.
Back at the temple mount, one of the new mosques wanted a fire escape. Israel conceded to let the waqf supervise the building of one. Rather than build a small stairwell as one might expect they dug a hole that contained over 400 truck loads of dirt and debris all while paying no regard to the deep history they were destroying in the process.
It's horrifying to look at pictures of the building project- they leveled 4000 years of history and knocked down crucader era archways that stood and literally threw out with the trash soil filled with the history of the temple. Muslims do not acknowledge that there ever was a temple that stood on the temple mount so to them this wasn't a problem. To any reasonable human being it was a tragedy. Forget the deep religiOus meaning- a major piece of the history of civilization is burried under there. The wrecklessness of the waqf in this act was criminal and their trying to cover it up by first dumping the debris in the dump outside of the city then by burrying human corpses on the piles of that were identified (because The Jews think human remains are especially unclean and contaminating) is deplorable.
Today, 10 years after the initial incident, after 4 years of grappling with Israeli beurocracy to get the proper permits to sift the dirt and 6 years after the temple mount antiquities recovery project began, there remains 15 years worth of soil to sift through.
Some of the things they have discovered are incredible. Coins dating back to the time of king hezekiah. Potery pieces from the first century. A piece of an oil lamp that dates to the time of the Hasmoneans (aka the time of the first hannukah). From the time of the prophet Isaiah to crucader era finds to modern day coins it's a teasure trove. In my little sandbox I was sifting through found pieces of the old dome of the rock (it was refurbished years ago) I found some pieced of 1st century pottery and a handful of bone fragments (ewww).
It was really really cool. Gabi Barkay, the israeli archeologist who runs the dig, has to be one of the most interesting people on the planet. He is on a crusade for the truth and for history. Before starting to sift we sat and listened to him give a complete overview of the history of the temple and why what we were doing was so important. It was a privilege volunteering with him on such an important project.
I wish had pictures of this experience to post, but we weren't allowed to take any. It was as awesome as what you're picturing in your mind though... promise.
I think I've written a bit about the situation on the temple mount before but I learned so so SO much more about it during my time at the dig site so if you would indulge me and let me share;
The story really starts with Bill Clinton. Okay, actually it starts in 70ad when the 2nd temple was destroyed then the 600s when it fell under Islamic control and they built a mosque there- but modernly this is a story about President Clinton. While he was president he commissioned a whole ton of people to get together on little think tanks and come up with a solution to the Israel/Palestine conflict. One of those proposed solutions was that in Jerusalem at the temple mount the Muslims- specifically the waqf, their spiritual police who secure their holy sites- would have control of everything above ground on the temple mount and the Israelis would control verything below ground. A horizontal border line drawn if you will.
At the same time as this idea was leaking out president Clinton allowed yassir Arafat to return to this land and he became the leader of the Palestinians.
So, with great fear and anticipation that the horizontal border may be drawn at the temple, the Muslims and the waqf led by arafat started furiously building on the site. Where one mosque and one monument once stood now three mosques- including one that can accomodate up to 10.000 people at one time for prayer- and the holy site of the dome of the rock are.
As a side- the horizontal border makes little to no sense. How can a building be in one country and its plumbing in another? Or how could Israelis explore the ancient temple remains while the access points to these remains belong to Palestinians. Bad plan mr president.
Back at the temple mount, one of the new mosques wanted a fire escape. Israel conceded to let the waqf supervise the building of one. Rather than build a small stairwell as one might expect they dug a hole that contained over 400 truck loads of dirt and debris all while paying no regard to the deep history they were destroying in the process.
It's horrifying to look at pictures of the building project- they leveled 4000 years of history and knocked down crucader era archways that stood and literally threw out with the trash soil filled with the history of the temple. Muslims do not acknowledge that there ever was a temple that stood on the temple mount so to them this wasn't a problem. To any reasonable human being it was a tragedy. Forget the deep religiOus meaning- a major piece of the history of civilization is burried under there. The wrecklessness of the waqf in this act was criminal and their trying to cover it up by first dumping the debris in the dump outside of the city then by burrying human corpses on the piles of that were identified (because The Jews think human remains are especially unclean and contaminating) is deplorable.
Today, 10 years after the initial incident, after 4 years of grappling with Israeli beurocracy to get the proper permits to sift the dirt and 6 years after the temple mount antiquities recovery project began, there remains 15 years worth of soil to sift through.
Some of the things they have discovered are incredible. Coins dating back to the time of king hezekiah. Potery pieces from the first century. A piece of an oil lamp that dates to the time of the Hasmoneans (aka the time of the first hannukah). From the time of the prophet Isaiah to crucader era finds to modern day coins it's a teasure trove. In my little sandbox I was sifting through found pieces of the old dome of the rock (it was refurbished years ago) I found some pieced of 1st century pottery and a handful of bone fragments (ewww).
It was really really cool. Gabi Barkay, the israeli archeologist who runs the dig, has to be one of the most interesting people on the planet. He is on a crusade for the truth and for history. Before starting to sift we sat and listened to him give a complete overview of the history of the temple and why what we were doing was so important. It was a privilege volunteering with him on such an important project.
I wish had pictures of this experience to post, but we weren't allowed to take any. It was as awesome as what you're picturing in your mind though... promise.
Friday, January 15, 2010
Israel Mountain Bunnies!
Loooooooook at these cute little Israeli mountain creatures. I found them hiking and fell in love (except with the last one, he was kind of mean and hissed at me).
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Masada. Israels Alamo.
One of the things I was MOST excited about seeing and experiencing while in Israel was the ancient site of Masada. Masada really has two stories –the palace that Herod the Great built there and the story of the last stand of the Jewish zealots.
In the first century Herod built a spectacular palace in the middle of nowhere atop a giant rock formation. It’s literally a rock island in the middle of a giant desert canyony area. Scripture refers to it as the “stronghold” because you can perch yourself on top of it and see everything all around you and be safe from all enemies because they would have to climb a giant hill to get to you.
(we hiked up this giant hill to get to Masada)
Herods palace was a testimony to his opulence. In an area where there is no water, he created a lush garden paradise on top of a hill, complete with Roman bath houses and two separate palaces and living areas. His southern palace stair stepped down the south side of Masada – in the picture you can see there are three tiers to that side of the mount and he suspended his residence there overlooking the Dead Sea and modern day Jordan just to his East.
He plastered all of the walls of the palaces and painted exquisite frescos on each of them – some of which are preserved to this day. He also had marvelous tiled mosaic floors everywhere; many of those also still stand.
After Herod’s death, Masada fell into the hands of one of his four sons. This son was a moron and somehow found himself exhiled all the way into France just a few years into his reign leaving Masada abandoned. In 60AD the Jewish zealots revolted against the rule of Rome in their land. Rome decisively squashed this rebellion in Jerusalem killing thousands of people and destroying the temple. It is said that the sounds of the stones of the temple walls coming down were so loud and so horrific that the people living in the hillside outside of Jerusalem could hear and spend days weeping over it.
A small band of this zealot revolutionaries fled to Masada around the time that the temple fell. They lived comfortable on top of the giant hill with supplies left behind by Herod. Rome wasn’t content to let them stay though and ordered one of their generals, Silva, to go find and wipe out any remaining zealots.
Silva arrived at Masada and was certainly puzzled as to how to capture or kill the thousands of people living on top. They set up bases on either side of Masada in order to make sure that nobody escaped and then went to work building a siege ramp that went straight up the western side. When we were at Masada this week we hiked up that siege ramp in order to get to the top and explore the remains. It was a serious hike straight up hill. This pictures shows the snake path that winds it way upwards.
The story goes that Silva and his men made it to the top of Masada and set fire to the city wall. For the first few hours of this battle the fire burned outward and actually destroyed a lot of the siege rams and killed many Roman soldiers. The Jews took this as a sign that God was on their side. Near nightfall the winds changed and the fire started burning inward, towards the zealot stronghold.
I could tell the tragic story of what happened next, but ancient historian Josephus does it best;
“Atop Masada that night the Zealots were despondent. The incident of the changing winds convinced the zealot commander, Eleazar ben Yahir, that God had abandoned them. He saw only one possible course of action – self slaughter. “Long ago we resolved to serve neither the Romans nor anyone else but only God” he declared. “We must not choose slavery now… Daybreak will end our resistance, but we are free to choose an honorable death.” The men were moved by pity for their wives and families and by the prospect of their own end. As they exchanged glances the tears in their eyes betrayed any reluctance they may have had.
Each man took responsibility for killing his own family. With streaming eyes, they embraced their wives and took their children in their arms and in the end not a man failed to carry out his terrible resolve but one and all disposed of his entire family, victims of the cruel necessity who with their own hands murdered their wives and children and felt it to be the lightest of evils”
The men then set about destroying the citadel so the Romans would find nothing to loot. They heaped all their belongings up and set the whole top of the mountain ablaze. They pointedly spared enough food to show the Romans that they perished not through want but because they choose death rather than slavery.
The last men wrote their names on potsherds and cast lots to decide which 10 of them would execute the others. Each man lay down beside his wife and children and all were unflinchingly slaughtered. The 10 executioners cast lots a second time to determine which man would kill the rest then summon all his strength and fall upon his own sword.
The next morning when the Romans climbed through the breach in the walls they found no enemy but dreadful solitude on every side. They did not exult over them as enemies but admired the way in which so many had shown an utter contempt of death”
This is a crazy tragic story. And an incredible symbol and rallying cry for the nation of Israel. Just after the war for Israeli independence in 1948, one of the generals received permission to dig the site of Masada. Rather than pay Bedouins as cheap labor to help with the excavations he advertised and asked people to pay to come have the privilege of digging such an historic site. He really rallied the country around the story of the zealots and their bravery.
It’s not a story of overwhelming military success, but it’s a principal of freedom and bravery in the face of impossible odds that people admire and rally behind. Our professor said we didn’t really have anything like it in America and I quickly interjected my deep love for Texas and said yes huh, we have the Alamo. This was a popular comparison. I wandered around Masada the rest of the afternoon saying “come and take it” under my breath.
It’s an incredible place to visit. We spend about three hours on top and it was one of the coolest things I’ve ever done. The ruins are impeccable, the story is incredible and the view is outstanding. It’s easy to be moved standing in a place with such rich history and that means so much to the Jewish people.
The saying goes “Masada will never fall again” and the Israelis take their responsibility to this very seriously. At Masada soldiers are initiated, boys celebrate their Bar Mitzvahs, every time a plane flies by it dips a wing in respect to this sacred site.
In the first century Herod built a spectacular palace in the middle of nowhere atop a giant rock formation. It’s literally a rock island in the middle of a giant desert canyony area. Scripture refers to it as the “stronghold” because you can perch yourself on top of it and see everything all around you and be safe from all enemies because they would have to climb a giant hill to get to you.
(we hiked up this giant hill to get to Masada)
Herods palace was a testimony to his opulence. In an area where there is no water, he created a lush garden paradise on top of a hill, complete with Roman bath houses and two separate palaces and living areas. His southern palace stair stepped down the south side of Masada – in the picture you can see there are three tiers to that side of the mount and he suspended his residence there overlooking the Dead Sea and modern day Jordan just to his East.
He plastered all of the walls of the palaces and painted exquisite frescos on each of them – some of which are preserved to this day. He also had marvelous tiled mosaic floors everywhere; many of those also still stand.
After Herod’s death, Masada fell into the hands of one of his four sons. This son was a moron and somehow found himself exhiled all the way into France just a few years into his reign leaving Masada abandoned. In 60AD the Jewish zealots revolted against the rule of Rome in their land. Rome decisively squashed this rebellion in Jerusalem killing thousands of people and destroying the temple. It is said that the sounds of the stones of the temple walls coming down were so loud and so horrific that the people living in the hillside outside of Jerusalem could hear and spend days weeping over it.
A small band of this zealot revolutionaries fled to Masada around the time that the temple fell. They lived comfortable on top of the giant hill with supplies left behind by Herod. Rome wasn’t content to let them stay though and ordered one of their generals, Silva, to go find and wipe out any remaining zealots.
Silva arrived at Masada and was certainly puzzled as to how to capture or kill the thousands of people living on top. They set up bases on either side of Masada in order to make sure that nobody escaped and then went to work building a siege ramp that went straight up the western side. When we were at Masada this week we hiked up that siege ramp in order to get to the top and explore the remains. It was a serious hike straight up hill. This pictures shows the snake path that winds it way upwards.
The story goes that Silva and his men made it to the top of Masada and set fire to the city wall. For the first few hours of this battle the fire burned outward and actually destroyed a lot of the siege rams and killed many Roman soldiers. The Jews took this as a sign that God was on their side. Near nightfall the winds changed and the fire started burning inward, towards the zealot stronghold.
I could tell the tragic story of what happened next, but ancient historian Josephus does it best;
“Atop Masada that night the Zealots were despondent. The incident of the changing winds convinced the zealot commander, Eleazar ben Yahir, that God had abandoned them. He saw only one possible course of action – self slaughter. “Long ago we resolved to serve neither the Romans nor anyone else but only God” he declared. “We must not choose slavery now… Daybreak will end our resistance, but we are free to choose an honorable death.” The men were moved by pity for their wives and families and by the prospect of their own end. As they exchanged glances the tears in their eyes betrayed any reluctance they may have had.
Each man took responsibility for killing his own family. With streaming eyes, they embraced their wives and took their children in their arms and in the end not a man failed to carry out his terrible resolve but one and all disposed of his entire family, victims of the cruel necessity who with their own hands murdered their wives and children and felt it to be the lightest of evils”
The men then set about destroying the citadel so the Romans would find nothing to loot. They heaped all their belongings up and set the whole top of the mountain ablaze. They pointedly spared enough food to show the Romans that they perished not through want but because they choose death rather than slavery.
The last men wrote their names on potsherds and cast lots to decide which 10 of them would execute the others. Each man lay down beside his wife and children and all were unflinchingly slaughtered. The 10 executioners cast lots a second time to determine which man would kill the rest then summon all his strength and fall upon his own sword.
The next morning when the Romans climbed through the breach in the walls they found no enemy but dreadful solitude on every side. They did not exult over them as enemies but admired the way in which so many had shown an utter contempt of death”
This is a crazy tragic story. And an incredible symbol and rallying cry for the nation of Israel. Just after the war for Israeli independence in 1948, one of the generals received permission to dig the site of Masada. Rather than pay Bedouins as cheap labor to help with the excavations he advertised and asked people to pay to come have the privilege of digging such an historic site. He really rallied the country around the story of the zealots and their bravery.
It’s not a story of overwhelming military success, but it’s a principal of freedom and bravery in the face of impossible odds that people admire and rally behind. Our professor said we didn’t really have anything like it in America and I quickly interjected my deep love for Texas and said yes huh, we have the Alamo. This was a popular comparison. I wandered around Masada the rest of the afternoon saying “come and take it” under my breath.
It’s an incredible place to visit. We spend about three hours on top and it was one of the coolest things I’ve ever done. The ruins are impeccable, the story is incredible and the view is outstanding. It’s easy to be moved standing in a place with such rich history and that means so much to the Jewish people.
The saying goes “Masada will never fall again” and the Israelis take their responsibility to this very seriously. At Masada soldiers are initiated, boys celebrate their Bar Mitzvahs, every time a plane flies by it dips a wing in respect to this sacred site.
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