in the middle east

Do you get excited about the bible?
The other night Jessica and I were sitting in our apt. and heard this incredibly loud music outside getting closer and closer. We grabbed the camera and ran outside and this is what we saw: A large van, with the back doors wide open showing a gigantic sound system that was blasting music. The van was decked with colored lights, and on top were rotating, colored disco-light balls, and a large machin that would emit smoke to make the lights gyrate in the air. Behind the van were a couple hundred people following, and directly behind the van were 4 men carrying a tent, with another guy carrying an elaborate Torah scroll case: wrapped in velvet and decorated with gold. The company moved slowly down the small neighborhood street, stopping every 40 feet or so and people would dance. It then moved out onto the busy street and policemen came to stop the traffic so the procession could have a clear path. While Jessica and I were taking it all in, our landlady Simcha appeared out of the crowd and began to explain. We were witnessing the procession of a brand new Torah scroll being ushered to its new home, a Yeshiva school (a traditional religious school for Jewish men). Since they are so expensive to produce, when a new scroll is made you can rent this Torah Mobile, arrange the procession route with the police, and go for it! The majority of the people dancing and following were religiously conservative, marked by their 19th century style dress, hats, and the men's long hair-curls down the sides of their heads. But they were having a blast dancing around the scroll. The pictures and video aren't the best quality due to the bad lighting, but they give you an idea. In the videos you'll see the Torah Mobile emitting smoke, the crowds dancing, and a man dancing with the Torah. This kind of celebration emerges from the deep-rooted conviction in conservative Judaism that Scripture comes as a gracious gift from God. So when a community recieves a new scroll of the Torah, it is reason for a serious party. Check it out, you won't believe it: Click Here.

the small town of Bethlehem lies on and around a hilly area just 6 miles south of Jerusalem. Jessica has become quite familiar with the area as she volunteers there 2-3 days a week at Bethlehem Bible College. It is the only totally Palestinian Christian college/seminary in the West Bank; their goal is to equip and train leaders for the rapidly shrinking Christian population in the Palestinian territories. Life is hard in Bethlehem. The foundation of the state of Israel in 1948 created over 500,000 palestinian refugees, a great many of whom were made to leave their homes by force, and about 50,000 came to Bethlehem. The refugee camps and blocks still exist today. In recent years, the town has faced hardship due to the 20ft tall "security" wall that Israel has erected around it and much of their border with the West Bank (this picture on the left). Freedom of travel and commerce between Bethlehem and Jerusalem has ceased due to the wall, and basically two entirely separate worlds have developed even though they are just a few miles apart. We've met Israelis who believe that Bethlehem is "full of terrorists" and thus are glad for the wall. On the other hand, the Palestinians in Bethlehem have tragic stories of having their land, businesses and homes seized by the Israeli government. Additionally, Bethlehem has been home to a large Palestinian Christian community that traces its roots back many centuries. Rejected by Muslims and under severe strictures by Israel due to their ethnic identity, this Christian community, which used to number tens of thousands, is being crushed in the middle of the conflict, and largely neglected by the Western Church. Our day-long visit to Bethlehem was thus marked by the excitement of seeing ancient Christian holy sites as well as the sobering experience of meeting people with sad stories and little hope for change. Without a doubt, the people we met in Bethlehem were some of the friendliest that we've yet encountered in the country. We shared tea, coffee and rooftop panoramas due to the openness of the people we met. Here is a sample of our day in Bethlehem. Click Here.

In addition to being a student at the Hebrew University, I also applied to become a "research fellow" at the Albright Institute of Archaeological Research. Why, you ask? Well, there are interesting lectures and events from time to time, but mostly because of the great field trips that are offered all over the country by expert historians and archaeologists. Last Sunday, we got a guided tour of the Islamic architecture of the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa mosque by a man named Ahmed Nattara, who has published on the subject. This was an exceedingly rare opportunity, because we got to go inside of both buildings! These have been off limits to visitors for over 6 years now, ever since Ariel Sharon marched onto the temple mount with 200 Israeli soldiers as a political statement of Israel's sovereignty over all of Jerusalem. The event incited riots against the Israeli government in Jerusalem and all over the West Bank in a movement now called the Intifata. Because of this, visitors are no longer allowed inside the Dome, the Mosque, nor even the Islamic museum nearby. And given the present political circumstances, it is unlikely that they will be open to visitors for many years to come. So then, enjoy these rare photos and video of the inside of these very special, and controversial places. Click Here.

The weather continues to be very nice here, so we've continued our practice of taking long walks about the city. One of the areas I've been curious to explore is the southern side of town. In modern history it is the location of the first Jewish settlement outside the city walls in the mid-1860's and has a number of historic buildings. We also ended up going down into the Valley of Hinnom: the infamous valley whose name entered into the Greek language as "Gehenna" and into English as "Hell". As you see the pictures I'll tell you why this place became a vivid image of the final judgment in Jewish, and thus Christian, belief. Anyhow, as we explored hell we found a number of old burial tombs and other interesting things. I guess Jessica and I will always be able to say "to hell and back" with new perspetive. Click Here for more.

Before Jocelyn left, we wanted to take one more day trip somewhere around the country. We decided to rent a car and head to the northern Mediterranean coast to some places that none of us had been before. Our first stop was at the ancient, ruined city of Caesarea. Built by Herod the Great in the mid-20's BC, he named it after the Roman emperor, and made it into a magnificent coastal harbor-city. He also made, of course, his own seaside royal palace. Incidentally, we are told that Paul the apostle stayed in this palace when he was taken here as a political prisoner before he went to Rome (Acts 23:22-27). This was quite a place: a horse racing stadium, theater, aqueduct and gigantic harbor. It turned out to be a beautiful, warm day at the coast: perfect for walking on the shore. After Caesarea, we headed further north into the mountain range of Carmel. This range of hills runs NW and ends in the modern city of Haifa. The mountains are well-known due to the famous story of Elijah and the prophets of Baal told in 1Kings 18 which happened there. We headed up to the highest place we could find, took a nice walk around, and witnessed a stunning sunset over the Mediterranean. On our way back we stopped at the IKEA in Tel-Aviv (yes, they have one in Tel-Aviv) where we had dinner (which was quite good) and picked up some candles for the apartment. We did all this in 350 kilometers (our limit for the rental car) and one day. Click here to see the pics.

Since Jocelyn is here, we decided to take a long weekend trip up to the Galilee region. If you head due east from Jerusalem on highway 1 you run into the north end of the Dead Sea. From there you go north up the Jordan Valley, past Jericho, and 2hrs later you arrive at the Sea of Galilee. We stayed in the coastal city of Tiberias on the eastern coast of the Sea, which is really more like a lake: it's freshwater and about the size of lake Mendota in Madison, WI. The forecast for the weekend was rain, and we got rain indeed. One morning we woke up to an overcast morning, and within 15 minutes a violent storm descended from the western hills and dropped monsoon rains on the lake which flooded the streets of Tiberias. It was a vivid illustration of how quickly storms can sweep down on the lake as they did for Jesus and the disciples 2,000 years ago. We spent one day driving around to the main archaeological and traditional sites: the "Galilee Triangle" on the north end of the lake contains the three main towns where Jesus carried out the "Galilean Stage" of his ministry: Capernaum, Bethsaida, Korazin, and the northern Jordan river. We had planned to spend the second day hiking in the Golan heights, but the rains were just too intense. We decided to run south where it looked clearer, but the rain clouds chased us the entire day, all the way down south to the desert fortress of Masada. No sooner did we hike up and down than the rains came down in the desert, causing flash floods that washed out the roads. It was quite an adventure, and Jocelyn got to see both the green hills of Galilee, the Jordan river valley, and the Dead Sea desert; all in one day! The country really isn't that big. To see a bit more of our adventures, just Click Here.

Jessica's sister arrived last week, and we've had a great time showing her around the city (and country), and even experiencing some new things together. We spent an entire day wandering around in the old city, and decided to finally walk the entire route of the Via Dolorosa. This is a path going from East to West through the heart of the old city that marks the route of Jesus' trial to death and burial. It is centuries old, and Franciscan monks walk the route in prayer every Friday. We've often seen tour groups of Christian pilgrims walking it together, singing hymns now and then. The route itself is probably not the actual location of the events surrounding Jesus' Passion, but it is centuries old, and hundreds of thousands of Christians have walked it as a way to remember the events surrounding Jesus' death and resurrection. We walked by all 14 stations of the route. Have a look for yourself: Click Here.

One of the cool things that has developed in the last few weeks is that we've found a church that we now call our home community. In the old city there is a prominent Lutheran church called Holy Redeemer. We've gone a few times and have met some really great people. One of the people we met was the director of the Lutheran World Federation here in Jerusalem, Mark Brown. The Lutheran church has a strong presence here in Israel/Palestine, and is very involved in initiationg humanitarian aid projects for Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem who don't have good access to health care. They run a large hospital on the Mt. of Olives, and across the street is a large olive orchard (800 trees) owned by the LWF as well. Every year they have volunteers come and pick the olives, which are then taken to a Palestinian-run olive press facility where the oil is extracted. The oil is then put into hand-blown glass bottles produced by Palestinians in Hebron. The olive oil is then sold all over the world to contribute to the poor fund of the hospital which allows Palestinian families from the West Bank to come and get health care. Last year, the olive oil raised $30,000 for the fund, no small amount. Jessica and I jumped on the chance to hang out with some new people from church and help an important cause. We had a blast learning how to pick olive trees and harvest the trees. Here are some pictures from our day of olive picking on the mt. of olives! Click Here.
If you're interested in ordering some of this olive oil and making a donation to the hospital here the website: http://www.lwfjerusalem.org/olive_oil.htm

We recently took a morning to explore the well-known Mt. of Olives that stands just East of the Old City of Jerusalem. It is separated by a deep valley called the Kidron, and stands much higher than Jerusalem itself. It has a rich history from biblical times: It is here that David ascended when he had to flee Jerusalem because of his son, Absalom's revolt (2Samuel 15), the prophet Zechariah saw visions of the Mt. of Olives in relation to Yahweh's plan to usher the world into the new creation (Zechariah 14:3-5), and it is here that Jesus spent much time before he brought the world one step closer to the new creation by his death and resurrection (Luke 21:37). The last night before his death was spent in the Garden of Gethsemane, at the foot of the Mt. (Mark 14:32-42). Today, it is a busy tourist center. A paved street cuts through the Garden of Gethsemane, and the hillsides are filled with holy sites and vendors making money off of tourists. A rather stark contrast from the somber events that took place here in biblical times. But, I suppose, we should expect no less. The Mt. is marked mostly by Christian churches and chapels, some of which display amazing architecture and art. To experience a bit of the Mt. of Olives, just Click Here.

School starts for me in just a week, so Jessica and I decided to take one last trip before the semester begins. We headed down to the Sinai Peninsula for 5 days of adventure, not really sure what it would be like. It takes 5hrs (on a coach bus) to get to the Southern coastal town of Eilat on the Gulf of Aqaba (for an interactive map click here). From there we crossed the border into Egypt, and bartered with aggressive taxi drivers to take us on the 2hr ride to Dahab, a coastal town about half-way down the Eastern coast of the Peninsula (click on the Eastern side of the peninsula on the map). We've known some people who went here and just loved it, and we were not disappointed. A quaint coastal town with an amazing coral-reef just off the shore. I've never been snorkeling before, and this was one of the most amazing experiences I've ever had in the water. The reef was teeming with thousands of creatures of diverse size and color. Sorry we don't have an underwater camera; but take our word for it. We also took an overnight trip to Mt. Sinai (click on the middle of the peninsula on the map), set in the middle of the peninsula about 50 miles away. We left our hotel at 11pm, arrived at the foot of the Mt. about 2:00 am. We made it to the top (7,500ft) around 4:45am and waited for the sunrise. It was quite an experience, and the Sinai wilderness is quite a thing to behold. I don't think I've ever seen so much non-life: just rock, sand, dirt, scarce shrubs and small trees. It was a severe contrast from the teeming coral reef on the shores of the peninsula. And the best part was that everything was so cheap! Our hotel was $6 a night, our meals were usually about $4-$8 total, and when we wanted to eat like kings, $15. At these prices we tried to do everything we could. The Egyptian people we met were wonderful, very friendly and hospitable. All in all, it was a great way to end our extended Summer before school starts. Our pictures don't really do justice to the incredible sights here in Sinai, but here you are anyway. Click Here.