Visit to Samaria

Today was our last day "in the field" in Israel.  It turned out to be a good one.  That's because we got to go to a place where outsiders don't visit very often: Samaria, known these days as "The West Bank." 

A brief explanation of the political situation may be in order.  You probably know there is an ongoing disagreement between the Israelis and the Palestinians.  Specifically, this concerns a piece of territory known as The West Bank.  Think of it this way: the Jordan River divides Israel from Jordan.  But there's a good chunk of territory west of the Jordan that is claimed by the Palestinians.  That's where we went today.  We could tell that the area didn't see many tour buses.  People stared at us, waved at us, honked at us as we drove into the West Bank city of Nablus.  But we had good reason to be there.  Among other things, Nablus is the site of Jacob's well, where Jesus spoke to the woman in John 4.  The site (the well itself!) is preserved beneath a beautiful Greek Orthodox Church.  We went down into a low vault and there it was: a small well where you can still get a good drink of cold water.  A reminder of the continuing struggle between Muslims and Jews/Christians was found on a wall plaque.  It told of the priest at this particular church who in 1979 was axed to death, probably by Muslim extremists.  Ulp!

Also in Nablus, we visited the site of biblical Shechem (see the story of Dinah in, I think, Genesis 36).  The site is in a vacant lot behind the Nablus business district.  We walked out onto the tell and soon local residents were taking pictures of us and walking by to gawk at the American tourists.  It felt strange at first, but we quickly realized that people were curious and wanted to make contact.  One fellow in our group had his iPad with him; three young men walked up and asked "Is that an iPad 2?"  Later, when we walked back to our bus, I stopped and shook hands with four or five men sitting nearby.  One of them said to me, "Welcome!"  Part of the reason for his welcome, I'm sure, is that Nablus has a terrible unemployment problem and could really use the tourist revenue.  I don't know if it's mainly the Israeli government or the Palestininan authority that keeps things shut down, but it would help the economy if more people could come.  The West Bank has a number of very interesting archeological sites, and deserves to benefit the same as the rest of the country.  Israel herself would be significantly worse off without tourist income.   I heard someplace that there were 7 million foreign tourists who visited here last year--that's in a country with 5 million residents.  Most of the people you see walking around in Jerusalem are like Connie and me: tourists with a religious purpose.  We spend a lot of money.

Our last stop today was at biblical Shiloh.  Perhaps you remember it from my 1st Samuel series this year.  It's where the tabernacle stood, where young Samuel grew up.  It's out in the country, up on a hillside.  Today was cool and quite breezy, though the sun shone bright.  I stood looking at the place where the tabernacle might have stood and thought about all the things that have happened in Israel--the places and the stories and how they live in our imaginations.  It's great to see these places up close.  There's no substitute for climbing around on a tell, touching the old stone walls and feeling the dust beneath your feet.  To be honest, I can't say that the past three weeks have changed me spiritually.  But I can say they have confirmed my belief that the Bible stories are about real people living in real places where actual events really happened.  There's less mystery here than I expected, but more reality.

Connie takes her last exam tomorrow (she signed up to take our class for credit).  But in the morning we will take a taxi out to Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Museum.  Doubtless it will be a sobering experience, but no visit to Jerusalem would be complete without a stop there. 

More Galilee

Yesterday and today was spent mostly in Galilee.  We walked down the hill where Jesus (supposedly) preached the Sermon on the Mount.  We also stopped in Chorazin ("Woe to you, Chorazin!  If the miracles done in your city had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago!"). 

Yesterday we also spent time in a restored Jewish village of the 4th to 6th century A.D.  The style of the buildings was similar to those in the 1st century.  One thing I found interesting was the building material. Everything in ancient Israel (at least, everything that has survived) was built of stone.  Near Jerusalem they used white limestone, but in Galilee they used good old basalt, just like we find in Oregon.  The area around Galilee has lots of volcanic stone, so this village was built out of the same rock you see in the wall behind the pulpit at Parklane Church.  The only difference is that it had been chiseled it into rectangular blocks.  We saw similar stonework in Capernaum.  There's a 4th century synagogue there that dates to the 4th century A.D.  It's made of white limestone.  But the foundation, which dates to the first century (in other words, the time of Jesus) is made of basalt.  Thus we can be pretty sure that Jesus worshiped in a synagogue that was made out of lava rock.

By the way, the same complex of Capernaum ruins contains what may be a room in Peter's house (mentioned in Mark 1, where Jesus healed his mother-in-law).  It may seem ridiculous that a specific synagogue and a specific house can be identified after two thousand years.  However, Capernaum was not that big and there are only so many places where things can be.

We are back in Jerusalem this evening.  The weather contrast between Galilee and Jerusalem is remarkable.  Jerusalem is cool and dry; Galilee was hot and humid.  It's only 80 miles from the one to the other, but you go from one world to the next.  Of course, if we were to go straight east out of Jerusalem, 15 miles down to Jericho, it would hot and dry--and probably 105 degrees.  This country is remarkably small (8 thousand squares miles compared to 97 thousand square miles for Oregon), but there is a great deal of contrast. 

However, if you're looking for consistency in the midst of contrast, all you have to do is look for the presence of the military.  There are soldiers in many of the places we go.  For example, the Jaffa Gate (a main entrance to the Old City of Jerusalem) is just down the street from our hotel.  There are always soldiers at that gate, and they carry guns, casually slung over their shoulders.  Up in Galilee, we were awakened one morning by the sound of Israeli jet fighters zooming by overhead--13 of them, we were told later.  Later that day we were up along the Israel-Syria border.  There, the soldiers were from the U.N.--peacekeepers I guess you'd call them.  They sat in white SUVs--Africans who happened to be playing Guns 'N Roses music on their sound system.  The continuing conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians plays a huge role here.  I will try to blog about that another time.

We've been in Israel for 2 1/2 weeks now.   In just a few days we will leave for Rome and the next stage in our travels.  Israel has been great and there's still more to see, but we are starting to set our sights on newer horizons.

North to Galilee

Yesterday and today we've been at the Sea of Galilee.  It's quite an occasion for us.  The lake is big--12 miles long, 7 miles wide.  And a bit of a surprise.  For one thing, its elevation is so low (600 feet below sea level) that it's quite warm.  For another thing, it's humid!  Jerusalem is dry like central Oregon but even though the hills around Galilee are dry like central Oregon, humidity makes the area feels tropical.  The land around the lake is quite fertile, but they grow things like bananas and mangoes.  The flower are tropical, too: Connie has identified hibiscus and bird of paradise, flowers she used to see when she lived in the jungles of Peru.  It's a beautiful area.  We sat on the beach last night and watched the sun go down.  The water was warm and we could see the lights of the town of Tiberias on the other side of the lake. 

But of course what makes Galilee most noteworthy is that this is where Jesus carried out a good deal of his ministry.  We are at a resort/kibbutz called Ein Gev, on the east side of the lake.  This is approximately where I figure Jesus went ashore when he healed the Gadarene demoniac and the demons went into a herd of pigs and rushed off a cliff and fell into the lake (see Mark 5).  We have yet to visit Capernaum (it's on the other side) but we plan to go there tomorrow.

Yesterday we spent time at Nazareth, where Christ spent his boyhood.  It has grown into a rather large city, but we had a good visit nonetheless.  We stood on the cliff where in Luke 4, people attempted to throw Jesus to his death following his controversial sermon in the synagogue.  Believe me, if they had succeeded, he would have had a long fall!  Nazareth is located in the highlands overlooking a fertile valley and that cliff plunges straight down for hundreds of feet.

We spent a good part of today in the region north of the Sea of Galilee, exploring the headwaters of the Jordan River.  The Jordan is a small, meandering stream for much of its length, but near its source, it is vigorous, beautful and has a waterfall that would do the Columbia Gorge proud.  We saw Caesarea Philippi, where Peter made his confession that Jesus is the Messiah (see Matthew 16).  Some of the stuff I picked up there will probably show up in a sermon come September.

By now, we are getting to know our classmates pretty well.  Good relationships have been formed, especially with people from Columbia International University in South Carolina.  I never knew about the school, but based on the people I've met, it must be a first-class place.

There are times when I try to evaluate "what's the most impressive thing I've seen."  But to tell you the truth, it's like I've been drinking for two weeks from a spigot flowing full blast.  Everything is impressive!  One thing I really enjoyed seeing today was the ruins of an old city called Dan, which is north of Galilee.  The gate of city, which has been excavated, and which we saw and photographed, was there in 19th century B.C.  Our professor informed us that it's very likely that Abraham walked through that very gate on his way south from Haran into Canaan.  That's pretty special!

Aside from having too much to absorb, we are happy and healthy, and having a very good time.  Today we hiked over 5 miles.  The food is good.  Our hotel rooms are basic but comfortable.  The air conditioning works.  And yes, out my window I can see the lights of Tiberias as the day fades toward darkness.

The Garden Tomb

No one knows for sure where the crucifixion and the resurrection took place.  There are two competing candidates: the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which is inside the old city but was outside at the time of Christ; and Gordon's Tomb, which is outside the old city, near the Damascus Gate.  Most people think the Church of the Holy Sepulchre has the better claim.  However, Gordon's Tomb is the lovelier spot, with gardens and benches and flowing water and lots of trees.

But I'm not all that interested in which site is genuine.  What makes Gordon't Tomb unique is that it provides worship space for lots of groups.  There must be at least 10 alcoves where people can gather, and the variety of Christians one sees is truly staggering.  In the 45 minutes that we spent there, we met people from Indonesia, the U.S., Holland, Argentina, Russia and Israel.  Most were part of church groups that had come to worship.  A babble of voices, lots of singing, communion being served, strangers hugging each other--a fantastic witness to the continuing vitality of the Christian church.

Even though the site is beautiful, there are jarring realities.  Gordon's Calvary has a rock wall with cave openings that resemble a skull (Golgotha means "place of the skull"), but it opens out onto a space that is now a parking lot for buses.  Thus the past mingles with the present.  In fact, Connie and I have wondered if living here, on top of so much history, might grow tiresome.  The old days feel like they drag on you, holding you back instead of moving you forward.  I can't say that I've ever felt that in Portland.

Back From the Dead (Sea)

Well, as I suspected, there was no internet access in the Judean Desert.  We stayed in the city of Arad, in the Negev, in the south of the country.  There is much to say about our three-day trip.  So much in fact that I will limit myself to Thursday, which was spent at or around the Dead Sea.

At Arad we stayed at a youth hostel, the Blau-Weiss House (German for Blue-White House).  Before World War II, there was a movement among Jewish youth in Germany to go back to Palestine and explore the land.  The hostels were built to serve that cause.  Of course the tragedy is that many of those young people were killed by Hitler.  Apparently we will stay at another hostel of the same variety when we go north to Galilee starting this Sunday.

Let me say to begin with that Arad and the surrounding area are desert.  By desert I mean no discernible vegetation.  However, the rule of thumb here seems to be that if there's any vegetation at all, they farm; if there's not, they tend sheep.  Somehow the sheep find something to feed on.  One sees lots of little boys out on the hills tending their flocks.  Picture an absolutely barren hillside and a boy wearing a baseball cap in the hot sun: not the funnest job I can think of.  The other animal one sees in these environs is camels.  They are all over the place, pretty much go where they please and occasionally stop your car or bus just like the bears used to in Yellowstone.

Anyway, about Thursday: the bus left the hostel at 7 a.m.  Our first stop was a place called Masada.  Imagine the deck of huge ocean liner.  Imagine it's a mile long and a quarter mile wide.  Then put that deck on top of a thousand-foot high chunk of limestone, with sheer cliffs, overlooking the Dead Sea.  That's Masada, which is Hebrew for "fortress," or "stronghold."  This location may be linked to David, who in First Samuel 22:4 went to "the stronghold" after leaving his family with the King of Moab.

Masada is best-known as the place where a group of Jewish freedom fighters were besieged by the Roman army following the 70 A.D. rebellion that led to the destruction of the Jewish temple in Jerusalem.  The top of the fortress was a palace/storehouse designed by King Herod (the one who met the Wise Men).  It has incredible cisterns (water) and storehouses (food).  The freedom fighters held out for a year while the Romans built a siege ramp from the bottom of the nearly vertical hillside to the top.  The ramp, which still exists, is basically a pile of dirt high enough to reach the top.  No wonder it took a year to build! 

So we hiked up the side of the siege ramp and eventually reached the top.  King Herod, who was the greatest builder in Israel's history (the temple was his chief, but by no means only, accomplishment), had put there a palace, a synagogue, basically a whole city on the top of this great hunk of rock out in the middle of nowhere.

But as I said, the Romans eventually built their siege ramp all the way to the top.  And the freedom fighters faced a choice: be defeated and watch as their family members were raped and killed. That, or commit mass suicide.  They chose the latter.  The men killed their familes.  Then they drew lots to see who would kill whom.  When they were down to ten fighters, they drew straws and the man with the short straw killed the other nine, then himself.  Over 900 people died this way.  A woman and her children crawled into a secret place and survived the ordeal, which is recorded by the Jewish historian, Josephus, in his book The Antiquities of the Jews. 

So we explored the top of Masada for a couple hours, then hiked down the other side.  A thousand feet up, a thousand feet down.  Up was in the shade; down was in the sun.  It was pretty hot.  Then on to our sweet relief for the day, at En-Gedi.  See First Samuel 24 and 27, which indicate that the region of En-Gedi was a hiding spot for David and his men when they were on the run from King Saul.  There is a wadi--stream bed--at En-Gedi that blessedly has water running through it almost all the time.  It runs down the steep cliffs and there are actually pools and waterfalls up as you climb up.  Just a beautiful spot.  I jumped in the water and sat with my head under a waterfall until I felt a concussion coming on, then clambered up to the next pool and swam for 20-minutes or so.  All of our group (forty or so people, mostly college kids) jumped in.  The water was perfect!  We had lunch at En-Gedi (It's the same thing every day, more or less: pita bread with egg salad or tuna for filling; carrots, fruit, pastry for dessert, all washed down by as much water as we can drink.  I go through 4 bottles a day and still feel dehydrated).

Then we went to the Dead Sea.   Its surface is 1900 feet below sea level--the lowest place on earth.  The water has no outlet, so like the Great Salt Lake it is incredibly salty.  I refused to get in (the water feels oily and the only interesting thing about the experience is that it's impossible to sink), but Connie was game.  I suppose it was an okay experience given that the thermometer at the lifeguard station read 41 degrees Celsius (that's 106 degrees Fahrenheit).  But honestly, I don't think I missed a thing. 

By now the heat was taking a toll on us (we hiked about 5 miles that day, mostly under a blistering sun), but the nature of this program doesn't allow for much attention to nature's obstacles.  We were off for our last stop, at an archeological site called Qumran.  A Jewish sect lived at Qumran in the days of Jesus.  It was scattered by the Romans in the years following the destruction of the temple.  But before they dispersed, the community hid its religious scrolls in a cave, inside clay jars.  Then, in 1947, a Bedouin boy threw a rock in a cave and heard a jar break.  He investigated.  Eventually archeologists learned he had made one of the most important discoveries of the century.  Among other things, the scrolls include parts of every book of the Old Testament.  These have given scholars access to the Old Testament as Jesus read it--which turns out to be very similar to manuscripts from a thousand years later.  It's quite a place, but it was hotter than the 4th of July out in the sun where we sat listening to our (very gifted) professor expound on Qumran's significance.  It was with considerable relief that we boarded our bus and headed back to Jerusalem--20 miles away but with a 5,000 feet increase in elevation.  We went from 106 F. at Qumran to 85 F. at Jerusalem--arriving at 6 p.m. following an 11-hour day. 

Today is a day off.  Tomorrow we begin preparations for our journey to Galilee.  We leave for that part of the country on Sunday and we'll stay 'til next Thursday.  It's "Jesus Country" (Nazareth, the Sea of Galilee, Capernaum, etc.) so Connie and I are excited to go.  In the meantime, we're glad to have time off, although we spent the morning exploring the Old City.  We have been fortunate to make friendships with several people from Columbia International University in South Carolina and thay are good company as we climb steps, stop in churches and explore shops. 

You won't believe this, but there's one shop in the Old City that sells Oregon Duck t-shirts in Hebrew!  Donald Duck sticking his head through the "O," and then "Oregon Ducks" in Hebrew script.  I think I will buy one and be the envy of my friends.

Despite the rigors of our trip (the college kids are worn out every night and so are we), we continue to enjoy good health.  We thank God for that.  Something as simple as a sprained ankle could put a real crimp in our style.

Seeing Things On Our Own

We had a free morning today.  So for the first time, we set out to explore the Old City on our own.  It's not as big as you might expect.  We walked from our hotel near the Jaffa Gate (on the west wall) to the Wailing Wall (located near the eastern wall) in about 20 minutes.  I'm pretty sure you could walk around the perimeter of the Old City wall (which contained the entirety of Jersualem until 1800 or so) in about an hour-and-a-half.  But there were 30-50 thousand people living there in Jesus' day and probably more now.  So it's small but crowded. 

The Wailing Wall (a foundation wall of the temple that Herod built during in the 1st century) is the spiritual heart of Judaism.  Hundreds of people were on the large plaza.  Some were close to the wall, praying.  Others were milling around.  There were many Bar Mitzvahs taking place.  A Bar Mitzvah is something like confirmation in certain Christian churches.  At age 13, boys read Torah in Hebrew, as part of a ceremony that basically declares them to be spiritual adults.  All of the Bar Mitzvahs took place near the fence that divides the women's and men's sections of the plaza.  The men administered the ceremony; the women made celebratory noises that sounded very Middle Eastern and threw candy.  Then the boys would be hoisted on the shoulders of their friends.  Dancing and singing would ensue.  It was a lively, chaotic scene, one that I found exhilirating.  I put on a yarmulke before entering the plaza (one of those little round caps you see Jews wearing sometimes) and stood around and watched for awhile.

Afterwards we strolled through the city's Jewish quarter (the other three quarters are: the Muslim, the Armenian and the Christian).  This part of town was mostly destroyed during Israel's 1948 war for independence, so there are many newer buildings.  It feels more like America than the rest of the city.  There are more grass and trees; a very pleasant place.

This afternoon we were back at Jerusalem University College, starting the next leg of our studies.  Tomorrow we leave for a three-day trip that will take us to the Mediterranean, the Negev Desert and the Dead Sea.  I am told that internet connections may not be available, so if you don't hear from us until later in the week, don't worry!

P.S.  Thanks for your prayers about my foot.  It still hurts but it limbers up quite nicely when I walk and I'm not anticipating any problems.  God is good!

Sunday in the Holy City

We were gassed after yesterday's unrelenting schedule.  Connie went to bed at 9:30, I passed out at 10.  We got up this morning and went to an Anglican Church very close by in the Old City.  Most of the 100 or so people in attendance were travelers like us.  Nice service--two hours long.  We spent the afternoon doing laundry over at the college and napping in our hotel room.  It wasn't so different from our usual Sundays, except that I didn't lead services. 

Tomorrow we have no activities until late afternoon so we hope to explore the Old City on our own.  But Connie is thinking of taking the course for credit (we signed up to audit), which would mean she has to take an exam tomorrow.  I told her she should go for it because the 4 semester hours of credit would be helpful in maintaining her teacher's accreditation.  So she's at a study session this evening at the college while I read and blog.

One item for prayer: my right foot is giving me some trouble.  I can walk on it and it loosens up after awhile, but there's a place on the inside of the ankle that's slightly swollen and it's pretty painful.  Our program requires lots of walking and I would like for the pain to go away.  I have no idea what caused this.

Outside my hotel the Muslim Imams are calling people to prayer.  There's a church up the street that rang its bells about an hour ago.  There isn't another city like this anywhere in the world. 

On the Road in God's Country

We spent the day outside of Jerusalem, seeing an incredible range of country. One of my kids sent an email suggesting that I indicate that we're having fun, instead of sharing so much information. So: YES WE ARE HAVING FUN!!! But we're working pretty hard, too.

We got on our tour bus at 7 a.m. After driving about 12 miles to the east we got off. But that doesn't mean anything unless I explain a bit of geography to you.

Israel can be divided into three narrow strips running north and south. On the west is the coastal plain, a relatively flat, fertile area where many crops are grown. The Mediterranean Sea marks the western terminus of that region. Moving east, the next region is the Hill Country. The hills are pretty high. You go from sea level at Tel Aviv to 2,900 feet at Jerusalem in the space of about 20 miles. The third strip is the low-lying valley east of the hills. This is where the Sea of Galilee, the Jordan River and the Dead Sea are located. This region marks the lowest place on earth. The Dead Sea is 1900 feet below sea level. Jericho, which is near the Dead Sea, is 1000 feet below sea level.

So what I'm saying is that by driving 12 miles east of Jerusalem, we were dropping about 3000 feet in elevation--and moving to a completely different climate. Jerusalem is at the top of the hills and, like Mount Hood, receives quite a bit of rain--about 24 inches a year, mostly during the winter. But the low-lying valley to the east is like Oregon east of the Cascades. As soon as you go over to the other side of the mountain, the amount of rainfall decreases. The desert east of Jerusalem gets about 5 inches a year. So when we got out of the bus, we were in country where there was basically no vegetation except for a few thistles. From there we hiked the last 2 1/2 miles to Jericho. It was hot, barren, and starkly beautiful. Along the way we passed a monastery that has been on the same site since the 300s. One of the weird things about this country is that you can be driving or walking in country that looks completely ordinary, then see something that's 2 or 3 or even 4 thousand years old. It's hard for an American to get used to.

So we spent the morning and the lunch hour near Jericho and hiked around the "tell" (ruin) of the old city. After that, we drove up to the hill country and surveyed land once owned by the Israelite tribe of Benjamin. We got an excellent view of some of the towns featured in the Samuel sermons I preached last fall and winter: Gibeah, Gibeon, Ramah, etc.

Finally, late in the afternoon,, we drove out to the coastal plain. There we visited another "tell," this one at Gezer, a site which is briefly mentioned in First Kings and the book of Joshua. Again, there are strange juxtapositions. You drive by a nice housing area that looks like it belongs in San Diego, turn a corner and there's this 3000 year-old tell.

Today we hiked a total of 5 miles in the hot sun, listened to lectures in the hot sun and rode around in an air-conditioned bus. We were dropped off at our hotel at 6 p.m., rounding off an eleven hour day. That's been our typical schedule since we got here. What's also typical is that we are tired. We'd like to go out and see the Old City of Jerusalem (literally at our doorstep) but it's 9 p.m. and we're ready to call it a day. We are grateful that tomorrow is Sunday,and that we have a whole day off. Our plan is to attend an Anglican Church that is about 5 minutes from our hotel.

Through Hezekiah's Tunnel

We spent much of this beautiful day (breezy, 82 F.) in the oldest part of Jerusalem, the so-called "City of David." It's south of the rest of the Old City, down in a low valley. David lived there throughout his reign. Of course, old Jerusalem can never be separated from current realities. The City of David is right across the street from the jammed, cliffside Palestinian village of Silwan, a flash point in the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian dispute. Our teacher told a story of a recent Jerusalem University College student who, on his first day of class, decided to go running through Silwan's twisty streets. But people started throwing rocks at him as he ran by. The rocks got bigger. He soon figured out that he had better get out of there if he didn't want to be--literally--stoned.

The outstanding archeological feature in this part of town is a water supply tunnel built by King Hezekiah in the 8th century B.C. It's an engineering marvel and no one is quite sure how they pulled it off. The problem was simple: the city's water supply was vulnerable to attack and needed to be protected. A two-stage solution was arrived at. Stage one: build a small fort extending from the city wall, surrounding the spring. Stage two: redirect the water flow by carving an underground tunnel out of bedrock so water could be collected inside the city.

The tunnel, a twisty, turny, narrow-walled affair, still exists today and we waded through it late this morning. It takes about 20 minutes to go from one end to the other. The fast-flowing water is chilly and deep enough in one place to cover the bottom of your shorts. You take a flash light and follow the person behind you. There are places where you have to duck because the tunnel, in addition to being just 2 1/2 feet wide, is only about 5 feet high in many places. Great fun and you think to yourself, "How did they carve this with nothing more than chisels and candles? And how much work was it to haul out all the debris, probably in a sack on your back?" It eventually leads to the Pool of Siloam, where Jesus healed a blind man (you can read about it in John 9).

Just a word about the other people in our class: there are about 40 of us, mostly from the U.S. Two Christian colleges--Simpson College in Redding, CA and Columbia International University in South Carolina--brought good-sized groups. There are also parents with college-aged kids and several college faculty. I must confess that we are among the oldest people in attendance, but it's not a detriment at all. We keep up fine and everyone has a good time.

Tomorrow promises to be interesting. It's our first foray outside of Jerusalem into the surrounding countryside. Unlike the first few days when we literally walked for hours through the Old City, tomorrow we'll be on a tour bus.

I Really Did Walk Where Jesus Walked

Wednesday: a gorgeous sunny day in Jerusalem.  High in the low 80s with a really nice breeze off the Mediterranean starting mid-afternoon.  This morning we enjoyed a stimulating lecture at the Jerusalem University College campus.  Our instructor, Aubrey Alexander, combines unrelenting enthusiasm with detailed knowledge of all sorts of Holy Land minutiae.  We spent time talking about Israel's climate, topography and vegetation and how those have affected what people do and where they live.  In one sense, Israel's climate is just a drier version of Oregon's.  A somewhat damper western part of the country gives way to the incredibly dry Dead Sea area, which is in a rain shadow much the same as in eastern Oregon.  Another similarity is that most of the moisture comes in the winter, and then the summer is dry.  We don't think anything of that, but in the eastern half of the U.S. the summer is often the wettest time of year.  That's how they grow all that corn in Iowa and points further east.  Gordon Nyhof has said to me that Oregon "becomes a desert in the summer (after July 4, at least!)."  In that sense, Portland and Jerusalem are alike.

We spent the afternoon on a rather rigorous walking tour of the Old City.  The Old City is, as the name suggests, the old part of Jerusalem, dating back several thousand years.  In fact, it's the 2nd oldest continually inhabited city in the world (Jericho being the oldest and just 20 miles down the road).  We visited the probable site where Jesus ate the Last Supper with his disciples, which may also be the place where the Holy Spirit came on the Day of Pentecost (which we just celebrated last Sunday).  This location is an educated guess, but probably a pretty good one.  Think about it: the Old city is not that big (maybe the same size as the entirety of downtown Portland).  That means there are only so many places where something could have happened.  Historical memory has fixed on that one spot so there's good chance that I sat on a roof beneath which Jesus ate the Last Supper with the disciples and where the Holy Spirit invaded the Upper Room.  Pretty cool!

The rest of the time was spent around the site of Herod's Temple, where Jesus preached and contended with the Pharisees in the week leading up to his crucifixion.  A mosque sits on the site now, but the edge of the enormous complex bears many historical marks of the older, Jewish influence.  We walked along a street where merchants sold their wares, about which our teacher said, "We can be pretty sure that Jesus walked along this very street."   We took some pictures here that we will try to upload (by the way, we haven't had a good enough connection to upload videos yet; we're still working on it).

We also visited the site of the Pool of Bethesda (John 5 if you're interested in recalling the story).  An interesting spot.  Actually, the whole city is a giant archeological theme park.  There's no place you can go and not touch biblical history.  Anything that took place in biblical Jerusalem happened within a two-mile radius of the hotel room where I'm sitting.  It doesn't get much better than that!

First Day in Jerusalem

We meant to blog last night when we got to our hotel, but the wifi wouldn't work.  So tonight we came to the Jerusalem University College library and have made a connection here.

We had a long but uneventful flight from New York to Tel Aviv (specifically, Ben-Gurion Airport, located between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem).  Many people on the flight were Hasidic Jews (quite conservative) and they pray early in the morning.  So just as the sun was coming up over the Mediterranean, a group of at least a dozen gathered near the back window of the plane (all the other window shades were covered so people could sleep), and recited their prayers.  They stood wearing their prayer shawls, read from their book and bowed jerkily throughout. 

Getting through customs was a breeze, the airport bright and modern.  We took a shuttle to make the 20-mile trip and eventually found ourselves at the Jaffa Gate to the Old City of Jerusalem.  The Hotel Gloria is just inside that gate and we found our room and went to bed about 10:30 (yes, we were tired!).

Greater Jerusalem is a town of about 700-thousand people.  All the buildings in town are made of local white limestone, which gives it quite a striking appearance.  The Old City (where we're staying) is the heart of town, and contains nearly all of the landmarks people associate with the Bible.  I won't get into that a lot; there are pictures that we will try to upload along with this posting.  However, we did see the Wailing Wall (the sole remaining remnant of Herod's Temple, where Jesus preached) and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, where Christ was supposedly crucified and resurrected. 

The city has all the crowded, narrow streets you can imagine and archeological projects going on all over the place.  History is everywhere and in many layers.  The city is an impossible jungle of impressions.  There is literally a story on every corner, and many stories under the pavement going back at least 3-thousand years.  This is by far the oldest place we have ever been to.

Yet Jerusalem is bustling and new, especially outside the gates of the Old City.  Car horns honk constantly, there are shops and stores everywhere; it is a prosperous place with a lot of construction activitiy going on. 

The weather has been pleasant: sunny with clouds scudding by overhead, temperatures about 80.  It cools off at night, which is good because our hotel has no air conditioning. 

We are eating and sleeping well and enjoying our class. 

I will try to check in again tomorrow.

New York, New York

Connie and I arrived at JFK Airport in New York at 6:30 this morning Eastern time--3:30 for Portlanders.  An uneventful flight.  I managed to get some sleep; Connie didn't.  Weather here is cool, cloudy, showery. 

The building we entered following our flight was basically open to the elements.  Dozens of sparrows were in the terminal, flying and twittering in the high ceiling and occasionally swooping down on people--Connie included.   

Question: how much luggage should one take on an 8-week trip overseas?  In our case, a single overnight bag plus a backpack.  We're following the gospel according to travel guru Rick Steves, whose programs you may have seen on public television.  He says it's better to pack light and do laundry frequently, rather than be weighed down by large, heavy suitcases.   

We have the whole day to spend at JFK.  Perhaps we'll stretch out on the floor at an empty gate and get some sleep.  Or see if there's a worship service somewhere in the airport.  Our flight leaves at 7:30 p.m.  The fun part is that 24 hours from now we'll be in Jerusalem!

Just before departure

 Well, it's Saturday evening.  Connie and I depart at 10:30 p.m.  We'll be at JFK Airport in New York tomorrow, then leave for Jerusalem is at 7:15 Sunday night.  We should arrive at Ben Gurion Airport (which serves Tel Aviv and Jerusalem) about 1 p.m. Israel time. 

FYI: Jerusalem is 10 hours ahead of Portland.  So if it's 1 p.m. there, it's 3 a.m. in Portland. 

The past few days have been busy, especially for Connie, who was finishing up the school year in addition to trying to get ready for an 8-week trip.  But we're ready now, and excited to see the big broad world unfold before us. 

We especially thank our friends at Parklane Christian Reformed Church, who gave us time off, as well as a lot of financial support, to make this trip possible. 

We'll let you know what's happening when we get to the other end of our journey.

Vance and Connie

Just getting started

Hi everybody

I'm sitting at home getting this set up, so it works while we're gone.

VH