Life in Israel--September 8, 2010

Well, we are official residents of Jerusalem for two weeks now. It's amazing how routines are soon established. This last week was full to the brim with all kinds of activities and learning new routines. We are well, enjoying all our new experiences, and adjusting to a few wrinkles along the way. Here's a little bit about what we have been thinking and doing.

Last Wed. Larry and I found ourselves back in the Old City and walking through the Christian Quarter and we stopped at the Latin Patriarchate Church and went inside. It has beautiful stained glass windows and they were very proud that several popes have visited their church. Italian tourists came in while we were there and started singing hymns together. It really was lovely to hear. On the way out we noticed a Mercedes Benz parked in front of the church!

Wednesday evening I attended my first class for Palestinian Society and Politics. I'm auditing and trying to keep up with the reading. The class is taught by Dr. Bernard Sabella, a member of the Palestinian Parliament and the Advisory Council. He's very knowledgeable about the current situation in the Middle East. His PhD is from University of Virginia and his daughter is a graduate of Earlham College. I look forward to the field trip in November to Ramallah. He is a Palestinian Catholic and feels the Palestinians need to reach out more to Israelis to get to know them. My goal is to gain a better understanding of Palestinian society and how these two cultures--Palestinian and Israeli can live together peacefully. How I pray that will happen. I just read that the next round of Mid East peace talks will be at Sharm El Sheik and then our Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton, will meet in Jerusalem with Abbas and Netanyahu. It will be interesting for us to see how these meetings affect life in Jerusalem, if at all.

I had an interesting walk to do some errands last Friday and as I was walking from Jaffa Gate of the Old City into West Jerusalem I was amazed at the number of people I passed who were women and men like me but dressed totally different. I saw Muslim women with the burka, other Muslim women with just their hair totally covered but in Western dress, Hasidic orthodox men with beards, side curls, beaver hats dressed in black and white on their way to the Western Wall to pray, young girls dressed in a very Western style, and orthodox Jewish women with their hair totally covered and in Western dress, old men in long Muslim style dress helping each other walk, and young soldiers with their guns over their shoulders. What a mix! Close to us was a 21st century mall and yet on the other side of me to my right were the walls of Jerusalem from the time of Suleiman the Magnificent.

We were entertained for several nights last week by rehearsals for Israel's version of American Idol. They performed in the Hinnom Valley in the amphitheatre and we could hear everything until almost 11:00 or 11:30 pm. Saturday night was the finale and we had fireworks and strobe lights with a very excited audience screaming and cheering. I heard that they do not call it Israel Idol because Israel is not supposed to have idols so I think it's called something like "American Israel Idol" or "Israel's American Idol." Most of the students here memorized the songs that were sung because they heard them so often.

We have an official dig beginning here at JUC! We met the archaeologist who will conduct the dig just below JUC. The school is trying to connect to the city sewers and before they can get final approval to do this the Dept. of Antiquities sends out a team to do an excavation to determine if there is anything here of historical value. They came this week and have already uncovered the steps that lead to a tunnel that was used by the Israel Defence Forces in 1948 to smuggle food into the Jewish Quarter before and during the war of '48. They have also started to dig a trench that is square and may do several more. They have funding for only two weeks of digging. If nothing of interest is found then we go to the next step. If something important is found, they will dig further. It puts the school in an awkward position. They have waited a long time for this and of course there is lots of history here but if something is found it just delays the sewer project which is really needed.

JUC hosted a BBQ for all students and their families on Friday evening outside in the garden area. It was a lovely evening with Mediterranean breezes turning cool but it was fun to eat outside and meet families who live off campus. We concluded with vespers and we even have a worship team who leads us in singing. Dr. Wright spoke from Psalm 92 and encouraged our hearts as we listened and prayed together.

Sunday was a big day for us. Some weeks we use Saturday as our Sabbath and some weeks Sunday depending on the class schedule. We joined the Physical Settings class for an 8 hour walk through what Dr. Wright calls, Biblical Jerusalem. It was strenuous! We were up and down , climbing and sweating together. We climbed down to the Pool of Siloam and observed the water system that was used in the city of David and the tunnel that King Hezekiah dug. It's not too bad going down but coming back up in the heat was another story. Larry and I made it--helping each other along the way. Our break was over lunch at JUC but we were back at it and among other things, we saw the Pool of Bethesda and went into St. Anne's Church in the Muslim Quarter and sat and sang together Amazing Grace and Be Thou My Vision. What a moving experience. This church has the most amazing acoustics and it made us sound like a majestic choir. We then climbed up to the roof of the Austrian Hospice to see the view that was absolutely amazing. From there we could see the Temple Mount area, the Mt. of Olives, the city of David and all the churches, and Hurva Synagogue and roof tops in the Old City. Ramadan was about to end so by the time we climbed down we were enveloped in a huge mass of Muslims getting ready to break Ramadan with eating so they were all out shopping and we were really packed together. A man with a snake around his neck was calling attention to himself with people clapping and there were Israeli soldiers and police near by just observing. It made several of the students feel very uncomfortable. All of this took place near the Via Dolorosa. What a city! It took us about 20 minutes to make our way back to JUC. The end of Ramadan is Thursday at sundown.

Tonight the Jewish Rosh Hashana begins at sundown and goes through tomorrow evening. We are at the beginning of the High Holy Days. Everything shuts down and families are getting together. I will try to add some information about Rosh Hashana on my next blog. Saturday we are off for an all day field trip via bus to study the various approaches to Jerusalem and we will be going to Bethlehem and to see the Herodium that Herod built plus other sights. We are building our stamina.

We are so thankful for email messages and for the interactions we are having with the students. Larry took the students in his class outside the classroom to the "living" classroom, a section in JUC's garden. on Tues. and they read the story of Jeremiah breaking the pot over the Hinnom Valley. The students loved it. Several have already been on archaeological digs before they came to JUC. One student just spent a month in India before arriving here. Many are world travelers. I'm reading through Joshua right now and all the cities he and the Israelites conquered . There are some hard things to digest in some of these sections as they dealt with the Cananites. God is continuing to teach me lessons of faith and trust. I have been writing and feel as though the book is beginning to take shape for me but it is a very emotional experience as I relive memories of my dear brother.