More Jottings from Jerusalem--September 15, 2010

Well, here we are almost three and a half weeks into our new life in Jerusalem. We continue to be impressed and grateful for all that we are experiencing—in spite of the exhaustion we feel after a JUC Field Trip! Yes, it’s true. These “ole bodies” have had a shock but we are adjusting and doing things we thought we couldn’t do. In fact, last Saturday we went with the JUC students on another day-long field trip starting out at the Mt. of Olives and having our professor explain all we were seeing on the horizon to what was close to us. The view of the Temple Mount area from the top of the Mt. of Olives is beautiful. No doubt, you have seen it in photographs. We could see to the east the Judean Wilderness and look down on the City of David that is just below the Temple Mount. After the view and walking amongst all the tourist buses that were beginning to gather, we made our way down the Mt. to the Garden of Gethsemane and the church that sits next to these ancient trees in a small garden with roses and bougainvillea blooming. Things have changed over the years, but I had a flashback to Mel Gibson’s movie, The Passion of the Christ, and the image of what it might have been like at that time and that image was helpful to me. We then went to the area where it is thought Jesus wept over Jerusalem on the day of his Triumphal Entry or the day we call Palm Sunday. A beautiful church sits on that spot—Dominus Flevit (The Lord Wept). But, from there we continued to walk down hill to the Kidron Valley, crossed over, and went up the other side just south of the Temple Mount area to catch our bus. We walked right past the City of David and where David’s palace might have been and from that point he could see all the way down the hill and one can certainly understand how easily he could have seen Bathsheba on her roof.

We headed out south and east of Jerusalem to the Herodium, the fortress/palace of King Herod. This is in a very barren area not far from Bethlehem. Not too many tourists there eager to climb to the top. Herod built an amazing palace for himself with a pool surrounded by columns at the base of the Herodium. The school had packed lunches for us and the Israelis have constructed a visitor’s room where we could enjoy our sandwiches in the air-conditioning before we braved the heat and started our climb. It was a strenuous hike up with Larry and me bringing up the rear but we made it! Don’t laugh. We may be a little slower but we can keep plodding upward and onward. The view was fantastic and the remains of his palace with a theatre and Roman bath were fascinating. Of course, what goes up must come down so that’s just what we did--all the way to the lower tunnels that were used by the Israel Zealots around 130 or 133 AD during the Bar-Kochba revolt to attack the Romans. After we refreshed ourselves with water and ice cream at the visitor’s station we were off again and this time to Bethlehem packed with tourists. We have been there before but we still wanted to go inside the Church of the Nativity and the area where Jerome translated the Latin Vulgate. So much history and significance but one must be prepared that this is not how it was at the birth of Jesus. Bethlehem is beginning to recover economically but we did have the experience of going through an Israeli checkpoint as Bethlehem is located in the administered territory by Israel. We saw the huge wall—separation barrier—with lots of graffiti on it in places. So sad. Tonight in my class on Palestinian Society and Politics we will be discussing several articles about the wall and how it has impacted the day-to-day lives of the Palestinians. Please pray as peace talks resume next week that some breakthrough might occur.

As we approached JUC later that evening, the bus had to park close to the Jaffa Gate area which meant another climb up to campus. The students seemed to sprint to dinner but Larry and I slowly found our way up the hill. We just have to laugh at ourselves even though our feet were very sore. Most of the students left the next morning early to go on another hike (just for fun!) planned by our Student Programs office. They were off to the Yehudia Reserve in the Golan to climb and see waterfalls. Later we were told it was a very strenuous hike through a canyon and then up the side of the rock with handles to grip to pull oneself up then the hiker had to swim across the river while holding their backpack over their head! They all admitted they loved it but it was difficult.

We are so thankful that one of our students from Eastern University survived a 10 foot fall while on the hike. While she was climbing up the canyon her foot slipped and she dropped and almost rolled into the river but a very alert male student jumped down to help her and prevented her from falling into the river. It was a very scary experience for them. The students who were with her gathered round and began to pray for her. There was an Israeli medic on the trail who stopped to help and Robyn had to be flown out by helicopter to a hospital in Tiberias. She had no broken bones just cuts on her face (12 stitches in her chin), a black eye, sore legs, etc. JUC’s president was called and he drove to Tiberias and was able to bring her back to campus that night. I overheard Robyn saying that when she fell her arm hurt terribly and she was sure she had broken it but when the students prayed over her the pain stopped and she thinks God healed her broken arm. She did not suffer major injury but it is still very painful for her and living at JUC means you are climbing up and down stairs all over the campus.

Larry and I had a wonderful Sabbath rest on Sunday and enjoyed worshipping again at Christ’s Church in the Old City. On the way back to campus we were in the park area by the Ottoman Wall that surrounds the Old City and we saw an Arab woman by an olive tree. She had spread out what looked like sheets under the olive tree and was hitting the tree with a stick to knock loose the olives. We took a photo of this old-fashion method of “harvesting” the olives.

Sunday evening we went to Mamilla Mall for dinner and met a young man who helped serve us. He told us he grew up in Jerusalem and had spent three years in the military. He would love to come to the US but said it is so difficult to get a visa. He and his military buddies leave in several weeks for six months touring in South America. He fought in Gaza and said he doesn’t like fighting but it is quieter now. He would like to go back to visit Sharm El Sheik but he said it is not safe for him there. We told him we are praying for peace. He is very proud of Jerusalem. I’m so thankful for all these encounters. I have found that people really open up if you begin to ask a few questions and they are so helpful to us.

Today I went to West Jerusalem with a student from Guyana via Messiah College. She did not want to go alone and did not know how to find an Ethiopian salon that would braid her hair. She asked a woman who looked Ethiopian pushing a baby stroller if she knew of a place. This woman, very kind, offered to show us the way and when we got there the building was empty. She then proceeded to give us her phone number so Dawnique could call her for women who do braiding in their homes. Danesh told us that she had lived in Jerusalem for nine years and loves Israel and that she is from Ethiopia. She wants to stay but said sometimes it is hard to live here because they are black and treated like a minority. Her family lives in Dallas, Texas, and she may eventually go there. She told us that with her children being born in Israel it may be easier for them to grow up here and they may not face some of the problems those who have emigrated have encountered. Everyone has such amazing stories. She was delightful.

I found out that the correct name of the Israeli American Idol program is “Kochav Nolad”—A Star is Born. That’s the program that kept us entertained outside our window two weeks ago.

I experienced a very nostalgic walk on Tuesday as I went with a young couple from JUC who are grad students and they were going to the Rifka Mall where there is a Home Center store—a cross between Home Depot and Bed, Bath and Beyond. We went right through the neighborhood that Larry and I lived in 42 years ago when we were students here. I recognized the “green grocer,” and the street I so often walked on but I was also overwhelmed with all the changes. It’s now a bustling neighborhood that is becoming more upscale with little sidewalk cafes and taking on a more European feel. This is the old German Colony area on Emek Rephaim for those of you who have been here. That was another mile and half from campus and then back but it was great getting to know Mandy and Justin and hear about their dreams for the future—budding archaeology teachers. It was fun to see how to shop in this area and I even went into an Office Depot that was just like in the States except everything was in Hebrew. I found a few things at the Home Center to make our room a little more cozy, including a small rug for these stone floors. It’s still really hot in the daytime but wonderfully cool at night.

If it sounds like I’m going all the time, that’s not the case. I have been getting some writing done and feel good about the progress in that arena. I’m reading through the book of Judges now and learning once again all the consequences for disobedience the children of Israel suffered. What lessons for us who are disciples of Christ!

I’m enjoying my daughter Alicia’s blog called Always Orange –Meeting God in the Every Day. If you have any interest, check it out. Later tonight is our weekly “Cookie Night” at JUC so Larry and I will be there after class. (: