Start of the Galilee

 As we left for the Galilee 12 days ago the scene outside my bus window changed dramatically from the rocky, dry and desert landscape of the Jerusalem area to the lush, green forests and farmland of the Jordan River valley. Northern Israel is beautiful. We started off by visiting the chief city of the Decapolis (group of ten cities on frontier of Roman Empire) city of Beit She'an. Known in Roman, New Testament and Byzantine eras as Scythopolis. It was at this city that the Philistines displayed Saul's armor in the temple of Ashtoreth and hung the dead bodies of Saul and Jonathan. During the reign of King David the Israelites probably controlled this city. I really liked this city because it was pretty big with nice ancient toilets and a beautiful cardo (north-south oriented street from Roman times lined with shops).

Then we went over to Nazareth which was anciently a little village but now it is a bustling city that felt similar to parts of Jordan to me. The Gospel of Matthew says that Jesus "dwelt in a city called Nazareth: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene"(2:23). There are many churches commemorating the life of Jesus throughout the city. The Church of Annunciation is currently a Roman Catholic church, the largest church in the entire Middle East. This was probably one of my favorite churches. Outside on the grounds and inside the church there are  Madonna and Child mosaics from all over the world. I could have spent hours looking at the variety of depictions.

Then we went to the church of St. Joseph which is built over a grotto that is the traditional site of Joseph's carpenter shop and the home for his family. We walked a little farther north in Nazareth to the traditional site of the "Synagogue Church" (1st century) the likely place where Jesus announced his Messiahship (Luke 4:16-30) but today on the site stands a small one-room Crusader church.

Before we arrived at our hotel/resort in Ein Gev on the shores of the Galilee we went to a scenic overlook point on Mt. Arbel. It was at this point as I looked out across the landscape in front of me that I was struck by the fact that so much of Jesus' life and ministry occurred in this place.

Better than the Moon

When American astronaut Neil Armstrong, a devout Christian, visited Israel after his trip to the moon, he was taken on a tour of the Old City of Jerusalem by Israeli archaeologist Meir Ben-Dov. When they got to the Hulda Gate, which is at the top of the stairs leading to the Temple Mount, Armstrong asked Ben-Dov whether Jesus had stepped anywhere around there.

“I told him, ‘Look, Jesus was a Jew,’” recalled Ben-Dov.
“These are the steps that lead to the Temple, so he must have walked here many times.”

Armstrong then asked if these were the original steps, and Ben-Dov confirmed that they were.

“So Jesus stepped right here?” asked Armstrong.
“That’s right,” answered Ben-Dov.
“I have to tell you,” Armstrong said to the Israeli archaeologist, “I am more excited stepping on these stones than I was stepping on the moon.”

-Thomas Friedman, From Beirut to Jerusalem

This is the spot Armstrong's guide took him to, the steps leading to the temple

Going to the Galilee

Well tomorrow I am off to spend two weeks at the Sea of Galilee. My studies will be focused on the life of Christ while I am there. I am not going to have much, if any, access to the internet and my laptop is breaking so I am not going to bring it with me.

Blogging has been a strange experience for me... I know I want to do it so that I can remember things but I never want to devote the necessary time to it.

I probably won't blog much in the next two weeks. But maybe I will have better internet access than expected.

Anyway...

Christ gave his Sermon on the Mount near the Sea of Galilee and many other beautiful events from the Bible occurred in this place.

I am so excited. My New Testament teacher knows his stuff and I look forward to our lessons.

The Galilee trip has loomed ahead of me at the end of my calendar. Something I looked forward to but wasn't ready for because it meant the end was coming.

Here I go.

The Galilee.

Tomb of the Kings and Slacking the Line

Today I went out into the city after breakfast with a group of wonderful people from the Center. We started off by visiting the Tomb of the Kings which is this incredible site on private property in East Jerusalem. The spot is thought to be the burial site of Queen Helena of Adiabene. We played sardines and sang using the amazing acoustics in the tomb.

Then we wandered around the Old City and visited some shops and churches.

After that we set up a slack line outside of the New Gate in West Jerusalem. Slack lining was awesome. We had so many people stop and laugh as we took turns trying to walk the line. Then we had Jews and Palestinians alike try it out. It was neat to see the two groups together in the same spot having a good time.

ghost in the tombs

the tomb was huge with multiple rooms and burial sites

outside of the tombs, just an average archeological dig site in someone's back yard!!

stealing kisses

this young girl bravely tried while her friends watched

Holy Trinity Cathedral

Today after my New Testament Midterm (around 10am) I went with Rachel, Liddy, and Quin to the Russian compound in West Jerusalem. We wanted to simply see the interior of this Russian Orthodox church so we were really surprised when we entered and there was actually a service going on. Two priests led the service in very low, deep voices. A women's choir made up of nuns dressed in black sang from a balcony above. Their voices were pure and angelic.

As I stood listening to their voices I looked upward into the vaulted ceiling of the church which was painted blue with feather winged angels flying around. It was truly an uplifting experience. There were murals all around the church depicting different prophets and apostles and events in the life of Christ.

The people partook of the sacrament and it was truly a moving experience to watch so many devout people worshipping and demonstrating their love for God.

I wanted to stand, kneel and pray with all those Russian ladies.

I have been to so many churches throughout these months in Jerusalem. Some churches leave greater impressions than others. I have experienced a variety of emotions in each place of worship. I think that before I came to Jerusalem I had a fairly tolerant attitude toward other religions. Through the experiences I have had here this tolerance has developed into a deep love, respect and appreciation for the devout of different faiths.

Jerusalem has tension because the people here tolerate one another. But tolerance does not equal peace. Only when people can move beyond and coexist with mutual love and respect will resolutions be made.

At the core of every conflict is the fragility of human existence. People can point fingers at religion or race but it is harder to hate individuals.

"Human kindness can be found in all groups even those which as a whole it would be easy to condemn" -Victor Frankl

Bomb Shelter

I was sitting in Liddy's room just talking and munching on tortilla chips when we heard sirens outside. We went outside on the deck and looked out across the city because we weren't sure what they were (I know, dumb). Then we heard the BYU Jerusalem Security chief voice over the intercom directing us to go immediately to the nearest bomb shelter.

Liddy and I ran out into the hallway where students and faculty members were all moving quickly to the shelters.

We sat in the shelter. Nervous chatter. I felt calm but I had no idea what was happening.

Said a prayer.

Then after about thirty minutes the security guards came into the shelter and said we were free to leave.

Here is the deal:

Hamas threatened to target Jerusalem with missiles. They wanted to hit the knesset, the Israeli legislature.

Hamas sent one or two missiles from Gaza and they landed about ten miles south of us in an empty field. They did not even reach Bethlehem.

The sirens went off because radar detected the missiles way before they were close to Jerusalem.

I don't want anyone to get the wrong idea about this situation. There were no missiles flying around Jerusalem. The security here is very competent. Threats go back and forth between Israelis and Palestinians. Sometimes with the goal of just creating uneasiness.

I pray for the innocent people that are affected by the actions of few. Especially those living in Gaza that will now most likely face a night of Israeli bombing.

The bomb shelters have been in place at the BYU Center since 1988 and we are the first student group ever to use them. That is something for me to remember.

And just so you know Jerusalem is among the safest areas in the Middle East. The safest area is East Jerusalem where the Center is located. No Muslim country or group is going to endanger the Dome of the Rock of Al Asqa mosques, the Old City or the Arab neighborhoods in the vicinity of the Old City. We are going to be leaving in a few days for the Galilee which is historically a peaceful and tranquil place. Galilee is even farther north than Jerusalem from Gaza.

Dome of the Rock

I didn't know much about the conflicts here in Israel before coming here and I would guess that many people reading this blog don''t either. One of these days I should spend some time discussing these issues that I have learned more about in a post. But I don't think that day is today.

However I am going to talk about the Dome of the Rock which is located on the Temple Mount. This is a prominent source of contention for Jews and Muslims. 

Temple Mount used to be the location of the temple for Jews in Jerusalem. The First and Second temples were destroyed and according to prophecies in the Bible there will be a third. 

But there is a caveat to this plan... this third temple cannot be built because Temple Mount is under Muslim control and contains sites that are extremely important to the Islamic religion.

The Dome of the Rock (initially built in 691CE) is a shrine covering the Foundation Stone. According to Jewish tradition this is the rock where Abraham almost sacrificed his son Isaac. But according to Muslims it was Ishmael that was nearly sacrificed and it is the site where Muhammad ascended into heaven with the angel Gabriel. 

Non-Muslims like myself are not allowed to enter the Dome of the Rock shrine or the nearby Al-Aqsa Mosque. 

The Dome stands as a prominent building in my picturesque views of Jerusalem from the BYU center. I am so glad I was finally able to get up close and see the exquisite detail of the tiles covering the shrine.

Pure gold menorah, all set and ready for the Third Temple (which does not exist P.S.)

Rainy day in Jerusalem

The Dome was not open when we tried to get in so we wandered around

Found some kids

got in a fight

attacked by ninjas

Quin, Paul, Alex

Dome of the Rock

notice the rainbow

super rainy and windy

taking refuge

beautiful tiles cover the entire shrine

If you look closely you can see the BYU Jerusalem Center where I live. The rainbow is right above it.

storm faces

successful day, enjoyed the rainy excitement

Museum on The Seam

Museum on the Seam is a unique contemporary art museum "on the seam" of east and west Jerusalem. The exhibit they currently have explores apocalyptic themes and social tension throughout the world. It was a nice contrast to go to this museum after seeing so many ancient pieces of artwork. 

On the roof of the museum

Jed and Rach

I see this in Jerusalem 

Platform nine and three quarters?

Tel Aviv

Last Friday I went with a group to Tel Aviv. It was a beautiful day. I didn't bring my swimsuit and regretted it deeply (but I just got in with my clothes anyway). The water was still SO WARM. 

 After hanging out at the beach we rented bikes and rode them alongside the beach. I have really missed riding bikes. I loved it.

Katie 

Amy riding by

 Then we walked around some interesting neighborhoods in Tel Aviv and saw some cool street art.

Bethlehem

Being at Herod's Herodian palace was eery. This man knew how to accomplish some incredible building projects and for this reason he was called Herod the Great. But everything about him personally was not great. His lifestyle was completely self-centered and deranged.

From Herod's palace it is possible to see Bethlehem.

"Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men." (Matt 2:16)

Historians estimate that around twenty babies from Bethlehem were murdered as a result of his command.

Despite Herod's efforts Christ was born in Bethlehem.

We spent over an hour waiting to get into the Church of the Nativity. Can't imagine how long it must take around Christmas time. Hundreds of pilgrims from all over the world waited in line with us. Just a reminder to me that Christ is for all people.

Seeing the grotto within the church where the birth of Christ traditionally took place was interesting but it did not aid me in imagining the humble, intimate setting in which the Savior came into the world.

The shepherd's field we went to after the church gave me more time to think and envision what Mary and Joseph may have seen as they came into Bethlehem.

Bethlehem is of a higher elevation than Jerusalem. The whole area is very mountainous or as one from Colorado would say "hilly". I had always imagined the angel declaring glad tidings of great joy to shepherds in a green pasture. Not the case. This land is brown, rocky and thorny.

The Herodian, one of Herod's palaces and his burial place

Quin attacking Staish in the tunnels used during the Jewish Revolt at the Herodian

outside the church (Liddy, Me, Mikelle, Mary)

waiting around the grotto

Mikelle and roommate Mckenzie touching the traditional spot where Christ was born.

Shepherd field in Bethlehem