A couple of weeks ago we all celebrated an early Passover with our Jewish studies professor, Ophir Yarden. I wasn't sure what to expect, but we really did the entire production (it took 4 hours), complete with reading the Haggadah and going through the 15 parts, singing Hebrew songs, telling the Exodus story, breaking the matzah bread, drinking a lot of cups of grape juice, and eating a several-course meal :) Loved it all!
And tonight, again with Ophir, a group of us went to an evening Shabbat service at a Reformed Jewish synagogue in West Jerusalem just after sunset. That was a really cool experience-- the service was conducted in Hebrew, and almost entirely in the form of song, led by the rabbi. Everyone in the congregation has a prayer book with just the words to the prayers (apparently they all just know the music already.) I know little beyond the alphabet and a few expressions in Hebrew, but it was fun to put it to use and try to participate-- I knew more than I thought I did! I just loved seeing the devotion of these people, and experiencing a full sunagogue service for the first time! Good thing to do in Israel, I think :)
Last Monday we went to Bethlehem! Jerusalem and Bethlehem are much closer than I realized; in fact, over the years the cities have expanded to the point that they actually meet. Actually, they would almost blend together if not for the separation barrier that divides Israel from the West Bank. Getting into Palestinian Authority territories is no big deal, but getting out can be. We're all Americans (okay, plus a couple Canadians) and have passports, so we didn't even have to get off the bus on the way back to Jerusalem; Israeli border guards just walked through to check us out. For a lot of people, those checkpoints can mean a couple of hours of detainment and harassment.
Anyway.... I thought the wall itself was fascinating. I hope this picture at least gives you an idea!
So- Bethlehem itself was fascinating :) We spent some time at Bethlehem University with our Islam teacher, who is also a professor there, and got to talk to some of the students there; it was great to get to talk to locals who are actually around my age, college students themselves--it helped me make more of a connection!
We had lunch at a restaurant designed to feel like you're in a kind of biblical tent-- the tent roof, low tables, wool blankets on all the seating, plates of pita, hummus, olives, cheese, etc... with a bunch of hookahs in the corner ;)
Then to the Church of the Nativity, the oldest functioning Christian church in the world, which contains the cave (stable) where the Savior is believed to have been born :) The church itself was actually undergoing renovations, and it was inexplicably crowded (it's tourist season, apparently especially for old people from Germany and England) so it took about two hours of waiting in line to actually get to the little cave room (called the Grotto of the Nativity) where the manger supposedly stood... but it was okay. :) I loved singing Christmas songs in the chapel of the adjoining Church of St. Catherine just as it got dark; it may have been 2 months out (to the day!) but it still felt like Christmas :)
With Miriam and Megan in front of the Church of the Nativity!
The Altar of the Nativity with the 14-point silver star, marking the spot they believe Christ was born
Parts of old Bethlehem are so beautiful :)
Honestly, that entire town is, understandably, so centered around Christmas... it's so much fun to see :)
PS- I just love Israeli knockoffs for American tourists ;)
Today was amazing, but emotionally draining, so I'll keep this short. This morning we went deep into West Jerusalem, to Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Museum of Israel. Before this semester, no particular connection between Israel and the Holocaust ever occurred to me, but now it's incredible how intertwined their histories really are.
Yad Vashem, visitors' center entrance
The entire hillside is covered with thousands of trees, called the Garden of the Righteous Allies. Each tree has a plaque with the name of someone who rescued at least one Jew during the Holocaust. This tree was planted for Oskar Schindler (as in Schindler's List)
Right next to Yad Vashem is Mount Herzl, named for Theodore Herzl, father of Zionism in the modern political sense (and therefore, it could be argued, the State of Israel itself.) Originally buried in Vienna, his body was moved here to this grave in 1948.
I'm glad Miriam's in this picture with me to draw attention away from my still-puffy eyes... I bawled my way through that museum. I'd never been to a Holocaust museum before, and though I'm not sure I could handle it again any time soon, I'm so glad I had the experience today.
BEST. FREE DAY. EVER.
Yesterday was a 16-hour adventure down to Eilat, a little Israeli-style resort town on the north end of the Red Sea, right on the Egyptian border where we were a couple of weeks ago!
Basically... it was fantastic. Driving 3 or 4 hours one way just for a day trip is kind of a lot, but definitely worth it, and the carsickness on the way there!
The water in the Red Sea is SO salty... didn't see that coming! But the coral reefs along the coast there are amazing. I was only a couple dozen feet away from the shore and was snorkeling with the most gorgeous fish I've ever seen! Seriously, it was incredible--some parrot fish, don't know what the rest were, but there were 2-foot-long rainbow or shimmery turquoise and purple fish staring me in the face just inches from my nose! I'd never done any snorkeling before, but I was just blown away. Wish I'd had an underwater camera! (Here's with Megan, Ally, Miriam, and Tahna as we're getting ready to leave!)
The sea itself is gorgeous. The part we were at is actually called the Gulf of Aqaba (Lawrence of Arabia-- ring a bell?) From where I was standing on the Israeli side, I could look straight across and see Jordan (those are actually the mountains in the background of this picture!) And if you look just to the right, southeast, there's Saudi Arabia. And walking distance directly south? You're in Egypt. :) SO cool!It's kind of like Four Corners in the US... but way better ;)
(Oh, craziest part of yesterday? I forgot to put sunscreen on my back and I hardly even got burned! Sadly, however, the sun had zero effect on my obviously-still-white legs. Sigh.)
Ok, maybe it's hard to see in the picture, but those mountains in Jordan are closer than they look... and there go the scuba divers into the water! Apparently the snorkeling along this coast is a big deal :)
After the beach, we spent a little while just perusing the little mall and the shops along the shore. It was kind of fun to see a couple American-ish stores in this part of the world! One thing I've noticed, by the way, is how many shoe stores there are around here! Wonder why.
Also--we found a few super creepy mannequins.
Exhibit A...
When we were done in Eilat we were definitely needing some chow. We drove about an hour back into Israel to the kibbutz where we actually stopped for dinner on the way back from Egypt! No one can really remember what it's called, but there are these cow statues everywhere... I think their dairy is across the road with the rest of the actual kibbutz. And, second time around, this place still holds the title for having the best ice cream I've tasted in Israel. Cookies & cream? Oh, yes!!
Three more hours of driving, and we're back at the Center. I slept pretty well last night ;) Such a fantastic day!
A couple of weeks ago we all celebrated an early Passover with our Jewish studies professor, Ophir Yarden. I wasn't sure what to expect, but we really did the entire production (it took 4 hours), complete with reading the Haggadah and going through the 15 parts, singing Hebrew songs, telling the Exodus story, breaking the matzah bread, drinking a lot of cups of grape juice, and eating a several-course meal :) Loved it all!
