Snow, Jerusalem and Abu Ghosh – Israel Day 2!

What an incredible day! Wow do I wish you were here!

It is very stormy. It is winter, but winter in Israel usually means you put on a light jacket and it might rain. This year there is LOTS of rain, flooding and high winds. It helped ease the long drought, but also closed the main highway from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem yesterday, and today in Jerusalem it SNOWED! This happens perhaps once in a decade or less. And it is VERY COLD. It think we brought the winter Chicago was supposed to have to Israel!

But back to the beginning of today: this morning, before I left my hotel room, I opened my Siddur and said the morning prayer I talked about yesterday. I have to admit it was a blessing down to my toes, and it lasted all day long. I am trainable.

 

We left our hotel in Tel Aviv (right on the beach), and headed to Abu Ghosh. The winds had really kicked up the sea and big waves were crashing in on the shore. (Note that any pictures included in this blog can be seen much larger simply by double clicking on them.)

Abu Ghosh is believed to be the site of two major biblical events: David dancing “with all his might” before the Ark of the Covenant, and Jesus encountering two followers on the road to Emmaus. Today it is an Israeli Muslim village – that means that the villagers are mostly Muslim, and are all Israeli citizens and full participants in the life of Israel, including serving in public office, in the army, and so on. This isn’t the place to go into the real and complicated background of the history of Jews and Muslims in the region, but take my word for it: it is not how you’ve heard it portrayed in the media in the states. It really isn’t.

There is a Roman Catholic Benedictine monastery in Abu Ghosh, and one of the monks there is named Olivier. He’s French, but most of his speaking these days is in Hebrew. He became a monk 40 years ago, and has lived in this monastery for the last 35. He is a potter and also makes a very special liqueur for which the monastery is renown. Both are sold in a small gift shop to help the place, which is completely self-supporting.

 

The monastery was originally a Roman fort and cistern. Water flows through a stream at the very lowest point of the building for six months out of the year. The other six are dry, so the cistern is filled during the rainy season, and supplies all the water – even for the garden – during the summer, dry season.

 

In the 12^th century the Crusaders built a church on top of the foundation of the Roman fort built by the 10^th Legion, perhaps around the time of Jesus.  The picture shows the lower Roman stones, with the later Crusader stones just above. The plaque is from the 10^th Legion, put there when they built it.

 

The TV crew with us shot a video of Olivier beautifully singing in the church, and then also of a group of Nigerian Christians who visited it while we were there. The video will be available shortly at http://www.YouTube.com/imot2013.

 

One of the rules of St Benedict is that every guest must be treated as if he or she is Jesus himself.  Olivier really demonstrates this; he is a man of incredible joy and openness, as well as of extended daily prayer. The visitors here are non-stop, and include Christians and Jews, even the ultra-orthodox. Olivier is so well-loved that even the orthodox rabbis hug him when they are here, and give him as an example of a Christian to their students. When we all come here together, I will be sure to bring everyone around to meet him.

After Abu Ghosh we visited the site of the birth of John the Baptist, and then went to the Israel Museum and the Shrine of the Book. The latter is a museum of ancient parchments of the Bible and of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Outside the museum is a huge 1/50 scale model of Jerusalem in 66 A.D.  The Temple is as it looked at that time; it is near the bottom of the picture. There was no golden dome then because that was added by the Muslims many hundreds of years later, long after the Temple had been destroyed by the Romans (and as prophesied by Jesus).

Also on this site is the enormous Israel Museum. Not only does it include a huge collection of Judaica (Synagogue decorations, wedding gowns, scripture fragments and more), but also several complete synagogues, intact, from around the world. Portions of two are included here, Italian and Indian.

 

 

 

 

 

 

These pictures are of the Ark in each synagogue, where the Torah Scroll is kept. This is what Christian would call “The Old Testament.”

 

The Torah Scroll is usually in a cloth or metal container. It is removed from the Ark with great reverence and carried around the main sanctuary of the synagogue. Members touch or kiss it as it passes as a sign of respect for God’s word.

 

It is then uncovered, and unrolled to the portion to be read for the week’s lessons. This is done in Hebrew, using a small pointer called a yad. It is what Jesus did in Luke 4:16. A decent recreation of it can be seen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lohC420duVk though without a yad, and Jesus almost certainly would have been wearing a prayer shawl as the other men did.

 

Note that only the men are gathered in the main part of the synagogue; the women are separate, behind a screen. This is still true in orthodox synagogues today throughout the world.

We finished our day at a restaurant called the Colony in a section of Jerusalem called the German Colony, an area settled in the late 19^th century by “Templars,” German Protestants who expected the Messiah to return to Jerusalem immanently, and so migrated there to await and possibly hurry his return. It was a treat for me because I rented an apartment near there in 2011 when I was studying modern Hebrew in an Ulpan. Every day I walked through the parking lot of the Colony, but never ate there. I should have! Most of us ordered salmon or chicken. I ordered chicken liver with apples and mashed potatoes. It was heaven!

As wonderful as this journey is to deepen our faith, it is also quite a treat for the taste buds. Just amazing.

We returned to the hotel and I took this picture out of my window

 

 

and this in front, of a little snowman someone had made. With me are Janan, wife of Karl Clauson, and Motti, our local guide.

Tomorrow we visit the Old City of Jerusalem, the City of David. We will also have lunch at Christ Church in the Old City. That’s the Anglican Church I mentioned yesterday. More details on it tomorrow.

 

I can’t wait to show you all these things in person!

-Pastor George