We left you in our last entry rambling in the flower-filled fields of the Shephelah. The remainder of our semester included two other field studies, one of which took us back to the Shephelah, to Maresha and Beit Guvrin. In addition to these, we also had a chance to visit a couple of additional sites, including a second temple village complete with tunnels built for the Second Jewish Revolt (132-135 CE) and a caravan sarai located between the Shephelah and Jerusalem. The village site is called Horvat Etrei, and the tunnels were intentionally constructed to prepare for the revolt. The Romans would talk about how the rebels would appear and disappear, and it took them awhile to figure out that they would attack and then disappear into these tunnels. They prepared the tunnels to be hard to find, well-stocked with supplies, and even had some “false turns” so the enemy would be misdirected in the darkness and plummet to his death into some pit. The tunnel we took wasn’t that long, but it was only wide enough for our shoulders, crawling on our hands and knees. After our adventure in the tunnel, we headed back to Jerusalem, stopping at Horvat Hanot, a remarkable caravan sari, on our way. This location had the remains of a Byzantine church, and a beautiful mosaic that covered the entire floor, only visible to visitors who came equipped with brooms (they keep the mosaic covered with dirt to protect it).
Between this field study and our final field study of the semester, we had opportunities to help JUC with cooking! As we mentioned in our previous entry, we have continued to help the breakfast/lunch cooks, Nat and Shirley, when the short-term groups came on campus, and we would cook breakfast/lunch when Nat and Shirley would go on field studies. We especially looked forward to our times to cook for the few students who remained on campus when the remainder went on field studies, because this remnant were comprised mostly of the longer-term students who perhaps missed American cooking a bit more than the semester-only students. We wanted to spoil them just a bit, so we had a ton of fun preparing zucchini bread, oatmeal with cinnamon apples, and a potato “sausage” frittata for breakfast, and Cajun blackened chicken salad, Justin’s special rosemary chicken and homemade mashed potatoes, and tacos (with homemade flour tortillas!) for lunch. We had so much fun preparing the food, and the students, we hope, had fun eating it. :0)
We also had a chance to celebrate Easter here! As with most holidays in Israel, the feel of Easter is much different than it is in the States. For one thing, its tie to Passach (Passover) is keenly felt, as there are large groups here who celebrate both holidays. Many, many people come to Jerusalem during this time for both holidays, so it is very busy with people and traffic. Holy Week offers many events leading up to Easter, with the biggest day actually on Friday and Saturday, including a procession from the Mt. of Olives to the Holy Sepulcher. On Satuday, the “Holy Fire” ceremony is carried out from the Holy Sepulcher, and torches and candles are lit by everyone participating, from the center of the Old City outwards to the gates and beyond. We weren’t able to go this year, but some of our friends went, and they described people running around with candles of fire, lighting everyone else’s candles… it is a bit frantic (and a bit scary) but definitely an interesting event. On Sunday, it is actually rather quiet in the city. Church services go back to their usual schedules, celebrating the resurrection. To celebrate, Justin and I went to the Holy Sepulcher, the most trusted spot of Jesus’ death and resurrection. To be there on Resurrection Sunday was truly moving. Interestingly, we were able to get into a room we had never been to before, which only technically was open to Greek Orthodox… In one of the side offices, the church had an entire room dedicated as a reliquarium, a place that held the relics of the Greek Orthodox martyrs. They had books and bones and other cherished items under glass, and we were able to walk through it, see everything, and see our fellow visitors’ reactions to the items. It was absolutely amazing.
Our final field study of the semester was an overnight trip back to Galilee! With our focus being the Second Temple period, we focused in primarily on sites that addressed the “accommodate or confront” tension of the period (as well as most periods in the country, I might add). Foreign Greek and Roman culture and religion came in from the west, and the Jews in the land had to figure out what was acceptable and what was not acceptable, what they could adopt and what they could not adopt. The line was not clear cut, and in parts of the country, some felt that they could accommodate more than others. So, there is some blend in architecture and art (such as pagan elements on mosaics inside synagogues, or synagogues built according to the plan of a Roman pagan temple), and there are also locations that mark the battles of the first revolt (such as Gamla and Yotopeta), the first confrontation against these new influences. There were those who were able to find a line of compromise to attain peace, and there were others who felt that the purity of their religion was being threatened and thus needed to defend it. And the outstanding question of the field study was, “Who was right? Where should the line be drawn?” The question, I believe, is complicated and difficult to wrestle with. Everyone must wrestle with these issues at one point or another, and in varying degrees… especially in the Middle East, where East and West truly do converge. Ultimately, I think both sides have valid arguments, and those who strain to hear both sides will benefit the most.
A couple of weeks before the end of the semester, just as our focus was turning towards finals and, beyond that, our uncertain fall semester, we met with the director of our school. The school has already helped us with so much, between our scholarships, our work in the kitchen, and the leftovers that Nat and Shirley continually donated to the “gleaners” as they called us and a few other off campus students. Paul informed us that they were beginning to make plans for the fall semester, and to line up their staff. As a result, the school offered us the position of Student Life Directors for the next two years! Our basic financial needs will now be taken care of, and we will live on campus with the students, organizing activities, being there for emergencies, and otherwise doing any odd jobs that needed to be taken care of. We were so overwhelmed by the offer, and so grateful for God’s provision. For those who have been following our journey, you know that we moved to Israel with only about a semester’s worth of funds. It has been the scariest journey, but we have really learned to trust God for our needs. He has taken care of us and has gotten us through this first year….and now, He has made a way not only for our second year of study here, but also for an additional year. We are especially grateful for this, because now we will have a little more time for modern Hebrew study, seeing the country, and, most importantly, finishing our theses. With the funds we have left, we also hope to be able to come home for a visit, maybe next summer! So, stay tuned on that one. :0)
So, with the end of the semester, our thoughts turned to our summer events, which included a visit from my (Mandy’s) Dad and Mom right after our semester ended, our 5 weeks at Tel Rehov digging again, working at JUC, hopeful research towards our theses, and a couple other projects here and there. For not being able to officially work in Israel, we have become surprisingly very busy!
Our visit with my parents was absolutely wonderful! We’ve posted a few pictures from their visit on our album for you to see as well. It was so much fun to take them around to not only the touristy sites of Jerusalem, but also just the fun day-to-day things that we do. They got to see how we do our grocery shopping (we carry the groceries back in backpacks, ¾ of a mile, uphill all the way), as well as how we dry our laundry in our tiny apartment (no balcony, so the laundry gets strung from one side of the apartment to the other). It was fun to watch them experience the cultures of Israel (some friendly, and some not-so-friendly), the lack of personal space (especially at the Central Bus Station!), and little things like working with Shekels and the metric system. We took them to Beth Shean in the north as well as to Caesarea on the Mediterranean. We ate fun food (lots of falafel!) and walked lots and lots and lots! They got to meet our amazing landlord, Micha and talk to him about his family and living in Israel, and they also met our equally amazing shopkeeper, Shaban, who continually offered them drinks and discounted prices on his goods. All in all, it was a marvelous 2 ½ weeks, and we were sad to see them go.
After my parents left, we had 2 weeks before leaving for Rehov to start our dig. During this time, we not only worked at the school, but we also arranged to move out of Micha’s apartment and on to campus, to help save some of our rent money. We have enjoyed living in Talpiot and in Micha’s apartment so much, it was difficult to go. But, we knew it was the best decision and would save quite a bit of money in the long run. We are not able to quite move in to our permanent home on campus, as the current Student Life Directors will still be here until the end of July. When we do move, we will be moving into a room that has a first century tomb…empty, of course, but still unique! So, we will be moving from a bomb shelter (where we lived in Talpiot) to a first century tomb (now, how many people can say that? :0) Until then, we are moving around from dorm room to dorm room as they need us to, and most of our stuff is in storage at the school (so, now our stuff is divided between 3 or 4 different locations? Crazy!). We are grateful for a place to stay, though, so we continue to be flexible as needed.
And now… We are at Rehov! We have been here now for over 3 weeks, and we have 2 weeks left to go! All of our adventures here will definitely require a separate entry, so I will save that for a later time (hopefully not 3 months later!). In short, we have been traveling back and forth from Jerusalem on the weekends, and have been living at Kibbutz Beit Alfa during the week, which is close to the tel. We are having so much fun this year, as we are digging in Area C, in a destruction layer that dates to approximately the time of the Aramean invasion of the land (possibly Hazael). There are many, many “goodies” that are turning up in our area, and we haven’t even reached the floor yet! So, there will be many more exciting things yet to come.
As a side note, this past week we were able to get our Student Visas renewed, so we are officially here for another year! We can’t believe how quickly this year has gone, but how long it also has felt. We have learned so, so much in this past year, and we know that what we have learned we could not have gained anywhere else. We are so grateful for the prayers and support of our friends and family back home, and we are excited for you to share in our news of God’s provision for us! We couldn’t have done it without you. :0)
Our prayer needs for the next coming months include:
- A New Home. As much as we want to be flexible and practical with our living conditions, I (Mandy) really do miss being a little more settled and having a place to call Home. Please pray that we can get settled without many unexpected surprises after the dig is over.
- A New Position. Justin and I are both eager and a bit anxious about our new position. We’ve never done anything like this before! Please pray that we will be adaptable to the needs of the position, creative in solutions, open-minded, and gracious with ourselves and each other through this upcoming first semester. Please also pray that we can find a reasonable balance between our work and our own personal boundaries, to give as much as we can, and to also protect our relationship and our own time.
- Time. We want to make sure we have the time to get the projects done that we have committed ourselves to this summer, as well as try to take time to work on our theses. Please pray for rest for us during the month of August, as well as time to study.
- Family. With the extra year we will now be committing to, we also know that this means an extra year away from family. Please pray for our families during this time, as we know it is hard to be so far away from them.
No comments:
Post a Comment