This Is It

Today is my last day in Israel. I'm going into the Old City one more time, and then going to Tel Aviv to catch a plane back.

11:45pm - leaving Tel Aviv for Newark

4:30am - arrive in Newark

1:00pm - after waiting in Newark for around 7 hours, depart Newark for Omaha

3:30pm - after a long day/night/day, arrive in Omaha

This Is It...

I leave here from Israel on Saturday evening, so I've only got a few days left. Pretty much all of my work is done, including my large paper on the atonement of Christ through an Old Testament sacrificial perspective. The only thing I really have left is a test for my Modern State of Israel class. I'm not sure how I'm going to spend my free time this last week in Israel, but I'm going to try and make sure that I use it in the best ways possible.

By the way, I sent in my online application to Trinity Evangelical Divinity School this morning. It makes my time here really seem like its about over, and I'm starting to focus on this upcoming last semester and post-graduation plans.

The End Is Nigh

I've got less than two weeks left here in Israel. Something like 11 days or so. I'm not sure how to feel about it. On the one hand, I've really enjoyed my stay here. But on the flip side, my time is nearly up and its time to go back to the States. And it will be good to see family and friends again, and perhaps enter into a life with some sense of normalcy or routine again. Besides, I need to finish up my last semester so I can finally graduate.

Post-Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving came and passed two days ago. It didn't even seem like it was here. They don't celebrate Thanskgiving in Israel for various reasons, probably because its an American holiday and there were no Jewish pilgrims. We made a great Thanksgiving meal anyways of turkey, potatoes, stuffing, gravy, and all that other good stuff you eat on Thanksgiving.

We also played some football that morning, which was a lot of fun. Speaking of football, I'm finishing up watching highlight of a day after Thanksgiving tradition: the Nebraska-Colorado game. Wow, what an awesome game and win for the Huskers.

Later on Thanksgiving, we went on a short hike to the caves of Adullam. Going for a hike after eating a large meal didn't seem like the best thing to do at the time, but it was a good time anyways. For those of you who don't know, when David and his men were hiding out from Saul, they took refuge in the caves of Adullam. In other words, the kingly line of David and the nation of Judah began at Adullam. That was something else for us to be thankful for that day.

My Latest Exploits

Let me give you a rough synopsis of Greece. I spent 2 days in Athens, 5 days on a small and beautiful island called Santorini, and then another 2 days in Greece. The weather was very nice, even though it was starting to get into their "winter time." It wasn't hot, and the tourist season was on the decline for the year, making it a very enjoyable time on the island.

Athens was great. I loved the ruins and the history around it, particulary the museums I was able to frequent. The plaka, which was a busy district full of food, shopping, and tourist stands was always interesting to walk around, though it wasn't really representative of the rest of the city. Of course, the Acropolis and all of its ancient remains were quite amazing to look at. After seeing decaying Israelite ruins the whole semester, it was a nice break to see some pretty well-preserved Greek ruins.

Santorini is one of those picturesque small Greek islands with the white villages. Though it was a very tourist island, it had a small or almost personal feel to it. I suppose if the Midwest were a Greek island, it would be Santorini. It was also very beautiful, with the sea and its beaches of black and red sand. We were able to rent 4-wheelers and go explore the island one day. Also, we met a couple from Orange County who we affectionately called the T's and another lady from Australia on the island. We had a good time getting to know them and hanging out.

Here are some pictures from my latest exploits.

The Acropolis in all its glory.

After 2300 years, they are still not finished building the Parthenon, as you can clearly see from the scaffolding.

Me standing atop Mars Hill.

One of the great views on Santorini.

The black beach.

I have no idea what this place was supposed to be, but it was cool.

The village of Ia on the northern point of Santorini.

The sunset from Ia.

Sharing a communal dinner with our new friends.

I had a complicated relationship with the pigeons of Athens.

I'm Not Dead

No, I'm just back from Greece. It was a delightful trip: all in all it was pretty relaxing and somewhat low key. Not too many exciting stories. I'll fill you in later, but I'm tired from the past 10 days. I just wanted to let you all know that I'm still alive and in relatively good condition.

Greeced Lightning

I'm going to Greece today. Well, actually, tonight. Actually, if you want to be technical, I'm leaving tomorrow morning. Its that late night/early morning crossover. I'm leaving here at 2:00 AM to go to Tel Aviv so I can fly out at 6:00 AM. It should be fun, except for the fact that I'm sick right now. I'm not sure what it is, either a bad cold or a touch of the flu. I'm doing better than I was yesterday, but I'm still not great. I'll probably hang out at the hostel until I feel better.

See you all in about 10 days (something like that). I'll probably look something like this after I get back from Greece:

I'm Back

I got back from our long trip to Galilee late yesterday afternoon. It was a great time exploring northern Israel and spending some time around the Sea of Galilee. Unfortunately, I don't have much time to expound upon it right now. This is a pretty busy week for me. I've got some tests and quizzes to prep for later this week, and I'm starting to get some work done on a hefty paper due at the fast-approaching end of the semester. And on top of all that, I'm leaving for Greece in a week on Saturday. If I'm not careful, things might start getting hairy in the next month.

Going To Galilee

Tomorrow, we're going north to Galilee and won't be back for over a week. Don't think that anything bad has happened when I don't post for a week.

By the way, happy Reformation Day.

Eating Kosher

"The milk came out of the meat, so why can't we mix it?"

- Cesar Peynetti on adhering to the Jewish kosher laws.

My Lesson In Archaeology

Our past two days were spent hanging out at an archaeological dig, helping out with the excavations and doing some of the work. I must say, I was extremely disappointed. We didn't get to fight any Nazis for ancient artifacts , there were no times of high adventure, and we didn't travel around to any exotic locations.

Instead, we went to parts of Old Jerusalem and assisted with the digging. Yesterday, we sifted through dirt and large piles of materials looking for pieces of interest. Mostly, we just found pieces of old pottery and ancient building materials, though pieces of mosaic stones and Byzantine-era stained glass were pretty common as well. Today, we went to an excavation at Hezekiah's Tunnel. It was a bit more tedious and even less exciting. Pretty much all we did was line up into a bucket brigade and pass sacks of soils and rocks from the excavation site to a truck bed outside.

So if anyone ever tells you that archaeology is an exciting field to work in, I suggest you look at them somewhat cynically. It may very well be interesting, but exciting is not a correct description. Maybe if there was more action, or even some faces being melted by the Ark, it would be more exciting. I love the Indiana Jones films, but beware: they are not accurate representations of real archaeology.

A Thursday Evening

So I'm sitting here outside on a cool night, looking out at the hills. I've been here coming up on two months now, with about another 7 weeks to go before I head back to the States. Even though I've still got a bit of time left, it feels like the semester is almost over. I started getting ready to register for classes next semester, which always means the end is looming on the horizon. But as I've been looking at the calendar, my time is starting to become limited. In a couple weeks, we are off to Galilee for I think around 8 days or so. After a week back here at YadHashmonah, the week of travel study break begins, meaning I'll be in Greece for almost 10 days. None of that is bad by any means, but I'm starting to think about the papers which are going to be due that last week. My first one for History of the Modern State of Israel is coming along nicely, and should be done hopefully by this weekend. My other paper, the larger one, I haven't yet started on and is probably going to be quite heavy. Its going to be a joint paper for my History of Ancient Israel/Life of Christ classes, and I'm planning on analyzing the atoning death of Christ through the eyes of the Old Testament sacrificial system.



Everything else is great. We went on a trip to Samaria yesterday. It seemed quite a bit shorter than our others. Although, taking a four-day trip to the wastes of the Negev has a tendency to do that. I didn't take many pictures, so I probably won't put any up. But I did see a few cool things, like the ancient sites of Ai, Bethel, Shiloh, and Shechem.

Negev Pictures

Before I go on with the rest of this post, I need to tell you about this awesome incident which happened on the boardwalks of Eilat last week. As myself, Eric, and Cam were exploring the area, we came across a band playing traditional Jewish music on keyboards over and over with no stop, and a circle of Orthodox men dancing around and clapping. As we stood their watching them, they grabbed our hands and pulled us in. To make a long story short, we dancing, pranced, and clapped with Orthodox Jewish men in a circle for about 20 minutes. You have no idea how happy I was.

So just as I promised you earlier here are a few of my pictures from my trip to the Negev last week.

This is a well at the site of ancient Beer-Sheva. Its not the well that Abraham dug in making a covenant with Abimelech, but its similar.

Cam, Eric, and I are standing atop a facsimile of the altar which was found at Beer-Sheva. We're wearing hardhats because we're hard at work.

This is the holy of holies at the high place in Arad.

Some of us men and Adventure Bill standing at the top of the Nahal Zin after climbing out of the canyon.

The sun behind the clouds was beginning to drop when we were at the ruins of Avdat.

A cloudy sunset at Mactesh Ramon. You can somewhat see the dropoff of the cliff.

Since the Wilderness of Paran is so large and desolate, the military uses it to test and train with tanks, artillery, and bombs. They do a pretty good job of letting you know that, but I like to live dangerously.

The sunrise from atop Masada.

These are some columns, frescos, and mosaics remaining from Herod's palace on the north end of Masada.

Yeah, I climbed that.

One of the caves at Qumran. I believe nearly half of the Dead Sea Scrolls were found in this particular one.

This is a model of the tabernacle that we visited.

Out Of The Wilderness

So we got back from the Negev this afternoon. I'm alive and in one piece, which is good I guess. For those of you who don't know, the Negev is the southern part of Israel extending down to the Red Sea and into the Sinai Peninsula. It is the orange part on the map here:






























For the most part, it is an arid land of rocks, hills, and dirt with rivers being few and far between. I'll elaborate later this weekend and put up some pictures, but we did a lot of things. Some of the highlights that are immediately brought to mind are spending an evening at Mactesh Ramon (which is a giant crater 5 miles by 20 miles), snorkeling among the fish and coral reefs at Eilat on the Red Sea, and taking a strenuous hike up to the top of the mountain fortress of Masada at 5:00 AM to see the sunset.

By the time I got back this afternoon, I felt a lot like this...

Sukkot

Today is the first day of Sukkot, the Feast of Tabernacles. Everyone builds tents and booths out of palm branches and live in them during this week to commemorate the time when the Israelites lived in tents in the Wilderness after the Lord took them out of Egypt. First, we built our own. Then we went into the Jewish quarter of the city and observed the fair which was going on. It was pretty much a really busy street of shops and outdoor markets selling goods and things in preparation for the most festive holiday in the Jewish calendar. I guess you could compare it to the preparations for Memorial Day weekend or the 4th of July.

Also, I'm going to be gone all week out in the Negev. We're leaving tomorrow morning, and we won't be back until Friday. Don't get worried when I don't write anything for a while. In the words of Jack Burton from Big Trouble in Little China, "OK, you stay here, hold the fort, and keep the home fires burning. And if we're not back by dawn...call the president."

Yom Kippur

This evening marked the beginning of Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement. As said, it began this evening at sundown, and lasts all day tomorrow until sundown. Yom Kippur was the day when the high priests would make the sin offering for atonement of the entire nation of Israel in the temple. But today, since there is no temple or sacrifices in modern Judaism, they instead offer prayers in lieu of a physical sacrifice.

What makes Yom Kippur interesting today is that the whole country literally shuts down. Everyone, whether they be secular or Orthodox Jews, spend the whole day inside their homes resting and fasting, hoping that their personal atonement can tip the scales of good deeds in their favor. Since the whole nation has shut down, we were hanging out on the freeway earlier tonite. No one is out driving, except for the occasional ambulance, police car, or Arab taking advantage of the empty roads by hot-rodding.

Singing A Song in the Key of the Dead Sea

So we just got back from an overnight camping/hiking adventure at the Dead Sea and En Gedi. Quite exhausting, but a great time nonetheless. The Dead Sea was pretty fun. People are right; it is impossible for you to sink in the Dead Sea. And its hard to actually swim also, because you keep getting pushed to the surface because of all the salt. All you can do it float around like human canoe. And the water had so many minerals, it felt like I was swimming in baby oil. I felt pretty funky after getting out.

The evening was really good. There aren't any cities around for a ways, so the stars were quite bright out. I spent a good deal of time laying on my back and just looking at the constellations. I'm really looking forward to the nights in the Negev in the coming weeks, where I am literally camping in the middle of nowhere in the desert. There should be some great stars out there.

This morning, we went hiking around En Gedi, the ancient city in the tall, dry mountain wilderness around the Dead Sea. It was really dry, and I'm glad it wasn't extremely hot like it often gets. Hiking around those desolate areas really gave me an idea of what David felt like when he was being pursued by Saul for ten years in that area. Just trying to survive out there for a short period of time with no one chasing you would be difficult enough. It really made me think about how he had to fully rely on God at that time. There were, however, a few streams here and there, which formed little pools with vegetation and shade around them. Those were pretty fun.

The sun rising on the Dead Sea. The mountains on the other side are in Jordan.

Buck, Eric, and I are being bros at En Gedi. You can see the Dead Sea in the background.















Meghan and I are probably doing something dumb here.















I'm acting like a Tusken Raider in the wasteland of Tatooine. "Ururrhurgurrurrhur!"

Samson, David, and Rambo

Yesterday we went on a field trip through the Shephelah, which is the region of lowlands coming down from the hill country in the center of Israel and stretching along the Mediterranean. It was neat, and had a lot of history, particularly around the relations between the Philistines and the Israelites. I guess that would make sense, because parts of the Shephelah were controlled by the Philistines during the times of Saul and David.

I don't have a picture of these particular caves, but we stopped at some chalk caves which are notable because a part of Rambo III was filmed there.

We also went to Gath, though I don't have any good pictures here either. There wasn't a whole lot of good ruins to see, and I wanted to take in the great view and breeze atop the city mound.

On a less important note, there were a few of us who also had a debate about which is better: The Empire Strikes Back or Return of the Jedi. I think I made a good case for The Empire Strikes Back.

Here are some pictures (not of our debate):

This is the Sorek Valley, as seen from Beth-Shemesh. This valley is where Samson had many of his dealings with the Philistines.


















This is the Elah Valley. This is where the battle between David and Goliath took place.














Here is the brook in the Valley of Elah from which David drew his five smooth stones. I had to pick up a couple for good measure.



















Of course we needed a coonskin moment at the Valley of Elah.














We had another coonskin moment later at a Roman ampitheater near Beth-Guvrin. Naturally, we had to fight and have a gladitorial competition.














These are the ruins of the city of Lacish. Lacish was an important city in the southwest of Judah. It served as the main line of defense against Egyptian marauders. It was also one of the last holdouts of Judah during the Babylonian siege in 586 BC. The siege ramp that Babylon built is still evident on one side.

Happy New Year

Today marks the beginning of Rosh Ha-Shanah, the new year of the Jewish calendar. I'm not sure what all this entails, but I guess I'll find out.

Oh, and last night I got to do some serious grilling. I labored over a grill making burgers for everyone here. It felt good flipping meat over a hot grill again.

Ephesians 2:19-22

This morning, we went to a church in Jerusalem rather than our normal church/assembly with others living at the Moshav. The makeup of the church was a bit strange; I had never heard of a Baptist/Pentecostal church before (they didn't seem too Pentecostal), but evidently they exist in Israel. Nonetheless, it was a great and interesting time. The people were very gracious to have us there, and it seems that they get quite a few visitors from other nations. That was what struck me as the neatest thing: their demographic was extremely diverse. Although they didn't really have a sermon today and they instead spent time reading Scripture and praying, they had people come forward to read and pray in a total of seven different languages. It was a great picture of all of God's redeemed from across the world joining together to sing praises to God for eternity. I think we in America forget that the Church is universal across the Earth and throughout time, and have the mindset that it is simply us at this present moment.

I think that they were very encouraged by us as well. I was asked to introduce who we were and then gave my testimony. We all then sang "It Is Well" for them all (no, we're not a traveling choir). Talking with the people afterwards was a fun time as well. I even met one of them later in the afternoon hanging out in the Old City and had a nice talk with him (he's the first real ship captain I've ever met!). Even though we might have some varying doctrinal differences, we can all stand together under the banner of the Gospel of Jesus Christ/Yeshua Ha'Mashiach to offer Him our praise for His work on the cross.

A Blessing of Rain

It rained today. Evidently, it was the first rain they've received since May. Afterwards, the hills were full of a dense, clinging fog. It was pretty neat.

Here are a few pictures from our trip the other day...

A coonskin moment while atop the Mount of Olives facing the Old City.

An Arab man giving donkey rides.

Drew and Eric sitting in Gethsemane.

A coonskin moment in front of a tourist group at the church of Gethsemane. They loved us.

The Orthodox Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, standing over the site of the birth of Christ. It was probably the most beautiful church I've seen yet, but I didn't like it. There was too much mysticism and iconography around.

The ruins of the Herodium, Herod the Great's personal fortress built on top of a steep hill south of Jerusalem near the wilderness.

A coonskin moment among the ruins of the Herodium.

I Am Spartacus

In November, we get a week totally free where we can travel wherever we want to. Its not only for fun, but also a way for us to leave the country briefly so our visas can renew themselves. So I just bought plane tickets to go to Greece for ten days with three other people.

The days are getting less hot, which I like. Although whenever we've been out in the wilderness, its hotter than three dogs screaming. But its been cooling off very nicely in the evening. I even have a slight chill right now.

On Saturday, we went to the beach at Ashkelon. The sunset on the Mediterranean was quite possibly the most beautiful I've ever seen.

Purple Rain

Our homemade grape juice from the vines here at the Moshav. Triple-strained for the highest quality possible.

Video shot and edited by Cesar Peynetti.

Here's To Abner...

Abner Chou. A man among men. Remember that name, because he is going to be the next great Bible scholar from America.

And I have the privilege of being his student and friend.

Abner is an absolutely brilliant guy. He is a genuine genius. The wealth of knowledge that he has in his mind is boggling, and the way that he can recall it is even more baffling. His thought process is incredible. Heck, he can even read two pages of a book at a time. God has given him a truly amazing mind. But more importantly, he is an incredible teacher. He relates with his students extremely well. His humility in spite of his acute mind is inspiring. And on top of all that, he is only a few years older than I am. I think he is around 26, and he is finishing his doctorate program already (he graduated from seminary in three years with multiple degrees).

But he is also a friend as well. We are doing Greek New Testament reading with a couple other guys one night a week, and his home is almost always open if we want to come over and hang out. I'm not writing this to suck up to him or anything. I assume you readers want to know what its like out here. Studying with Abner is one of the great joys and privileges that I have here in Israel. And I'm serious, in 15-20 years, I'm sure that he will be known as one of the next great Bible scholars.

On a different note, here are some pictures from our last field study:

This is the Beth-Horon ridge. It was an important ridge for travel. One of the events which happened here was when the Lord pounded the Amorites with hailstones and Joshua asked the Lord for the sun to stand still in Joshua 10.

Here are some ruins from a Crusader-era church built on the site of Nebi-Samwil, the traditional site of Samuel's burial (though its probably not really it).

I'm hanging out in the abandoned and unfinished home of the former Jordanian King Hussein in the West Bank (the West Bank is quite safe; the dangerous part of Israel is Gaza). It also stands upon the ancient city of Gibeah.

"The Pass" between Michmash and Geba. Jonathan and his armor bearer crawled up its side and attacked the Philistines in 1 Samuel 13.

This is just an IDF soldier at a checkpoint as we crossed into Jericho, which has been granted control by the Palestinians.

This mosaic was at Jericho.

The walls of Jericho which were brought down by Joshua and the Israelites.