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.