Israel Day 5
click on first photo to begin
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Phil's Journal
|
Early
Friday morning, we said our good-byes to the Dead Sea and headed west
through the hills surrounding Masada and out into the Negev desert.
On our way we went from 1000 feet below sea level to 1500 feet above.
We drove through the small town of Arad where there now is a small
university that specializes in hotel management. This area, south of
the Hebron mountains is mostly inhabited by the Bedouins. The Bedouins
are known to be a nomadic group but here in the Negev they are starting
to build permanent homes in small villages. Their standard of living is
obviously improving but that did not keep us from seeing about a dozen
camels during our time in the Negev. Our first stop was Be'er Sheva. Be'er Sheva is an ancient place founded in the Negev because of its access to water. Remains from 5000 years ago have been found here in caves. Caves are a major part of this day's story. Be'er Shiva is divided into three areas: the ancient city (underground), the city from the time of Abraham (stories say he was here), and the modern, university town that now sits about 2 miles northwest of the archeological area that we visited. We entered the now national park, put on helmets, and climbed down into the caves. Here we put our hands in the handprints on stucco walls of these caves that date back over 2000 years. Another literal way we have linked ourselves to our forefathers. We left Be'er Sheva and headed north out of the Negev along route 40 and watched the land change around us from desert to grassy hills full of rocks. We briefly stopped for a coffee and enjoyed taking photos of a Bedouin with his camel. We reboarded for a short drive to Tel Maresha. The word "Tel" means "Hill" so Tel Maresha is the hill where the village of Maresha once stood. At Tel Maresha, we were given shovels and pails so that we could become archeologists for our visit. The above ground homes of Maresha were long gone but the remains of their civilization were preserved in the chalk-walled cave basements, under dirt. |
Here, we took
turns digging and sifting trying to find artifacts from this, the Greek
period (250 BC) of history. Members of our group found
pottery, bones and teeth (from animals). Some of the group spelunkered
through narrow passages while others descended into a huge cave that
revealed a massive olive press. We left Maresha and traveled northeast stopping for lunch at Bet Shemesh. Patty and I ate at McDonald's where (incredibly) we had McShawarma and a McKabbob! From here it was on for the last stretch of our perimeter journey around Israel for its final destination, Jerusalem. We entered Jerusalem from the west along highway #1, just like the Israelis did after the war for independence (1948). We drove up the long hill to the city surrounded on both sides by hills. They are the same hills that the Arabs attacked from in 1948. Remains of the vehicles that were attacked are still there as memorials along the route. We de-boarded the bus at the main city gate for photos. As we looked across the surrounding hills as our guide described the locations in bible stories from both the Old and New Testaments. The city has a law that the exterior of all buildings will be made of the same white rock veneer which gives the city a very uniform and formal appearance. We ended our day by attending a Shabbat service at congregation Kol Haneshema. Since there are no official "Reform" congregations in Israel, this is the closest thing. Kol Haneshama, is a "progressive" congregation that was self described to us as a "Reform Hasidic" congregation. We were all mesmerized by the music. It included hypnotic melodies that with singing in harmonies and rounds with occasional spontaneous percussion of hands striking prayer books. Other striking differences included not standing for the Shema and silent reading of the Amida. After walking by from the shul to the hotel, Rabbi Adland led us in the kiddush and motzi before our dinner. |
