January 2014 Trip to Israel (Part 1)

Chad and I headed off to Israel on January the 13th and returned back to the U.S on the 27th.  We spent a wonderful two weeks in the Beautiful Land.  There were 43 people on the tour.  Here are the highlights on our trip.

PRE-TRIP

Here's Chad packing. 

Notice how small our bags are.  We don't check any bags on the airlines. That's because one time we checked a bag while we went to India for a month and the airlines lost it before we even left Seattle.  Lesson learned - we pack all we need in carry-on's.  We just do laundry as we travel  so that we have enough clean clothes.

TRIP DAY

We woke up at 4 AM for showers.  We pre-arranged for a taxi to pick us up at 5 AM for a 7 AM  flight from Springfield to Chicago.  Here's a bird that flew into the Springfield airport.  He seemed pretty comfortable with being in the airport and we figured that he had a secret way in and out.  Chad forgot that he had the flash on the camera and he startled the bird by taking his picture not to mention himself!  The red eye makes him look a little sinister.

Early morning coffee to help us stay awake!

I wanted to bring knitting needles on our trip so I could knit a scarf in Israel.  From what I read online, there was a slight chance that I wouldn't be able to take them on board because they could be considered weapons.  Although I really wanted to knit, I didn't want to chance having my needles taken away - I am very attached to my needles!  Instead, I brought home some chopsticks from a Mongolian grill that we eat at and sharpened the ends in a pencil sharpener.  Chad smoothed them down with steel wool and voila - very functional and free knitting needles.  If they got taken away at the airport, no great loss.  However, I found that as I knit, the yarn was slipping off because there were no tops to them.  Chad came up with a great idea- just tie off some yarn at the tops to make a stop.  We didn't have any scissors so Chad had to bite off two pieces of chunky yarn.  Now that's true love!

From Springfield, we flew to Chicago and had about a four hour layover.  From Chicago, we flew to New York to meet our group.  In New York, we landed in Terminal 4 but had to get to Terminal 2.  We caught an air tram and got a little lost because we got on the tram going the opposite way from where we wanted to go.  Here's me on the air tram smiling, even though I'm a little stressed!

We finally made it to our terminal and gate, B41.  That was a long walk.  I didn't know that JFK was so big.  Here we are, about a couple of hours before we head off to Israel.   Here's Chad with our very expensive Coke.  Can you believe that we spent $3.50 for this small bottle?

Here's our airplane.  It's a double decker.  I don't think we've ever flown in a plane so big.  I'm really tired here and ready to go to sleep.

At the airport, we began meeting members of our tour.  Not all of them though.  Some people flew straight to Israel and we would meet them the next day.  Everyone we did meet seemed pretty nice.  Many of them had been to Israel several times before, just as we had.

Our flight was about 12 hours.  I slept through most of it, which is very unusual for me.  I don't sleep well on planes but I guess this time, I was more tired than I thought.  Chad slept some, but for the most part, he watched movies.  We sat next a  sweet old lady in her 70's from Upstate New York who was going to Israel to volunteer with the IDF.  While we were awake, Chad and I spent time talking to her. 

Day 1 Israel

We arrive in Tel Aviv after a very uneventful flight.

Here we are on our bus.

Our tour guide Hillel

Hillel's wife, Daniella, joined us for the end of the trip.

Our driver Levi

Our tour leader.  He's the one in the sunglasses.

Tour owners of the company.  They are the ones sitting down.

Our video-grapher and photographer. 

We headed off to Jerusalem to check into our Hotel, Prima Kings.  It's a nice hotel and very close to the Temple Mount. It's a favorite of the ultra-orthodox Jews and we saw many of them there.

 

Dinner service

The Israelis have wonderfully fresh food.  So many different options.  Because they follow rabbinical kosher laws, meat and dairy has to be separate.  In the morning, dairy is eaten, to include cheeses and fish.  At dinner, meat is eaten.  Fruits, vegetables, breads, and an assortment of other delicious foods are eaten at each meal. 

Can I eat more than one plate?

After dinner, we went to an orientation meeting.  We went to bed very tired, but because of the time difference, we woke up at 4 AM, which is a very common thing to do. 

Day 2 Israel

We went to the Mount of Olives early the next morning.  It's a traditional thing to do go to the Mount of Olives and have wine/grape juice while overlooking the Temple Mount. 

We got to do this in a private yard and it was very peaceful.  Here are some chickens in the yard.

The Mount of Olives, which faces the Temple Mount, is where we believe Yeshua was crucified and where He will return again.  The traditional area is Golgotha, which is many miles away from the Temple Mount.  It makes more sense that Yeshua was crucified on the Mount of Olives because of the testimony of the centurion, who said that he saw the veil of Temple rent, which could only be seen at the Mount of Olives, facing the Eastern Gate.  Below is the Eastern Gate.  

Here are the graves on the Mount of Olives.  Jewish people don't bring flowers to graves, but instead, lay stones on top of the sepulchers. 

Here are the remnants of an ancient tomb on the Mount of Olives.  Because grave space is  a premium in Israel, what the Jewish people usually do is take a deceased body to a tomb for year.  After a year, they carry the bones back and bury them in a sepulcher.

An olive tree on the Mount of Olives.  

After leaving the Mount of Olives, we went to the Shook - a well known food market.  It it busy, bustling, and very alive.   Here are some scenes from the Shook.

A few years ago, we were in this market with our friend Lily.  Lily, who was in her late 70's at the time, was buying some fruit before the Shabbat.  The man in the photo below gave her way more than she had paid for.  I believe it was his way of letting her glean, because she was older and the Shabbat was coming.  Chad and I still remember him and we thought it would be neat to take his picture again. 

 

Colorful flowers!

Yarn - I'm glad I brought my chopstick knitting needles! 

We had some snacks and a cappuccino for lunch.  The snacks came from a natural bakery that used ancient wheat for their flour.  No modified wheat at all!

Do I have to share?

We then went to the the Bible Lands Museum and the Israel Museum.  We ended the day around 5 PM and were very tired.  Jet lag starting to kick in!

Day 3 Israel

The next day, we headed off to Itamar, which is an Israeli settlement in the West Bank area.  The Israelis are here, living, and working, believing the promise that the Lord gave them to occupy the land.  There are farms and homes here, a school for children who have issues that don't allow them to do well in traditional schools, and a community that is thriving.  We had to take an armored bus there due to the violence of the Palestinians in the area.  While we were there, we felt very safe.  In 2011, five members of the Fogel family were killed by two Palestinians while they slept - a father and mother, and their three young children.  One daughter was staying with friends so she was safe.  We drove by the house where the massacre happened and across the street we saw that a new house was going up.  Despite what this community has been through, they are still living and working here - building and developing the land the Lord has given them.  We truly admire the courage and the dedication of these Israelis.  The mayor and rabbi of this community, Moshe Goldsmith and his wife, Leah, hosted us.

Protective fencing to protect the community from surrounding Palestinian villages nearby.

Moshe is the one in the flannel shirt.

Boys from all over Israel come to Itamar for a more non-traditional educational setting.

 We drove to an overlook in Itamar and were able to see Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal.  These are known in the Bible as the Mount of Blessing and the Mount of Cursing. 

It was very windy

We had some lunch at Itamar before finishing our tour.

We met an organic farmer who is working his farm alone with his wife.  They are doing some neat things with methane gas as a source of energy.  He's into hydroponics and is going to be growing spirulena pretty soon.  He is also doing some really neat things with fish.  We bought some organic fruit roll-ups from him as well as some organic granola.  He has one dairy cow named Rosalyn, who was as laid back as he was.  It was really fun learning about his farm. He was busy trying to repair the damage that occurred to his buildings from the heavy snow that fell about two weeks prior.  A lot of his buildings were damaged but he was determined to get them back into shape!

Do you think I could sneak her on the plane?  She could sit between Chad and me.

A new house going up across the street from the house where the Fogels were massacred.

From Itamar, we went to Mt. Gerazim for visit a Samaritan synagogue.  The Samaritans are thought to be very closely related to the Jewish people.  They have not intermarried so they have a strongly homogenous genetic pool.  They have the community on Mt. Gerizim and one near Tel Aviv.  They still speak their own language.  A man came to show us the synagogue's Torah scroll.   From there, we went to the local tahini factory. 

 

The Samaritan Deputy High Priest

A Samaritan Priest

Tahini anyone?

From the Samaritan village, we drove to a lookout point on Mt. Gerizim to see Joseph's tomb, which in in a Palestinian village below.  On Mt. Gerizim, we renewed our covenant with the Lord and read from Deuteronomy 18.  A very moving experience.  From where we were sitting, we could see Mt. Ebal but could not go there.  It was cold and nearly dark before we left.

 Joseph's tomb is down below.

Mt. Ebal across the way.

Day 4 Israel

The next day, which was Friday, we went to an archeological dig.  Our dig site was named Buffy 169.  We had to go down a very steep and narrow tunnel, which was hard for many people with claustrophobia.  The dig was amazing.  We found old pottery shards, old tools, and various items like charcoal, which we loaded up in buckets.  At the end of the dig, we had to carry the buckets upstairs and use a filtering tool to make sure we weren't throwing away anything valuable.  Earlier in the morning I had a headache from a sinus cold but was able to beg some Tylenol from someone so I felt much better.  Before we went to the dig, we stopped by and visited a large, natural cave with wonderful acoustics.

 

La La La La!

The beginning of our archaeological dig.

Mandrakes near the dig site.  

Here we go!

After leaving the dig site, we headed over to Hebron to visit the tomb of the Patriarchs.  Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, and Leah and buried there.  Rachel, is buried in Bethlehem and we weren't able to go there.  Because there are many Palestinians in the area, there are IDF soldier stationed there to keep the peace.  Since today was Friday, Shabbat would bring lots of observant Jewish people to pray at the site.  The IDF soldiers were needed to protect them. I slept through much of the bus ride to Hebron on the armored bus.  When I woke up, I was very bus sick.  Also, I was developing quite a cold.  After a little rest and some fresh air, the nausea went away.  By lunch, I was feeling a little better.  The group stopped and had some pizza, which Rico so kindly bought for all of us.  We got to see lots of IDF soldiers come into the restaurant and get lunch.  

 

 

We headed back to the hotel to get ready for Shabbat.  We went to the Kotel, the Western Wall of the Temple Mount to greet the Shabbat.  It was cold, dark, and very crowded.  We were able to go and pray at a new part of the Wall that just opened up a few weeks before we came.  This part of the Wall allowed men and women to pray together, so Chad and I were able to stand right next to each other and pray.  At the main part of the Wall, men and women are divided, so us being able to pray together was indeed very unique.  

After praying, some of the group decided to walk back to the hotel while some took the bus back.  Chad walked back but I took the bus back.  My cold was not relenting and since I took a shower before going to the Kotel, my hair was still wet, which made me very cold.  My ears were throbbing and I was not feeling well at all.  I got back to the hotel first and decided to lay in bed until dinner so I could warm up.  Chad joined me and we both fell asleep and got to dinner late.  We missed the breaking of the bread and the drinking of wine and the blessings that are said at the beginning of the Shabbat.  

We were both very tired and a little groggy when we sat down to dinner.  The dinner room was extremely crowded.  Not were there only tour groups there, but also many ultra orthodox Jews that had come to stay in the hotel for the Shabbat.  We were all sandwiched into the dining room.  

About the time we sat down, a Jewish man, with the last name of Cohen, brought his wife and kids to meet us.  He believed we were the answer to prayer - the prayer for the rest of Israel  to come back to the land.  He was very happy to see us.  He wanted to talk with us and encourage us that our coming to Israel was very providential.  His talking to us was very significant in many ways.  First, he was a Cohen, which means he is from the line of  Aaron, the first high priest.  The fact that a descendent from the high priest was welcoming us into the land was very meaningful.  Second, he was overcoming the prejudice that Jews have towards non-Jews.  To many Jews, non-Jews are considered unclean.  By coming over, I'm sure he raised lots of eyebrows.  

After dinner, Chad went and talked to him a little more before we went back to our room.  He gave Chad and me a blessing!

Day 5 Israel (Shabbat)

There were two teachings during Shabbat.  Chad went to both of them.  I stayed in bed and slept all day.  The only time I got up was for breakfast and dinner.  I slept nearly the whole day.  I tried to eat lots of fruit, especially oranges, and drank lots of hot water.