Thursday

I forgot to mention yesterday we went to the top of Mt Carmel where Elijah went up against the prophets of Baal and won!! It's a monastery now with an incredible view! Today we visited another Kubbitz. This one very different from the last one. It's in the very northern tip of Israel. In other words, steps from Lebanon. One of the members spoke to us about the conflicts that have happened right around there and how they have to be prepared to defend themselves. They have a huge fence and then a few feet farther was the border fence. The kids have drills to practice going in the bomb shelters. It is really amazing what these people tolerate and how warped our media portrays it!! We also visited Ceasarea Philippi. There is a spring there that people used to sacrifice young girls to the gods. If you remember when Jesus visited there, he talked about the gates of hades. Well, that's what they used to call the spring. Makes more sense now, doesnt it? We saw more ruins of the north, specifically the tribe of Dan. Saw a gate that Abraham actually walked through and ruins of a castle where Ahab and his son were. We ended the day with a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee. Wow. The owner of the boat is a worship leader so st one point we stopped and just sang in the middle of the sea! So cool! I bought his CD because it's in English and Hebrew. It will be fun to learn! Look out Clay! :)

Moving on

Ah, Internet in bed. Most of the hotels so far have only had Internet in the lobby so I've had to stay up late and do my blogging or talk to the family. Did I mention we are in our 5th hotel of the trip. But this one has a view! We are right on the Sea of Galilee. In fact, we swam in it tonight. It was a little chilly, but I'm proud to say I was the first one in :) As for the rest of the day, we saw the Jordan River pretty close to where it dumps in the Dead Sea so it's got lots of pesticides and stuff in it. I did stick a toe in though. It also can hardly be called a river! Way to small. I can't remember the name of it right now, but we also visited the springs where Gideon had the men drink to narrow down the number. At both these places the Rabbi did a teaching. It's so surreal to be sitting somewhere and then reading about it in the Bible. The Rabbi has crammed as much as he can into this trip. He warned us it was a study trip not a sightseeing and he was right. It feels more like boot camp or maybe Survivor! We stop at many other places in the day but I'm just trying to hit the big stuff. Pretty much the whole time we are driving in the bus the Rabbi or the tour guide are talking/teaching. I wish I could say I'm absorbing it all but there's no way. I wish I'd brought one of those little recording devices so i could go back and listen. Several people have them. My mom has been furiously taking notes and I'm the photographer. Only 4 days left!

I climbed Masada!

So 9 of us decided to climb up Masada today instead of taking the tram to the top. What a mistake! It was 104 degrees and we all nearly died. We decided we were the modern version of what happened there... Group suicide :) I am glad I did it but never again. we also got to see the archeological dig that's going on at Qumran which is where the dead sea scrolls were found. We met Randall Price, apparently a famous archeologist! This afternoon we visited En Gedi and swam in the same pools that David did! How cool is that?!

Sunday and Monday

Sunday we went back to the western wall. Again we were totally overwhelmed with emotion. One of the traditions is to walk backwards when you're leaving the wall. At first we didn't understand but after praying at the wall, you get it. You don't want to leave Gods presence. Wow! After that, we drove out to the dead sea. It was a blast. We floated around and then covered our selves in mud, so apparently I should look 10 years younger.., don't think it worked. I got some great pictures! It was a great relaxing afternoon. We definitely needed it! Monday we did one of the hardest things. We visited the holocaust museum. Let's just say many tears were shed. We also visited some other museums and a cemetery. There is a Jewish institute here that is preparing for the rebuilding of the temple. I had no idea that this was happening. They've already built many of the pieces that are needed in the temple like the gold menorah and the table for the bread. We got to see it all. Very cool! We got to go in more caves and tunnels under the city! We were walking under the city streets where the zealots hid from the Romans.

A little behind

So we get to the nice hotel in Jerusalem and Internet costs money. :) that's one of the reasons I didn't blog last night but it's mainly because I was way too tired and didn't even get to the hotel room until 10:30. We walked close to 8 hours straight yesterday. Mom with an upset stomach. The big event was walking through hezekiahs tunnels. It was awesome! The water got about thigh high at one point but was mainly a little over the ankle. Since its spring fed it was extremely cold which felt great in the heat here. The bad part was that the way out was through a longer and narrower tunnel that ran along the sewer line. Let's just say the potty jokes got way out of hand! We attended sabbath services at the Great Synagogue and then came back for dinner at 9pm. Mom stayed home and slept. Several people have drugs that they have given her so she is doing better today. The choir at the service was incredible but of course it was all in Hebrew so we didn't understand but a word here or there. Today we basicslly did the via dela rosa. It was another walking adventure. The garden of gethsemane was gorgeous. Unfortunately I think we were all a little disappointed by the church of the seplecture. There are several different churches basically all in the same building and they have all put their own touches on it. Think catholic church on speed!! It was so over done. Tonight we went to the western wall. It's a holy day so it was quite an experience. I was so overwhelmed with thoughts and emotion. Good night for now!

Thursday's fun

First off I want you to know that I'm only hitting the major things. We are seeing about 5 or 6 sites in between the major ones. I just can't describe it all. I'm certainly not doing a y of it justice. It's called sleep deprivation :) So yesterday we visited Hebron and the tomb of the patriarchs. It was interesting because it's a mostly Arab community. We were in a bullet proof bus and the IDF was very present. We also had to go through metal detectors to get in the building. The tombs are actually way below ground but it's a 3 story building above them. The first 2 levels are a mosque only accessible by Muslims and the 3rd floor is a synagogue only accessible by the Jews. We were of course on the 3rd floor . The Muslims technically control the building somehow and the refuse to let anyone view Isaacs tomb so it was guarded by the IDF. It's so crazy! They also put their Muslim half moon symbols on the top of the building to stop all the Jews prayers that are being lifted up in the synagogue. Seriously?! Later in the afternoon. We visited the ruins of Herods palace and tomb. There are cisterns and tunnels underneath that we got to walk through. Very cool. My mom made it too which is great because she hates caves!

Tabernacle

Yesterday in Shiloh we also visited the site of the tabernacle. It sat in Shiloh for 300 years before the ark was finally captured by the philistines. We also saw a cave home that is believed to be Eli's home. This was an amazing experience. To walk out and stand where the holy of holies was... Wow!! We all took time to pray while we were there. There were many tears! We also got to paricipate in an archeological dig which turned out to be cleaning pottery shards. We decided they just wanted cheap labor. We then followed the path of the ark back to Jerusalem. This included a quick visit to many sites.

The heartbreak of Shiloh

We visited the town of Shiloh today. A rabbi that was also the mayor for a few years gave us a tour of the school. He is originally from NYC, but has lived here for 20 years. He and his son were victims of a terrorist attack 10 years ago. God miraculously saved them both. The school that he has been developing has about 1000 children in it. Because of where this town is every single kid there has been affected by terrorism. The school has normal learning but also has all kinds of therapy for the children's recovery from the attacks. They have art, music, and horse therapy as well as physical, speech and occupational therapy. It was amazing. We also sat in on a class where the students sang a whole section of the Torah for us. You can visit the website to see all the info on the school at www.ShilohisraelChildren.org So much more happened today but it's almost 11pm and we have a 6:30 wake up call. I will try to do more tomorrow. You can visit the tour groups Facebook page to see more pics. It's Lipkin Tours.

Tuesday's trips

Wow! I don't even know where to start. Today was awesome. We got to the top of 3 mountains. Mt Kabir, where God spoke to Abraham. Mt Gerizim, the mount of blessings. We could look down at the city of Sheckem, but can't not enter the city. In the city was the ruins of the biblical town and Joseph's tomb. The last mountain was Mt Ebal, the mount of cursing. They have found Joshua's altar that he built after entering the promise land. It was huge and totally amazing. The biggest part of it though is that it's disputed territory, so we had to have IDF escort to the top. They were so young but very friendly. One guy talked to us for the whole hike. He said he learned English from the discovery channel because he slept through school :) more on him later! We also visited the Samaritan village and museum where one of there priests spoke to us. It was a great day!

Muslim wake up call

So we all know that muslims pray 5 times a day, but did you know one of those times is 4am??!! And in Israel, they use loud speakers outside :) I recorded it so everyone could hear it but unfortunately I can't upload it on the iPad. You'll just have to wait until I get home to experience it.

Monday's adventures

Today was a day of patriarchs. We saw much of where Abraham traveled and the site of Jacobs dream. Most of what we saw today comes from genesis 12-32. At the site of Jacobs dream there is also the ruins of s small mosque and a chapel from the crusades. There was the oldest tree in Israel also on the site. They do not cut trees if they are on a holy site.asevidenced by all the ruins, this is obviously a holy place. One interesting thing is that it looks as you would imagine... Barren desert, however at Jacobs time it was wooded. Remember that he was running away and so he hid outside of bethel in the woods. They also recently uncovered there what they believe to be the ruins of jeroboams temple. We climbed the summit of the star(not going to attempt the Hebrew name). We could see the Jordan valley, Jordan, the dead sea and the mount where God promised Abraham the land. We visit where the ruins of Saul's citadel... King Hussein put his place on top of it. However that was destroyed in the 6 day war. I so wish I could post picture but that's going to have to wait until I get home. I beg your mercy on my typing :) an iPad is not easy to type on.

We've arrived!

Not much to say about traveling. It's always interesting. We all made it safe and sound this afternoon which is whats important. We are in Samaria in the West Bank. We've crossed the green line... You can research that on your own. I didn't really know what it was until the guide explained it today. If I ramble, it's because I am very tired! Anyway, thanks for all your prayers. I will have much more to say tomorrow!

Packing

So normally I am one of those pack way ahead and recheck 3 times before leaving kind of people, but somehow I am not feeling the motivation to do it.  Instead I'm here playing on the computer.  I did do all the laundry yesterday and a bunch of ironing today, so now there's a big pile of clothes on my bed that I will have to move before sleeping.  Doubt it will make it to my suitcase, though.  Usually I have to pack for 5, so I'm not sure why this has me stumped.  Maybe its the length of the trip or the location... I have a 6 page itinerary but still don't have a firm grasp on what most of it means :)  


On a different note, someone said to make sure I was "prepared spiritually".  Not totally sure what that means, but I am obviously praying a ton and reading my bible.  Can we ever really be prepared to visit the Holy Land, to walk where Jesus walked, to see places I always thought I would only read about?  So today I decided to do some "spiritual packing"!  Here are a few verses I found...


John 14:21 "Those who accept my commandments and obey them are the ones who love me. And because they love me, my Father will love them. And I will love them and reveal myself to each of them.”


Those of you who know our story over the last few years, know that we have been so obedient and yet I still don't feel that I know why everything happened. (Yes, I need to see the whys!) I am praying that God will do some revealing on this trip and I will come back with a better understanding.


Ezekiel 40:2,4  In a vision from God he took me to the land of Israel and set me down on a very high mountain. From there I could see toward the south what appeared to be a city... He said to me, “Son of man, watch and listen. Pay close attention to everything I show you. You have been brought here so I can show you many things. Then you will return to the people of Israel and tell them everything you have seen.”


So this one I just liked because he is actually seeing Israel in a vision.  So I will watch, listen, and pay very close attention to what He has to show me on this trip.  And then I will tell you all about it!


Enough rambling for one night.  MUST GO PACK!

Testing

So its been awhile since I've used this blog.  I'm getting ready to leave for Israel on Saturday, so I'm trying to get it up and running again. I can't believe how little the kids look in these last posts.  Please check back over my trip and see what my mom and I are up to each day.  I will not have lots of pictures while on the trip because I'm just taking the iPad, but be prepared to see a ton when I get back.  I have 3 memory cards that will hold about 800 pictures and I'm hoping that's enough! :)