ramblings about life in Israel

(this post was started a while ago, so the first part of this is from a couple of days ago)

Sukkot is winding down to a close. This feast, the feast of tabernacles is the most joyful of all the feasts. It comes after the harvest and is to thank God for the crops that have just come in and to pray for rain in the next season. Like all the holidays, the whole nation celebrates it. Even our biggest national holiday in Canada, which I would deem as Canada day, doesn’t compare to the way that this nation celebrates! Since everything in this culture revolves first around the family, then friends, next neighbors and finally your nation, the sense of community is VERY strong. Since I’ve been a little North American homebody, this behavior is much different to what I’m used to, but the most amazing thing. Culturally they may not say sorry when they bump you on the street, but if you’re in need they’ll be by your side.

Today I took off to a park nearby with my Bible and my Hebrew text book to study. While I was there I saw a ton of families the fathers climbing the rope structures, playing basketball, swinging on the tire swings and running with their children. Likewise the mothers were pushing their kids on the swings, teaching them how to ride bikes or sitting in the cool shade with the younger ones. You see, this feast lasts for 8 days the first and last days are complete holidays, no one works on these days. The ‘middle’ days are half days for work. On these days the family eats and sleeps in a booth they made called a Sukkah. God commanded this so that they would remember all they had gone through in the dessert and how He provided for them the whole time. They are to remember this so that they would realize that He would continue to provide for them and take care of them. Also, it’s fun for the whole family! While sitting in the sun and watching them I reflected on how different the 2 cultures are. One is family oriented and the other is more concentrated on yourself.

For us as students, we get the whole 8 days off from school. Wonderful, eh? Seeing as we were new to Israel, we decided to adventure over to Jerusalem. At this time we knew that there would be hundreds and even thousands of visitors from all over the world coming to the old city. It would be a joyful and exciting time to go. Thus we ( Jean-Pierre, Raphi, Trisha and myself) hopped on a bus with hardly any planning and ventured to Jerusalem. It takes about two hours to get there. Upon leaving the bus I was surprised by the security, before you can enter the city you must go through a metal detector and so on. And Jerusalem isn’t the only city that does that either, when you enter or leave the bus station you must first go through security. Different, eh?

From the bus station we walked to the old city of Jerusalem. One thing that hits you when you enter is that everything is made from stone. You walk on stone paved roads, walk by walls made from stone, store fronts, houses, arches, sidewalks, stairs, alleys... everything! Not one building would you find that hasn’t been made or done over with stone. This makes old city Jerusalem amazingly beautiful with its white creamy buildings and cool architecture! I would never get tired of looking at the beautiful city (well, unless I had to live there....!) the sun would reflect off the buildings and be an absolutely gorgeous scene!

Our home for the duration of our stay was on the roof of the citadel hostel. Because of the feast every possible bed and corner of space was filled with visitors. So sharing my housetop was about 24 other guests. This was an adventure, but I don’t think you’ll fully grasp how different that was. The night was exciting, but the mornings were way more epic. You see, when the sun rose at around 5:30 the bells would start chiming. Usually bells are a beautiful soothing sound, but when you are woken up by them out of a comfortable sleep bells are viewed in a very different light. Not only did they ring at such an unreasonable hour, but they would chime around every 15 minutes, making the prospect of sleep very difficult! But there is always something positive that you can find from (pettily) ‘’hard’’ situations and there was. The sunrise over the hushed and sleeping Jerusalem was stunning! From the roof I had the perfect view of the colours spreading across the sky. No matter how hard I try, God’s art is always better!

Our day started with a breakfast of Humus, bread and water that Raphi and I bought at the corner store. Next off we followed our tour guide- Raphi all around Jerusalem! (it’s a joke Raphi ;P ) He just had been to Jerusalem before so he knew where he was going! It can be very confusing! While we were there we went quite a few times to the market and saw a most amazing amount of merchandise! Colours, tee-shirts, spices, jewellery, souvenirs, and much more was offered there. I had one thing in mind that I wanted to buy so all their shouts of offers, or beautiful articles didn’t affect me one bit! I was a woman with a mission, I wanted one pendent of the star of David in silver, which I got after much bargaining (which got him 60% cheaper). Somehow I was proud of getting it at a reasonable price, because I expected myself not to bargain well, being Canadian and all!

The first day was continued by joining a free walking tour of the old city Jerusalem. It would last 3 hours and go from one corner of the city to the other side. I learned so much! That place is filled with ages of history! When you walk down the street it’s like you’re walking into the past! If they actually dug up the whole city they would find so much! Well, I suppose it’s the same thing with about any place in Israel, but especially in Jerusalem, because it was so important in most every time. Before the Israelites came the Canaanites thought it was important to and then Israel did too and all the way down to present day Israel where it’s important for Jews, muslims and Christians alike. Just walking along a road can be a history lesson for you!

And for those of you who are wondering, I did put on sunscreen. (only because it was provided by the tour guide! ;P )

We continued walking around Jerusalem, and even though this may seem boring to you, let me assure you that it was very interesting! That night we met up with a friend and went on a tour in a tunnel to the outside walls of the temple (or the temple. I really can’t believe the architecture! Super amazing! The way it was built is beyond belief! Even now they don’t understand fully how it could’ve come about! Beautiful rocks built to bring glory to God. The tour was quite amazing!

That evening we again went to bed with about 24 other people atop the roof. Even though Jerusalem is quite hot in the day, it drops to be cold at night. Therefore sleeping on a roof takes on a whole new meaning! The perks of being in the open air outweighed all shadow of regret. Waking up to the (bells..) sunrise, bird songs and fresh air was a pure delight! Having another breakfast of humus and bread this time coupled with orange juice was quite satisfying.

Our plan for the second day was to go visit the holocaust museum. It is situated about an hour away from old city Jerusalem. Leaving the city we saw tour bus after tour bus come to the old city! I was super happy that we were going out of the city when so many people were entering it! Well, I guess that’s what feasts do, bring a whole whack of partying people to the center of the activity! It was a perfect idea to visit Jerusalem when there was less people and go out when there were more! Really, there is much I could say about the museum, but I really don’t think you could understand without the experience. We took 5 hours to go through the museum, but we could’ve spent twice that amount of time! They had so many artefacts, models, footage and life stories! I was honestly surprised at the sheer amount of clear proof, and yet some people still deny it! How I have no idea!

After the holocaust museum we went back to old city Jerusalem and watched the tail end of the parade of nations! Upon completing a delicious supper (we were famished!) we gathered our stuff from the hostel and headed to the bus station. I really thank God for the bus system here! You can go almost anywhere you want by bus or train!

Our apartment is also a huge blessing! We have had some get-togethers here with most of the students and even some new friends! Regularly we have Jean-Pierre and Raphi (his roommate) over here. Tonight being an example! It’s super nice having ones brother halfway across the world with you! I thank the Lord that He had His hand in the plan of our lives! Honestly that is what keeps my head up high! I know that my Heavenly Father loves me and is taking care of me!

Our classes are super interesting! For this semester, I’m taking 6 classes. That includes modern Hebrew, Old testament backgrounds, Biblical geography, Jewish Christian relations, Theology of the Torah, and the dead sea scrolls. I can’t tell you yet which is my favorite. Jean-Pierre is also taking modern Hebrew, but I didn’t want to be over loaded with work so as not to be able to have a life so I opted on not taking it.

This is a shadow of my life here in Israel, please forgive me if I ramble or not make it exciting enough. I really love it here! It’s true that I do get spurts of homesickness (for like the first time in my life... out of all the times I’ve been away, it would happen now, eh?!), but skype helps a lot. So do your emails! Thanks for supporting me with love and prayers! It really is an adventure! With God by my side, how could I not enjoy it!?

wall of text

From my window I'm overlooking beautiful Netanya from the 11th flour. The cool breeze from our many windows is a cool relief from the hot sun. And imagine, this is fall in Israel This apartment is really a blessing from the Lord! I live with 5 other girls, soon to be 6. We all have a connection with the college. 4 of us are students, and the 5th is something like the secretary of the school. I share a room with a girl from Germany named Rahel. God again gave me a wonderful roommate! She is a fun loving, hard working, cheerful young woman and I think we will get along great!
Jean-Pierre is living in the basement of a house about a 5 minute walk from my house. He is living with one housemate, Rafi and they seem to get along great, or maybe they just have no choice! ;) Soon they will add one more to their number, Matthew, of whom I know practically nothing.

Everything in Israel is within walking distance, but it might take you 3 months to walk there!

Which brings me to my great news! I'm free! Today Jean-Pierre and I bought bikes, meaning we can actually go places! A bike is such a necessity here, if I wanted to go to the beach, if I wanted to go to a cheaper market, if I wanted to go to the congregational meetings (church) I need a bike. For example the other day we had to walk approximately an hour to get to the store then walking back took the same time. That trip had eaten up our entire morning and into the afternoon. Whereas on a bike it take about 15 minutes to get to the same place.
With my new found freedom I took advantage of the nice hot weather and went to the Mediterranean sea to go swimming ! We (Jean-Pierre , his housemate, Rafi and I) got there around 5pm. The sun was setting in a gorgeous array of colours, the blush of gold and crimson sweeping over the sky and the sea. We floated, swam and talked until we got out at around 6:30 when the stars were overhead and the water was reflecting the lights of Netanya. Pure bliss!

What is a necessity in Canada? Here, some are: sunglasses, a cold shower each night, internet, a bike, flexibility, a cell phone, a water bottle, an encouraging spirit and a camera.

The day after we got here we had some orientation classes and our first official class. The very next day we headed off for a two day field trip. Early in the morning we all piled into something like a 13pass van and headed due North. First we stopped at a tell, which is a mound of layered cities. One city would build there, then get destroyed or abandoned thus causing it to be a heap, then the next people instead of digging to get the old foundations just built on top of it. This process is repeated until our day and age where they are just a large oval hill the ''home'' only for archeologists. It was amazing to see the history of the place. In Canada we've got only relatively young history, but here there are tells and ruins all over the place!
At every stop or every different piece of history our guide, Sheila Gyllenberg, would show us from the Bible what had taken place there, of course along with a whole heap of other sources. Next stop was Mount Carmel. Who was the prophet that totally showed up the other prophets on that mountain by proving that the Lord was God and the One who is in control of all nature? That's right, Elijah! From that mt, we saw a BEAUTIFUL view! We could see so far and wow, isn't Israel breathtaking!

Our next stop was Nazareth where Jesus grew up and where Mary was from. Well, I suppose we didn't actually go into Nazareth, because there really isn't anything to see! But we climbed up a mountain just across for that town and could see it clearly along with many other places which also had Biblical references. Really, the more you dig into history, the more you find out that the Bible was right the whole time! Too cool to get a history lesson from the One who sees all of time! We saw a sleepy, low town that Jesus was raised in. I knew that probably Jesus daily saw the very mountain that I was standing on and probably hiked it with His friends. :D We also talked about the fact that in one of the gospels it says that He was called a Nazarene like the prophets foretold, but when we look at the prophets we don't see a direct reference to Him being a Nazarene. Thus instead of throwing the Bible out as false, you can find a very reasonable explanation from Isaiah. It's funny how we think that God isn't bigger than the ''mistakes'' we find, but always discover that it was us that had made the mistake of not believing the truth of the Bible.

I don't know what your picture is of these places, but if you're thinking of low, primitive houses and towns, you've got the wrong picture! Here is very modern. A typical looking house is with a orange/red roof with a white, cream or yellow house.
Coming face to face with history has really opened my eyes. Israel is small with a very family oriented view on life. As much as they can be in your face, they will be helpful and care. Standing in line and saying excuse me take on a pretty different importance here.

Presently I've only had 3 days of actual classes and the next week and a half I get off. Why? Holidays/Feasts! It seems like God really knew what was best when He commanded time off and celebrations! I have never seen such a country-wide embraced event in my whole life. Last weekend was Yom Kippur (day of atonement) and it's the holiest day of the year. No work is to be done, and it's a national day of fasting. Also no cars or electronics are to be used. It's like a hush has fallen on the whole of Israel. All that is to be heard is the birds singing and the happy shouts of children. From sundown on Friday kids take their bikes and fill the streets. We have a synagogue right next to our house and so there was constantly kids out playing by it while their parents were inside. Religious and non religious alike celebrate this day. Maybe I shouldn't have used the word, ''celebrate'' it's a VERY solemn day for them. They were all praying that their sins from the last year would be forgiven, but they had no assurance that this would be the case. Seeing as their sacrifice system is no longer possible they have made traditions to compensate. It's heartbreaking to see them try to get to God, not realizing that their Perfect Sacrifice has come and paid for every single one of their sins and that same God loves them! It seems like the whole world tries so hard (consciously and unconsciously) to get to God, but they don't see through their unbelief to see that it's a free gift that God gives us of acceptance! Wow! I fasted too, not just to do what they were doing, but to pray for them. I also visited 2 synagogues too (there is like one on every main street corner!) . They are very interesting. I loved the music. It made me feel like getting up right there and dancing a large line dance or something! :)

So far, this experience has been wonderful! I really can't wait to see all that God will do. From this mornings Bible reading I was once again reassured that God is going to look after me. '' Consider the ravens... and god feeds them: how much more are you better than the birds?...Consider the lilies... Solomon in all his splendor was not clothed like one of these. If then God so clothes the grass... how much more will He clothe you, o you of little faith? And seek not what you will eat, or what you will drink, neither have a doubtful mind...your Father knows that you have need of these things. (!) But rather seek the kingdom of God: and all these things will be added to you.(!) '' God knows my needs and is going to take care of me! If you ever begin to worry about me or anything else, remember. Remember His great faithfulness!

Enough news? Good, because I was starting to think I was writing a book instead of just a news update! ;)
I have a very big favor to ask you. Could you continue to pray for us? That would be greatly appreciated!!
Specifically for:

• the learning of the culture and Hebrew, also settling in.
• Our testimony
• Internet for my computer (a necessity for school and communication!)
• that I would lack ''homesickness''. I'm not homesick, but sometimes I get little waves of missing people. Honestly, I miss you all a lot!
• Finances.

Feel free to send me emails or to comment, I love getting emails. Beware though, I may not respond immediately. Mostly for the reason that I don't have internet and also school. But I have holidays for the next week and a half, so right now is the perfect time to write!