Dear family and friends,
Dawn and I are both safe, and staying largely in our apartment, as instructed by the Israeli Homefront Command. No rockets have landed in Be'er Sheva since Thursday. Other cities, however, closer to the Gaza Strip, continued to be hit on Saturday, with a total of 35 rockets striking targets in Ashkelon, Ashdod, and other towns.
It seems that the U.S. is the only country supporting Israel's right to defend itself at the moment. For the latest news in English from an Israeli perspective, visit the Jerusalem Post at:
www.jpost.com
Starting back in Summer 2008, Egypt brokered a 6 month truce between Hamas, labeled as a terrorist organization by the U.S., and Israel. Hamas, elected in democratic, internationally monitored elections in 2006, controls the Gaza Strip, while the internationally recognized Palestinian government (Abbas and the Palestianian Authority) controls the West Bank. The West Bank is actually on the eastern border with Israel, as it gets its name from the West Bank of the Jordan River. The Gaza Strip is a small strip of land bordering the Mediterranean and Egypt, and sharing its eastern border with southern Israel. (A World Atlas may come in handy here right about now).
Hamas, it turns out, used this truce to re-arm with longer range rockets supplied by Iran and Syria, and smuggled into the Gaza Strip through underground tunnels along Gaza's border with Egypt. Hamas' avowed goal is the destruction of the State of Israel. Before last Tuesday night, Be'er Sheva had never been targeted by rockets from the Gaza Strip before. Israelis had not thought it possible, though in an article around Dec. 21st or 22nd in the Jerusalem Post, the Israeli Intelligence Arm warned that Hamas now possessed rockets with the range to strike Be'er Sheva. Hamas also uses Gaza civilians as human shields, and stores rockets and munitions inside of mosques. The people of Gaza are dependent upon humanitarian aid, which Israel has continued to allow in during the crisis. Meanwhile, Hamas spends its money on weapons and training, some of whom go to Iran to train with Iran's elite forces.
Tuesday night, an empty kindergarten in Be'er Sheva was hit, and last Wednesday, an empty high school, on the opposite side of the university from us.
Ask yourself, if towns on the U.S. Southern Gulf Coast found themselves the recipient of rockets launched from Cuba, would the U.S. military stand by and do nothing? Then, I ask, how can European and Arab governments expect that, having endured hundreds of rocket launches on it's southern towns, Israel's military is unilaterally supposed to cease-fire, while rockets are still being launched towards Israel from the Gaza Strip?
The situation, in a nutshell, is not as simple as a cease-fire by Israel. Mechanisms need to be put in place to prevent the re-armament and re-supply of Hamas by Iran and Syria, thus (hopefully) bringing a sustainable peace to the region. Israel has called for international observers to be placed in the Gaza Strip following cessation of hostilities to ensure that future truces aren't
merely opportunities for Hamas to re-arm. The U.N. Security Council Resolution condemning the Israeli air and ground assault was blocked by the U.S., as it provided no such assurances. Israel has vowed to continue the offensive until no rockets are being launched at Israel.
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Christmas and Jerusalem Photos
We are safe and at home in Be'er Sheva. Apologies for the very long journal entry about Christmas and our trip to Jerusalem. You may view the photos from our trip online at:
http://picasaweb.google.com/airzoojosh/ChristmasDayAndJerusalem2008#
I recommend following along with the blog while looking at the pictures of the trip (See entry immediately prior to this one). We hope everyone is enjoying the holidays back home!
Josh and Dawn
http://picasaweb.google.com/airzoojosh/ChristmasDayAndJerusalem2008#
I recommend following along with the blog while looking at the pictures of the trip (See entry immediately prior to this one). We hope everyone is enjoying the holidays back home!
Josh and Dawn
Christmas Day Brunch and Trip to Jerusalem
By now, everyone has heard of the Israeli airstrikes against Hamas government and military targets in the Gaza Strip. We are relatively safe in Be'er Sheva, on the very outer edge of the 40 km. range of Hamas rockets. Be'er Sheva has NEVER been hit by a Hamas rocket, and we both hope this trend continues! All the same, I have never experienced the feeling of being near a war zone before, and it is not one I relish, needless to say. Security has increased at the university. They now check everyone's bags by hand.
On Christmas Day, last Thursday, we enjoyed a wonderful brunch at the apartment of David and Daria Byron, with eggs, waffles, pancakes, and real bacon, bought at a large Russian supermarket in the BIG (yes, that's its name) shopping complex. There were also hashbrowns, scones, and the stollen (German Christmas bread), which Dawn made. Afterwards, we enjoyed the first half of It's a Wonderful Life, with James Stewart. We left to go to campus to make several phone calls to our parents and grandparents back home via Skype. We also purchased tickets for our parents (OK, they paid for it, but I found a great price and did the booking!) to come visit us at the end of March! We are looking forward to it already!
Friday morning, Dec. 26th, we left for 3 nights in Jerusalem, expecting our water-leaking, wall dampening bathroom to be all fixed upon our return. Well, it turns out our landlord got the date wrong and now we have to make plans to be away from our apartment for 2 days at the end of this week. We won't be able to use the toilet, shower, or sink, while the tile floor is torn out and replaced. Anyway, back to Jerusalem... We arrived at 11:30 am at the Central Bus Station and took Bus #18 towards Yoav and Hilla's house. Yoav had forgotten his cell phone, and we were on the bus and he was not answering his phone! But he retrieved it and told us where to get off and picked us up in their car about 12:30. Lunch was not on the menu, as it turned out, so Dawn and I each had a falafel outside the Lion's Gate, one of 7 gates to Jerusalem's Old City, and made it to the meeting point in time for the weekly tour by priests of the 14 Stations of the Cross. It turns out, however, that they take the week of Christmas off, so there was no tour on Dec. 26th! I had bought a guide booklet in Be'er Sheva and we found most of the Stations on our own, except several at the end in the Church of the Holy Sepelchur and Station 8, but we were close! Yoav picked us up and we had a veritable Hannukah feast put on by Hilla (pronounced He-la) for us and 3 friends, one a couple with a 3 year old boy. And this was just Friday!
Saturday, December 27th (Happy Birthday Mom!), Yoav and Hilla slept late as it was the Sabbath, and we had breakfast around 10 am. Then, Yoav put Imri, their 11 month old son, and us in the car and drove us (minus Hilla, who had to do revisions to her MA thesis) out to the Mt. of Olives and the Garden of Gethsemane. Some places were not open between the hours of 12 and 2 pm, but we still saw quite a lot. I was especially moved by the Grotto of Gethsemane, the very spot where Jesus was betrayed by Judas. The Basilica of the Garden of Gethsemane also had a very holy aura surrounding it. We also saw what is reputed to be the burial site of Mary, and we climbed up the Mt. of Olives for a wonderful overlook of Jerusalem's walled Old City and the Dome of the Rock. I can imagine how beautiful it is at sunrise and sunset, as the guidebooks say. We got back to Yoav and Hillas around 4 pm, and Hilla was nearly in tears. The Israeli offensive had begun shortly after 12 pm, and Arabs were protesting in and around the Old City, parts of which we passed through on our way back from East Jerusalem. Yoav had had his cell phone on silent and thus did not hear the repeated phone calls. After everyone had calmed down, we enjoyed a relaxing evening at home, while keeping abreast of the news on the Israeli offensive on TV.
Due to the Arab protests, Yoav suggested we visit the Israel Museum and avoid the Old City on Sunday. He dropped us off and went to go study. The main exhibition halls of the museum were closed for renovation, but we still saw the HUGE model of Jerusalem as depicted just before the Jewish Revolt in 66 CE, complete with the Second Temple and individual houses, palaces, everything. The model took a team the model builder and an archealogist 4 years to build. It was completed in 1965, two years before Israel regained control of East Jerusalem and the Old City, where the Temple had stood. Then, after surveying the modernist Sculpture Garden, we went inside the Shrine of the Book, where the Dead Sea Scrolls and other ancient Biblical texts are on display, as well as artifacts from the 1st century BCE - 1st century CE from the Qum'ram site, where the Essenes lived (the writers of the Dead Sea Scrolls). Next at about 1 pm, we took a taxi to Yad Vashem, the Israel Holocaust Museum. Admission is free, and it was PACKED. But first we had a nice lunch in the Museum cafeteria.
After lunch, we spent the next two and a half hours going through the Museum. No pictures were allowed inside. I have visited the Berlin (Germany) Holocaust Museum, but the Israel Holocaust Museum was much more disturbing, much more powerful. We sped past the last 2 years of the war (there was that much to read), in order to see the Hall of Remembrance and some of the other exhibits not in the Historical Museum. Picture multitudes of Nazi propaganda memorabilia, Jewish artifacts, furniture, photos, and numerous audio-visual stations with first-hand survivor accounts. Seeing the bodies being thrown into pits upon the liberation of the camps, and the emaciated survivors, thousands of whom did not survive in spite of the Allied liberation, was overwhelming. If you are not choked up upon exiting, something is not quite right.
Yoav and Hilla had arranged for us to go on a Hannukiot (a Tour of the Hannukah Lights) in the Old City, and judged it was calm enough to do so. The tour was in Hebrew, technically only for students of Hebrew University, but Hilla had gained permission for all 4 of us. Yoav translated for us here and there, but we all left the tour early as they judged the guide not to be very good. We were all very hungry also. (The tour started at 5:30 pm). Sunday was also Yoav's 30th birthday. We treated them to dinner out at a restaurant at the Cinemataque art theater that Yoav's friend Hanan and his girlfriend had chosen. There was quite a mix up with our orders, but the food was good. Monday we came back to Be'er Sheva on the 11:30 am bus, arriving around 1:15 pm at the downtown station.
On Christmas Day, last Thursday, we enjoyed a wonderful brunch at the apartment of David and Daria Byron, with eggs, waffles, pancakes, and real bacon, bought at a large Russian supermarket in the BIG (yes, that's its name) shopping complex. There were also hashbrowns, scones, and the stollen (German Christmas bread), which Dawn made. Afterwards, we enjoyed the first half of It's a Wonderful Life, with James Stewart. We left to go to campus to make several phone calls to our parents and grandparents back home via Skype. We also purchased tickets for our parents (OK, they paid for it, but I found a great price and did the booking!) to come visit us at the end of March! We are looking forward to it already!
Friday morning, Dec. 26th, we left for 3 nights in Jerusalem, expecting our water-leaking, wall dampening bathroom to be all fixed upon our return. Well, it turns out our landlord got the date wrong and now we have to make plans to be away from our apartment for 2 days at the end of this week. We won't be able to use the toilet, shower, or sink, while the tile floor is torn out and replaced. Anyway, back to Jerusalem... We arrived at 11:30 am at the Central Bus Station and took Bus #18 towards Yoav and Hilla's house. Yoav had forgotten his cell phone, and we were on the bus and he was not answering his phone! But he retrieved it and told us where to get off and picked us up in their car about 12:30. Lunch was not on the menu, as it turned out, so Dawn and I each had a falafel outside the Lion's Gate, one of 7 gates to Jerusalem's Old City, and made it to the meeting point in time for the weekly tour by priests of the 14 Stations of the Cross. It turns out, however, that they take the week of Christmas off, so there was no tour on Dec. 26th! I had bought a guide booklet in Be'er Sheva and we found most of the Stations on our own, except several at the end in the Church of the Holy Sepelchur and Station 8, but we were close! Yoav picked us up and we had a veritable Hannukah feast put on by Hilla (pronounced He-la) for us and 3 friends, one a couple with a 3 year old boy. And this was just Friday!
Saturday, December 27th (Happy Birthday Mom!), Yoav and Hilla slept late as it was the Sabbath, and we had breakfast around 10 am. Then, Yoav put Imri, their 11 month old son, and us in the car and drove us (minus Hilla, who had to do revisions to her MA thesis) out to the Mt. of Olives and the Garden of Gethsemane. Some places were not open between the hours of 12 and 2 pm, but we still saw quite a lot. I was especially moved by the Grotto of Gethsemane, the very spot where Jesus was betrayed by Judas. The Basilica of the Garden of Gethsemane also had a very holy aura surrounding it. We also saw what is reputed to be the burial site of Mary, and we climbed up the Mt. of Olives for a wonderful overlook of Jerusalem's walled Old City and the Dome of the Rock. I can imagine how beautiful it is at sunrise and sunset, as the guidebooks say. We got back to Yoav and Hillas around 4 pm, and Hilla was nearly in tears. The Israeli offensive had begun shortly after 12 pm, and Arabs were protesting in and around the Old City, parts of which we passed through on our way back from East Jerusalem. Yoav had had his cell phone on silent and thus did not hear the repeated phone calls. After everyone had calmed down, we enjoyed a relaxing evening at home, while keeping abreast of the news on the Israeli offensive on TV.
Due to the Arab protests, Yoav suggested we visit the Israel Museum and avoid the Old City on Sunday. He dropped us off and went to go study. The main exhibition halls of the museum were closed for renovation, but we still saw the HUGE model of Jerusalem as depicted just before the Jewish Revolt in 66 CE, complete with the Second Temple and individual houses, palaces, everything. The model took a team the model builder and an archealogist 4 years to build. It was completed in 1965, two years before Israel regained control of East Jerusalem and the Old City, where the Temple had stood. Then, after surveying the modernist Sculpture Garden, we went inside the Shrine of the Book, where the Dead Sea Scrolls and other ancient Biblical texts are on display, as well as artifacts from the 1st century BCE - 1st century CE from the Qum'ram site, where the Essenes lived (the writers of the Dead Sea Scrolls). Next at about 1 pm, we took a taxi to Yad Vashem, the Israel Holocaust Museum. Admission is free, and it was PACKED. But first we had a nice lunch in the Museum cafeteria.
After lunch, we spent the next two and a half hours going through the Museum. No pictures were allowed inside. I have visited the Berlin (Germany) Holocaust Museum, but the Israel Holocaust Museum was much more disturbing, much more powerful. We sped past the last 2 years of the war (there was that much to read), in order to see the Hall of Remembrance and some of the other exhibits not in the Historical Museum. Picture multitudes of Nazi propaganda memorabilia, Jewish artifacts, furniture, photos, and numerous audio-visual stations with first-hand survivor accounts. Seeing the bodies being thrown into pits upon the liberation of the camps, and the emaciated survivors, thousands of whom did not survive in spite of the Allied liberation, was overwhelming. If you are not choked up upon exiting, something is not quite right.
Yoav and Hilla had arranged for us to go on a Hannukiot (a Tour of the Hannukah Lights) in the Old City, and judged it was calm enough to do so. The tour was in Hebrew, technically only for students of Hebrew University, but Hilla had gained permission for all 4 of us. Yoav translated for us here and there, but we all left the tour early as they judged the guide not to be very good. We were all very hungry also. (The tour started at 5:30 pm). Sunday was also Yoav's 30th birthday. We treated them to dinner out at a restaurant at the Cinemataque art theater that Yoav's friend Hanan and his girlfriend had chosen. There was quite a mix up with our orders, but the food was good. Monday we came back to Be'er Sheva on the 11:30 am bus, arriving around 1:15 pm at the downtown station.
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Christmas Cookies and Caroling
Once again, it has been 2 weeks since I last wrote. I have been very busy, among other things, considering beginning a PhD in Foreign Languages and Literatures, struggling onward in my Ivrit (Hebrew) bakitah (class), reading and attending for Prof. Gelber's Current Topics in Literature Seminar, researching for the Stefan Zweig annotation project for the German Studies Center, which Prof. Gelber heads, and of course, tutoring English. Add to that the Young Voices Magazine proposed project, and, well, you get the idea!
Tonight is Christmas Eve, but as we are in Israel, it is of course a regular work day, though we are in the midst of Hannukah, there's no sign of outward festivities here in Be'er Sheva. Once again, I must emphasize that we are in the Jewish State. Christmas is only evident in cities that are holy to Christians (Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Nazareth, etc.) It is thus not "a wonderful experience to be in the Holy Land at Christmas", not unless one is in one of the cities where pilgrims frequent. The observed holiday for the 8 day Hannukah holiday is Sunday,December 28th, when we don't have my Hebrew class for a change. There is a Christmas Eve service tonight at the Catholic Church, but my Hebrew Ulpan meets from 5-8 pm. There is another service on Christmas Day, but I don't know if we will go. David and Daria, another med student and his wife, are hosting a Christmas Day brunch at their apartment tomorrow. (The American med school students get Christmas Day off, but ONLY Christmas Day).
A week and a half ago (Saturday, Dec. 13th), Sonja, from Austria, and Nadine, from Germany, came over to our apartment for some Christmas cookie baking. After about 4 hours of prep work and baking, everyone was ready to call it a day (we took a break for dinner... I think we had spaghetti and salad). The Christmas music of the King's Choir of Cambridge which I had downloaded from ITunes was playing, and I even found some German Christmas songs on YouTube and other sites, including our favorite of the day, "In the Weihnachtsbaeckerei" (In the Christmas Bakery).
Last Friday night, December 19th, we made our weekly trek to the med school student-led Bible Study, (a 40 minute walk... There are no buses on Shabbat) for a couple hours of Christmas Caroling, food, fun, and fellowship. Jacob looked like the Fonz from Happy Days, with his hair slicked back, as he led with the piano, while Ryan and David accompanied him with their guitars to all the favorites: O Come All Ye Faithful, Joy to the World, Hark the Herald Angels Sing, and some fun songs, like Rudolph and Walking in a Winter Wonderland, just to name a few. Spiced hot wine, similar to Gluehwein, hot apple cider, and prayer in 2 and 3 person groups served to round out a wonderful evening. I'll attach pictures of the cookie making and baking, and of the Christmas Caroling.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Christmas is Near
It's been almost 2 weeks since my last post. I've been keeping busy with my various projects. Last week on Wednesday when I returned home from my Hebrew class, Dawn had a surprise waiting for me... a 4 ft. tall Christmas tree! She found it at a Russian store downtown. (Be'er Sheva is home to a large Russian-speaking population from the former Soviet Union). Being in the Jewish State, there are no outward signs of Christmas here. For that, one must travel to Nazareth, Jerusalem, Bethlehem, or one of the other Christian Holy Sites. So, for those of you who wrote me saying, "What a wonderful thing to be in the Holy Land at Christmastime!," well that's not how it is unless we make our way up to Jerusalem or Bethlehem, etc. On the contrary, the lack of decorations and festivities makes me all the more homesick, for Christmas, for family, for some wonderful Michigan snow. (Yes, I know it's a pain to drive in sometimes, but I'll take a White Christmas over others any time!).
We are considering visiting Bethlehem around the holidays. We'll have to see what the current security situation is in the West Bank, where Bethlehem is. Here, I must emphasize that Israel is quite safe. It is the border towns on the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, and those communities WITHIN the West Bank, that are unstable. Be'er Sheva, on the other hand, is far from either the West Bank or the Gaza Strip.
Last Friday after our weekly Bible Study with the American med school students from Columbia University, Yuri and Kiong (two of the guys) hosted a Christmas Party complete with champagne, hot cider, cookies, cakes, and other yummy food. Yuri's parents also sent him an assortment of classic Christmas films on DVD: A Charlie Brown Christmas, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and Burl Ives' Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. A fun time, and the first time (other than the Christmas tree Dawn brought home) that I was reminded that Christmas is near. Tree and Party pictures attached...
Friday, November 28, 2008
Thanksgiving in Be'er Sheva, Israel
Thanksgiving, of course, is a purely American holiday, but as we are far from friends and family back home, it was important to Dawn to have Thanksgiving here. So, each of us invited a few people. I invited three friends from the German Studies Center, and Dawn invited our next door neighbors, math department advisor, another professor, and Zach, another post-doc. A few people weren't able to make it. Including Dawn and myself, there were seven of us: Ilan, Daniel, Sonja, Nadine, Zach, Dawn, and me. We had trouble finding turkey, so instead we had chicken. Also, Dawn was afraid that if we did have turkey, it wouldn't fit in our rather small oven. Rather than pumpkin pie, we had squash pie, but I couldn't tell the difference myself. We had stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, chicken, and deviled eggs as an appetizer. Nadine brought a yummy tuna salad-tomato appetizer, and Sonja brought an amazing Greek salad. Unfortunately, none of the pictures really show good close-ups of the food. Daniel is pictured in the left-most photo, followed by Ilan. Zach is in the bottom photo. Everyone seemed to have a good time, with lots of laughing and talking. Even without music, fun was had by all. Dawn also made an apple pie, so we had both apple and "pumpkin" (squash) pie! Yumm!!
Friday, November 21, 2008
Hebrew Ulpan at BGU
An "ulpan" is the Hebrew word for an intensive course in Hebrew to bring prospective immigrants or long term residents up to speed on the official language of Israel. Actually, Israel has two official languages, Hebrew and Arabic, but according to our teacher, and according to what I've seen, most non-Arabs do not take learning Arabic all that seriously. She told us that young people are much more likely to know English than they are to know Arabic.
Our first class was Sunday, November 16th. Classes meet on Sunday and Wednesday evenings from 5-8 pm. This is less than a traditional ulpan outside the university, which generally meets 5 days a week, for 4 to 5 hours a day. I was very impressed with our teacher, "Mrs. Hannah". She was born in Argentina, and moved to Israel 41 years ago. I would guess she's somewhere in her low to mid 60s, and I believe her claim that she has lots of experience teaching non-natives Hebrew. She is fluent in Spanish, English, and Hebrew, and also knows some Russian. I was quite impressed. She didn't do anything fancy, but the 3 hours went by quite quickly. We learned how to say Hello, my name is.., what's your name, etc.., as well as the expression for to like or not like something, that we are learning Hebrew, and that we speak any number of languages. In my case, that would be Anglit (English) and Germanit (German). The class has about 20 students, many from Russia or Ukraine, and also from Thailand, China, Canada, Peru, and of course, the U.S. We did not have class Wednesday evening, as Hannah told us that her grandson had just been born 4 days ago, and the 8th day is the traditional day for the circumcision ceremony, barring any medical complications that postpone the circumcision. Wednesday happened to be that day.
In a future post, I'll try to list some Hebrew phrases. The hard part is going to be not the speaking, but the writing, as not only do they write from right to left, instead of left to right like Europeans, Americans, and many others, but the Hebrew alphabet is a series of lines, dots, curves, and dashes. The alphabet has 22 letters. I have my work cut out from me, but it will be great if I can say something other than "Anglit??" or "Shalom" (Hello) or "Todah!" (Thanks!).
Our first class was Sunday, November 16th. Classes meet on Sunday and Wednesday evenings from 5-8 pm. This is less than a traditional ulpan outside the university, which generally meets 5 days a week, for 4 to 5 hours a day. I was very impressed with our teacher, "Mrs. Hannah". She was born in Argentina, and moved to Israel 41 years ago. I would guess she's somewhere in her low to mid 60s, and I believe her claim that she has lots of experience teaching non-natives Hebrew. She is fluent in Spanish, English, and Hebrew, and also knows some Russian. I was quite impressed. She didn't do anything fancy, but the 3 hours went by quite quickly. We learned how to say Hello, my name is.., what's your name, etc.., as well as the expression for to like or not like something, that we are learning Hebrew, and that we speak any number of languages. In my case, that would be Anglit (English) and Germanit (German). The class has about 20 students, many from Russia or Ukraine, and also from Thailand, China, Canada, Peru, and of course, the U.S. We did not have class Wednesday evening, as Hannah told us that her grandson had just been born 4 days ago, and the 8th day is the traditional day for the circumcision ceremony, barring any medical complications that postpone the circumcision. Wednesday happened to be that day.
In a future post, I'll try to list some Hebrew phrases. The hard part is going to be not the speaking, but the writing, as not only do they write from right to left, instead of left to right like Europeans, Americans, and many others, but the Hebrew alphabet is a series of lines, dots, curves, and dashes. The alphabet has 22 letters. I have my work cut out from me, but it will be great if I can say something other than "Anglit??" or "Shalom" (Hello) or "Todah!" (Thanks!).
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Update on Life in Be'er Sheva
Most of our time is spent here in Be'er Sheva, not on the go, as previous posts might suggest. On a daily basis, Dawn works diligently to solve vexing theoretical mathematical problems, while I do several things such as tutor English, volunteer in the German Studies Center on the BGU campus, and work as a volunteer on promoting a magazine called Young Voices, which is the idea of an 83 year old American-Israeli Jew, Sam Silver, to be written in English by teenagers in Israel. In the German Studies Center, I am helping with the preparations involved in annotating a German-language European edition of Stefan Zweig's Die Welt von Gestern (The World of Yesterday).
Next week, when the semester finally starts (a strike by the faculty last year delayed both the end of the previous academic year and the start of this year), I begin a twice-weekly, three hour per class, Hebrew course on the campus of Ben Gurion University. Dawn and I also had the good fortune to recently find a Bible Study group, largely made up of med school students here at BGU, and all native speakers of English. Slowly but surely, we are coming into our own.
Next week, when the semester finally starts (a strike by the faculty last year delayed both the end of the previous academic year and the start of this year), I begin a twice-weekly, three hour per class, Hebrew course on the campus of Ben Gurion University. Dawn and I also had the good fortune to recently find a Bible Study group, largely made up of med school students here at BGU, and all native speakers of English. Slowly but surely, we are coming into our own.
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Pictures of Mitzpe Romon Crater
Pictures of Mitzpe Romon Crater (See post titled "Ben Gurion's home, Avdat, Mitzpe Romon Crater)...
Ben Gurion's home, Avdat, Mitzpe Romon Crater
Monday, November 3rd, was our last full day with our rental car. Once again, we headed out about 8:30 am, heading south on Highway 40, the highway that winds its way through the desert from Be'er Sheva to Eilat on the southern coast. Highway 90 (See Dead Sea and Masada Post) is straighter, but that requires driving 1 hour east before turning south, and we weren't going all the way to Eilat anyway, just about half way, to Mitzpe Romon. First, we stopped after about 60 km. at Ben Gurion's home in Sde Boker. It is here that he "retired" to this kibbutz in the middle of the Negev desert. Even at nearly 80 years old in 1963, he insisted on working beside the laborers for 4 hours every morning. David Ben Gurion is the namesake of Ben Gurion University, among other things. He was both Israel's first prime minister, and also Defense Minister, serving from 1949-1953, and after a 2 year self-imposed sabbatical to recuperate from the stress of the job, came back, serving for another 8 years, from 1955-1963. He died at the age of 87 in 1973. His dream was that Israel's future lies in the Negev, which covers 2/3 or more of Israel's land area, yet comprises less than 10% of Israel's population. His read voraciously, as his library on his homestead demonstrates. He and his wife also lived very modestly. No pictures were allowed inside the house, unfortunately, so I can't show what it looked like. There was a living room, 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms, only one of which had a bathtub, and his library/office. He and his wife slept in separate rooms. His will decreed that the house remain exactly as he had left it, but Israel has added an adjacent museum, and, further away, a very small gift shop and wine tasting room. Surrounding the homestead is the active Kibbutz.
Next, we stopped at Ben Gurion and his wife's tomb, less than 5 km. further south, which afforded magnificent views of the surrounding countryside, as well as numerous ibexes, antelope-like animals. Then, we continued another 20 km. or so to Avdat National Park, the ancient Nabotean town, taken over in the 3rd century CE by the Romans, and repopulated briefly by the Byzantines from the 5th-7th centuries. It is an amazing site, one of several inscribed as an UNESCO World Heritage Site which mark the ancient Spice Route from Arabia to the Mediterranean Sea at Gaza. It includes ruins of 2 Byzantine era churches, which have been determined to have been monostaries as well, a Roman fortress, remains of foundations of houses, a Roman watch tower, and several caves, as well as a burial ground, and the ruins of a Roman villa. Seeing everything requires the better part of a day. We were there about 2 hours.
Finally, we drove another 20 km. or so south to the Crater at Mitzpe Romon. This crater is an ancient inland sea, now dry, that is some 35 km. long by 25 km. wide. I imagine it is similar to the Grand Canyon, though I've never been there. An excellent Visitors Center offers outstanding views of the crater, as well as displays and a short film in English. After leaving the Visitors Center, we drove another 5 km. down into the crater and climbed up for another vantage point from the Carpenter's Trail, so named because the stones sort of look like 2x4 pieces of wood sticking straight up. Dawn's goal was to watch the sun setting, which we achieved, setting out for our return trip to Be'er Sheva at 5 pm, which was now 100 km. to the north and a 1 hr. 15 minute drive back.
Back in Be'er Sheva, we enjoyed excellent hamburgers at an American style hamburger place at BIG, the local strip mall of gigantic proportions. (Black's Burgers is not fast food, but premium burgers, a little like Fuddrucker's, but without the do-it-yourself toppings. We had a choice of 5 or so sauces to put on our burgers (ketchup, mustard, BBQ, Thousand Island, Chipotle), and added fried onions to our burgers as well as the standard fixins. No cheeseburgers, of course, though! I had a spinach-walnut-beef burger called a Green Burger. Huge!
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