The Plague and the return to Zion
Now that I'm almost all better and have somewhat of a voice again, I can finally update on all the events of the past few days.
This past Wednesday, we went on a mini-Tiyul to the Cave of John the Baptist, located right here on Kibbutz Tzuba. Reuven, one of our Jewish history teachers, is apparently also a famous archeologist. In the mid-90's, he and another kibbutznik were working in the orchard down in one of Tzuba's valleys, and it began to rain. Naturally, not wanting to leave the field and have to walk all the way back to their quarters in the rain, then return later, Reuven and his buddy found a nice bush to shelter under for a bit. It just so happens that they found this small cave, big enough for them to squeeze in and wait out the rain. Years later, though, Reuven brought in an archeologist friend of his and they excavated the mud out of the cave that had built up over the years. What they found astounded them---an image carved into the back wall of the cave, of none other than John the Baptist.
After more excavating, the teams uncovered an entire complex near the cave including a temple from the 8th century B.C.E., built over and around a large cistern that served as a ritual bath for hundreds of years, up until the towns around Jerusalem were conquered and the temples went out of use. This location served as a classroom for a few hours, which beats any box-style classroom any day. We also had class in another cave Thursday and discussed some psalms, Ruth, and the transition of G-d from an omnipresent being that slaps your hand with a bolt of lightning every time you screw up to the G-d that we know, the behind-the-scenes kind of G-d.
One of the coolest things by far, Friday afternoon we went to an old age home in Jerusalem and spread some love for the upcoming new year (Rosh Hashanah), as well as for Shabbat. Most of us couldn't even speak with the residents, mostly due to our complete butchering of the Hebrew language, but I did manage to struggle through a few conversations. The one woman that I gathered anything from talked to me in Hebrew, Arabic, and English--interchangeably. She was born in Baghdad, thought that Saddam "was a bastard" (the English she used), so she went to Germany and found out that they don't like Jews there either...so she ended up in Israel, below the bread line and without a decent home or care for her. After all this, I wished her a happy new year and good Shabbas, at which point she told me in Hebrew that she wanted me to shut up and leave her in peace...with a smile. All in all, it's the mitvah that matters, and we did a good thing that day.
Over the weekend, I went to visit with family that I haven't seen in something like 12 years. All I can say about that experience is that: a) BIG dogs are nice once you get to know them; b) Movies are so much better with Samuel L. Jackson, snakes, planes, and Hebrew subtitles; c) The quintessential Israeli beach experience includes swimming, sunning, and playing a strange game resembling ping pong, but larger; and d) Free laundry.
And then came The Plague. Shortly after that, a scary car ride, the sketchy Israeli doctors, followed by 26 hours of sleeping.
And then came the dozen bowls of chicken soup, the 30 liters of water, and the 64 trips to the bathroom to get rid of afore-mentioned water.
Now, I am better! (Heavens rejoice!)
Tonight we went to the Israeli National Museum and saw a scale version of what the city of Jerusalem looked like in the days of Herod's rule, the time of the Second Temple (or Beit Hamikdash, for those in the know). It turns out that the Western Wall (Kotel) is only 1/100th the size of the actual Western Wall of the Temple when it was still standing. After dodging some rogue sprinkler heads (scary stuff, let me tell you), we came to a little hole in the side of the hill that turned out to be a room with reclining stone benches and a large hole in the ceiling---for stargazing. This was my moment of Zen for the past few days, and allowed me to reflect on how excited I am to be here and what I have to look forward to.
Upcoming events: Tomorrow, more of the Old City. Thursday, more of the Old City and the Dead Sea. Friday, we climb Masada at 4am, and then spend the rest of the weekend (Rosh Hashanah) at Kibbutz Lotan in the southern Negev.
Love and abundant israeli cats,
Aron
PS- Send me letters!!!
Aron Altmark
NFTY-EIE High School
Kibbutz Tzuba
90870 D.N. Harei Yehuda
ISRAEL
Be sure to mark all letters with "AIRMAIL", otherwise they end up on some fishing boat in the Atlantic. If e-mail is more your thing, my e-mail address is aronaltmark@aol.com.
This past Wednesday, we went on a mini-Tiyul to the Cave of John the Baptist, located right here on Kibbutz Tzuba. Reuven, one of our Jewish history teachers, is apparently also a famous archeologist. In the mid-90's, he and another kibbutznik were working in the orchard down in one of Tzuba's valleys, and it began to rain. Naturally, not wanting to leave the field and have to walk all the way back to their quarters in the rain, then return later, Reuven and his buddy found a nice bush to shelter under for a bit. It just so happens that they found this small cave, big enough for them to squeeze in and wait out the rain. Years later, though, Reuven brought in an archeologist friend of his and they excavated the mud out of the cave that had built up over the years. What they found astounded them---an image carved into the back wall of the cave, of none other than John the Baptist.
After more excavating, the teams uncovered an entire complex near the cave including a temple from the 8th century B.C.E., built over and around a large cistern that served as a ritual bath for hundreds of years, up until the towns around Jerusalem were conquered and the temples went out of use. This location served as a classroom for a few hours, which beats any box-style classroom any day. We also had class in another cave Thursday and discussed some psalms, Ruth, and the transition of G-d from an omnipresent being that slaps your hand with a bolt of lightning every time you screw up to the G-d that we know, the behind-the-scenes kind of G-d.
One of the coolest things by far, Friday afternoon we went to an old age home in Jerusalem and spread some love for the upcoming new year (Rosh Hashanah), as well as for Shabbat. Most of us couldn't even speak with the residents, mostly due to our complete butchering of the Hebrew language, but I did manage to struggle through a few conversations. The one woman that I gathered anything from talked to me in Hebrew, Arabic, and English--interchangeably. She was born in Baghdad, thought that Saddam "was a bastard" (the English she used), so she went to Germany and found out that they don't like Jews there either...so she ended up in Israel, below the bread line and without a decent home or care for her. After all this, I wished her a happy new year and good Shabbas, at which point she told me in Hebrew that she wanted me to shut up and leave her in peace...with a smile. All in all, it's the mitvah that matters, and we did a good thing that day.
Over the weekend, I went to visit with family that I haven't seen in something like 12 years. All I can say about that experience is that: a) BIG dogs are nice once you get to know them; b) Movies are so much better with Samuel L. Jackson, snakes, planes, and Hebrew subtitles; c) The quintessential Israeli beach experience includes swimming, sunning, and playing a strange game resembling ping pong, but larger; and d) Free laundry.
And then came The Plague. Shortly after that, a scary car ride, the sketchy Israeli doctors, followed by 26 hours of sleeping.
And then came the dozen bowls of chicken soup, the 30 liters of water, and the 64 trips to the bathroom to get rid of afore-mentioned water.
Now, I am better! (Heavens rejoice!)
Tonight we went to the Israeli National Museum and saw a scale version of what the city of Jerusalem looked like in the days of Herod's rule, the time of the Second Temple (or Beit Hamikdash, for those in the know). It turns out that the Western Wall (Kotel) is only 1/100th the size of the actual Western Wall of the Temple when it was still standing. After dodging some rogue sprinkler heads (scary stuff, let me tell you), we came to a little hole in the side of the hill that turned out to be a room with reclining stone benches and a large hole in the ceiling---for stargazing. This was my moment of Zen for the past few days, and allowed me to reflect on how excited I am to be here and what I have to look forward to.
Upcoming events: Tomorrow, more of the Old City. Thursday, more of the Old City and the Dead Sea. Friday, we climb Masada at 4am, and then spend the rest of the weekend (Rosh Hashanah) at Kibbutz Lotan in the southern Negev.
Love and abundant israeli cats,
Aron
PS- Send me letters!!!
Aron Altmark
NFTY-EIE High School
Kibbutz Tzuba
90870 D.N. Harei Yehuda
ISRAEL
Be sure to mark all letters with "AIRMAIL", otherwise they end up on some fishing boat in the Atlantic. If e-mail is more your thing, my e-mail address is aronaltmark@aol.com.
posted by aron at 3:11 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home