Abu Ghosh

Today there are roughly 1.3 million Arab Israelis in Israel. They represent approximately 20% of the population. About 82% of them are Muslim and the remaining 18% is divided almost equally between Christians and Druze. They are living in a state which makes attempts to be both Jewish and Democratic, leading to some interesting conundrums.

On Saturday I went on a Field Study to Abu Ghosh, the only Arab village allowed to remain along the Jerusalem Corridor during the war of 1948. There we met with their Head of Education, Issa Jaber who told us some of the history of the town and offered some insight about how it was to live as a Muslim in a Jewish state.

We met him at our first stop of the day: the Church of Notre Dame de l’Arche d’Alliance. The church was built over the remains of a Byzantine church - ceramic tile work is still visible in many places. The current church was built in 1917 and commemorates the house of Abinadab in Kiriath-jearim where the Ark of the Covenant stayed for 20 years, until David brought it to Jerusalem. (See 1 Samuel 7 and 2 Samuel 6). The church even has a picture of David playing "the organ" before the ark.

The church is visible for miles around, along with the statue that sits atop it: Mary, holding Jesus, standing on the Ark, facing towards Jerusalem.

The Christian population in Abu Ghosh is basically non-existent. The church is kept up by a few nuns who live there and run a guest house, but no services are held in the church. It does see use, however, twice a year when the town has its semiannual Classical Music Festival.

Our second stop was also a church and monastery. This church, the Church of the Resurrection, dates back to the crusader period, for the most part. It was built on top of a fort of some sort constructed by the 10th Roman Legion. It commemorates the New Testament site of Emmaus. The tradition connecting this place to Emmaus is quite late, as far as traditions go, and therefore seems rather unlikely to have settled upon the correct location, theologically appealing though it may be. At any rate, the church has some lovely, newly restored, crusader-era frescoes and wonderful acoustics.

After this second church Issa took us to his house where his wife had spent all morning preparing an amazing lunch for us. Throughout our time with him he told us about various issues affecting him and his community. Education is a huge issue for him, as the head of education in Abu Ghosh. Biblical studies are required in the curriculum prescribed by the state, as well as Jewish history and literature. Islamic studies are not required, nor is space alloted for Islamic History and Literature, which is clearly something of an issue for the Islamic community. It would be like America being required to teach Chinese history and literature - instead of American history and literature.

We also learned about various other pars of life - marriage traditions and the importance of coffee. (Note: never serve coffee until nearly the end of the visit, make sure to use sugar, and if you are offered coffee, drink it!)

Over all, it was a refreshing visit. Abu Ghosh has a very unique history in Israel. It's a nice contrast to Jerusalem where religious tensions always run high, especially in this recent news. Issa reflects the general desire there for peace among the three major religions of the country as a chairman of ICCI.

After we left Issa and Abu Ghosh we stopped at Castel (pronounced kast-el...like it looks, but coming from the same word as castle). Castel was a site of great importance in April of 1948 as the Jews fought to gain access to Jerusalem. It also has great grass.

On top we took some time to discuss the events of April 1948, the taking and re-taking of Castel which allowed the road to Jerusalem to be held for 11 days. We then looked around at the view. For a geography geek like me it was a great view.

It was a good day. Quite informative. Lots to think about. And, of course, as on any good field study, there were flowers:

Ash Wednesday

The Prayer of Manasseh:

O Lord, Almighty God of our fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, thou who hast made heaven and earth with all their order; who has shackled the sea by thy word of command, who hast confined the deep and sealed it with thy terrible and glorious name; at whom all things shudder, and tremble before they power, for thy glorious splendor cannot be borne, and the wrath of thy threat to sinners is irresistible; yet immeasurable and unsearchable is thy promised mercy, for thou art the Lord Most High, of great compassion, long-suffering, and very merciful, and repentest over the evils of men.

Thou, O Lord, according to thy great goodness hast promised repentance and forgiveness to those who have sinned against thee; and in the multitude of thy mercies thou has appointed repentance for sinners, that they may be saved.

Therefore thou, O Lord, God of the righteous, hast not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance; thou hast appointed repentance for me, who am a sinner. For the sins I have committed are more in number than they sand of the sea; my transgressions are multiplied, O Lord, they are multiplied!

I am unworthy to look up and see the height of heaven because of the multitude of my iniquities. I am weighted down with many an iron fetter, so that I am rejected because of my sins, and I have no relief; for I have provoked thy wrath and have done what is evil in thy sight, setting up abominations and multiplying offenses.

And now I bend the knee of my heart, beseeching thee for thy kindness. I have sinned, O Lord, I have sinned, and I know my transgressions. I earnestly beseech thee, forgive me, O Lord, forgive me! Do not destroy me with my transgressions! Do not be angry with me forever or lay up evil for me; do not condemn me to the depths of the earth.

For thou, O Lord, art the God of those who repent, and in me thou wilt manifest thy goodness; for, unworthy as I am, though wilt save me in thy great mercy, and I will praise thee continually all the days of my life. For all the host of heaven sings thy praise, and thine is the glory forever.

Imposition of the Ashes:

Turn away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel,

Remember, you are dust and to dust you will return.

First Impression, Second Impressions

This new semester has been sort of an odd juxtaposition of new things and old things. I spent a full semester in this room, (sorry, it's rather poorly stitched together, but you get the idea)
at this school, in this city,
in this country. Some things are wonderfully familiar. On the other hand, that semester was in the fall, with an entirely different group of people and classes. Some things are amazingly different. I will try to sort my thoughts into those two categories, and probably fail miserably, but hey.

First Impressions?
1. New students started arriving on Friday. I think I've met most of them, though certainly not all, and I don't remember all of their names. There are a lot of Steve's, Matt's, Mark's, and Jo(h)n's. (Feeling Biblical, parents, weren't we?) Good recipe for confusion.
2. It's a much smaller group than last semester, which is sort of nice. At least in some ways. There are a total of 34 students living on campus.
3. There are two new girls here for the grad program - yay! More long-termers.
4. There are actually more guys than girls on campus this semester, though most are undergraduates, for you wannabe matchmakers out there. :) Nonetheless, that's a rather unique situation from most Christian contexts I've been in.
5. There is one Canadian, one Norwegian, one from Hong Kong, and a couple MKs from Kenya. I guess that adds a bit to our cultural diversity. :)
5b. I think I'm still the only Montanan on campus. (One student's wife grew up in MT.)
6. It's kind of different to be one of the "returners." Perhaps a little like it is at Clydehurst? One wants to be helpful and welcoming, and still avoid being a know-it-all. It's so great to see the other returners - it's comfortable being with them. But on the other hand, one wants to avoid any semblence of a new-people-excluding clique.
7. I ate my first whole kumquat the other day. It was a bit weird, but tasty.
8. I went to Jerusalem Baptist Church on Sunday with a few other students. It was interesting, but I don't think I'll make it my "home." I do need to work on finding/deciding on a home church, though.
9. I discovered today that there is a Mechanical Engineering major here. Yay! Someone who will get some of my geeky jokes!
10. I finally brough my first JUC shirt today.
11. I finally went shopping at Shabban's and got a couple skirts. His "new" remodled shop is now open.

Second Impressions?
1. I've been pondering how different it feels to arrive here in the winter (spring semester) as opposed to the summer (fall semester). While it's not terribly cold (it reminds me of spring in Montana, or the the weather during staff training) it's also not terribly warm. Jackets, coats, sweatshirts, hats, scarves, and gloves are all rather welcome.
2. This contrast was especially apparent as some of us returning students accompanied the new geography students on their first "field study" around the Old City. On our first tour I remember distinctly being very warm and sweaty. Especially when we went and saw the tomb of Joseph of Aramathea inside the Church of the Holy Sepluchre. This time, I have to admit that it was really nice to go inside that rather tight and enclosed area of the church to soak up a little extra warmth.
3. Speaking of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, I finally got to go inside the actual "tomb" of Jesus for the first time. (Since we had heard most of Dr. Wright's teaching on these things before, some of us we a bit less attentive to him and a bit more attentive to other details).4. I also love listening to the different groups chanting in the church.
5. I'm getting more used to the smell of insense.6. I feel fairly comfortable in my ability to avoid getting helplessly lost in the Old City, but I'm not entirely certain of being able to find anything on the first try. :)
7. I've been here nearly a week and have yet to be bitten by a mosquito or see a lizard. Cats, however, are still quite common. In fact, I seem to be seeing cats everywhere today. There was a cat outside my window when I got up this morning (my window looks out on a 3-story-high roof) and there was one peering over the stairs at me just now.
8. I saw my Hebrew teacher today. After he told me that he forgot I was coming back but he was very good to see me, he told me I did very well on my final last semester. Well, that's encouraging. :)
9. It's a little greener than it was in the fall, but we are still in desperate need of rain.
10. Pretty sure all the warm weather last semester has turned me into a wimp. :)
11. People in Jerusalem are still crazy. I mean, well, I guess different cultures react different ways to their "holy" city. I, for one, have no desire to parade around the town with drums, dancing and singing. Apparently some people do. Whatever makes your socks go up and down.12. I've come to have a higher opinion of the value of tradition than I had at the beginning of last semester.
13. I still have much to learn about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict...but I rather dislike it when people pick a side and cling to it tenaciously. Biblically speaking, there are clearly right and wrong aspects of both sides.

Random thoughts:
1. I found out yesterday that some people are not familiar with the phrase "Don't look a gift horse in the mouth," not to mention "Don't sniff a gift fish." ;) I suppose they also would be confused by "Beware of Greeks bearing gifts" and, of course, "Beware of bears greeking gifts" would be a total mystery. (If you get the reference in that last one, major kudos.)
2. I learned that about 30,000 people live in the old city. In has an area of about 220 acres. My parent's house is situated "on" about 80 acres. Multiply that area by three and the crowd the population of Bozeman into it. That's crazy.
3. I'm looking forward to having a falafel. :)
4. I got to sit in a hammock!
5. This is one of the driest winters in Israel since...I don't know when, but apparently quite a while. And they're already in a drought.
6. It did rain the other night, and I went up on the roof with Amy to see the lightening.
7. I'm going to quit trying to think of other things that have struck me since returning and just publish this post.