Photos from Masada and Qumran

Bedouin camps in the Judean Desert. In the last pictures you can see their herd of sheep and goats.





A typical view of the Judean Desert.





The path leading up to the mountain to Masada. No, sir, we didn't walk we rode the tram.





The view of the bottom from one oh Herod's guest villas.





A grain store room.





One of the many self-indulgent sauna baths converted to ritual mikva-ot by the Zealots.





A mosaic floor with showing Jewish art popular in the Herodian period.





The view the Zealots would have had of one of the Roman encampments. IfIt was from this encampment that the Romans built the infrastructure for the assault on the mountain compound.





One of the many cisterns that provided the Zealots with the rwater needed for both drinking and ritual baths. The original cistern would have had a roof to prevent algae from spoiling the water.









Views of the Zealot's synagogue.









The Columbarium Tower where doves and pigeons were kept for food.





One of Herod's guest villas.





A large community Mikveh at Qumran.





Remains of the Qumran refrectory.





The kitchen and storage area at Qumran. Many coking, serving, and eating utensils were found here. No scrolls were found in the ruins, however. It should be noted that the Romans destroyed the settlement. Prior to the destruction, the kitchen utensils would have been of use to them. The scrolls would have been of no use. The first scrolls were found by a Beduin shepherd boy in a cave barely 100 yards away.





The cave in which the first scrolls were found. Archeologists had been frantically searching the ruins for the scrolls when they were virtually under their noses in the nearby cave.





A close by oasis where the Essene community at Qumran probably cultivated their fruit and grain.





Yet another Bedouin encampment. Their herd is on the slope above the blue tractor.

Location:קרן היסוד,Jerusalem,Israel

Swimming in the Dead Sea

We don't actually know these guys, but this is what you look like when you apply the therapeutic Dead Sea mud before swimming.





Even a group can't sink!





Someone forgot to wash the mud off her face.





The Emmanuel, Braintree blackmail shot. "Right now you have to be asking yourself a question. Do you feel silly yet? Well punk, do ya?"

Location:קרן היסוד,Jerusalem,Israel

The Dead Sea

On Sunday we passed through the area known as the West Bank again, this time leaving Jerusalem and going down to Jericho (which was not very visible in the morning haze) through the Judean Desert and on to the Dead Sea. Along the way we saw several Bedouin settlements. we also saw some young Bedouin shepherds and shepherdesses attending their flocks. In the Bible, the word for Bedouin is "Hebrew." We also went by En Gedi, the oasis where David fled from King Saul.
In Biblical times, En Gedi, and other oases like it, was involved in the manufacture of a perfume known as Persimmon. The perfume had nothing to do with the fruit of the same name. The perfume was wildly and widely popular and made its manufacturers very wealthy. The recipe for the perfume was a carefully guarded secret and was lost when the sundry oases were destroyed by the Romans after the uprising circa 70 c.e.
Our first stop was at the south shore of the Dead Sea at Masada. Masada was built by Herod the Great on top of a rocky mountain as a palace and fortress. His thought was that he should have a refuge to flee to in the event that he was forced to flee.
Herod spent little time at Masada. Following the Jewish uprising in Jerusalem circa 70 c.e a group of Zealots took up residence in Masada. The Zealots made several changes in Herod's compound, among which was changing the self-indulgent seam baths to rather homey ritual purity baths known as Mikva-ot (Mikveh in the singular).
The Romans eventually arrived at the base of Masada with the goal of bringing the Zealots to their knees by cutting off supplies of food and water to the compound. What the Romans did not know was the the compound was very well provisioned. After nearly three years the Romans lost patience and prepared to siege the compound. It took some months for the Romans to engineer the infrastructure necessary to successfully attack the mountaintop fortress.
With the infrastructure in place, and their doom assured, most of the Zealots apparently killed their wives and children and then committed suicide. The story was related to the historian Flavius Josephus by a handful of women and children who survived.
After Masada we went for a mud bath and swim in the Dead Sea. what they say is true. You really cannot sink in the Dead Sea! A grand time was had by all, and the embarrassing photographic evidence will be shared in a separate post.
Our next and final stops of the day was at Qumran, the spot where the Dead Sea Scrolls were first discovered by a Bedouin shepherd boy in a cave in the 1940s. Also at Qumran are the ruins of strict monastic-style Jewish sect known as the Essenes. After viewing the caves and ruins at Qumran we returned to Jerusalem.

Father Tom

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Location:Judean Desert

Touring Jerusalem

We began Saturday with a talk delivered by Rabbi Joel Oseran of the World Union for Progressive Judaism, a Reform Judaism international organization. According to Rabbi Oseran, one of the biggest challenges facing the government in Israel is involved in religion. As things now stand, the Orthodox movement has great political clout, and has exercised at clout to insure that it is only Orthodox rabbis in Israel who may officially marry couples, bury the dead, circumcise, etc. The Reform movement is seen as a maverick, underground movement, and it's rabbis are, at present, not permitted to officiate in these ceremonies.
According to Rabbi Oseran, the hope for Israel is that Israelis will come to know and appreciate that there are other alternatives to the Orthodox movement. Israel, he says, needs to be open to a more pluralistic Judaism.

After Rabbi Oserna's talk we went on a walking tour of the four quarters of the old city - Arab, Armenian, Jewish and Christian. The tour included the very crowded and hectic old market, where we had our lunch.





The Damascus Gate leading out of the old city.

After our tour of the old city we visited the Garden Tomb, an Anglican holy site located across the street from the Damascus Gate. Our tour was led by Martin, an enthusiastic evangelical Englishman who did his best to convince all assembled that the ruins on the site proved the truth of the resurrection.






A photo of the rock hill described in the gospels as Golgotha, or place of the skull. If you can look carefully and imaginatively you can make out facial features - eyes, nose and mouth - in the caves and rock formations - or so Martin said.
The Garden Tomb is outside the photograph to the left.





Visitors entering the Garden Tomb.





The burial chamber in the Garden Tomb.





The door into the Garden Tomb.

After our tour we had a brief Holy Communion service in the garden.

The Anglican site has a Roman Catholic competitor in the old city. A few of our number visited this site and the site claiming to be the upper room as well. As it was late in the day, some of us, including your correspondent, chose not to fight their was through the mayhem in the old city marketplace a second time.

Location:Jerusalem

Photos from Friday

This is a photo of parts or Jerusalem taken from the Haas Promenade. We are essentially looking northeast from the promenade. Jerusalem may be divided into three sections. There is the ancient city, the city of the Second Temple and the time of Jesus. There is the old city. and there is the new city.
In this photo we are looking for the most part at the ancient city and the old city.
The old city is in the area of the golden dome seen toward the top of the city. The golden dome is known as the Dome of the Rock. It is built on top of the Ruins of the Second Temple. The Dome of the Rock is not a mosque, however. It is a shrine marking the place where the prophet Mohammed is said to have ascended into Heaven. It is located in the Arab Quarter, and only Muslims may enter it.
The black dome to the right of the Dome of the Rock is a mosque.
There are four quarters in the old city: Arab, Jewish, Armenian, and Christian.
The ancient city is also visible in the photo. Locate the blue spot toward the middle of the photo beneath the Dome of the Rock. The area from the blue spot over to the vegetation on the right is part of the ancient city - the Jerusalem Jesus would have known. The ancient city continues past the bottom of the photo. The Temple, where the Dome of the Rock is now, would have been hovering over the ancient city.
The vegetation on the right is the beginning of the Kidron Valley.





The two towers at the top of this photo show the Mount of Olives. It is to the right and behind the Dome of the Rock.





The white dome that is seen on the left side of the picture is a synagogue in the Jewish Quarter of the old city. The Christian Quarter is behind it. the Dome of the Rock is to the right, outside the picture.





Trip participants from Emanuel Parish, Braintree. From the left: Sheila Smith, Jeanne Smallcomb, Linda King, Christine Bentley, and Fr. Tom Mulvey.





Trip participants from Congregation Sha'aray Shalom, Hingham. From the left: Neil Satran, Barbara Carlin, Rabbi Shira Joseph, David Alschuler, Penny Alschuler, Joan Carr, and Saul Joseph.





The whole gang.






Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Center in Jerusalem.














Views of the men's section of the Western Wall - known to Christians as the "Wailing Wall." The Dome of the Rock is above the wall to the left of the photo. The women's section is the smaller section to the right in the bottom photo.




Father Mulvey praying at the Western Wall on the Sabbath.

Location:Jerusalem and environs

Jerusalem, City of Peace

Thursday night, we saw the view of the city from Mt. Scopus. Friday morning our journey began at the Haas Promenade, in Hebrew know as the tayelet. This is a vantage point overlooking the expanse from the ancient city to the old city, Mount Scopus, the mount of olives and beyond. This promenade was built in the late 1980's.

We then took a brief tour of Jerusalem, moving seamlessly through East and West Jerusalem. We happened upon a stunning wedding couple taking photographs at the Wohl Rose Garden, a public garden on the sloping hill below the Knesset at the foot of the Israeli Supreme Court. I think we were surprised to learn it was a Palestinian Couple which Amir noted due to the bride's most beautiful and unusual wedding gown in which she was covered in lace like a cape from head to toe.

From there we went to Yad Vashem, the Holocaust memorial campus. We learned this was not a museum, as it contained many buildings - the world's largest repository of information, research, archives, children' memorial, museum, and more. It was consciously placed near the national cemetery of Har Herzl, like our Arlington National Cemetery. The Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC teaches history and is therefore placed near the Smithsonian. But for Jews there is an intimate link between the loss of six million lives in Europe and those soldiers who gave up their lives fighting for Israel's survival here, and this gives the Yad Vashem a different Gestalt than our Holocaust Museum.

In describing Yad Vashem, less is more, except to say that its name gives a glimmer of this place in which life, death, and eternity meet. A Yad in Hebrew, literally a hand, is a monument or a marker that goes on a grave. Shem, literally a name, is a memorial and a remembrance. We are taught in Judaism that our names contain our soul, our essence, if you will, for all eternity. With so many murdered, with no grave and no marker, this then is our collective grave. This is our monument and memorial to remind us that those who perished will never be forgotten.

There is no easy transition from what we saw to the next part of our journey, but as Amir reminded us, Jewish life is about moving forward.

Next we went to the Israel Museum where we saw the Dead Sea Scrolls. These scrolls are the oldest extant documents of the existence of the Jewish Bible. Evidence of every book of the Bible was found except for Esther. There were also additional Apochraphyl books that were found by a Jordanian shepherd boy in Qumran.

Finally we attended services at Har El synagogue. Har El translates "the mountain of God." It is located on Shmuel Hanagid Street in Jerusalem. This is a Reform Congregation led by Rabbi Ada Zavidov, a native Israeli. he is the first woman to serve as a congregational Rabbi in the history of Jerusalem.

Shira

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Location:Jerusalem

Lost in the hustle-bustle Part II - Thursday

We began our day Thursday at the boat museum on the Sea of Galilee. We saw an ancient fishing boat that had been raised from the bottom of the Sea of Galilee by marine archeologists and restored. The boat was from the time that Jesus conducted his ministry in the Galilee. No claim has been made that either Jesus or his disciples were ever in this particular boat. However, the craft is of the type that the disciples, as fishermen, would have used.

After viewing the boat museum we traveled to Capernaum, the "village of comfort." There we saw many interesting ruins. First we saw the ruins of the ancient Jewish village in existence during Jesus' time. Also on site was the ruins of a 4th century synagogue. While the synagogue was interesting in and of itself, what makes it even more interesting from a Christian perspective is the local legend that this structure was built upon the ruins of a more ancient synagogue; and, therefore, may have a synagogue where Jesus preached.

Last, it is believed that Jesus lived in Capernaum in the home of Saint Peter's mother in law. The ruins of a structure said to be her home are presently beneath a Franciscan church on site.

After Capernaum we traveled on to the Mount of the Beatitudes. There is a church on the site which is largely unremarkable. However, the site is interesting from a spiritual point of view, and the views of the Sea of Galilee are wonderful.

After the Mount of the Beatitudes we journeyed on to Tabgha, the site of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes (Mark 6:33-44). The church there was lovely, and had managed to save and use the tile floors from an earlier Byzantine church.

After Tabgha we went to Nazareth. On the way we went past the village of Nain. In Saint Luke's Gospel, Jesus brings the son of a widow back to life in Nain.

During Jesus' life, Nazareth was a small village of a couple of hundred people. Today, Nazareth is one of the largest Arab towns in Israel; and, if I may say so, is a bit on the dirty side. We were there for one purpose only - to visit the two churches which claim to be on the site of the Annunciation. (For non Christians, the Annunciation refers to the Angel Gabriel's announcement to Mary, the mother of Jesus, that she will conceive and bear him.)

In Saint Gabriel's Greek Orthodox Church we saw the well of the Blessed Virgin. This was a very cathartic experience for several of our members for whom the Blessed Virgin is spiritually important. The Roman Catholic Basilica was grand. Unfortunately, we could not explore it as there was a Mass getting underway.

From Nazareth we journeyed on to Jerusalem by way of the Palestinian controlled West Bank (known in Biblical times as Samaria). On the way we passed by Mount Gilboa. Gilboa was the mount on which King Saul lost his kingdom, and his head.

We arrived in Jerusalem at 8 pm for a blessing ceremony - a ceremony that capped a full day of blessings.





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Location:Upper Galilee

Lost in the hustle-bustle Part I - Wednesday

Wednesday was an awesome day. It began with a glorious sunrise on the Sea of Galilee.
Israeli Memorial Day began at sunset on Tuesday. For our observance of Memorial Day we journeyed to the Golan Heights. The Golan Heights loom over the Rift Valley. It is strategically important inasmuch as Whoever controls the heights controls the valley as well.
In the 1973 War Syria and Egypt coordinated a sneak attack on Israel on Yom Kippur. Egypt tracked from the south, and Syria attacked from the north in an attempt to gain the Golan Heights. Israel was unprepared for the attack. She also had to fight on two fronts.
In the North, the Syrians held a significant advantage in armored divisions. They also had superior equipment which included night vision capability.
After taking early losses, the Israelis rallied and drove the superior Syrian forces from the battlefield.
It was our good fortune to visit the scene of the battle where disabled tanks and landline warning signs remain to this day.
Later in the morning we visited Caesarea Philippi in the north of the country. we arrived a few minutes before 11 am. At 11 am, a siren sounded nationwide bringing activity to a respectful and mindful halt for a minute. After the siren we went through Caesarea Philippi with a fine tooth comb.
The city had been built by Philip, the son of Herod the Great.
When Herod the great died his kingdom was divided into a tetrarchy (four sectors each with its own ruler known as a tetrarchy). Philip was granted the area of Upper Galilee.
Philip built a Roman style city, dedicating it to himself and the emperor. The city included a Tell, a grandiose palace, a humble synagogue, and a magnificent temple dedicated to the Roman God, Pan.
It was here that Jesus asked his disciples who people said that he was; and, more importantly, who the disciples said he was. Peter, taking the lead, stated that Jesus was the messiah, the son of God.
After leaving Caesarea Philippi we visited Tsfad, a center of Jewish mysticism named Kaballah. We had a chance to visit the Sephardic Synagogue and to do a little shopping.
Israeli Independence day began at sundown. We observed Independence Day with a marvelous dinner at the home of Kobi and Anat Rinott, friends of Shira and Saul Joseph. The Rinott's cohosts were Nurit Ivnitsky and her partner Moshe. we had an Israeli style dinner. At each table were four Americans and two Israelis. We were encouraged to ask our table hosts to describe for us what they found to be the joys and the challenges of living in Israel.
After the meal we went to Timrat town center for Israeli songs, dancing, flag ceremonies.
We returned to the Kibbutz in the Galilee late in the evening.




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Location:אברהם מאפו,Jerusalem,Israel

Photos from Thursday

A water lily on the upper Jordan.









An ancient fishing boat from the time of Jesus raised from the bottom of the Sea of Galilee. No claim has been made that either Jesus or his disciples ever set foot in this particular craft. However, the boats they used would have been of this kind.





The call of the disciples from the boat museum in the Galilee.





Ruins of the village of Capernaum. Jesus' ministry was largely based here.






Ruins of a 4th century synagogue in Capernaum. Some believe that it may be built over the ancient synagogue where Jesus preached.





These ruins are said to be of the home of Saint Peter's mother in law. Jesus is said to have lived here during his ministry. It is now beneath a Franciscan church.





Church atop the Mount of the Beatitudes.





An ancient tile floor preserved in the Church of the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fishes in the village of Tabgha.





The exterior of the Church of the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fishes.





"And did those feet in ancient time walk upon England's mountains green?"
No, no they didn't! They walked right here, in the Sea of Galilee! And so did ours!





Saint Gabriel's Orthodox Church dedicated to the Annunciation. The well in the church is said to be Mary's. It is also said to be the site of the Annunciation.





A street in Nazareth. Nazareth today is largely Arab.





The Roman Catholic Church in Nazareth dedicate to the Annunciation.





A rose in the church garden.





Mount Gilboa in Samaria. King Saul lost his kingdom - and his head - here.





Another photo of present day Samaria aka the West Bank? The village before the mountains is in Jordan.

Location:The Galilee