Yes, I'm really far behind. What with finals, and then Jordan...sorry all. This post is going to catch up on all the big stuff that happened before Jordan, and then I'll do another on Jordan, and then some things that have happened since coming back from Jordan.
Hezekiah's tunnel is one of the coolest things ever. So, the story is that back in the 7th century or so B.C. the Assyrians were coming. Remember Lachish? Well, every other fortress in the kingdom of Judah was destroyed, except for Jerusalem, and Hezekiah knew that he was next on the list. The spring at that time was outside the city walls, and to protect the water supply they cut a tunnel out under the city to a spot that was inside the city walls. That doesn't sound like too big of a deal, until you factor in that they started from both ends, then met in the middle. They were more or less digging blindly, and happened to meet in the middle. There is an inscription in the tunnel from the diggers, telling how as they got close to meeting they could hear the other team of diggers on the other side of the rock.
So, anchient tunnel under the city...and we got to walk through it. At the highest the water came up to mid thigh on me, but generally is wasn't much above my ankles. It was pitch black, but most people brought flashlights or headlamps, so there was more than enough light to see. A group of people went back the next week to do it again in the dark...I'm not sure quite how they did it. I was generally fine, but some of the taller guys had to stoop the entire time because of the low ceiling. It was a ton of fun.
Neot Kedumim is a biblical preserve located between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. It's sole purpose is to preserve the land and to keep things the way they would have been in the bible. Basically, it's the coolest place ever.
We had a tour guide, who was more or less a park ranger, who told us a lot of really cool things about the plants and animals that were around. They had a well on site, and the ranger, who's name was Patrick, had two of the JC students reenact the scene where Abraham's servant meets Rebekah at the well.
The coolest part though was herding the sheep. Yes, I helped to herd sheep. We made them go in a group from one end of the yard to the other, then separated them into the goats and the sheep and then attempted to make them do a figure 8. There was a baby lamb there, and a few people had the chance to pick him up and hold him, until he decided that he had enough.
That afternoon, we made fires and learned how to cook pita and lentil soup over a fire. It was super legit. If we never learn how to make any other type of food here, at least we know how to make lentil soup and pitas over a fire.
After lunch, we had the opportunity to meet with a Torah scribe. Many Torah scribes go to school to learn how to write, but the man that we talked to told us that writing the Torah has been a family occupation that has been handed down through the family for over 10 generations. He showed us a Torah from Tunisia that was over 250 years old, and a page from a Torah that is over 300 years old. Torah writing is a serious business. If you mess up writing God's name on a page, you can't just throw it away or burn it because it's the name of God. The only acceptable way of getting rid of it is to bury it, so in the corner in every Jewish cemetery is a plot reserved specifically for burying pages with the name of God on it.
The last really big thing that happened before Jordan, besides finals (which were not fun at all, and therefore will not be discussed here) was our Seder! It isn't Passover, but our Israel teacher came and had a Seder dinner with us anyway. It was really quite fun. I think that we did a slightly sped up version of it, but we still did all the major things. It's interesting to me how easy it is to trace Jewish traditions back to their source. Like the Seder was started as a result of not being able to do sacrifices in the temple after it had been destroyed, but still wanting to celebrate the holiday.
Our Israel teacher likes to say that every Jewish holiday has the same theme. "They tried to kill us, they didn't, so let's eat!"
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