Blessings and Curses: Samaria

This past Sunday our Historical Geography class took a trip out to Samaria for a field study. Samaria is a little bit more spread out than Judea. For example, in Jerusalem, you may feel a bit claustrophobic being surrounded by so many mountains so close, but Shechem has a bit more "breathing room."
A view of Tirzah from Ellone Moreh







We went to Mount Gerizim. There are about 600 Samaritans left in the world, of which 300 live on Mount Gerizim still. This is a sacrificial altar that they use to sacrifice lambs on Passover.









The refugee camp of Nablus








The site of Biblical Shechem.











The view of Mount Ebal from Mount Gerizim. This is where the covenant was proclaimed and sort of "ratified". Groups from Israel split in two on either side of Shechem (between Ebal and Gerizim). Those on Mount Gerizim shouted the blessings of the covenant should Israel uphold it and those on Mount Ebal shouted the curses of the covenant should Israel violate it.






This is a Byzantine church (and a very large one at that) built on top of where some traditions believe the Samaritan Temple was situated.







We finally went to Shiloh, the site of the Tabernacle.

Overall, I think that my favorite place we visited on Sunday was Mount Gerizim. That whole curses and blessings narrative really came alive (please pardon the cliche) for me when I stood where it had happened. That's a big deal.

Earlier in the week, I went to Bethlehem twice. Once to have dinner at a Gordon alumnus' house and the next day I went with my Islamic Thought class to visit Bethlehem Bible College. Last Saturday I went with my Church in the East class to visit a Coptic, an Ethiopian, and a Syriac church in Jericho. Last Friday I also went to a Kabbalat Shabbat service at a little synagogue in Talpiyot. These were all good experiences that help me to learn a bit about those around me and myself.

So I keep pretty busy and I'm learning a lot.

-Daniel

Land of Benjamin

Another field study update. This time: Benjamin. Benjamin is pretty neat. We learned a lot about access points to highways and resources and how all of that stuff factors into larger political and theological motivations. Neat stuff. I usually don't do much with historical geography, so this is all pretty new to me. I like it, but not enough to study it intensely. It definitely illuminates Biblical happenings though.

A Bedouin herd of sheep and goats and an Early Bronze Age wall of Jericho

The Solomonic Gate in Gezer


-Daniel

Machtesh HaKatan

This past Sunday I woke up very early and piled onto a bus to go to the Machtesh Hakatan. Machtesh translates into "crater" but it is really more of a giant valley. It's located a little bit south of Ein Gedi by the Dead Sea. It's absolutely beautiful and a very worthwhile hike. If you ever get chance, please do it. You'll definitely not regret it.

Pictures will probably explain what I saw better than my words.







This guy is the best.


-Daniel

Where we find Jerusalem

This past Saturday I had another field study on different "Jerusalem Approaches."






We began by heading up to Mount Scopus on the Mount of Olives. That's a pretty view of Jerusalem from the south.










We went to Gethsemane as well. Lots of tombs. A couple of churches. A pretty garden.



This is the security wall that surrounds the West Bank. I'm a little torn about how I feel about it. I think I need to hear more before I come to conclusions, but this whole Israel-Palestinian conflict business seems a bit circular to me. Israel imposes sanctions and attacks certain leaders of Hamas etc. The common Palestinian gets hurt by the sanctions and attacks and gets angry at Israel. Palestinian attacks result and the cycle continues. I've talked about this a little bit Emily, but I don't think I know enough to say anymore than I just have. Essentially where I am at right now is that Israeli sanctions hurt the common Palestinian as opposed to the big-wig organizers. But Palestinian responses to violence and hostility aren't very good either.

We also went the Herodium. This was a big palace that Herod the Great erected for himself. It's on top of this big mountain, but he felt that the mountain wasn't big enough. So Herod chopped off another nearby mountain and slammed it on top of the one he wanted to build on. What a guy. Anyway, the Jews took over this and used it as a fortress during the Bar Kochba revolution.






We stopped at a threshing floor outside of Bethlehem. Think book of Ruth.





Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem.








Graffiti on the separation wall in Bethlehem. Apparently there was a guy who did his doctorate thesis on this graffiti.


That was mostly what we did. Lots of sites and lots to think about. I'm not sure where I fit in with all of this. Em and I have talked a lot about where our place is in all these ugly parts of the world and humanity. Essentially the answer is Biblical. You have to go care for the poor, the widow, and the orphan. Love neighbor as self. And everything in between. But you can't just jump into an alien context and start messing with stuff. It's a little naive, but I think about the important champions of justice that we've seen in history, and they've worked within the context they lived in. They invested fully. MLK was a southern black man fighting against segregation and Ghandi was an Indian lawyer fighting for Indian independence and peaceful ideals. Some lesser known outside people step in and do things, but the ones that really make a difference are the ones who walk side-by-side with those who are part of and fighting against a plight. Abraham Heschel was an awfully scholarly Jew who walked next to MLK for years. You'll probably notice him. He's the little white guy with a big, white beard. He's usually in the front. I'm not sure where I fit in with all of this, but we'll see where I end up living.

-Daniel

David, Hezekiah, Jesus, and Jerusalem

The rain has stopped for a while now and the sun is shining. I've been able to get out a bit more, so I have some stories to tell.

For Physical Settings last Sunday, we did a walking tour thing of Jerusalem and looked at different sites within the context of the Old and New Testaments.

We went to the City of David on the eastern side of Jerusalem. An archaeologist there believes that she might have found David's tomb. Pretty neat stuff. Anyway, this is the place where Assyria tried taking over Jerusalem, but Hezekiah stopped him. Hezekiah's tunnel is there also. The Gihon Spring is here, which is where Solomon was annointed. David's palace (duh). Cool stuff.
Hezekiah's tunnel empties out into the Pool of Siloam. It doesn't look like much now, but this is where priests would gather water to annoint the altar of the Temple. It's also the place where Jesus healed the blind man. You know, the one where he rubs the spit-mud in his eyes.

<-- That's the Huldah Gate. This would have been the southern entrance to the Temple Mount. There is a big, grand set of steps that lead to this gate and history has it that great teachers would sit out there and lecture to their disciples. We know that Gamaliel used to teach there often.



Lastly, we went to the Pool of Bethesda and the church of St. Anne. The Pool of Bethesda was where many went to be cured from ailments through the blessing of a particular Roman god. Jesus comes here to find a lame man trying to throw himself into the deep, deep pool. Jesus heals him, no one drowns, and everyone is happy. According to some traditions, the church of St. Anne was Mary's home before she met Joseph (St. Anne being Mary's mother). The story goes that Mary essentially became a nun at the temple, Joseph came up for the sacrifice, and Mary's mentor told her to go marry him. It's a beautiful building. Nice acoustics.

So that was pretty much my last Sunday. I'm getting a little bit more comfortable here although I'm still pretty homesick. I have a ton of work for a couple of my classes, so I'm pretty much bound to the library, but I'm thankful for our weekly field studies which get me out a bit. I'll explore some on my own once I get a chunk of my work out of the way.

-Daniel