Easter Sunday at the Tomb

Praise to the Lord, Creator of the Universe. King of Kings, Lord of Lords, Savior of mankind, Ruler over all things. You are all-powerful, all-knowing, with infinite mercy, love, and compassion. Slow to anger, quick to forgive, just, great, and awesome in majesty. Praise to the Lord, the Savior of the world, who came to Earth as a man to die so that we might live, and then rose again to confirm that death has been defeated once and for all. Today, I was blessed to have been able to go to the Garden Tomb to celebrate Easter. We lined up an hour before the service started to ensure that we got good seats. There were people from all over the world at this service, and every continent except for Antarctica was represented. We sang hymns praising God, listened to a pastor preach the good news, and rejoiced with our fellow believers. Many of them had traveled thousands of miles in order to be here today, and I felt so blessed to be around them. The Pastor told a story about how a man asked Joseph of Arimathea why he had given such an exquisitely hand-carved and beautiful tomb to a stranger? Joseph smiled and said "It's alright, he only needs it for the weekend." The Garden echoed with so many voices being raised to heaven in joy and celebration. People were dancing, cheering, and crying. Christ has won. We have won. Death no longer holds any power over us. Because of Christ's sacrifice and resurrection, we can live eternally with Him if we acknowledge Him as Lord and ask for forgiveness. It was a very emotional, very triumphant service. After it was over, the tomb was opened up by some, and they confirmed that it was empty. He is not Here, for He is Risen! Since the Garden is run by the British, one of them couldn't resist making reference to a famous Christian British author when he proclaimed "Alsan, the Lion of Judah, roars again!" After the service was over, I went into the Old City and made my way to the Holy Sepulcher, to see what the Catholics and Orthodox were doing. It was standing room only inside, and everyone was clustered around the Catholic tomb of Jesus. All of the priests and bigwigs of the church were on hand, decked out in full regalia for the day. The organ was going full blast, monks on the balconies above us were chanting, and suddenly the various dignitaries and priests were on the move, lead by two guys dressed like they had just stepped out of the renaissance, carry huge silver-looking staves, which they pounded on the floor to keep time. First came the priests, or priests in training, each holding a candle and singing. Next came more important looking priests (maybe bishops, I can't say for certain) wearing flashier robes than the priests who came before them. One of them carried a very tall staff, on top of which was the crucifix inlaid with silver and shining brightly in the candlelight. Next came the most important-looking priests, wearing the cool hats which reminded me of what the Pope sometimes wears. These guys were decked out in gold and red, while the others before them were in white. Everyone in the audience (including me) was holding a candle and watching the whole procession with rapt attention. Slowly, the procession went around the corner and disappeared, with the audience following with their candles. I felt like I had experienced enough of the Catholic/Orthodox ceremony, so I left the Sepulcher and wandered the streets of the Christian Quarter for a while. It was such a beautiful day, with the sun out and very few clouds. Later in the afternoon, it started getting more humid, so I jumped on a train and came home. This was one of the greatest experiences of my life, and I will never forget having the opportunity to spend Good Friday and Easter in Jerusalem.

Good Friday in Jerusalem

It's the main event. Easter weekend in Jerusalem, the City of God, the Center of the World, sacred ground. Today my friends and I got up early to go down to the Garden Tomb for their Good Friday service. It was a beautiful day, perfect temperature, not a cloud in the sky. We walked through the gardens and got good seats in front of the pulpit situated just above the Tomb itself. The pastor talked about how we as Christians seem to save all of the celebration and happiness for Easter Sunday, when Good Friday should also be remembered and celebrated, not just mourned. He went on to say that Jesus defeated Satan and death on the cross, and that Easter Sunday puts the exclamation point on His sacrifice. Before and after the sermon, there were several readings from the Gospels and several hymns that we all sang together. We prayed for the peace of Jerusalem and for the Christians in the Middle East. We prayed for peace and for Christ's return. We prayed in gratitude for Christ's unbelievable love and mercy, and asked for forgiveness for our sins. When the service was over, we all went down to the Tomb to remember that Good Friday is merely the beginning, Easter is the Victory, and His return in triumph is the end. It was beyond amazing to be able to spend Good Friday in the city of Jerusalem, praying a couple of yards away from the hill of Golgotha and the Tomb. I felt humbled by the incredible sacrifice that took place here two thousand years ago, and in the end, all I could say is "Thank you". After the service concluded and we paid our respects at the Tomb, I went into the Old City to the Holy Sepulcher to see what the Catholics and Orthodox were doing to mark the day. Soldiers and security were everywhere, as religious holidays in Jerusalem have been used as an excuse by some in the past to spark violent protests against members of the other religions. As I was trying to make my way to the Sepulcher, soldiers and police were shutting down the streets surrounding it, wanting to restrict the flow of people in and out of the building to a tolerable amount. Normally, this would have caused a problem for me, but since this is Holy Week there is an abundance of tours going through the Old City. Today, all of them seemed intent on getting into the Holy Sepulcher, and the soldiers were letting most of them through. Because I didn't feel like waiting, I simply attached myself to a tour going in and got through into the church without any hassle. Inside were more soldiers and police, and monks from the various denominations and churches singing in Gregorian Chant and spreading more incense than usual. I followed the monks, wanting to listen to as much Gregorian Chant as possible, and tried to keep out of the way of all the tourists taking their Christmas Card family pictures. While the music was amazing as always, I found that I preferred the simpler, incense-free Garden Tomb style of worship as I walked through the Sepulcher. I left the Old City, hopped on the train, and made my way back to my apartment. I am so glad that I have the opportunity to be in Jerusalem for Good Friday and Easter on Sunday. This weekend will be one of the highlights of my life, and I can't wait to go back to the Tomb two days from now.

A Bacon Lover in a Kosher World

Going to Israel, I knew that I was going to have to make some sacrifices. All of these sacrifices, in my mind, resided in the realm of food. I enjoy food, particularly Amurrican food, food that I would have to leave behind. I would have to give up bacon for five months, which would be a huge sacrifice in it of itself. Besides this, I knew that foods that are "non-Kosher" would be incredibly difficult to find. Upon arrival, I confirmed that I would have to make these sacrifices, and I learned about many more over the course of the first few weeks in the country. Another sacrifice that I live with is living in a city that basically shuts down for the weekend. Now by shut down, you probably are thinking "Oh things will open by noon. Annoying, but doable." Wrong. When I say shut down, I mean shut down. Completely. From Friday afternoon until Saturday night, almost everything is closed for Shabat (Jewish Sabbath). No light rail, no buses, no grocery store, or no stores of any kind for the most part. If you go into Friday night without any food, you're out of luck, and you'll have to wait until Saturday night to replenish. But, of course when talking about the Israeli transition, everything comes back to food. The lack of some meats is particularly frustrating. Obviously nothing off of a pig is readily available, and hamburgers are also scarce. Thankfully, there's a Palestinian burger joint just up the street from the student village, and a Domino's pizza place just beyond that. When I get to the point where I just can't take it anymore and need some "real meat", I go to one of those places. Because of the lack of good meat, I've had to adjust. I've had a lot of chicken, eggs, and spaghetti for lunch and dinner over the last few months. Sometimes I just give up, go to the student store, and have a coca-cola and Cheetos for dinner, but these are rare occurrences. Another adjustment to Israeli society started just this past week, and despite my mental preparations, has caught me off guard. This week is Passover here in Israel, the celebration of the end of slavery in Egypt and the start of the Israelite's journey to the Promised Land. As we all know, in Exodus, God says to eat unleavened bread (without yeast) during the Passover feats, to emphasize the haste of the meal and the fact that the Jews could be leaving at any moment. Over the past few days, I've tried unleavened bread for the experience, and my reaction was along the lines of "This is nice, I'm glad I can say I had this, but I wouldn't eat this daily or go searching for it at the grocery store." It's essentially tasteless, something that you quickly tire of, making you go look for something with flavor. When I sat down to the traditional Seder (Passover) meal, I ate unleavened bread along with the rest, and then thanked God when the meal was over so I could return to "real bread". Little did I know that during the entirety of Passover week, "real bread" would be taken off of the shelves and would not be available for purchase. I'm not just talking about loaves of bread, I'm talking noodles, cereals, anything with grain in it. What does that leave? You guessed it: unleavened bread. For the rest of the week. I saw people at the grocery store with their entire carts filled with the stuff, as there was nothing else to buy. Doing my best to be a good Israeli, I grinned and bought some of the stuff too. I'm munching on some right now. The taste hasn't improved, but this is Passover week, and I'm here for the experience.

From Sea to Shining Sea

Over the past four days, I was blessed to have been able to go on a school-sponsored hiking trip in the Galilee region of northern Israel. We started Thursday morning at the Mediterranean sea, taking a water bottle of salt water to carry with us on our journey to pour in the Sea of Galilee when we got there on Sunday. We hiked through an Israeli state park that day, climbing up and down the sheer cliffs of mountains and through the valleys in between, following the one water source of the area. For most of the day, we found ourselves on a very narrow trail, strewn with obstacles that needed to be climbed over or crawled under, sometimes hugging the mountain side with a drop into the yawning chasm of the valley below us ever present. We waded through the river multiple times, and the coolness of the water was a welcome relief from the heat of the day. We ended the day's hike by tackling a mountain head on, climbing straight up its steep, stony surface. I felt more like a mountain goat than a man as I desperately clung to whatever hand-hold was offered, doing my best not to slip and fall off of the mountain. We finally got up onto the top and took our bus to a hostel in the ancient city of Acre (modern day Akko) to spend the night. When we were all settled in, we took a night tour of Acre to see the wonders of its Old City. Acre is located just across the bay from Haifa in northern Israel, and it was the jewel of the Crusader Kingdom a thousand years ago. At one point, we stopped to look at an ancient mosque in the center of the city, named after a Muslim ruler who's nickname was "The Butcher", so the Mosque was named "The Butcher Mosque". One of my friends that was a strange way to name a place of worship, exclaiming "Why would they name their Mosque after a man who butchered his people!? That's like us naming a church after the Inquisition!" After a wonderful night's sleep, we set out the next day for Mount Moran, the highest peak in Israel after the Golan Heights. This hike was much easier and gentler than the one the day before, taking us on a leisurely and zig-zagging course up the side of the mountain. Once we got to the top, we had a wide panorama of the northern heartland of Israel. We were even able to see the mountains of Lebanon and some Lebanese villages located on the border of the two countries. We knew that Hezbollah, the Shiite terrorist organization, undoubtedly had troops and bases in those villages (probably located in schools and hospitals), and our guide took the opportunity to tell us about the 2006 war between Hezbollah and Israel. Some of us waved at Hezbollah in a mocking manner as we left the summit (some of our group flipped them the bird)as we made our way down the opposite side of the mountain to make our way to the Druze village of Peki'in. We spent the night there and the next day touring this ancient village, which has routes all the way back to the Second Temple Period. Today, our last day on tour, we hiked through a valley in the mountains that opened up on the Sea of Galilee. It was a gentle stroll of a hike, with rocks and boulders everywhere to keep it interesting. We ended the hike as the valley exited the mountains and opened up on to rolling hills used for farmland. We finally made it to the Sea of Galilee, a huge freshwater lake in the north of Israel where Jesus spent the majority of His time on Earth. Across from the shore on which we stood, the Golan Heights stretched into the distance, imposing and impressive in their massive size. The heights are still technically "disputed territory" between Israel and Syria, as Israel took them away from Syria in the 6 Day War. In reality, however, they are fully integrated into the State of Israel, and with the civil war raging in Syria, they will be staying that way for a long time. We ended our hiking trip on the shore of Galilee, relaxing in the sun and enjoying food and friendship. I was blessed to have been able to stay with a great group of guys over this trip. We all knew each other beforehand, but this trip has allowed us to get to know each other better and grow as friends and brothers. I am very blessed to have been able to travel throughout the north of Israel and to have seen all of the great sights and wonders of the region over the last four days, and I am also blessed to have been able to have shared the experience with such awesome people.

Next year in... oh wait!

Tonight, my Bible Study decided that we should have a traditional Passover meal, since we're in Israel and Passover week starts very soon. We sat down, ate the traditional foods (in the correct order) and said the traditional prayers in Hebrew. Each thing we ate had a theme, such as the tears of the Israelites that were shed during slavery, or the egg of rebirth and the new life that awaited them as they left Egypt for the Holy Land. We talked about what the Passover meant and why we eat it. We remembered how God came to save His people from enslavement and His leading them to a land flowing with milk and honey. We took time to say all of the plagues, to remember God's awesome power and His wrath that He poured out against the Egyptians who refused to release His people. We sang songs, ate unleavened bread, opened the door to see if Elijah was there, and hid the piece of unleavened bread and then went and looked for it (as tradition calls for). In the middle of the ceremony, since everyone present was a Christian, we suspended tradition and looked up the Last Supper passage in the New Testament. We then held communion, as Jesus Himself did during the Passover meal not very far from where we sat. We remembered His sacrifice, and how it was more perfect than any animal sacrifice that was necessary before He died. We then went back to the original Jewish tradition and finished the prayers and the sayings (In Hebrew of course). We had a big debate over whether or not to say the traditional "Next year in Jerusalem" concluding pronouncement, since we're already here. We ultimately decided to say it, arguing that we could be sitting down to this meal next year in the New Jerusalem. Once the "traditional" meal, was over, we broke out the rest of the food that we brought and had a very gentile-like dinner, with coca cola, soup, and ice cream. It was awesome to be able to say that I participated in the Passover meal while staying in Jerusalem, as the Hebrews in Egypt were eating the meal while in captivity in anticipation of reaching the Holy Land. My friends and I talked about our Passover break plans (most of us are going hiking in the north of the country for the weekend), and reminisced about the great memories we've already created over the past two months. I'm truly blessed to be surrounded by such great people, and I'm so happy that we've got another three months here together.

The Samson Option

It had all of the makings of a normal day in class, listening to the professor lecture about the early years of Israeli Foreign Policy. During the lecture, however, the professor interjected a side comment that immediately received the undivided attention of the class. He used the words "Samson Option" to describe Israel's desperate situation at its birth. We immediately asked what the Samson Option was, and he gave us an explanation. There is a contingency plan, he said, where if it comes to the point where all hope is lost for Israel, they will push the button and take all of their enemies with them into the abyss. The plan is based off of the Israelite Samson in the Bible, who when he was at the end of his strength, pulled down the building he was in to kill his Philistine captors along with himself. We asked if the Samson Option was still a contingency option today. The professor, without any hesitation, said "yes". We asked for elaboration and he said how Israel's nuclear arsenal is in place to both deter enemy attack and to destroy their enemies utterly if any of them dared to launch against Israel. He brought up Iran when talking about this, saying if the Iranians launched a missile with a non-conventional warhead against Israel, Israel would retaliate with all the terrifying force of its nuclear arsenal. He stressed that this is a last-ditch contingency, contemplated only when all hope is lost and the Jewish state is ensured with extinction. At that time, he implied, the order would be given, the missiles would be launched, and Israel would take its enemies with her to the grave. I sat in that classroom contemplating this long after the professor had turned back to his scheduled lecture. The fact that such a contingency exists is testament to the bleak situation Israel faces on a day to day basis. It is not surprising for a country that was born out of the ashes of the Holocaust. Ringed on all sides by enemies, confronted with a growing power in the East who's pursuit of nuclear weapons is based on the desire to "Wipe them off of the map", Israel faces the possibility of its destruction with every rising of the sun. I have no doubt that if that terrible day were to come, Israel would push the button with no hesitation. Having gone through it once, the Jews will never again allow themselves to be herded meekly into the gas chambers. If such a day dawns again, they will pull their enemies in with them and slam the door shut. This is the reality, with all of the niceties and flowery language stripped away. We confront the stark truth with this contingency. Israel will do all in its considerable power to prevent another Holocaust, but if it happens again, Israel will make sure that they do not leave this world alone.

Haifa

This past weekend, I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to go the beautiful port city of Haifa, located on the northern coast of Israel, with several Bible study friends. We left Jerusalem on the 7:30 bus to Haifa, which took about 2 hours to get to our destination. Once there, we trekked to the youth hostel where we would spend the night, dropped off our stuff, and headed to the beach. The temp was in the 90's, and we wanted to just soak up the heat and say that we got to swim in the Med in March. The beach was packed with Israelis, most of them looking to be of middle school age or younger. We spent the afternoon relaxing in the sun, swimming, walking the length of the beach, and enjoying burgers and fries. At the end of the day, we caught the last bus into town, changed clothes, and went out to sample the city night life. We ate at a cool restaurant called "Havana Plus", a Cuban place with most of its seating placed outdoors in a large tent-like structure. When we went back to our hostel, we ran into some off-duty U.S. sailors attached to a U.S. destroyer that had just pulled into port. They didn't give us the name of the ship, and when asked what they were doing here, they responded simply with "Syria", and we left it at that. They also mentioned that they took part in the Libyan war that saw the overthrow of Gaddafi, but again no specifics were given and none were asked for. It was great running into these guys, and my friends and I quickly invited them inside the hostel for coffee and tea, our only way to thank them for their service. We sat up for a couple of hours talking about current events, politics, wars and rumors of wars, and Christianity. I told them how much I respected them and their service, saying "The military is one of the few government institutions left that still has honor." One of the sailors said, "For now." I asked what he meant by that, and he said "Right now we're all volunteer, but if a major war occurs, they'll be calling all of you up, and a lot of you won't want to fight and won't feel compelled to do so." My friend Keith (a religious studies major from Berkeley) and I exchanged looks, and both of us said "If called upon to serve, it is my honor and duty to do so." The conversation switched to religion, as two of the three sailors had doubts about faith and God. My friends and I took turns trying to answer their questions and doubts about God, and a good back-and-forth took place concerning the various beliefs and views of all the people present. When the night ended and the sailors made ready to go back to their ship, we each shook their hands and thanked them for their service. I hope we impressed upon them that not all American college students are clueless, and that some of us still view the U.S. military with awe and admiration. The next day, we set out to tour the Bahai Gardens, Haifa's main attraction and a world heritage site. The gardens are located on a slope of a very steep hill/mountain, as the city is built on the slopes of mountains that rush down to meet the sea in a huge natural harbor. To get into the gardens, it was necessary to hike all the way to the top of the mountain. We did this in about twenty minutes to catch the one English tour of the day. It is impossible to describe the beauty of the gardens or the amazing view that they offered. If possible, I encourage you to look through the pictures I posted on Facebook. They will give you a much better sense of the scale and grandeur of the gardens than any written description can give. Suffice to say, they were some of the most beautiful areas of this planet that I have ever seen. After that amazing tour, we went through an Arab market for lunch, and then hopped on the bus to make our way back to Jerusalem. It was an absolutely amazing experience with awesome people, and I consider myself blessed to have been able to go.