The Israel Trip

It was 9:40 pm when we finally landed back at Dulles International. Since I was on Israel time and managed to only sleep a couple of hours on the plane, it had effectively been 24 hours of no sleep. I was still running on adrenaline and the company of my travel mates. As I made the initial calls to my family to let them know I was alive and well, the questions started to come in. How was it? What was your favorite? What was your first time out of the country like? In an effort to answer the immediate questions, and some of the other ones that may not have been asked yet, I’m going to blog my trip.

I was worried about waiting 4 days to do this, but the flurry of pictures going up on facebook are nice to relive the trip by.We landed on Friday afternoon in Tel Aviv. Ben Gurion International Airport is a seemingly common airport, but it is quite different once inside. The Israeli Defense Force (IDF) is everywhere and will ask you for a passport in a heartbeat as well as a slew of questions to go with. I encountered this very thing. In passport control, I was asked why I was in Israel, where I was going, if I was going to see anybody, give anybody any gifts, if I had any friends or family to visit and who I was with. I answered all the questions as instructed, except for one. I mentioned we were going to Bethlehem…which is in Palestinian Territory. The girl asked why I was going there, why I didn’t know my exact itinerary, and who I was going to see. All I knew is that we were seeing the Church of The Nativity, so I told her that’s all I knew. She stamped my passport and gave me a ticket to hand to another IDF guard at a gate. So I did, and he asked me to step aside for additional questioning. Same questions, except this time he tried to get me to slip up. He would ask something like “You’re from Philadelphia right?” I told him I was coming from DC via Heathrow. He asked who I was with and if I saw any of my group now. Thankfully, Lisa and Sonia were walking through at that moment, they came over and vouched and I was let go. Thankfully. Very unnerving to be questioned by people holding machine guns…welcome to Israel.  We got our bags and loaded a bus.

We stayed at a convent a quarter mile outside the walls of the Old City in Jerusalem. After setting our bags down, getting some food and a brief orientation, we walked down to the Western Wall/Wailing Wall. It was Shabbat so we couldn’t take photos yet and Hassidic Jews in full garb were everywhere. It was somewhat overwhelming as I had no idea what anything meant yet. I could tell these people were very intent on whatever they were doing and spoke Hebrew. To approach the wall, men have to cover their heads. I was given a yamaka to wear. A first for me.

The next day we spent touring the Old City of Jerusalem, we started at the Mount of Olives. We were given a macro view of Jerusalem and our guide pointed out a few things. The Field of Blood, The Upper Room, The Dome of the Rock, The Church of Mary Magdalene, Dominus Flevit, Church of All Nations, Al Aqsa Mosque, Church of The Holy Sepulchre, the graves on the Mount of Olives and the Golden Gate into the Old City. This was especially memorable, because Sarah Chilcote and I actually led our group in some songs…on the Mount of Olives. A pinnacle of any praise and worship leader. We then walked over to Dominus Flevit, where Jesus wept for the city. We proceeded down to the Garden of Gethsemane. This was particularly nice because our guide seemed to know everybody in the city and we actually had a section of the garden to ourselves among a unusually busy day on the mountain. His bargaining tool was a pack of Werther’s…go figure. More on our guide later. After that we walked through the Church of All Nations and proceeded to the Lion’s Gate into Jerusalem. We walked the Via Dolorosa and then went into the Church of The Holy Sepulchre. We stood outside to regroup and our guide told us  a little about it. Some people elected to not go in due the insane amount of people there. They were wise. I went in though. I saw the stone Jesus was supposedly annointed on after being taken down off the cross. I saw the room the church had built over Jesus’s supposed tomb. The line was 3 hours long and we had 30 minutes. It was beautifully decorated as well as the rest of the church. The sad thing is that the keys to it are actually held by Muslims and causing a very harsh divide within it that allows for some sad things. One that we saw was a modern aluminum ladder that was being used to change light bulbs…20 years ago. They won’t take it out because of politics and differences among denominations. After growing tired of not having any personal space, I left. Saddened by what I had just seen. People were clinging to the earthly things in the church like God himself was in them. He isn’t, that’s what Christianity is all about….death and resurrection. I digress. We then walked over to the Garden Tomb. The other supposed site of Jesus’s crucifixion and resurrection. To me, this site is a million percent more believable. It was outside the city walls, it was a hill that actually looked like a skull, and the tomb was much more convincing. Not to mention that it was a developed part of the city. The likely site that the cross was erected on is now a bus station. The tomb itself was small and rectangular. Our guide explained the body was probably laid in a corner that could be seen from outside. I was expecting to have some sort of revelation or spiritual connection here. I didn’t though. The sign on the door pretty much summed up all of the Old City for me. “He is not here, for He is risen.” Jesus came to earth, walked on it, suffered on it, taught on it, and lived as human. He died in a way that saved mankind and returned to Heaven. The 30-35 years He spent here served a purpose and it was remarkable beyond words. But we celebrate the resurrection which means, this stuff is history. If He was still in the tomb, Christianity wouldn’t be what it is. Sorry for the preaching, I’ll get back to my tourism.

After that, we ate dinner and had a debrief on the day. We woke up the next morning and went to Bethlehem to go to church. It was a Christian Evangelical church in Arabic. Like I mentioned before, this was in Palestinian territory. Needless to say, it was pretty surreal to go to church in Palestine, in the place Jesus was born, hearing a service completely in Arabic (we had a translator). After that we went to the Church of The Nativity. This was an interesting church. The entrance was about 4 feet tall causing everybody to have to duck to get in. This was to keep crusaders out who were on horses. Forgive me for not knowing dates for all this stuff. Once again, the line was long to see the actual supposed site of the manger, so we didn’t wait and moved along.  From here we split up, half of us went to an orphanage and half of us went to a UN Refugee Camp for Palestinians. I went to the orphanage. We got a tour of it, heard some stories, how it operated, and why the girls were there. Their parents had given up rights for various reasons surrounding the conflict that existed between Palestine and Israel. Some girls lived 10 minutes from their parents and will never see them again because of the wall separating the two lands. I’m not trying to project politics yet, as a human, this was sad regardless of politics. After that we all returned to the convent and ate dinner.

Monday  morning, we woke up at 3 am and drove to Masada. We climbed a mountain, literally, to see the ruins of Herod and the rebels. One of my favorite sites we saw the entire trip. One item I should mention is the synagogue on the mountain. It is one of the 5 oldest synagogues in the world dating back to 4th century BC. I’ll be glad to tell you more about this if you want.  I could write a book on this alone though. We spent about 5 hours there and left at 9 am. It made for an extremely early day. After, we made our way to the Dead Sea and went for a swim, which was nuts. I could float on my stomach and keep my face, arms and legs out of the water. I could stand up in 4 feet of water and not be able to touch the bottom. The water felt weird, tasted awful, and burned your eyes like fire. Totally worth it though. Very cool experience. We made our way to Qumran next which is where they found the Dead Sea Scrolls. I was expecting more here, but basically you watch a pretty non religious video, walk out and see a mikveh and some holes in the side of the mountain where the scrolls were found.  A mikveh is the bath they used 2000 years ago to purify themselves before entering a synagogue. We’d seen a million by then. After this we drove to Jericho and saw the Mount of Good and Evil and the Zacchaeus tree.

Before I go on, let me explain what it is like passing through the checkpoints the divide Palestine and Israel. You usually pull into a line that moves very slowly. There are signs that say what you are going through and that photography is prohibited. Since we were on a bus, 2-3  IDF soldiers would get on and treat us differently every time. The first time we went through, it was a guy and a girl. The guy said “Shalom” and said he needed a favor. It was the girl soldiers birthday and he wanted us to sing to her. So we did and we were on our way. No problems. Another time, three very stone faced seemingly convicted soldiers got on and wanted passports for every person on there while another soldier checked our cargo bays. Mind you they all carry machine guns look angry. It’s a very unsettling experience when they aren’t nice. We made it through all of ours with no problems though.

On Tuesday we spent more time touring Jerusalem. We saw the Pools of Bethesda and the accompanying cathedral. We saw the Temple Mount, the Dome of The Rock, the Al Aqsa mosque, and the Western Wall again but now we were able to take photos. I want to talk about the Temple Mount though. This is the epicenter of all conflict in the country. 3 major religions in the world all have a reason to celebrate and fight over this area. Ironically, it is the most peaceful part of the city. The dome is beautiful and the plaza is remarkable. We saw a piece of the plaza where it is believed the Ark of The Covenant spent 60 years. Kind of cool. We also saw the Golden Gate to Jerusalem which is the gate Jesus walked through on Palm Sunday. There is another corner where Jesus was betrayed the second time.  We spent the rest of that day volunteering back at the orphanage and refugee camp. We spent some time working with the girls on their English as well as played games and jump rope with them. It was a good day actually. They warmed up to us and latched on to the girls like they were best friends for life. It never ceases to amaze me how some things transcend countries and cultures. Little kids love attention no matter the differences  or location.  And adults are always touched by this.  Later in the afternoon we toured the refugee camp.This is a place for Palestinians displaced by the war in 1948. They are allowed to leave, but if they do, they can never come back. It’s a slum, the infrastructure is poor, buildings are dilapidated and poverty is abundant.

This is where I’ll start to get political. I’ll let you know where to skip to if you don’t care to read this.

Most Israelis  honor this area as a Palestinian Territory, but some don’t like it. This camp is searched randomly, ransacked, and purposely cut off from resources like water and electricity. That is not to say the Palestinians are the only victim here. Both sides of this conflict play dirty, very dirty. The people we talked to wanted to co exist with Israel, under one nation and law. They said they were non violent activists and wanted to work positively to a solution. Mind you, one had been in prison for 2 years for throwing a molotav cocktail at IDF soldiers. It didn’t bode well for his “non-violent” approach.  Extremist Palestinians have been known to fire rockets at Israelis and Israelis have been known to put a hole in a wall when searching instead of using a front door. Extremists on both sides ruin the majority. Not unlike the USA, the media sensationalizes and glorifies the radicals in either spectrum leaving out the majority that doesn’t want blood and chaos. Not all Palestinians are terrorists, not all Israelis want to extinguish Palestine.

The bottom line I walked away with here is that both sides of the conflict need hope, grace, and compassion. No politician will give that to them, only Jesus can. So there you have it, Vote for Jesus.

End Political Rant.

On Wednesday, we spent driving around Jerusalem looking at the dividing wall and learning about the Israeli side of the conflict. We got to view a couple of the settlements that Israel builds and some of the Palestinian neighborhoods that were affected by them. We also drove by the Pools of Siloam and Hezekiah’s Tunnel. This day sort of fell on tired ears and minds. We had experienced a lot by this point and most of us were a little burnt out on it.

On Thursday we drove up to the Sea of Galilee to see Nazareth. On the way we stopped at Caesarea. This was a city established on the Mediterranean Sea by Herod complete with a hippodrome and a ancient Roman amphitheatre. We Jai Ho’d there too. When we got to Nazareth, we quickly learned that it’s a very modern city that is bustling with activity. There is a huge cathedral there that is just about the only thing that indicates Jesus’s presence.

Then we camped. Camping seemed like just what we needed. A calm sea to enjoy, a sleep campfire, a guitar, good grilled food, and good friends. We got all that, and a lot more. About 8 pm as we were finishing up dinner, other people started arriving at the campsite. There were probably about 20 cars that showed up in an hour. A techno party had started down the beach, hookahs came out…that weren’t prepared with legal substances, liquor bottles started ending up on the floor. More loud music started from the cars. This all continued to grow until about 4 am. We finally fell asleep among the chaos and woke up to a peaceful beach that was being cleaned up by a park employee.

The next day we went to Mt. Carmel and saw where Elijah challenged the other prophets (and won). We ate lunch a Lebanese restaurant and ate hummus and falafel. Which is what we ate most of the time there and none of us minded.

We then drove down to see Capernaum. This was easily my second, and almost favorite thing we saw on the trip. We saw Simon’s house where the man was lowered through the roof for Jesus to help. We saw the synagogue that Jesus preached in a lot of his life. Very cool to be there too. Think about standing at the spot MLK gave his I have a dream speech at and multiply it by eleventy. That’s how awesome this was.

After that we went for a boat ride/tour on the Sea of Galilee. This part of the story gets a little surreal. Nobody walked on water or anything, but its awesome nonetheless. It starts out pretty expectedly, our guide tells us about some cities in the mountains, points out Capernaum, the Church of Multiplication where Jesus turned the 5 fish and 2 loaves into many to feed 5000, Tiberius, etc. After about 20 minutes of this he says he’ll be quiet and let us enjoy the ride. We’re all just sort of enjoying the downtime on the water. Then music comes on the loudspeakers on the boat. Mind you, the driver is Jewish, the crew is Jewish, and we are likely some of the only Christians in a 100 mile radius. What comes on the speakers? Chris Tomlin. We all think this is funny, but enjoyable. 2 songs into it, the driver asks if we want a fishing demonstration. We were all for it and he explained the net, how to throw it, etc. He throws it in twice and doesn’t catch anything. So of course, we all laugh and say “try the other side”. He does and he caught a fish. Never underestimate the lessons Jesus taught. It only gets better from there. After the fishing demonstration, the driver asks us if we want to hear Israeli music. We all say sure. The guy gets a microphone and sings it himself. You have to realize this guy looks like Vin Diesel, rocks a tight v neck black t shirt, with low rise tight designer jeans and black leather shoes with aviator sunglasses. You can totally tell this guy wants to be a singer for a living and the boat is just a day job. Hilarious. He sings a couple of songs and then asks us if we like dancing. Amanda Giobbi and Adrienne Ingrum were on the trip, so it was an easy question. They learned an Israeli folk dance and then they Jai Ho’d. Then we sang gospel hymns into the microphone and had a full on dance party. We even got 2 of the 8 people in the other group to dance. Quite epic and extremely surreal.

Then we camped again, same story. Drugs, alcohol, parties, yelling, hallucinating, general debauchery. On Saturday morning, several people were baptized in the Sea of Galilee and about another 8 of us were baptized in the Jordan River. This was a remarkable experience for me and a time of recommissioning. I’m readying myself to be a better leader in my church and community. I’ll tell you more on that if you want to hear it. This post is already ridiculously long. We came back through Jericho and ate lunch and finally ended up back in Jerusalem. We ate dinner and spent some final time wandering the city. Dave, Joe, Steve, Ed and I found a friendly Jewish man to explain some of the rituals they were performing and we actually got a lecture complete with handouts and flow charts. Quite weird actually. We went back to the cathedral we were staying at that night. I repacked my bags and slept for 3 hours before waking up to get to the airport for a 7 am flight. We left Tel Aviv on time and had a 3 hour layover in London. Joe and a few other friend at a Wagamama in Terminal 5 of Heathrow. Once on the plane for our last leg, the captain came on and told us the volcano in Iceland was acting up and caused a 2 hour ground delay and we were also rerouted up over Greenland, making a 6.5 hour flight a 9.5 hour. We made it home safely though, obviously, and I’m finally finding the time to document this trip 5 days later. I hope you enjoyed it.

Feel free to ask any questions about any of this in comments or through email.

Shalom!

Advertisement