....remember, lest you forget.

Shalom everybody!!

Well, if I were to try and type all the adventures, experiences, and lessons that the past few weeks have entailed, I am afraid my fingers would fall of before I could complete the task. So since I’d like to keep my fingers, let me just highlight some of the highlights for you. :)

So, buckle up and hold on tight for a fast-forward tour through the past few weeks.

Negev (wilderness) …. (10.14-10.17)

….remember, lest you forget.

Something I remember very vividly is at one point our bus pulling of to the side of the road and Bill (our professor) allotting us thirty minutes to sit in the Wilderness of Paran (location of the wilderness wanderings) and reflect on Deuteronomy 8. This passage convicted me of the flippancy and forgetfulness with which I sometimes approach God’s faithfulness. While sitting on the cracked ground amidst dead shrubs and scattered rocks, I resolved to remember, to remember God’s perfect providence to the children of Israel and to me. This thought of God’s faithfulness was accompanied with thoughts about humility as I considered verse two. Just as God knew exactly how Israel needed to be humbled then, so He knows exactly how I need to humbled now. The more I thought about this, the more I came to remember (something so obvious yet so often forgotten) that I am an unworthy recipient of God’s grace. Thus, I ought to live in humility for I have nothing to be proud of, nothing to boast in, except Christ. I could go on and on about how this passage triggered much meditation, but I will close with this. It seems ridiculous, even down-right disgraceful, how quickly the Israelites forgot the deliverance that God granted them from Egypt. Yet, how often do I forget to praise God for His daily supply of all that I need. I am just as guilty as the Israelites. O that I might thank God more.

Our itinerary was jam-packed. We traveled all around, up and down the Negev, stopping at Beer Sheba, Nahal Zin, Avdat, Mizpeh, Maktesh Ramon, Kadesh Barnea, Elat, Timnah, Qumran, and Arad. So, as you can imagine, the wheels on the bus were going round and round and round getting to all these places. And we stayed in different hostels and hotels each night.

I really enjoyed our stop at Elat. Here we enjoyed a day at the beach and a night on the town. We had the opportunity to snorkel in the Reed Sea (Moses parted) which was absolutely amazing. What a display of God’s creativity!! Schools of fish darting to and fro, shimmering silver in the sunlight reflecting through the water, coral all shades of wonderful colours, and silence, pure silence, apart from my steady breathing exaggerated through the snorkel. Then later that night we enjoyed a bit of the night life in Elat. Music and dancing, food, crowds, shopping, and bungee-jumping (at least for two of us;) were all part and parcel of the night. And as if that didn’t already make the day, the view from the hotel topped it all off, with a gorgeous panorama of the sea, back-dropped by Jordanian mountains. Not to mention, it was a full moon, a big white ball suspended in the big, black sky.

Now to finally finish this fast-forward tour through the Negev, our last day entailed a hike up and down Masada, a visit to the Qumran caves, and a stop at salt deposits from the Dead Sea. Let’s rewind and pause at Masada for a few sentences. Did you know that Masada is the second most visited site in the Israel (the first being the Wailing Wall)? I didn’t, but now I understand why. Well, the day got off to an early start. By early I mean 4:30 AM, which is the earliest I have ever woken up on purpose!! haha. However, it was well worth it, as a group of us were able to make it up Masada in time to catch a spectacular sunrise, colours of burnt orange and fierce golden smearing the sky. God is quite the artist let me tell you!! Also, while up here we spent a few hours exploring the ruins of one of Herod the Great’s fortresses. Later on during the day we hiked up to Cave 4 of the Qumran caves. (Our legs were definitely exhausted that night and sore the next morning!!) Here in these caves, many biblical texts were found, known as the Dead Sea scrolls. All in all it was a fantastic and profitable trip, one I will not soon forget.

Let’s see, what else? Well, just the other week we visit MeaShearim, the most Jewish neighbourhood in the world. We also went to a Sukkot Fair. This was right around the time of the Jewish holiday, Feast of Tabernacles, aka: Sukkot. It is a time for the Jewish people to recall the journey to the Promised Land and the trek through the wilderness to get there. It is a time of joy and remembrance, and is widely celebrated by people building sukkots, which are booths. Each family builds one and lives in it for about a week, which is a way of remembering how their fathers lived through the years of wilderness wanderings. They also use what is called a ‘lulav’ (which is like a long reed) during the daily prayer services in the synagogue. So, at this Sukkot Fair, we saw dozens and dozens of Orthodox Jewish men purchasing their lulavs. However, before purchasing, one must inspect it carefully to make sure it is presentable before God. They want to bring their best to God. What a testimony this was to me!! Do I bring my best before God?

We’ve also been to Samaria, where we went to the ancient sites of Bethel, Ai, Shiloh, Shechem, Mt. Gerazim, and Tirzah. And we continue to make a weekly trip into the Old City of Jerusalem on Shabbat afternoons. This is always a high light of the week for me because it means more shawarma and falafel… and more bartering, which I am proud to announce is improving. :) While in the Old City a few of us met a young American couple just married with a baby, and they invited us over. So, we went and had a wonderful time. They live in an old Arabic house and had warm pita and humus awaiting us, the typical here in Israel, but o so delicious. Turns out they moved out here just for the heck of it and they absolutely love it. So we had a good night with them, chatting up a storm….

Speaking of a storm, just this week we spent a rainy day in Tel Aviv for the day, which could be summed up in these words: puddles, people, pigeons, buses, benches, bikes, shops, alley-ways, talks, and walks. We also went to Jaffa, which is Joppa from the Bible. Here we read the account of Jonah, and God decided to send some sound-effects. Just as we were getting to Jonah 1:4 "but the Lord hurled a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea" there was a loud roar of thunder followed by a mighty flash of lightening. It definitely made the story that much more vivid. And then the rain began to fall and so we ran for cover in an inside mall.

And that is life in Israel my friends.

Tomorrow morning, we leave for an eight-day trip to Galilee. So, I’m anticipating many good times ahead. Stay tuned. :)

....the testing ground of faith....

Well, it’s hard to believe that it’s been over a month now. A third of the semester has passed. Time is definitely flying, and I am holding on tight as the days speed on.

Well I face the same dilemma as the last time I blogged. The inevitable question of … where to begin? I feel as though I have already learned enough to contemplate for the rest of my life, and into eternity at that. Now to apply all of these lessons, that is what matters truly.

This past weekend we went to the Dead Sea. It is quite a sight to behold, as mountains surround it, but not just any mountains. These mountains of the wilderness sport sharp edges, juxtaposed by massive rocks. They are dusty and vast as could be, and serve as a spectacular back-drop for the Dead Sea.

Well, we didn’t just come here to admire the scenery, we came for the same reason everybody comes to the Dead Sea… to float!! And float we did.

It truly is the weirdest sensation, as your feet slowly come out from underneath you. You have no choice but to float. The salt literally pushes you up.

After a dip into the salt, we had a camp-fire and then camped out under the stars. We awoke the next morning to the sun creeping up from behind the mountains. To try and capture the grandeur is impossible. I admit it. But take my word for it, it was spectacular.

The next day we went on a hike. The mountains were no longer merely a pretty picture to admire from afar. At about six in the morning, we stepped into this picture and spent a few hours hiking up and down and up and down the rugged terrain. We were tired. (Remember we had just spent a night in a sleeping bag on the ground. Dust and rocks don’t exactly make for a comfy mattress.) We were hot. The sun was blaring. A breeze was non-existent.

All this to say, we experienced only a smidgen of what David endured during his (at least ten) years in the wilderness, as he was fleeing from Saul. God used and uses the wilderness as a testing ground for His people. It strips you bare. The unbearable heat, lack of shade, lack of water, and difficult terrain makes for quite the test. What or whom you really desire becomes quickly evident. That being said, this weekend was an excellent time to reflect upon what we desire. Do we thirst after God, as a man thirsts after water in a wilderness? Do we find our rest in God, or do we look for our own shade? What are we most concerned about? Our comfort or our Creator? What do we treasure? (May it be (become) God’s glory only!!)

Among other things, we have travelled to Yad VaShem, The Holocaust Museum, dedicated to honouring every single one of the six million people who were murdered in the Holocaust. That was difficult to say the least.

All sorts of feelings overwhelm you. As you look at the countless black and white pictures of victims, you stare into their eyes and wonder who they were and where they came from. You wonder what the children would have been if they could have grown up. You wonder how many of the parents had to watch their children suffer to death. You wonder how many generations were eliminated in the murders.

You wonder many things.

You see some of their belongings saved from the tragedy. You see old suitcases, which would have carried their few belongings to the concentration camps and then been immediately confiscated by the Nazis. You see old buttons from their clothes, along with worn teddy-bears. And you can’t help but wonder the little tot who was the proud owner. You see a large pile of shoes collected from the remains of the camps. And you imagine the many feet that would have worn those shoes, as they walked to their deaths.

Then you come to the section of the museum about the concentration camps. You see horrible images of people, who barely resemble human beings. They are as emaciated as could be, hollow and limp. You could not even tell men and women apart.

It was all so sick and horrible. Unimaginable, yet not unbelievable, because it happened. The Holocaust happened; which means we are left to wonder how. Such injustice and evil begs the question how. How in the world could people slaughter millions of people?

Well, having done a bit of outside reading on Hitler, I learned that his morality was not based on traditional Judeo-Christian ethics but rather a complete denial of them. He wanted to get rid of the idea of God. See what happens when you reject God? A Holocaust happens.

Not only did Hitler reject any sort of morality based on God but he fully embraced an evolutionary ethic. Read his words for yourself. “All of nature is a constant struggle between power and weakness, a constant triumph of the strong over the weak. A stronger race (speaking of his own) will supplant the weaker.” His goal can be seen in his words, "to promote the victory of the better, the stronger, and to demand the submission of the worst and weaker." He solemnly believed that the 'Aryan' race was superior in every way, physically, intellectually, and morally too, believe it or not. Hence, from this sort of reasoning, anything was morally right, so as long as the 'Aryan' race was promoted. From this stemmed eugenics, which was artificial selection. The disabled were one of the groups that were deemed dispensable because they were seen as unfit and harmful to the 'pure line of the Aryans.' In other words, the weak must be destroyed to make place for the strong. And in other words again, Hitler argued that the destruction of the weak (whomever he so happened to deem the weak) by the strong is humane. According to Richard Weikart's book, From Darwin to Hitler, "he viewed the Jews as parasites of bacillus, who were infecting and destroying the health and vitality of the German nation." Thus, these "parasites" must be eliminated, and eliminated they were, millions of them. More could be said, but I will refrain. I just thought it was fascinating (and more so disgusting) the parallels between Darwin and Hitler. The lesson: it is dangerous to reject God, for when one does so and creates his own morality, such horrible things as this will happen. I'll finish with more words from Richard Weikart. "Hitler and many other Germans perpetrated one of the most evil programs the world has ever witnessed under the delusion that Darwinism could help us discover how to make the world better."

And also, as I thought through this question, I found the deeper answer in the Bible (where all answers are). People are sinful, all of us. We are all sinners. “Our hearts are desperately wicked.” And we do wicked things. Human beings murdered human beings, then and now. So, what more than this terrible event to point to the effects of sin (that infects all of us)?

Well, I better wrap up. Wouldn’t want you to stop reading before I stop writing. You wouldn’t do that though, would you? haha

I know this post was much more serious than the past but that has been the nature of the last two trips. Don’t worry though. I am having a fantastic time here. Learning a lot. Laughing a lot. Seeing a ton. Traveling all over. Eating new things. Listening to Jewish music. Singing Jewish songs. Praying more. Reading more. Writing more. Sleeping less. And that is life in Israel, my friends.

God be with you, wherever you are.