Jonah Mancini

This is the second blog in a series chronicling the events that transpired to 5 students while touring and soul searching in Egypt.

We had all made it safe and sound to the beach/party town of Eilat, found at the southern most tip of Israel on the gulf of Aqaba where one can cross into Jordan or Egypt. At this point in our travels (still being day one) we piled off the bus, used the facilities and began looking for a place to eat. Now we knew that for the next 10 days we would not be able to have food that we were accustomed to, that is anything remotely close to American or Israeli food, so we all made the decision to have one last good meal. We located a hamburger stand (which is far inferior to any American hamburger joint, but for Israel is was pretty good) and we sat down an ordered. After receiving our food and marveling at/experimenting with this red, jelly-like substance that the shop keeper tried to pass off as ketchup, we ate our burgers and moved to the next item on our literary.

We needed to convert some money to the Egyptian pounds and then CROSS THE BORDER! Luckly, as we walked down the street we encountered a bank. Well we didn’t really encounter the bank as much as we encountered the money changers who were “working” in front of the bank. These two guys were private business men who were offering better conversion rates than one would find in the bank. (Sketchy?!) Well, welcome to Israel so we made our conversions there with the guys on the street (of course after a little bartering and verifying what the exchange rates were - luckily I had looked up the conversion rates before we left Jerusalem) After we were all a few shekels poorer and a few Egyptian Pounds (EP) richer we garbed a cab and headed to the border.

All full of excitement and hope we arrived at the border crossing where we played in the water free of any worries and ready to officially start our big adventure. Little did we know just how adventurous it was going to be. After bringing every one up out of the water and making sure we all had all of our belongings we walked up to the border crossing building, which sat right on the coast, and we began the process. We paid our exist taxes to the State of Israel, walked through the duty free shop, exited the Israeli border complex, crossed into Egypt and into the Egyptian boarder complex where everything became complex.

After a handful of questions by the boarder Officers, it was brought to our attention that we were minus 5 VISAs for entry in to Egypt proper. I had gathered information before we came saying that we could get VISAs at the border. This was true, but only for the Sinai Peninsula. If one wished to enter into the Egypt Nile Vally, which we did, there was a need to purchase a VISA to the mainland Egypt from the Egyptian Embassy in Israel, a process of 2 or 3 days as we found out from our boarder friends. This was to say the least COMPLEX. Luckily (providentially?), Eilat housed an Egyptian Embassy and was set to close in about 45 min. So we all ran back through the Egyptian complex, the duty free store, the Israeli complex and flagged down a couple of cabs while we franticly begged and pleaded with the Egyptian Embassy to stay open till we arrived and see if they would processes our VISAs in a fraction of the time it should normally take. Well, much to our surprise they said they would stay open for us (thank the LORD) and see what they could do about the VISAs as soon as we would get there.

It really does amaze me how people can be so helpful at times, even if they are complete strangers. That is something to be said about the middle eastern hospitality which the Arabs are masters at. Bending over backwards to help strangers in a strange place. All this to say, in about and hour and a half and for a very small fee we all had VISAs and were heading back to the boarder. Someone say they wanted an adventure? Whoever said that life’s a journey not a destination clearly tried crossing into Egypt from Israel and could see that there lay a long road ahead of them, and our road was just beginning.

As I think back on the 10 days I spent in Egypt with my four traveling companions, many wonderful and unforgettable images flood my mind. This will be my attempt at sharing them with you.

After weeks of planning we had finally come to an agreed upon plan as to what we were going to do in Egypt (you can refer to the blog entry: Egypt Itinerary). So we packed out backpacks and went to bed early so that we might arise in time for the 7:00am bus to Eilat. We knew that none of our cell phones would work in Egypt so communicating with each other would be a challenge, however we would never have guessed to have encountered it at such an early stage in our journey. Somehow, in-between leaving our room and walking the 200 meters from our door to the bus stop where we were going to begin our journey, we lost one of our 5 companions. It was absolutely mind boggling! My flat mate, Dave, his friend Zack (who was also traveling with us, but only as far as the Sinai Desert) and myself set our bags down after watching the first #28 bus (which was the bus we needed to catch to the central bus station) drive past the bus stop.

We looked around, and said it will be ok, there will be 3 more busses that we can catch till we absolutely need to be at the central station. The busses came in 15 min intervals so we all had a good 45 min till before time would no-longer be on our side. I said to Dave, “I’d better go check on Stephen and Bethany, just to make sure all is well.” He nodded in agreement. I then turned and re-entered the dormitory complex. Stephen was a delightful fellow who I had met during the course of the past few months in our Hebrew Ulpan class. He was a bright young man beginning his M.A. in Jewish History and a student of philosophy. He has a gentle demeanor about him and a smile that asks, “Will you be my friend?”. Right from the beginning I liked Stephen. So as we talked over the course of our developing friendship, the idea of him and his wife joining David, Drew, and I on our trip to Egypt came up and he and I both were excited about it. When I arrived at the room they were staying in, Stephen and Bethany were all collected and on there way out the door. “Great!” I said, “Let’s hustle down to the bus stop and we can catch the next one in to the central station.”

When Stephen, Bethany and I arrived at the bus stop, much to my surprise, Drew was not there. Andrew, Drew for short, was my roommate and he was equally excited to be traveling to Egypt. “The Pyramids” he would say with a tone that would have you believe that he was intimately connected with them on some sort of cosmic level. He was quick, young collage student here in Israel for a year of study abroad. He meticulously had his keys with him where ever he went and was the most faithful about locking/unlocking our dorm room doors. Earlier, David, I and Drew all left the Dorm room together heading down for the bus stop. When Drew said, “Hold on, I need my keys to lock the door.” “OK.” Dave and I said as we continued down the 12 half-flights of stairs that led from our room down to the ground floor. He could not have been 30 seconds behind us. However when I returned to the bus stop with Stephen and Bethany, we were coming up on 15 minutes and still no Drew.

Dave looked back at me with a similar expression on his face, “I don’t know. He should have been here by now. Let me try calling him.” he said as he pulled out his phone and dialed Drew’s number. No answer on the line. Dave tried again. Again, no answer. “Maybe we should go back and check on him”, I said. The truth was, we all were carrying heavy backpacks and there was a slim possibility that this trip may be ending with an injury before it even began. “I’ll go check on him”, said Stephen. “Also, check the other bus stop as well and loop back around here.” Time was nearing for the next bus to arrive. Dave looked back at his cell phone and continued to try to get a hold of Drew on it.

The next bus arrived before Stephen returned. We all looked at each other, “Should we get on?” Dave’s friend Zack asked. Dave said, “There?��Ǩ�Ѣs no reason for you to stay here, we were all only going to ‘ride’ with each other. Our plans were going to change at Eilat anyway so there is no reason for you to wait with us and miss the bus to Eilat.” Zack climbed aboard the bus and we waved, worriedly goodbye to him. The bus drove up the hill and we continued to wait for Stephen to return. The minutes ticked by and we began to wonder if there was a Bermuda Triangle located on the Hebrew University Dormitory complex, (which was not that big) and now Stephen like Drew, also had been sucked into it. Just at that moment Stephen walked down the hill, still with no Drew.

“I went to your dorm room,” he said, “and the door was locked. I banged on it and ended up waking your other roommate Will who finally came to the door and let me in. I told him what was going on and when he led me to your’s and Drew?��Ǩ�Ѣs room, it too was locked.” Will didn’t have any key other than his dorm key and the key to his and Dave’s room. “So I walked up to the upper-stop and Drew obviously wasn’t there either,” Stephen finished as he collected his and his wife’s backpack on the sidewalk next to the bus stop. I looked at Dave, “How is this possible!? How could we have lost Drew before we even left the dorms, let alone the country!?” We began guessing that Drew might have caught that first bus that went up the hill before Stephen and Bethany joined us. Dave began to call Zack saying, “Maybe Zack could look and see if Drew was already at the central station.” Dave put the phone to his ear, and began to speak with Zack. “What!?!” he said, “Drew is already there?” The last bus just pulled up to our stop. “Drew is already at the central station”, Dave said to us. We hurriedly climbed onboard the bus while Dave continued talking on his phone making arrangements for us to rendezvous and for Drew to buy us all tickets on the next bus to Eilat, hoping we would all get there in time to “Begin” our trip.

Drew had caught the first bus up to the central station, and even though he had all that extra time before the bus to Eilat left, he as well as the rest of us only were able to get standing room on the early bus to Eilat (which is a 4 hour bus trip with a short 20 min break at a gas station/McDonalds. We all happily made it to Eilat together despite the fact that our group was split up between the two busses that traveled down to Eilat in caravan style. Stephen, Bethany, Dave, and myself ended up on one bus while Drew and Zack made it on another bus. All the seats were taken on both busses so Stephen and I took over large sections of the isle in an effort to sleep on the way while Dave sat in it and began journaling, a practice he recently picked up since he had come here to Israel. Unfortunately, Drew and Zack had no such comforts as we had. His bus was so jam-packed that Drew stood the whole 4 hour trip.

When we had all poured out of the busses, gathered our luggage and done what we had needed to do in the bathrooms, we were much refreshed and were looking to get some food. We all wanted to make sure that we ate something good while we were in Eilat, for we didn’t know when the next “good” or even “eatable” meal was going to be since we were going to be passing into the Sinai Desert in just about an hour where our real adventures awaited for us. We found a nice hamburger joint and we all enjoyed our last reliably good meal, even if the ketchup was a little questionable. Hamburgers, Cheeseburgers, Iced tea and Cokes. We ate and drank and enjoyed. We had accomplished quite a feat, even though in the eyes of most we had only just begun our journey. But we had successfully become separated and reunited. We were now a group of adventures with a bit more courage under our belts. We felt that we were then, equipped to handle what ever else would come our way. Look out Egypt… were coming.

Hey Mom, Dad, family and friends, this is my itinerary for my trip to Egypt. Some of the info is not yet complete. I hope to post an update and the Info becomes available, such as phone numbers of locations and what not. Love you all and keep us in your prayers as we travel.

Itinerary
Day 1 (October 3rd)
?¢‚Ǩ¬¢ 6:05am leave for central bus station
?¢‚Ǩ¬¢ 7:00am Bus Leaves for Eilat.
?¢‚Ǩ¬¢ 11:00am Eat lunch in Eilat and continue on to Taba.
o Cross into Egypt by the TABA Terminal (10 Km. South of Eilat)
o Purchase Tourist VISAs ($25) and pay the entrance fee (LE 25) in TABA
?¢‚Ǩ¬¢ *2:00pm Catch a taxi in Taba to Tarabin (Maagana beach, Sababa, Red Rocks-Helnan Nuweiba Hotel) for dinner and the night.
Day 2 (October 4th)
?¢‚Ǩ¬¢ 7:30am for breakfast in Tarabin or Nubeiwa
?¢‚Ǩ¬¢ 9:00am leave for Dahab
?¢‚Ǩ¬¢ Fun on the beach till evening
?¢‚Ǩ¬¢ Contact The Jasmine Pension for the Mt Sinai tours
?¢‚Ǩ¬¢ Taxi? to St. Catherine?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s and Mt Sinai
Day 3 (October 5th)
?¢‚Ǩ¬¢ Wake Up at 3:00am to hike up Mt Sinai (optional)
?¢‚Ǩ¬¢ 8:00am Breakfast
?¢‚Ǩ¬¢ 9:30 ?¢‚Ǩ‚Äú 11:00am St Catherine?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s
?¢‚Ǩ¬¢ Find transportation to Cairo
?¢‚Ǩ¬¢ Stay in Pensione Roma (Ismailia house, Dahab Hotel)
Day 4 (October 6th)
?¢‚Ǩ¬¢ 7:00 ?¢‚Ǩ‚Äú 8:00am Breakfast and Giza by horse/camel and Cairo Museum inquiry.
?¢‚Ǩ¬¢ 8:30am Pyramids by horse/camel
?¢‚Ǩ¬¢ 12:00pm Lunch in Giza
?¢‚Ǩ¬¢ 1:00pm Cairo Museum till satisfied or closes.
?¢‚Ǩ¬¢ 7:00pm return to Giza for dinner and ?¢‚Ǩ?ìlight show?¢‚Ǩ?
Day 5 (October 7th)
?¢‚Ǩ¬¢ 7:00 ?¢‚Ǩ‚Äú 8:00am Breakfast and Train ticket inquiry.
?¢‚Ǩ¬¢ Free day in the Arab suq
?¢‚Ǩ¬¢ Overnight train to Aswan
Day 6 (October 8th)
?¢‚Ǩ¬¢ Time TBA arrive in Aswan and inquire about Felucca
?¢‚Ǩ¬¢ Time TBA Tour around Aswan, eat breakfast and lunch
?¢‚Ǩ¬¢ Time TBA Board Felucca and disembark for Luxor
Day 7 (October 9th)
?¢‚Ǩ¬¢ All day Felucca
Day 8 (October 10th)
?¢‚Ǩ¬¢ All day Felucca
Day 9 (October 11th)
?¢‚Ǩ¬¢ Time TBA Arrive in Luxor and Train ticket inquiry.
?¢‚Ǩ¬¢ Time TBA Tour Karnack temple, Valley of the Kings, etc?¢‚Ǩ¬¶
?¢‚Ǩ¬¢ Time TBA board train for Cairo.
Day 10 (October 12th)
?¢‚Ǩ¬¢ Time TBA Arrive in Cairo eat breakfast and catch bus for Taba boarder crossing
?¢‚Ǩ¬¢ 3:00pm Hopefully be in Eilat

Too much time has passed since I last added a post, and if any more time passes I fear I will not be able to share with all of you the amazing event that I had witnesses several weeks ago. It all began with my good friend Duane who now lives in Jordan and came over to Jerusalem to visit for a short while and also begin the long process of ordination. This is as best I can remember that which he told me: While he was waiting at the border crossing, he met a beautiful young woman, who in a room full of Arab Jordanians, stuck out like a sore thumb. She was tall, blond with fair complexion. While both he and she sat there for the hours it can take to get through customs he spoke with her about all manner of things. At some point in time the conversation moved to matters of faith and more specifically, baptism. The young woman he was talking to had never been baptized and so he asked her if she was interested. I don’t really know what or how she responded to this question, but this I do know, she wasn’t going to do it there as they crossed the border sitting in customs lines. So my friend got her phone number in order that he might be able to contact here while he was in Jerusalem. Interestingly enough, she was working/volunteering for an organization in Jerusalem where she worked with children at the hospital (as to which hospital I do not know). As time progressed on my friend Duane got a hold of me and we made plans to rendezvous at the Gate Shechem (Damascus Gate) on the north side of the Old City where the Arab shook is. We never actually managed to meet up at this point but other amazing things took place instead (see the post “Worship in Jerusalem”). So after waiting around for about 2 or 3 hours for my friend I decided to walk home and meet up with him the next day. This meeting was much more successful and we went walked around the Old City as I did best I could to be a pseudo-tour guide. We had a wonderful time as we walked to the Kotel (Wailing Wall) and examined the both fascinating and spiritually stimulating structural remains found at the archaeological park at the southern end of the Temple Mount. From there we moved up on top of the Temple Mount where we paid an Arab fellow to explain to us all that we were looking at. He was great tour guide and had a wealth of information. We enjoyed our time and took pictures next to Qubbat As-Sakhrah (the Dome of the Rock). After this he and I ended up being very hungry and had a desire to eat in the Armenian quarter. It was at this time that I learned of his encounter with the young woman at the boarder crossing, and that she was in Jerusalem and also that he had asked her if she would like to eat with us. Well, she was unable to join us at the Armenian restaurant so we caught up with her at her hotel just inside the Jaffa Gate in the Old City.

This is where things become amazing and exciting. When we all joined up together, Duane’s friend said this, “I have been thinking about what you said and I would like to get baptized!” So what we did was since we were in the Old City already, we went down to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and went down to the chapel of the true cross where tradition has it, is the place where the “true” cross of Christ was found in the midst of many other discarded crosses. We found ourselves a quite little corner for which we decided to baptize our soon to be born again friend. The three of us carried on a short and sweet liturgical service where Duane and I both recited parts of scripture. Some from the old and some from the new. With this Duane took out a newly purchased bottle of water and baptized “Irene Ludolphie” as a new sister in Christ.

This was a first for me in many ways, this was the first baptism where I was the primary witness to the event not to mention the first baptism I had seen in the Holy Land. Also this was a first for Duane. Irene was the first person he had baptized. And I imagine this unique experience will stay with him for the rest of his days in ministry. Irene I’m sure will never forget it either. This was one of her last days in Israel before she returned home, so what a surprise and blessing to have had this done before she left.

After this the three of us went to a local bar where we could sit down and order a bit of wine where we honored the LORD through the break of bread and drinking of wine, Just as our father Abraham did, as did Moses and also Jesus. In His name we gave thanks and shared in these blessing with our new sister! The rest of the evening was filled with celebration and deep conversations with the folks in the bar about Christianity, the Temple Mount, and all manners of other wonderful topics.

Bless the LORD all you people of the earth, Bless the LORD!

I have been inundated with the new ulpan and have little time to do much else. I did have the honor and great pleasure of being a witness in a wonderful event that took place at the Church of the Holy Seplecure. This event however is of such great magnitude that it deserves the time and effort of its own blog. This to be posted soon. All this to say that I am doing well here in Israel and am working hard to try and learn fully this Hebrew language.

A break in the war up north has people here breathing sighs of relief and with their very next breath held in anticipation to see what is to happen next. All in all there is an unsettling calm that is thick and almost tangible in the air.

I hope to post again soon when I have become a bit more settled with my new roommates and new class load. Till then, may GOD?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s peace endure.

I had the greatest of pleasures this morning. Not in a 100 years, neigh, a 1,000 years would I ever have thought that I would have had the honor of what I had this morning, on this bonny Sabbath morn. Both I and a good friend of mine from Bermuda had the privilege of leading GOD’s children in worship, in the city of Jerusalem! It was wonderful and a unique experience for me. I remember as a young boy watching the pianist play the hymns we sang and thinking/praying: What a privilege it would be to be that person who played the piano for people to sing praises.” I asked GOD if one day I could have that privilege. As I look back now at that request and see how to great lengths GOD has answered that prayer. I have had the honor to lead worship in a Bickertonite home Church in Albuquerque NM, in a Baptist/non-denom church plant in Alb, for a Methodist Youth group in San Antonio TX, for camps and retreats in San Antonio, for a Presbyterian College Ministry in San An…, for Intervarsity Christian Fellowship, for Fellowship of Christian Athletes, helped plan and played for an Episcopal Modern Worship Service in San Antonio, for a Baptist Congregation in North Chicago IL, and now for a Multicultural Multiethnic Interdenominational Church in Jerusalem, Israel! How the Good LORD answers prayer. Bless the Name!

After the service was over I was to meet up with a friend from TX in the Old City at the Damascus Gate where he was staying. However, I failed to get there in time to catch him, but since I was coming from the church I had my guitar with me. As I sat in the gate waiting for my friend, a couple of Arab guys came up to me and began asking me questions about my guitar. After a while I realized that they wanted me to play for them. The were learning how to play and they wanted to watch my fingers. So I agreed. I began to play as they watched and were impressed and thanked me for my time. After they had gone I continued to play since I was just waiting anyways. So as time went on, about 8 Arab boys slowly gathered around me. One at first then he encouraged his friends to come by also. Only a couple of them spoke English well and asked me if I could play this song or that song. I did as best I could and played the few popular songs I knew (exp, Free Falling, Hotel California, …). It was great! They hung around for about 20 min or so and bought me some kind of juice slushy. It was tasty. As they got up to leave, they thanked me with handshakes all around. It was at this point that one of them said to me, “You come around her and play anytime you like. You are a friend for life!” I was kind of taken back by the grandiose statement made by this young man of age 17ish. I thanked him as I thought on what he had just said. I hope to see him and his friends again in the future.

It still amazes me, the power of music. Even though it has been many times in my life my sole and lone companion in sharing some of my deeper emotions. Often it would expresses the emotions I didn’t even know I had or was feeling. I hope that I never lose this ability, this gift, this passion kindled deep in my soul. I know music is a powerful fire, and can burn one if it is not used wisely. The vehicle of music only carries us to places we already know. To emotions we have already visited. However, when it does this, it does it with a fanned flame of intensity. If you want to feel sad, music with bring you to sorrowful tears. If you want to feel happy, music will bring you joyful dancing. If you want to feel love, music will wash over your soul like a strong wine. If you want to feel anger, music will bring you to a violent rage! This is the power of music. This is its force. In this is the passion of mankind in pure expression. I hope never to lose my ability to express it.

Liminality might best be described as the state of limbo found in one’s own identity due to social transition or a “rite of passage” where one can neither be associated with who one had previously been nor can one be associated with the social recognition that he/she has earned but has yet to receive. The tasks/roles of the past are completed and the tasks/roles of the future are not yet accessible… the individual is found to be in a kind of unbound flux both within one’s self and within the larger realm of society.

Why did I begin this blog with a definition of some philosophical term? I thought it fitting since the last conversation I had with a certain young woman, whom is of great importance to me, consisted of the statement “I feel so liminal”. She had been referring to the events of the past week that seemed more like a dream than anything else. They were the type of events that involve the leads of some epic romantic film, not to mere mortals such as she and myself. Love songs sing about such things, which we did listened to on several occasions and found them quite fitting to our seemingly liminal existence.

She had not only been referring to the events of the week prior, but most likely the whole of the summer up to that point. See, she had just graduated from college and was transitioning into a grad/doctorial program at a university on the west coast. I do believe that our short lived relationship (with the hope of something more) may have been the pinnacle of her liminal experience. She had asked me a time or two “Don’t you feel liminal?” to which I mostly nodded and avoided answering. For me, I felt like my stage of transition was coming to an end and while she and I hung out and discussed the deep questions of life, postmodernism, and the perspective of a certain philosopher named Emmanuel Levinas, I was feeling more and more at home; at home in my new surroundings, at home in my renewed path, and at home in my new friend. As I joined her at the airport in Tel Aviv where we enjoyed a meal, a good hand holding and each other’s presence, I couldn’t help but feel as part of my new home was to some degree breaking up, for even from the beginning of the Hebrew Ulpan class she was my “Zoog”, my partner, and helped me fill the times in-between sleeping and class with laughter and chocolate croissant eating.

To say that I am going to miss her would be an understatement for so much of my understanding of my new home includes her. Do I feel Liminal? That is a good question. Maybe I do, maybe even more then before. The problem is if this is Liminal, then what am I transitioning to? That being said, I leave this blog with a seemingly misplaced and unrelated poem.

This is just to say

I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox

and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast

Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold

- William Carlos Williams

One of the more beautiful things that take place here in Israel is the observance of the Sabbath. The buses stop running, few to no cars can be seen on the road, most shops and restaurants are closed from sundown Friday eve to sundown on Saturday eve. Do to the imposed day of rest, for those of us from the states who are not used to preparing for such a complete halting of services as occurs on the Sabbath can find this day to be quite irritating if one would have anything that they would need to get done.

As is usual in the world of Jonah (the one where it is just a bit impossible to plan more then 2 hours ahead) I found myself not quite prepared when the Sabbath came upon us about a week or two ago. So after class let out, a friend of mine asked I had any plane for the Sabbath, and not to my surprise I didn’t have any, so I responded “no”. He then asked if I wanted to walk down to the old city with a couple of friends of his. I thought that it might be fun, so I agreed to join them. Our numbers started out as six when we headed out to the Old City on foot (no buses, few to no affordable taxies, by foot was the most readily available option).

One thing I have to say about traveling around Jerusalem. No matter what happens, there is always the option to travel by foot. You are never stranded anywhere in the city. In about just one and one-half hours or perhaps two, you can walk the city’s span. I find this incredibly convenient, however like most things, in this to there is a catch. If one decides to walk about the city of Jerusalem one will constantly feel what I now call the one true geographical anomaly (and no, I don’t mean animal)! Just as grandpa used to lie when he would tell us that he would walk to school barefooted in six feet of snow… uphill Both ways, in Jerusalem no matter where you go you are walking uphill! Perhaps this is why the Psalms of Accent (Psalms 120-134) always mentioned going up to Jerusalem.

As it is, even though we started a good 500-600 ft above the Old City, we somehow ended up walking uphill to it. By the time we had reached the Old City, we planed on meeting up with one more to make our group a perfect Seven in number. And even though we almost had to walk the complete circuit of the Old City (the whole length of the outer wall) to find him, we eventually met up at the Jaffa Gate (AKA the Beautiful Gate). Some of the number in our group had yet to see the Kotel (Wailing Wall) so we made that our first planed stop. In our meanderings though the Old City on the way to the Kotel, we came across several group of high school kids doing what is called a “birthright pilgrimage” where Jewish students tour Israel in order to become familiar/attached to the land that GOD gave them. And as all good things do, these pilgrimages end at the Kotel, the closest one can get to the Temple mount (the place where the Temple of GOD stood) without going up on top. These birthright pilgrimages are wonderful to observe, full of singing, dancing, praying, and great excitement that can only occur in large gatherings of youth.

At the Kotel, one pilgrimage group that we inadvertently followed filed through the one door security station and out onto the Kotel plaza. It is at this point where all men separate themselves from the women as each gender moves down the plaza to their respective sides of the segregated Wailing Wall to again pray and sing more songs (one of which included jumping up and down which I think was irritating some of the more orthodox Jews who were at there stations’ dressed all in black, saying prays and ushering in the Sabbath). It was at this point where the guys and girls in our group split up to go down to the Kotel. Now it is a grave rule that all men must not come before GOD with their heads uncovered so those of us without a hat (all head coverings are acceptable, baseball caps included) are provided one at the cardboard-kippah dispenser (a kippah is a small hat that just covers the back/top of one’s head which sometimes resemble a doily)

Kippah … Doily …
Me being as prepared as I am, I had no hat, so I promptly place the cardboard kippah on my head and proceeded down to the wall. After a moment at the Wailing Wall my friends and I reconvened for the beginning of the Sabbath, we looked on the wall and the now very crowded plaza as the Shabbat was now upon us. It was at this time a rather wryly Jewish man began running around gathering people up and asking them questions. He made his way over to our group and asked us “what are you doing tonight!” and “where are you going?!” and “Do you have a place to be!?” To which of all of these we answered “I don’t know”. So he said back to us “You come with me!… You will eat at my house! Wait here… follow this man!” So we filed in behind this guy who walked out the Old City and a very brisk pace and up the hill (always uphill) to a Jewish neighborhood where we squeezed into an apartment about 900 sq ft to find a good 40 people already gathered for Shabbat Dinner waiting for new comers.

The whole of events that happened after we joined them for the Shabbat dinner were one of the coolest things I could have hoped to experience in Israel! The man whose apartment we were in had been doing this for the past 15 or so years. He and his family prepare a Sabbath meal and then go out and find anyone they can to share the meal with. Whether Christian or Jew or Muslim or Agnostic or if you speak English or Hebrew or German or anything, in his house on the Sabbath you are welcome at his table. The only thing required to partake in this meal is respect each other and have no talk of politics. The course of the evening went as follows. We washed our hands (the orthodox Jew sitting next to me showed me how I was to do it - Matthew 15:2?) Said a blessing and broke bread. Then conversation and much eating filled the eve as food kept coming from the kitchen until our host stood and gave an interpretation of the Parsha (weekly reading from the Torah) and then invited anyone else to give any kind of interpretation/teaching they wished as long as they followed the respect and no politics rule. People of all ages and languages would stand up one after another to perhaps bless the people at the table (tables) with their interpretations or teachings that they had gained through life or study. At then end of the meal, our host again arose and bless GOD and we shared in the fruit of the vine together (wine). He again thanked all of us for coming and invited us back any time we wanted.

That evening we walked back to our little hill on the other side of the Old City with a unique form of calm and companionship that swirled around us as we spoke with each other. In the midst of the reality that can be found only in Jerusalem… that is; The place where the world’s three major religions and peoples baring cultures from everywhere are crammed together into one little city is about as volatile a situation one could create. And in the midst of all this religious and culture and political tension, that evening I had a truer sense and vision of what peace is and I was not the only one who was effected by it. My friends were moved in such a way that they were searching for songs that we could all sing together. And when common songs could not be found we found ourselves listening to each other sing songs about anything and everything.

What does it mean when we say Shabbat Shalom (Sabbath Peace)? I believe now believe I have seen it first hand over a meal where we broke bread and drank wine. GOD is good.

One of the first days I was here at the Hebrew U. I came across a rather nice fella who lived directly above me. This is not what made him nice however, but more-so the fact that he had purchased internet access and was now allowing the whole of our dorm to use it. One day, he pulled me aside and stated that he was going to be moving back to the US and wanted to know if I wanted to pick-up his internet account. “I most certainly do!”, I exclaimed. So we began to make the arrangements for me to take over his account.

He (Bryson) and I walked down to the place where these magic events (like transferring of internet accounts) happen. This place also had, what I thought at the time to be a magical name… “Bezek”. Much to my chagrin, magic was just the thing that allowed anything to be accomplished with in this tele-com company. As my new friend and I arrived at the Bezek office (it was more like the backroom of some less then fresh market and was located in what seemed to be a rundown strip-mall), I thought to myself how many times I had heard of how things can get complicated in Israel and that maybe this might be my chance to experience it first hand. I was surprised however to find the transfer of account to my name to be incredibly smooth. Not only to my surprise but to that of Bryson’s as well, yet in his great experience while living in the country he asked for a copy of the paper work (I could hear echoes of my father’s voice in his actions).

While the attendant was away making copies, Bryson commented on how amazingly smooth everything went, quite the opposite was his first experience with Bezek. As he began to tell me of his ordeal with the nation-wide tele-com company he used a word that all Israelis are far too familiar with. It is one word that sums up the whole of life here in Israel; the untimeliness of most officials, poor directions/instructions on just about everything, the fear of suicide bombings and other militant actions, general disregard for traffic laws, the constant tension between the world’s 3 major religions, etc. This word is life in Israel. Belegen. Belegen basically refers to the vain of chaos runs through every aspect of life in Israel. Can’t get to work because of a traffic block: Belegen. All power in the dorms have been turned off today: Belegen. Your locked in the old city for 3 hours due to a possible threat: Belegen. Bryson told me that this would be a very useful word for me in the future.

Well, come to find out that future for me was only 2 days away when Bezek came to install my phone line. They were supposed to arrive sometime between 2 and 5 that day and never showed up. So about 30 minutes to 5:00 I call Bezek to ask if they are going to send someone out today or not. With great effort I button-mashed my way past their automated service that was only in Hebrew or Russian and was able to speak with someone who could both communicate with me and answer my questions. Come to find out, the technician had already been to my locations, but never came up to my room. They said, “all I need to do is plug a phone in to the jack in the wall to check and see if I had a dial tone”, then they would turn my DSL access on. The problem with this is, I don’t have a phone to plug into the wall, as a matter of fact, no one in my whole building (20 floors of 3 suits with 2 people to a suite) had one. So, Bezek says to me that they will do nothing until I can verify that I have a tone… so I run down to the door office which is surprisingly open where a young woman about my age is sitting watching women?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s tennis on TV. I ask if I can borrow one of the three phones that have been strewn about in the office for 2 minutes so I can verify that I have tone. Now I needed to get all of this done before 5, so that if there is a problem the technician can come back and fix it. Well, the young woman at the desk says to me, “No, you can not use any of these phones because I need them to work”, as she continues to watch her program. So I ask her, “what happens if you need to leave your office, how does your work get a hold of you”, she said by cell phone as she shows it to me. Time is ticking away towards 5 and I am debating with this woman to see if I can borrow their phone to plug in to my wall jack just a few floors above her. After I convinced her that when I have the office phone it would be just as if she had stepped out of the office for a couple of minutes, I ran with it up to the 14th floor where my room is and plugged it into the wall where I found out that, YES…. there was NO tone. The time at that point was well after five and so the technician had already gone home for the day.

This was a Friday and nothing happens on the Shabbat in Jerusalem so it was not until Tuesday of the next week that the tech could come back out. So I call Monday to verify that the tech is coming to my place the next day, where I get caught up in a debate with the woman from Bezek on the other end of the line about whether or not I can access the account. The account had been transferred into my name and my credit card but since I was not the person who opened the account (Bryson) she could not speak with me about it. After about 45 minutes of this I verified my identity and that a tech was indeed coming out to my location the fallowing day.

When the Tech arrived he spent about an hour tracking down the reason as to why I had no signal in my room. At the end of it (running up to my room, down to the basement, up to the rooms above me and back again), apparently the cord in my wall had been ripped in two and it had been not 5 feet from the jack. With a quick patch job, he tested my phone line and what would you know, it worked perfectly. He then tested the DSL modem, but it did not work. He said to me that it will not work now but it will in a couple of hours… so he left and I was content to wait a couple hours more. That night, the DSL modem worked… well mostly. It was communicating over my phone line but was not allowing me to access the internet. I then got on the phone with Bezek only to find out that I needed to deal with another company, the one that provided the DSL service which also had the name Bezek… but Bezek International. SO I called them and was with them for an hour on the phone before we conference called the other Bezek company. So I was on the phone with 2 Bezeks and still without solutions. At the end of the conversation, they had decided to send out another technician the next day but if the problem fixes itself to call them so they can cancel the Tech. SO I called them the next day after class to verify that I had a Tech coming to see me, which I once again got another run around… as I was waiting I tried again to get back on the internet… and wouldn’t you know it the problem had fixed its self! So I canceled the Tech and a week and a half later I had internet and was now thoroughly acquainted with the Belegen that is life in Israel!

Here in Israel, the Sabbath day begins Friday at sundown and everything shuts down (actually things shut down more like an hour before the sunset just to be on the safe side). So if you want to do anything on Friday it is best that you do it while the sun is high in the sky. A friend of mine asked me if I wanted to play some basketball, so I joined him and a couple of other guys from the Narkis St. Congregation for some midday basketball, and let me tell you the sun may have been high in the sky, but it felt as if it were only a few 100 feet from us. As we were playing Bball, guys kept showing up, so what stated as a 2 on 2 match grew to a full court game of 5 on 5. It had been a really long time since I had played a full court game, and to be honest I wasn’t really getting back in time to on defense. All in all I had a blast and am looking forward to playing again. Some of the guys we played with were quite good. At any rate after the game I went home tired, sunburned and in pain, so when I made it to the dorms I took a short shower and just fell into bed!

Later that night was to be the first Shabbat Dinner for us here at the Hebrew U. or at least those of us who just arrived in the country. When I woke of from my nap, I looked over at the clock and it was 8:09 and we were to meet for the dinner at 8:00! So I jumped out of bed, threw on some clothes and ran out of the building. Thank goodness the place for the dinner was in a hotel right across the street from my dorm building. I ran across the street and into the hotel and down to the ground floor. I walked up to the first table I came to and asked if I could join the group sitting there (which they agreed to let me join them) just as the guy leading the group began the opening prayer! Ahh… just like the most of my life, I made it just in the knick of time! The food was good and I enjoyed myself talking with some of the folks there at my table. After dinner I returned to my room and watched Amalie with my roommate. This is a great movie! Its so happy!

The next morning, I felt all the running I did the day before. My calves felt like they ripping themselves from my legs. And even though I had worn sunblock playing basketball, I could still feel the sun on my face when I woke up. So as sore and sun-sticken as I was I decided to make the day of rest and actual day of rest and recuperation. So I didn’t make it to the Narkis St Congregation this morning for their Shabbat service. The more things change the more they stay the same I guess.