The Big Picture

Our first day began at about 8:00 in the morning with an ascent to the Old City of Jerusalem by car. Our first stop was an overlook near the top, overlooking the Old City. This area is enclosed by the great wall built by the Ottoman Turkish sultan, Suleiman the Magnificent. It includes the temple mount where Solomon’s temple laid and now the Muslim mosque, the Dome of the Rock, which is topped with a spectacular gold dome that glistened in the morning sun as we looked on.
After rubbing my eyes to ensure I wasn’t waking from a dream, I began to try and drink in this scene and all the history contained within and just outside its walls. The idea was that we would first take in the big picture of these important sites and then look at them in detail within the days to come. Our overview was like fanning through the pages of a book….much of which we saw from a panoramic view atop the Mount of Olives. Scanning the horizon as we stood on the Mount Olives where Jesus prayed, was arrested, and then taken to be tried and crucified, we saw the Old City, the pinnacle of the temple mount where Satan taunted Jesus to throw himself off, the Dome of the Rock, the city of David, Mount Zion, Nehemiah’s wall, the Judean desert where Jesus was tempted for 40 days and 40 nights, and the building where the upper room may have been where the last supper and Pentecost may have taken place.Suddenly all the events I had read about in the Bible seemed to connect and find there place in a community. All of the biblical accounts of these events took place in a city that was probably only several miles across and had approximately 100,000 people. It was a community where Jesus interacted with all types of people in many different places. It was a place where Jesus walked, taught, worked, shopped and laughed. It was a place where Jesus didn’t just live amongst the people but loved them by bringing healing to the sick, restoring sight to the blind, giving mobility to the lame, hope for the hopeless and value and love to the dejected. It was the place where the God man who at the same time upheld the world by the power of his word, loved with all of the same earthly emotions we experience. Jerusalem represented the culmination of Jesus’ ministry and the fulfillment of God’s plan of redemption planned before the foundations of the world were created. Jerusalem was Jesus’ friend, his family, his home.

Shalom,
Lisa

Kosher Kitchens and Calls to Prayer

I’ve always heard of Kosher but I began to realize this was going to mean more than just “no pork.” During our 5 hour layover at JFK airport in New York, I began to see person after person and families of Hasidic (orthodox) Jews. They were obvious because the men were all dressed in black suits, black hats, and some had long beards along with long, curled side-locks. The women looked fairly ordinary but were all wearing skirts, long sleeves and tights. I even marveled at a little boy who couldn’t have been more than 4, dressed in his green striped rugby pajamas for the long flight ahead, complete with his kipa (skull cap) and tzitzit (the ritual fringes decorating the prayer shawl that Hasidic men and boys wear, often under the coats or, in this case, their pajamas!). I could see that if these Hasidic Jews were as serious about their Kosher food as they were about their clothes, this was going to mean a lot more than just giving up bacon on our trip…and I was right.

Arriving at Neal and Ruby’s condo, the first thing I noticed was the kitchen drawers and cabinets marked “Dairy” or “Meat.” This was a Kosher kitchen which meant separate utensils, plates, pots and pans were to be used for meat and dairy. Even the separate sides of the sink were to be used to wash meat and dairy dishes, etc., separately. Meat and dairy were also to be kept on separate shelves of the refrigerator. So, we had to be careful which shelf we put our leftover pizza from lunch on!

At the same time I’m trying to process all the Kosher rules, I hear one of 5 daily calls to prayer from the loudspeakers of the nearby minarets (tall towers) of several mosques.
How strange, I thought…Jews and Muslims living side by side equally passionate about their traditions yet worlds apart in their theology….today’s tour of Jerusalem magnified this reality and gave a window into the history of the turmoil these two people groups experience now and have experienced for thousands of years.

Shalom,
Lisa

How Do You Prepare for a Trip to Israel?

Preparing for our trip was done amongst a whirlwind of activity but preparation was unique because of where we were going. It wasn’t just that it was going to be VERY hot (upwards of 100 degrees some days) but the need to pack with cultural sensitivities in mind…no shorts…and something to cover your arms when entering the holy sights.

The idea was we wanted to fit in as much as possible and be sensitive to the culture we would be becoming a part of for the next 14 days.
There was the obvious packing to be done along with buying items you hope you didn’t need but better have just in case, but there was also a heart preparation that I quickly began to realize was even more important than having good walking shoes. My prayer was God would teach me through our trip…through the sights, smells, and places I only had read about in the Bible until now and never dreamed of seeing first hand. My prayer was that God would help me to be more thankful for the sacrifice of Jesus than being enamored with walking where he walked. So, now we are here and I feel like I’m drinking from a fire hydrant of information and experiencing a geographical encyclopedia about a world I knew so little about. The experience is already broadening the context of God’s Word in ways I’m just beginning to assimilate and hope to share as we go.
Shalom!Lisa