Make Hummus, Not Walls

Well Friends, Ulpan (Hebrew class) is almost over and it is almost time for Purim break. I just have a final Wednesday and then I am off the hook for a bit.

Back to about a week ago: I went to Bethlehem to go to church (Mormon services) last Sunday. It was one of the coolest church experiences I think I have had yet. Most people don’t realize that Bethlehem is in the West Bank, is in Palestinian Territory, and everything is in Arabic. The meeting was in Arabic with translation into English (for me- I felt bad), and all of the other church-goers were Palestinian. It was so interesting to hear stories and experiences of others in a Sunday school lesson. The lesson was on honesty and one member talked about a lot of really interesting life experience pertaining to living in the West Bank. I had never seen that kind of perspective before. It was really enlightening.

Graffiti on the inside of the wall that separates Israel from the West Bank.

This last weekend I went on a school trip to Masada and the Dead Sea. Surprisingly, only an hour away from Jerusalem is the Negev Desert, a UNESCO world heritage site, and the Dead Sea.

Masada is a fort that housed Kind Herod (the same king who made the decree to kill all the babies under the age of two when Christ was born). It was when that land was under Roman rule. It’s a big deal in Judaism because in 73 A.D. The romans came to siege the fort and instead of allowing a mass slaughter of the hundreds of Jews, everyone decided to commit suicide before the romans came. They also burned a lot of local resources, food storage, etc. There were 15,000 soldiers that were going to attack only about 900 inhabitants who were living in the fort. Masada has turned into a symbol of Jewish/Israeli heroism, as it was the last place to be conquered by the Romans. A tour guide told me that every Israeli soldier takes an oath at Masada, to not let Israel fall again. It was really interesting to learn about.

In an Ancient Synagogue in Masada

Dead Sea from Masada

Masada has a lot of really old ruins and is actually near the location where a little Bedouin boy found The Dead Sea scrolls some decades ago. From Masada there is beautiful view of the Dead Sea, which we got to float in after our trip to Masada. It was really warm for it only being February. I floated, got a sunburn, and had really soft skin afterwards. No wonder people use water softener (salt) in indoor plumbing. Sooooooo nice. I’m going to go back and take a mud bath at some point during the semester.

Dead Sea float!

I find it really funny that the climates in Utah and around the Dead Sea are very similar. The Great Salt Lake In SLC is also a dead body of water (in that no rivers exit from it), is surrounded by a desert, and that both The Dead Sea and The Great Salt Lake are fed by Jordan Rivers. Moab is a city in Southern Utah and is also an area on the Jordanian side of the Dead Sea. I never realized how Biblical everything is where I grew up.

Mud fight!

After my Hebrew final we have a 5-day weekend. I’m going hiking from Nazareth -> Galilee. I’m so excited!