tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-40756159825040625052024-03-12T18:11:55.288-07:00Aliyah PittsburghWhat's it like to make aliyah?
What discoveries will you make?
What will be new to you?
Here is one story. Discover yourself here.Tuviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09258309790095578616noreply@blogger.comBlogger62125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4075615982504062505.post-72767538304919869852012-07-04T02:22:00.003-07:002012-07-08T02:10:03.212-07:00Bird watching in IsraelAs some of you may know from reading this blog, Israel has a reputation for being a world superpower--in birding. Why? Because twice a year, birds from the Northern countries fly south for the winter--and then turn around a few months later to return North. <br />
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What does this have to do with Israel? They come through Israel on both trips--app 500,000 birds each time.<br />
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It's no joke. Israel is a superpower.<br />
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So with that in mind, my wife and I went bird-watching last week. We went south, to the desert--to the Negev.<br />
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The Negev in late June is hot--perhaps 96-98 degrees Fahrenheit on the day of our visit--but not unbearably hot. Because there's no humidity to speak of, 96-98 degrees is not miserable. But because it is 96 (or higher) it is still dangerous, partly because the sun in the desert here is not the same sun you get in the Eastern USA. It is brighter, hotter, more intense.<br />
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Because we live in the desert ourselves, we didn't take many pictures of the desert in the Northern Negev. We are accustomed to looking at a desert. Another reason we didn't take pictures was that this desert is no longer desert. It is farmland. Perhaps you have heard that the Jews have made the desert bloom; well, this is proof. I would guess that we saw literally hundreds of acres (or more) either growing crops--leafy, green, thick--being prepared for growing something, or just having been plowed. We saw what looked like peach orchards and at least one watermelon field. We didn't know what the leafy green stuff was.<br />
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The experience of seeing this farming on such a hot landscape was itself worth the trip. We were so surprised, we didn't think to snap pictures. But then, we were after bigger things; and we were not disappointed.<br />
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My first picture is of a momma bird--big, slow and just hovering above her babies. It was quite a picture. Here is it:<br />
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That's momma bird in the middle, hovering. Her babies are on the ground, to the right.<br />
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Do you know what momma birds do with their babies? They pick them up. Like this:<br />
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Momma birds take care of their own, right?<br />
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And when a momma bird realizes that she is being watched by perhaps 5,000 people sitting in a sun-drenched desert amphitheatre right next to her, what does she do? She turns around, and gives you all a look:<br />
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bye, bye momma bird.<br />
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Momma birds are big--and they take care of their babies. Daddy birds, on the other hand are different. Many daddy birds in nature are more colorful than mamma birds. How do those daddies behave? They show off, of course--like this:<br />
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They travel in groups and show off their colors!<br />
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In addition to momma and daddies, birds have grandparents. Some grandparents are old--very old. For example, here is a grandparenting pair. They'll old and slow. But boy, can they fly:<br />
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First, the introductions:<br />
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The plane on the right is a Stillman, probably from the late nineteen thirties-early forties. It's called a bi-plane because it has two wings, one above the other. Can you see that?<br />
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Oh, look at the left. That's another 1940's plane. <br />
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Wait. Maybe you can't see these two that well. Let's make an adjustment:<br />
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Is that better? You can see the yellow plane more clearly, right? Its profile suggests a World War Two Flight Trainer, but it might be something else.I didn't catch its name. You still have a problem seeing the biplane's two wings, though, so let's watch the planes fly:<br />
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Here, the two planes , performing together as a pair. They are just beginning to separate, pulling away from each other. Now you can see why the plane on the right is called a bi-plane. 'Bi' means 'two' or 'divided into two'--and you can see why the plane gets that name.<br />
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Now, here's a challenge: with one camera and two planes moving away from each other, which do you follow?<br />
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Answer:<br />
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Oh, my, he's fast! <br />
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Let's try to catch another picture:<br />
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Ugh! Missed him!<br />
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Wait. He's climbing higher. Maybe, if I wait, he'll come down--you know, closer:<br />
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Got 'em!<br />
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What's he doing now? He's turning. He's coming overhead. Quick, catch him in the camera lens. Quick!!<br />
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He's low, he's close--and he's past you in a JIF!<br />
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By the way, here's a tip: these planes are fast. The ones you will see below are faster. So when they come down at you like this, be careful. Don't lean back with your camera as they fly past overhead. You can fall over!<br />
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Okay, you can rest your neck--for now.<br />
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Let's look on the ground for a change, at some of the younger birds. You know, the kind that like to show off:<br />
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Here are some real show-offs. Why, they don't even wait to get up into the air! <br />
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The two birds in the back-left of the picture are just taking off. You can see that their wheels are just a couple of feet off the tarmac; and yes, they're show-offs.<br />
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Look at the smoke they are blowing off!<br />
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And they aren't the only show-offs. There's more. First, three:<br />
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Then, finally, four for some fantastic formal flying formations--really fun!<br />
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Flying down--<br />
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Flying up--<br />
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Flying STRAIGHT UP:<br />
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Flying straight up CLOSER:<br />
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Then--waaaay up and a loop-di-loop:<br />
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Can you figure out what they did in this picture? First down, then a sharp turn up, then--now--at the top, just before turning sharply down again!<br />
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Until, finally, a farewell--almost close enough to touch:<br />
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Bye, bye birdees.<br />
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Then, just as your neck stops hurting, you have to look higher up into the air for------------------------- <br />
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a nursing mommy!<br />
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When they get closer, you get a second look:<br />
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Next, a surprise, as in, 'Look, Ma, no hands!'<br />
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Can you tell what this is? It's a drone--an unmanned aircraft.<br />
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Pretty cool, eh?<br />
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Now, have you ever seen a bird poop while flying? Well, here's Big Bird. Is he really pooping?<br />
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Nope. Those are cargo boxes connected to parachutes. Are they Hummers?<br />
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No. Here's the Hummer:<br />
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Now, for the next two photos, you have to use your imagination. Imagine, if you will, you are a VERY BIG PLANE, like this:<br />
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Next, imagine that you have just unloaded that white Hummer vehicle above--and now, you've got to get airborne--pronto.<br />
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Got the picture?<br />
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Good.<br />
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Now imagine that you don't have much road in front of you to take off. What do you do?<br />
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Can you guess?<br />
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You back up!<br />
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Which is what this plane above did. By the way, when he did that, I didn't get a picture because I didn't understand what he was doing. But I could see that he was moving pretty fast for a mechanized hippopotamus--maybe 20 MPH backwards. He went back perhaps a hundred yards, paused, revved up and drove forward as fast as he could get his weight to move. In an instant--much faster than I had expected him to do--he did something extraordinary for his weight.<br />
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Can you guess?<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jahfoAimq2k/T_QD-58geJI/AAAAAAAAAY4/RR3zP0GcsjQ/s1600/050.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jahfoAimq2k/T_QD-58geJI/AAAAAAAAAY4/RR3zP0GcsjQ/s640/050.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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That's one of his specialities: short take-off.<br />
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Well, I don't know what 'short' really means, but this beast didn't need much road at all before he literally LIFTED up off the ground.<br />
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Take it from me: when you watch a hippopotamus fly, that's impressive!<br />
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Now, cover your ears. You need to do that, because the police are about to show up--and let me tell you, these guys are not only fast, they are LOUD!<br />
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Look, here comes one now.<br />
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DUCK:<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tvStNUiXndU/T_QFYYwY8PI/AAAAAAAAAZA/Yk0pl8XwNGs/s1600/049.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tvStNUiXndU/T_QFYYwY8PI/AAAAAAAAAZA/Yk0pl8XwNGs/s640/049.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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Now I realize that this is only a picture. But you can still see how low he is to the ground.<br />
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I want to tell you something about these jet-fighters: DID I TELL YOU THEY WERE LOUD?<br />
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WHAT DID YOU SAY?<br />
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I CAN"T HEAR YOU?<br />
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Listen, when these guys fly by this close, they turn up the volume (they seem to be able to do that) and your ears don't hurt at all: they just go NUMB.<br />
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You whole body vibrates--ftrom the inside out.<br />
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Then, after multiple fly-overs, especially with multiple LOUD planes--<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-89FZuSpe8js/T_Ufr6oYUSI/AAAAAAAAAZU/2A-0IwqFvdg/s1600/014.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-89FZuSpe8js/T_Ufr6oYUSI/AAAAAAAAAZU/2A-0IwqFvdg/s640/014.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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you have only one half-deaf reaction:<br />
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I WANT ONE OF THOSE!<br />
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But these guys weren't the LOUDEST or the FASTEST or the BADDEST guys we saw. That ear-splitting/ear-numbing/body-vibrating thrill was saved for last:<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Tn9c3lQCBJI/T_QHebawvaI/AAAAAAAAAZI/dtRniTWcn0c/s1600/026.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Tn9c3lQCBJI/T_QHebawvaI/AAAAAAAAAZI/dtRniTWcn0c/s640/026.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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This is Israel's front-line, premier police officer. He's LOUD and then LOUDER and then LOUDER still. He can turn on a dime, literally, and fly straight up. Literally. He was so fast, this was the only picture I could get.<br />
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What a beauty. What a noise. What power. What a thrill!<br />
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I WANT ONE FOR MY BIRTHDAY!<br />
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Actually, that's not true. My ears were so numb and my insides so vibrating, I couildn't think at all--all I could do was stare in complete, mind-boggling, ear-numbing awe.<br />
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It was my wife who said,<br />
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I WANT ONE FOR MY BIRTHDAY!<br />
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So of course I told her I'd get her one.<br />
<br />Tuviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09258309790095578616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4075615982504062505.post-64629582027691377202011-08-23T08:31:00.000-07:002011-08-24T06:10:03.878-07:00WARNING!I have 'broken' my blog arrangement!<br />
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As you will see if you page-down, I started this blog using a 'theme' format, not a chronological format. You can read about that below.<br />
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The next several posts break that format. They cover a time period that is post-aliyah, and use the more traditional 'chronology' format.<br />
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If you are on this blog to read about my early aliyah and pre-aliyah experience, page-down to the entry for Friday, April 1, 2011 posting.<br />
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Thanks.Tuviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09258309790095578616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4075615982504062505.post-48233065513550427042011-08-22T03:08:00.000-07:002012-07-12T09:20:32.041-07:00Did you know that Israel was 'for the birds!'<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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It's true. <br />
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Israel is for the birds.<br />
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You realize what that means, don 't you?<br />
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It means that, according to at least two internet websites, Israel is--this is <em>their</em> word--the superpower of birding!<br />
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Why?<br />
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Because Israel has a bird. Here's proof:<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PRLttQQxnp8/TlIpOc4AxiI/AAAAAAAAATs/H3lmhxMwkDk/s1600/011.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PRLttQQxnp8/TlIpOc4AxiI/AAAAAAAAATs/H3lmhxMwkDk/s640/011.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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And you know what they say about a bird?<br />
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Where there's one--there's ten:<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mxOiA2ZdEec/TlIqf2LX5NI/AAAAAAAAATw/zg6je26ylz8/s1600/026.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mxOiA2ZdEec/TlIqf2LX5NI/AAAAAAAAATw/zg6je26ylz8/s640/026.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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Oh, wait. I have that wrong. It's not ten. It's what, fifteen?<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BgnttgVEapI/TlIrcTDQqjI/AAAAAAAAAT0/_YNRrDbYutk/s1600/028.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BgnttgVEapI/TlIrcTDQqjI/AAAAAAAAAT0/_YNRrDbYutk/s640/028.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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Did you count them?<br />
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I don't think you counted right:<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-v_hVWqtt4Kg/TlIsMuOHfUI/AAAAAAAAAT4/tbc_N8MgqNs/s1600/020.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-v_hVWqtt4Kg/TlIsMuOHfUI/AAAAAAAAAT4/tbc_N8MgqNs/s640/020.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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Be alert! </div>
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Count again!</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TW3vWR-l4ZY/TlItHy4Bo_I/AAAAAAAAAT8/VrMhAC2Y4no/s1600/019.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TW3vWR-l4ZY/TlItHy4Bo_I/AAAAAAAAAT8/VrMhAC2Y4no/s640/019.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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Say, can we talk for a minute? You can't keep trying to count, you know. You'll get confused:</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Cka0HJn1ZRs/TlItx2a7eaI/AAAAAAAAAUA/S0uiO4Rz3ys/s1600/021.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Cka0HJn1ZRs/TlItx2a7eaI/AAAAAAAAAUA/S0uiO4Rz3ys/s640/021.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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I mean, if you don't stop fidgetting, how can you count? Everything will be a blur, right?</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LHHOksnUxic/TlIun3CD_cI/AAAAAAAAAUE/8HxQkKwn7yk/s1600/016.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LHHOksnUxic/TlIun3CD_cI/AAAAAAAAAUE/8HxQkKwn7yk/s640/016.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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Gosh, that a lot of bird!</div>
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You think that's a lot?</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3j9YqQRwuYA/TlIwCNkJh-I/AAAAAAAAAUI/PtWrHqF_nc8/s1600/014.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3j9YqQRwuYA/TlIwCNkJh-I/AAAAAAAAAUI/PtWrHqF_nc8/s640/014.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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What? You say you can't see anything here? </div>
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The birds are too high up for you, is that it?</div>
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Well, then:</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LcX9Vb6-zfo/TlIwgLHU96I/AAAAAAAAAUM/4ZTmlMY4OcY/s1600/013.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LcX9Vb6-zfo/TlIwgLHU96I/AAAAAAAAAUM/4ZTmlMY4OcY/s640/013.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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And<br />
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If you like birds:</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2XKetODHKz4/TlIxYNdNYKI/AAAAAAAAAUQ/l5l3K8JxQOo/s1600/015.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2XKetODHKz4/TlIxYNdNYKI/AAAAAAAAAUQ/l5l3K8JxQOo/s640/015.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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Bye, bye, birdee.</div>
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<br />These birds are storks. My daughter caught them on camera as they flew over our house. Israel is a major bird highway during their annual Spring and Fall migration. We think the storks paused in their flight so we could grab a camera and take these pics!</div>
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<br /></div>Tuviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09258309790095578616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4075615982504062505.post-73625301314450969272011-08-07T05:25:00.000-07:002011-08-21T23:19:04.849-07:00Tiyul: Bar Kochba and Tisha B'AvDisclosure: I am neither historian, theologian or archaeologist. What you read here is my own opinion. If a reader feels I have made errors, please click on the 'comment' icon at the end of the post, and let me know; I can check it out, and decide how best to proceed.<br />
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The story of Bar Kochba seems to me to be the final consequence of and the capstone to the destruction of the Second Temple.<br />
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The Second Temple was destroyed in the year 70 CE, and the Bar Kochba revolt took place app 60 years later. The tragic end to this revolt is the Roman destruction of the Jewish city of Beitar, and that moment is itself linked to the earlier tragedies of the two Temples because all three--the destruction of the First Temple, the Second Temple, and the destruction of the Jewish stronghold at Beitar--all took place on the 9th of the Hebrew month of Av, known to Jews as Tisha B'Av: a day of national tragedies. In addition to the three tragedies above, Tisha B'Av also commemorates other national tragedies which, we discover, also occured on that same date:<br />
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(1) the sin of the spies in the Torah who, upon returning from their mission to check out the land of Israel, spoke ill of the land. Their negative report caused panic among the people, who chose to believe them and not G-d;<br />
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(2), after destroying Jerusalem, the Roman Command ploughed under the Temple Mount in app 133CE (at the end of the Bar Kochba revolt); <br />
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(3) in 1090, on this date, the First Crusade was declared by Pope Urban II, resulting in the killing of 10,000 Jews in the Crusade's first month, and the destruction of Jewish communitites in France and in the Rhineland;<br />
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(4) in 1290, King Edward I of England signed a decree to expel all Jews from England;<br />
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(5) in 1492, the Alhambra Decree took effect, expelling all Jews from Spain and from all Spanish territories; <br />
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(6) in 1940, Himmler presents to the Nazi Party his plan for the "Final Solution" to the Jewish problem, on this Hebrew date; <br />
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(7) in 1942, on this Hebrew date, Nazis began to deport Jews from the Warsaw Ghetto to death camps.<br />
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(8) on this Hebrew date, 1994, the Jewish Communuity center in Buenos Aires was bombed, killing 86 and wounding more than 300.<br />
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Tisha B'Av, a day of national tragedy for Jews, indeed.<br />
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It is possible that the Bar Kochba revolt should not have happened. After all, the Roman Emperor Hadrian (also called Andrianus) made many promises to the Jews, including the promise to rebuild their Temple. But after apparently making that promise, something changed. We don't know exactly what happened. But after Hadrian announced that he would build a new Temple, it turned out that the new Temple, to be built on the site of the destroyed Jewish Temple, would not be for the Jews. It would be for Jupiter, King of the Roman gods.<br />
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Hmm. The Jews are going to like this idea?<br />
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In addition, Hadrian decided he would also rebuild all of Jerusalem--and rename it, Aelia Capitolina--a nice Roman name. He decided that Jewish circumcision should be illegal, punishable by death; and, oh, yes, Shabbat should be prohibited. There were more restrictions, but you get the idea.<br />
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The Jews revolted.<br />
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Now, at this time, the Roman army was the world's greatest fighting machine. Their soldiers, their equipment and their tactics were well-known--and feared. The Romans were not known for their compassion. Instead, it has been estimated that, during the years they ruled the world, they directly killed more that 8,000,000 people, not including those they starved to death through seige. They were the super-power of the day, and they were not afraid to rule with an iron fist. The Jews, meanwhile, were not in the same military league. In fact, they may not have been in anybody's military league. So confident was Hadrian of the Roman military superiority in Israel that he (Hadrian) kept only one Legion (comprised of 6,000 to 11,000 soldiers, depending on a number of variables) in Israel. <br />
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The revolt--the fighting-- lasted perhaps 3, or as long as five, years (depending on who you read), including up to two years of 'independence' by the Jews. At first, the revolt may not have been organized, and there may not have been many Jews fighting; instead, Jews simply resisted, hiding male children so they could be circumcised, fighting off Roman soldiers who came to a town to cause 'trouble' for the Jews, etc. Soon however, the Jews fought back. Bar Kochba emerged as a charismatic and brilliant leader, one who knew how to organize men, deploy them, pick combat leaders, prepare cities and redoubts for combat against a superior force, and develop combat tactics. He was so brilliant as a military leader that, at one point, his fighting forces wiped out an entire Legion, perhaps 8,000 -10,000 soldiers--an unheard-of accomplishment. Hadrian, of course, was not amused by this. But at first, he could not beat them. He went through at least two Generals until he found one who could do the job. During the 3-5 years of fighting, Hadrian's Legions killed more than 580,000 Jews, and wiped out 985 villages and 50 fortified cities--utter devastation. But the worst was the last, the final battle of the revolt at Beitar, to which Bar Kochba had retreated after Jerusalem fell to the Romans. By this time, the Romans had had to increase their forces from one Legion to eight. At Beitar, the Romans slaughtered so many Jews that the Talmud says the Romans fertilized their fields for years with Jewish blood.<br />
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This is not the entire Bar Kochba story. But it will get you started. To get the full story, you'll just have to come to Israel, and take a tiyul yourself!<br />
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Hadrian had, before the Beitar slaughter (or directly afterwards--depending again on whom you read), ordered that the Temple Mount be ploughed under, to erase all physical evidence of the Jews' presence there. He even had a coin minted--a picture of which I have seen--commemorating the ploughing of Jerusalem. This turns out to be an interesting decision for Hadrian, because it has a modern consequence, something that affects Jews and Israel today: on a recent CBS 60-Minute broadcast (Feb/Mar. 2011), the Arab Muslim in charge of administering the Temple Mount today stated that Jews have no history on the Temple Mount and, in fact, when the Muslims arrived in Jerusalem in perhaps 638 CE, there was absolutely no evidence of Jewish life on the Temple Mount. I believe he said there was nothing there except blowing grass (or, something like that). To a Jew, that sounds like an outrageous lie; but now, hearing about Hadrian's triumphant act of ploughing, that Arab administrator is correct, isn't he? When the Muslims first came to the Temple Mount, there was indeed no evidence of Jewish life--because Hadrian had had the Temple Mount turned into an open field. <br />
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What a nicely suave way to misrepresent history ! And, of course, how many Jews--and how many non-Jews--realize that this modern Muslim is ignoring for his own narrow political purposes the Roman (not Jewish) account of the Temple Mount, circa 133 CE?<br />
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To the Muslim, our ignorance is his bliss.<br />
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The realities of ancient history are never far from the surface here in modern Israel--never.<br />
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Our tiyul today starts with the very end of the Roman destruction of the First Temple, some 716 years before Bar Kochba. We start with a cave:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1f8GlhFCzw0/Tj5__NDhGDI/AAAAAAAAASI/lEvn0AfeDQs/s1600/010.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1f8GlhFCzw0/Tj5__NDhGDI/AAAAAAAAASI/lEvn0AfeDQs/s640/010.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
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Zedkiyahu's cave (I prefer my spelling of the king's name) is in East Jerusalem, very close to the Damascus Gate. Zedkiyahu was the reigning Jewish king of Jerusalem at the time the First Temple was destroyed by the Babylonian Nebuchadnezzar. Legend has it that, as Jerusalem was falling, Jerusalem's King, Zedkiyahu, sought to flee; he went into a cave; his plan was to enter at one spot in or near Jerusalem, and to exit on the eastern side of Jerusalem, so he could go east, toward modern Jordan. His story has two endings; (1) he made it all the way to the fields near Jericho, perhaps 25-27 miles east of Jerusalem, where he was captured by the Romans; and (2), he didn't get that far. Instead, he went into that cave, all right, but the Romans were already after him. They sent troops to find him. They did not know about the cave. As they hunted him, they saw a deer--or an ibex (an Israeli deer)--and decided to chase that. They caught up to the deer at a cave exit just as Zedkiyahu emerged, and they caught him. Ultimately, he was tortured and killed. <br />
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People call this cave Zedkiyahu's cave. No one knows if that's accurate. But because this is the Middle East, everyone knows that a nice looking sign with an ancient name on it can make you money. The good new is, inside that cave, it is naturally air-conditioned. It is absolutely correct to say that this cave is cool (sorry about that; I couldn't resist the pun).<br />
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The story of this cave has a curious modern twist; well, because this is Israel, maybe the twist is not so curious. It seems that this cave was rediscovered, as the sign in the picture above says, in the mid-nineteenth century. A man named, Dr. Barclay, was out for a stroll walking his dog one day, when the dog disappeared--into this cave. One person who took interest in the cave at that time was a British Officer named Charles Warren. If you have been to Jerusalem, and have visited the 'City of David' excavations, you may remember this man's name. His name is linked to the City of David dig-site from the 19th century, because he is the man who mapped some of the findings there. He plays a role here, because he also mapped out the interior of this cave. During his mapping enterprise, he found this room:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-r_XaULHlCg0/Tj6I9j22jiI/AAAAAAAAASU/0UnoFrQe7p4/s1600/012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-r_XaULHlCg0/Tj6I9j22jiI/AAAAAAAAASU/0UnoFrQe7p4/s640/012.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
This room is extremely large, perhaps 270 feet square, with 20-foot ceilings. Those two lighted areas on the left are tunnel shafts, walking corridors, really, that lead to a lower part of the cave; the lower part is well-lighted, and that is what you see there, light shining up from the lower section.<br />
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Now, before I tell you about this room, you have to understand something about Britain and Palestine in the 19th century. Until the end of World War I (1918), Israel, called Palestine, was part of the Turkish Empire. The Turks, in other words, owned the place. They ruled the Middle East. But it seems(I have been told) that they were not an attentive ruler. Apparently, several countries noticed this inattentiveness and decided that it would be to their own advantage to secure a foothold in the land so that when--not if--the Turks fell, they could use that toehold to expand their presence to something more significant. So, during the late 19th century, the Russians, Germans and British all built churches, orphanages and/or hospitals--anything to get 'feet on the ground'. The British, through our hero Charles Warren, also, it seems, came up with a narrative to help bind the connection between Britain and Palestine: Freemasonry. You see, Charles Warren was a Freemason. I do not know anything about Freemasons, but I am told that they are a somewhat secretive fraternal organization which believes in three things: Freedoms of religion and speech; G-d; and being a loyal citizen to your country. I have heard that 53 of the 56 signers (or, something like that) of the US Constitution (in Philadelphia, 1776) were Freemasons; the Freemasons, apparently, see Solomon as their 'original' Freemason, the original architect of stone who built the greatest of masonry buildings, the Holy Temple of the Jews. The British were, therefore, happy to call this cave, Solomon's Quarries, to help link Palestine to the Freemason narrative--and to attract annual Freemason meetings in this gigantic room.<br />
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The bottom line here is that starting in the mid-late 19th century, Freemasons held an annual meeting in this cave's 'hall'. These meetings brought Britishers here, and helped to tie Palestine (at least in some way) to Britain. I'm certain that the Freemasons who came here felt really cool (again, sorry: I couldn't resist the pun).<br />
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Of course, when World War I ended, the Turks were gone, the Germans were on the losing side (with the Turks), the Russians were engulfed in a civil war that distracted them as Communism was born--and the British--with help from the French-- ended up as the sole occupiers of Palestine. Pretty good deal for the British, eh?<br />
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Today, the cave is being refurbished to accommodate tourists.<br />
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Almost next door to the cave, perhaps 200-feet away is Damascus Gate.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lddyeGiF4l0/Tj6MgEZjFJI/AAAAAAAAASY/OlfpXS5Adm0/s1600/016.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lddyeGiF4l0/Tj6MgEZjFJI/AAAAAAAAASY/OlfpXS5Adm0/s640/016.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
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Damascus Gate is in East Jerusalem, an Arab enclave. The vendors are all Arab, and I'd say that 100% of the other folk you see in this picture are also Arab. <br />
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Damascus Gate gets its name the same way Jaffa Gate gets its name: it faces the direction you would travel if you walked out of the Gate and travelled straight ahead. Jaffa Gate faces West--towards Jafo, or modern Tel Aviv; Damascus Gate faces North--towards, you guess it, Damascus.<br />
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However, you must remember, this is the Middle East. Just because I have given you some good information about Jaffa Gate and Damascus Gate does not mean that you can now deduce something about the other gates to the Old City wall. In practical terms, this means that the Golden Gate does not lead to gold, and the Dung Gate does not lead to....well, you get the idea.<br />
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That's the way it is here, in the Middle East. When you walk out into the sunlight, you never know where you're headed: North, West, Gold, or...<br />
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The Damascus Gate has an interest to us because of what we had learned from the story of King Chizkiyahu and the Assyrian attack against Jerusalem some 2700 years ago: the North is the City's weakest point, the most logical place for an enemy to attack.<br />
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You might see why here. Can you guess?<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-s3KewhDGu_w/Tj6PdfUq46I/AAAAAAAAASc/K0yCpNeVzyY/s1600/017.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-s3KewhDGu_w/Tj6PdfUq46I/AAAAAAAAASc/K0yCpNeVzyY/s640/017.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
Damascus Gate is below street level. Its positioning is awkward. An attacking army gains height to fight from the street level.<br />
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Its a curious place to put a Gate. But there was a gate here, because we have evidence of Hadrian's celebratory building. First, look at an archway built into the wall <em>below</em> today's modern Gate--which is itself, as you saw above, below street level:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OX9V-aoRcfc/Tj6Q0KpOiqI/AAAAAAAAASk/1JpQY0neJ-4/s1600/018.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OX9V-aoRcfc/Tj6Q0KpOiqI/AAAAAAAAASk/1JpQY0neJ-4/s640/018.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><br />
Do you see the clothing hanging above? They hang on a walking bridge that takes you into Damascus Gate. You saw that picture above. This level is a good 25 feet below that, or perhaps 40-50 feet below the street.<br />
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Here is a placard near the archway of the above picture. It explains what the arch represents:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nPEXCpYu2BM/Tj6QIFhKjNI/AAAAAAAAASg/Zc-7QQlkIA0/s1600/021.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nPEXCpYu2BM/Tj6QIFhKjNI/AAAAAAAAASg/Zc-7QQlkIA0/s640/021.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><br />
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The picture on the placard shows what the Gate had looked like. The real-life archway you see is the only archway extant-- the small archway to the left of the main entrance in the placard-picture.<br />
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This surviving archway is from Hadrian:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-He-8c3E_1vU/Tj6SNw4vT5I/AAAAAAAAASo/TUbJiitNNnY/s1600/020.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-He-8c3E_1vU/Tj6SNw4vT5I/AAAAAAAAASo/TUbJiitNNnY/s640/020.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">At this point in our tiyul, the battery in my camera drained. No more pictures. The rest of the tiyul covered Jerusalem dig-sites that reveal Roman city-building as Hadrian and then the Byzantians rebuilt Jerusalem to Roman standards. If I can get back to those places on my own, I'll take pictures and add to this story.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I wish to thank tiyul guide Ezra Rosenfeld (<a href="http://www.tanachtiyulim.com/">www.tanachtiyulim.com</a>) for taking me around Jerusalem with Tanach in hand.</div>Tuviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09258309790095578616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4075615982504062505.post-47257713434517068432011-08-02T03:03:00.000-07:002011-08-22T01:14:35.206-07:00Tiyul: when the Second Temple was destroyed<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Ac31pFOhKxQ/TjftRDdLLHI/AAAAAAAAARo/vRJaokIo8tU/s1600/276.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Ac31pFOhKxQ/TjftRDdLLHI/AAAAAAAAARo/vRJaokIo8tU/s320/276.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DiShmFR76es/TjfrxADBQII/AAAAAAAAARk/At3h85YvodM/s1600/279.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DiShmFR76es/TjfrxADBQII/AAAAAAAAARk/At3h85YvodM/s320/279.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Here is another ancient story from our licensed--but not ancient-- tiyul guide, Ezra Rosenfeld, on July 27, 2011. <br />
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Today's tour will take us through part of the old city of Jerusalem. Of course, by American standards, the walls and gates we see here are very old--450 years old. But for us today, that's not old enough. Our story, focusing on when the Second Temple was destroyed, happened more than 1,900 years ago. The current city and the current walls did not exist back then. You'll have to go on a proper tiyul yourself in Jerusalem to see how the city and its fortifications had looked.<br />
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We begin with an introduction in the shade outside Jaffa Gate of the Old City, Jerusalem. Here, Ezra takes charge, telling us how he will tell today's story and what--modern and ancient--we will see:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Do you see the tip of a castle tower just over and behind his right shoulder? That's the top of the tower above Jaffa Gate, across the street from where we begin.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Our introduction begins with a story about an old Jew. Very old. This man is a slave by the name of Yosef ben Mattityahu HaCohen or, in English, Joseph the son of Mattisyahu the Priest. Yosef--we can call him, Yossi-- was once a soldier who, it turns out, was probably not a very good soldier. As a young officer in Israel's army, he was ordered to the North of Israel, probably to the Galill, to command the country's defenses there against that day's enemy, Rome. The year was app. 66 CE. A year or two later, he was captured by the Romans, and became a prisoner of war. For some, our friend Yossi wasn't exactly 'Mr. Clean'. The story of how he survived to become a prisoner of war, and then how he managed to become both a Roman citizen and then, possibly, a favorite of the Roman Emperor, leave our Yossi looking like a less-than-perfect example of a soldier. However, we also know something else about this man: after changing his name to Josephus Flavius (taking the name of the Emperor)--or, after becoming Flavius Josephus--he not only travelled with the Roman army as they brutally conquered Israel and destroyed the Temple (in 70CE), he did something extraordinary: he wrote two histories of the Jewish people at that time. These two histories survive. More important, they remain arguably the only real history of that period, albeit from his boss' point of view--the Roman Emperor. Sometimes his views are corroborated by Jewish sources, and sometimes his statements differ, rendering his description of a specific event different from Jewish sources. Since I am no expert in these issues, I cannot tell you if the resulting disparities between Josephus and Jewish sources represent fundamentally serious differences or are simply two accounts of the same incident, each from a different vantage-point. I don't know. Sometimes his descriptions are not entirely different from Jewish sources. Of course, he is not a modern historian, so he does not write as a modern scholar writes. But he appears to have had a good eye-- subject, of course, to his Boss' sensitivities-- and a number of his descriptions have so far been validated by modern archaeology. I will not tell you much more about him today. But he plays an interesting role in the modern understanding of what happened more than 1,900 years ago; it would appear that one needs a good backround in ancient history, archaeology and Jewish history (from the proper perspective) to get a balanced view of his writings.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">We begin our tiyul first with some observations about ancient walled cities, observations which could apply to similar construction 1,900+ years ago.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">We start at a gate in the walled city:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NRwmZ8lQrGU/TjezXngQ5hI/AAAAAAAAAQw/QwHrLNHj_c4/s1600/005.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NRwmZ8lQrGU/TjezXngQ5hI/AAAAAAAAAQw/QwHrLNHj_c4/s640/005.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-m2Aa6J-hO2M/Tje4B-8GJBI/AAAAAAAAAQ0/dZ3m_zLjKQ0/s1600/003.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-m2Aa6J-hO2M/Tje4B-8GJBI/AAAAAAAAAQ0/dZ3m_zLjKQ0/s640/003.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">This is the plaza in front of Jaffa Gate. Do you see the fence on the left of the picture? Look straight down the fence, past the man standing at the fence: the far end of that fence points directly at Jaffa Gate. You might be able to make out the outline of the gate, a twenty- or thirty foot high archway in the stone wall.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">This next picture is a close-up of Jaffa gate. We start here with a discussion of the problem of defense, specifically the probelms presented by having a gate in a wall. Look at Jaffa Gate:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-55mmO14M9Ek/TjelFB30JxI/AAAAAAAAAQk/nlQkg3mZ1HI/s1600/240.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-55mmO14M9Ek/TjelFB30JxI/AAAAAAAAAQk/nlQkg3mZ1HI/s640/240.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">There are two points to note here. First, a gate is a door; it is not thick stone; it is, therefore, a weak point in the security provided by a stone wall. In ancient times, these doors would be made of wood. Wood could be set afire. Wood therefore leaves the people inside vulnerable. Second, the builders of these stone walls--at least 450 years ago, when these walls/gates were erected--had a way to lessen the vulnerability of a wood gate: they created a trap. Look at these doors, above. Look beyond the doors. You cannot see directly into the interior. Instead, what you see is a stone room and, off to the left, a thin slice of daylight that represents the city interior. See that?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>Here is a better look at the 'room' you enter as you enter the gate:<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KArqST7rmI0/Tjfbn1xf5kI/AAAAAAAAARI/Tn7unslKSgM/s1600/316.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KArqST7rmI0/Tjfbn1xf5kI/AAAAAAAAARI/Tn7unslKSgM/s640/316.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div> What's going on here? To get into the interior of the city behind the exterior walls, you just don't walk through the gate. You walk through the gate into a room that has three stone sides and an opening in one side--here on the left--so that as you enter you are forced to turn, in this case, to the left, 90 degrees. The 'room' you walk into is perhaps 15-25 feet square. Can you picture how that 'room' forces you to turn to the left? The outer doorway here and the doorway that's inside, off to the left, are only about twelve feet wide. That's wide enough to get a lot of people into the interior, quickly. But if upon passing through the pictured outer gate, you enter a stone enclosure where you must then make a sharp left turn to get into the city interior, that will slow you down and make you vulnerable (while you are inside that stone enclosure). That room can plug up--at least a little. Kill a dozen soldiers inside that room (as they rush in) and you create a bottleneck. Suddenly, your wood gate is not such a vulnerability. Certainly, what you have created is not perfect, but given the architectural difficulties you face, it is an intriguing solution.<br />
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</div>The builders of a walled city have a second choice of defense:<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6AmX_KdMhR0/TjetIHxD4aI/AAAAAAAAAQo/Nsgi-dGCq8w/s1600/244.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6AmX_KdMhR0/TjetIHxD4aI/AAAAAAAAAQo/Nsgi-dGCq8w/s640/244.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>This is a curious picture indeed--there is no wall here! Jaffa Gate is off camera, to your immediate left; the continuation of the wall on the right is also off camera, to the right. What you see here is a road that enters where there had once been a low wall--and a moat.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Here's the scoop (that's a pun): this point of the walled city, just behind the camera-taker, used to be a steep drop to the street. Actually, there had been no street back then, so the drop-off was just a steep drop. The wall here was originally built, apparently, at the edge of a drop-off. Therefore, by the late 1890's, the wall section here was only perhaps one-quarter the height of the surrounding walls, and was somehow matched to a moat; most of the street you see here, particularly to the right, was, I have been told, moat. In fact, you can still see a portion of that moat if you walk up to the edge of that tall wall on the right in the above picture; that tall wall is not a building--it's a wall. Once you get to the corner of that tall wall, here is what you'll see if you look down and to your right:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-x1pzPklu4Gw/TjeummZPXwI/AAAAAAAAAQs/YvpLgB5WOFA/s1600/245.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-x1pzPklu4Gw/TjeummZPXwI/AAAAAAAAAQs/YvpLgB5WOFA/s640/245.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>A moat, with the street in the above picture continuing here on the left.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Moats, walls, gates that could trap invaders: these are all just some of the architectural devices a walled-city builder could use, to enhance the security of that city.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">There is one more story about these last two pictures you have just seen: the wall section that had once stood here had been removed in 1899. Reason? Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany made a visit to Jerusalem that year, after receiving permission from the Turkish Sultan--the leader of the Ottoman Empire who controlled the Middle East at that time. The Kaiser arrived with, apparently, a massive Royal carriage--so massive that it could not make that left turn through Jaffa Gate, to get into the city. Yes, that gate was designed, as you saw above, to cause just such trouble for an entering army trying to invade--but no one had figured on entry problems during an official state visit. So the Sultan ordered the wall breached. I assume that the road you see here was also either built, rebuilt or somehow prepared, as well. This is the road the Kaiser rode on as his Royal Carriage entered the old city. Aren't Heads of State so accomodating? </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Now, let's look at how the walls help to defend the city:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-r2JKHQ4uOP4/Tje66HqMj_I/AAAAAAAAAQ4/lMxVAlOUgDI/s1600/008.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-r2JKHQ4uOP4/Tje66HqMj_I/AAAAAAAAAQ4/lMxVAlOUgDI/s640/008.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">This is a picture of the ramparts of the wall, a walkway that is perhaps 7 feet below the top of the wall, on the inside of the wall. Look at the floor of the walkway: do you see slits of sunlight going the length of the walkway? Here is what the sun is shining through:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CwJX_xx-YBk/Tje8YK9aNtI/AAAAAAAAAQ8/jXI3SjiHrVk/s1600/007.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CwJX_xx-YBk/Tje8YK9aNtI/AAAAAAAAAQ8/jXI3SjiHrVk/s640/007.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">This is a slit cut through the stone. It's convenient for resting elbows while you aim with bow and arrow. Field of vision, however, is compromised by safety considerations.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>Another view:<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--XaSTiGkgPE/Tje9ki0hxJI/AAAAAAAAARA/KopeJnUa7SA/s1600/015.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--XaSTiGkgPE/Tje9ki0hxJI/AAAAAAAAARA/KopeJnUa7SA/s640/015.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">In this picture, you are also standing on the ramparts of the wall, looking at another section of wall. As you can see, this wall could be 60 feet high--or higher. If the trees below were cleared away, your sight-angle for watching the bottom of that stretch of wall is excellent. Blind-spots, such as are suggested by the previous picture, can be removed or reduced by another line-of-sight, such as this one.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>Another view:<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6TRe0RGaJKU/TjfUunyr_8I/AAAAAAAAARE/S4t94YPwpjg/s1600/320.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6TRe0RGaJKU/TjfUunyr_8I/AAAAAAAAARE/S4t94YPwpjg/s640/320.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">This view is from ground level, outside the wall, looking up. You can see those slits, up near the top. I am sure that those slits have a proper name; I just don't know what it is. Do you?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Now, we talk about the Second Temple, destroyed in 70CE. To give you some sense of the destruction, look first at an artist's drawing of one side of the Temple Mount outer wall:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QLsK11KpuO8/Tjfkx4iQsGI/AAAAAAAAARQ/ks9vvStzyUw/s1600/279.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QLsK11KpuO8/Tjfkx4iQsGI/AAAAAAAAARQ/ks9vvStzyUw/s640/279.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">You are looking at several things here. First, look at the large staircase as it comes to the ground--look at the right bottom portion of the picture. Now, look where the stick-figures of people are behind that staircase, on a street. Can you see them? They are walking on a 50-foot wide street, perhaps a main street in that period's Jerusalem, right outside the North-west corner of the outer Temple Mount wall. In that street are shops on both sides. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Here is another view of this street under that arch, but from a different angle:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zFNZnOiyvrY/Tj5V_x177KI/AAAAAAAAASA/4SAMzxJYmFM/s1600/004.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zFNZnOiyvrY/Tj5V_x177KI/AAAAAAAAASA/4SAMzxJYmFM/s640/004.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Take a moment to compare the two pictures above. Look at two items: first, where the arch attaches to the wall of the Temple Mount; and second, where four shops are--in this picture, the four shop doorways are behind the three figures in the foreground, deeper into the picture, on the left side of the 'street'. See them?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><br />
Now look at a modern view of those same four shop doorways:<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-14m5oQ70X0Y/TjfnzRQjbmI/AAAAAAAAARU/bFaIUuToI-0/s1600/284.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-14m5oQ70X0Y/TjfnzRQjbmI/AAAAAAAAARU/bFaIUuToI-0/s640/284.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>There are four shop stall doorways on the left. Note the large stone across the top. That stone is part of the support structure for that part of the staircase (above) that comes straight out of the Wall face, before it turns and descends to the street level. Go back to that picture. This row of shops was on the inside of the staircase, ground level, facing the Temple Mount wall. It was part of the support-base beneathe the large staircase landing platform, where the staircase turns. Can you see that?<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Here is a view into the interior of a stall:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QfkA7og27Nc/Tjfo-n_PwmI/AAAAAAAAARY/sGItoYiAxx8/s1600/283.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QfkA7og27Nc/Tjfo-n_PwmI/AAAAAAAAARY/sGItoYiAxx8/s640/283.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The commercial shop in here would be perhaps eight feet wide (beyond the doorway) and perhaps ten feet deep, from the threshold.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Now look at a picture that is a modern equivalent of what you have just seen from 1,900+ years ago. The next two pictures were taken in the Arab Shuk (market) nearby. The Arab shuk 'street ' is not fifty feet wide; it is perhaps ten feet wide. Awnings create shade. But look at the shops:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-A_-Tbl7nGVs/TjfqO22d8dI/AAAAAAAAARc/J50AUc7-vL4/s1600/250.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-A_-Tbl7nGVs/TjfqO22d8dI/AAAAAAAAARc/J50AUc7-vL4/s640/250.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Can you see a man in a white shirt sitting on the left? Next to him sits another man, with his leg out into the walk-area. It's a dark picture, but can you see his leg? Each of those two men is a separate shop owner. The shops are, for the most part, no more than 6-10 feet wide, and perhaps 15 feet deep--or less; much like the ancient shop stall you just saw.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Here is one of the bigger Arab stalls:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HfDm6PXRKAo/TjfrMnbaBoI/AAAAAAAAARg/NYf0ndl6pGo/s1600/249.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HfDm6PXRKAo/TjfrMnbaBoI/AAAAAAAAARg/NYf0ndl6pGo/s640/249.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">This stall is huge--perhaps 18 feet wide x 20 feet deep.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Now, let's go back to that drawing:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DiShmFR76es/TjfrxADBQII/AAAAAAAAARk/At3h85YvodM/s1600/279.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DiShmFR76es/TjfrxADBQII/AAAAAAAAARk/At3h85YvodM/s640/279.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Look at where the arch of the staircase attaches to the wall. See it? Look at where the doors are at the top of the stairs, and look at the size and shape of the stones in the wall, ground to top, surrounding the staircase--they're all the same size and shape, right? In addition, to the left, just below the top of the wall, to the left of the upper doors, the wall-face has a different look, right?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Okay. Now, look at how all of that looks today:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Ac31pFOhKxQ/TjftRDdLLHI/AAAAAAAAARo/vRJaokIo8tU/s1600/276.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Ac31pFOhKxQ/TjftRDdLLHI/AAAAAAAAARo/vRJaokIo8tU/s640/276.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">This is what we mean when we say "the Temple was destroyed." Let's get you oriented to the landmarks in this picture. You will see this picture now repeatedly, so you won't have to back-track.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">First, the rubble in front of you is how archaeologists found it. Second, you can see the rear of the line of shop stalls you saw earlier, in the middle of this picture--like part of a miniature Stonehenge: can you see the horizontal line of stone blocks supported by rectangular pillars? It is the only horizontal stone being supported by pillars in the picture.Look at how that row of shops faces the Temple Mount outer wall. Do you see on that large wall facing you, facing the shop stalls, a brownish stain? Here is a close-up of that part of the wall:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LbpkVbPRlhw/TjfvMeeWCJI/AAAAAAAAARs/4Y8arP9LfYU/s1600/278.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LbpkVbPRlhw/TjfvMeeWCJI/AAAAAAAAARs/4Y8arP9LfYU/s640/278.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>Here, you see that brownish stain. You can also see, below the windows in the wall, three layers or rows of stone (in the wall), jutting out from the wall. Right? Well, if I understood our guide correctly, one or both of the top two rows of jutting stone are (is) the attach-point of the staircase you saw earlier. Here is the drawing again. Look at where the larger stairtcase attaches to the wall, below the doorway:<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DiShmFR76es/TjfrxADBQII/AAAAAAAAARk/At3h85YvodM/s1600/279.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DiShmFR76es/TjfrxADBQII/AAAAAAAAARk/At3h85YvodM/s640/279.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">If you compare these last two pictures, you will see where that staircase arch meets the modern wall.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Here is the modern wall again:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LbpkVbPRlhw/TjfvMeeWCJI/AAAAAAAAARs/4Y8arP9LfYU/s1600/278.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LbpkVbPRlhw/TjfvMeeWCJI/AAAAAAAAARs/4Y8arP9LfYU/s640/278.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The area where the original staircase attached to the wall is called today, Robinson's arch, after the archaeologist who figured out what those stones were.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">By the way, look again at the long-shot picture:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Ac31pFOhKxQ/TjftRDdLLHI/AAAAAAAAARo/vRJaokIo8tU/s1600/276.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Ac31pFOhKxQ/TjftRDdLLHI/AAAAAAAAARo/vRJaokIo8tU/s640/276.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>There is no doorway where the top of the staircase should be, right? It's gone.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Now, look closer at the stones around the remaining arch-stones:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LbpkVbPRlhw/TjfvMeeWCJI/AAAAAAAAARs/4Y8arP9LfYU/s1600/278.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LbpkVbPRlhw/TjfvMeeWCJI/AAAAAAAAARs/4Y8arP9LfYU/s640/278.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Do you see how the stone sizes at the arch level and above are considerably smaller than the stones below? When the arch and the staircase were destroyed, these new, smaller stones were used to rebuild the broken, shattered wall. If you want to see where some of the stones went, from that upper wall, look to the left of the picture--out of the picture frame:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Ac31pFOhKxQ/TjftRDdLLHI/AAAAAAAAARo/vRJaokIo8tU/s1600/276.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Ac31pFOhKxQ/TjftRDdLLHI/AAAAAAAAARo/vRJaokIo8tU/s640/276.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>The rubble of those stones is at the base of the wall, to the far left. Look again at where the arch went into the wall-face, above the brown stain. I am going to guess that the top row of stones jutting out is today about 60 feet above the street--the street here is the original street. Why is that important? Because our guide showed us a picture, taken before explorations began here, perhaps 100 years ago.<br />
Here is that picture:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uH5Lo5maVxQ/Tj5ZD43uKlI/AAAAAAAAASE/zsJ_DI-zX80/s1600/005.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uH5Lo5maVxQ/Tj5ZD43uKlI/AAAAAAAAASE/zsJ_DI-zX80/s640/005.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<br />
In this picture, you see an Arab donkey standing under a tree whose leaves appear to touch a wall. Do you see the stones in the wall seemingly leaning out from the wall, against that tree? That wall is the wall of the Temple Mount, and those 'leaning' stones are the arch-stones we have been looking at. A hundred years ago, that was ground level. All that you see in today's pictures was buried in 60 feet of dirt. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> Now, here is a closer look at the broken rubble at the base of the wall:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TN5Q7XaKCJI/TjfyUruwFRI/AAAAAAAAARw/fI8SWDKjvbw/s1600/285.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TN5Q7XaKCJI/TjfyUruwFRI/AAAAAAAAARw/fI8SWDKjvbw/s640/285.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">First, this is the 'street' that ran under the arch that we saw in the drawings above. It really is at least 50 feet wide. Second, that pile of stone in the picture is massive. Compare it to the people walking near it. It is rubble from the wall above. Finally, the crushed, indented street in the right foreground reveals the impact of stones being pushed off the wall above.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Here is a closer view of the same damage:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4L1Jyw1DFrM/Tjfz0qPx1uI/AAAAAAAAAR0/vkUKR_z0QYo/s1600/282.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4L1Jyw1DFrM/Tjfz0qPx1uI/AAAAAAAAAR0/vkUKR_z0QYo/s640/282.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">When the Second Temple was destroyed, Jerusalem was put to the torch. The fires were intense, as the Temple itself and the homes on the 'upper city'--today's Jewish Quarter'--were incinerated:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jIk_hmFPAMI/TlIPZu9RFqI/AAAAAAAAATk/_JB3X3qedws/s1600/245.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jIk_hmFPAMI/TlIPZu9RFqI/AAAAAAAAATk/_JB3X3qedws/s640/245.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A burnt section of wood, carbon-dated to Second Temple, found in a Jewish Quarter archaelolgical site, Jerusalem</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>There was much more to our tiyul. But I think this covers the basics. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Jerusalem is an ancient city. Jewish blood has been spilt everywhere here, in both ancient and modern times. If so much blood has been spilt here, it means something: it means that Jerusalem is so holy that people will kill as many Jews as it takes to get at it.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> Here is what Jews found after they liberated Jerusalem in 1967:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_5HR24t7HWE/Tjf_MU-THaI/AAAAAAAAAR4/En8wUF9bAqU/s1600/259.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_5HR24t7HWE/Tjf_MU-THaI/AAAAAAAAAR4/En8wUF9bAqU/s640/259.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The fighting to liberate Jerusalem was fairly quick. Most of this damage was done by Arabs after they took Jerusalem in 1948. The UN had not meant for the Arabs alone to have total control of this part of Jerusalem, but the Arabs attacked. They wanted it all. It was an ill-advised war for them because they lost much land as a result of their attack--but they took this part of Jerusalem, and locked out the Jews. The damage they did during their 19 years of occupation gives a glimpse into the Arab attitude towards the Jew. In 19 years of occupation, all they could think to do was destroy, destroy, destroy. The irony here, however, is that when the Jews finally took Jerusalem back, and they saw this horrific destruction, archaeologists jumped immediately and said, essentially, hey, let us dig before you rebuild! Apparently, the damage was so great, no one objected. At least, that's what I understand. If you know otherwise, let me know!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">See you at the next tiyul.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I wish to thank licensed tiyul guide Ezra Rosenfeld at www. tanachtiyulim.com for taking me into Israel, with Tanach in hand.</div>Tuviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09258309790095578616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4075615982504062505.post-9023606569444586502011-07-27T06:49:00.000-07:002011-08-22T00:20:19.263-07:00A Tiyul: Jerusalem on the eve of destruction, 2700 years ago<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rIt1IL7NYqY/TkE4UCTX1sI/AAAAAAAAATM/CAkZjzA6JDY/s1600/042.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rIt1IL7NYqY/TkE4UCTX1sI/AAAAAAAAATM/CAkZjzA6JDY/s320/042.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Disclosure: I am not an expert in archaeology, history or Tanach. If any reader finds erors here, please use the 'comment' icon at the end of the post to contact me. I can then make corrections or adjustments to this text.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">This tiyul is about an event that took place at some point between the years 701 -686 BCE, app <span style="font-size: large;">2700</span> years ago. The exact date depends upon who you talk to, but all seem to agree that this is the range within which this event took place. Because of archaeological finds, we start our trip with a stop at the Begin Center in Jerusalem, which is located near Emek Refaim, also near the Liberty Bell park. There, we walk behind the main building, to a sidewalk or walkway along the rear exterior wall of the building.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">With your back to the building, here is a portion of what you see:<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-A5ckPwGcR14/TkEurz_o1vI/AAAAAAAAASs/BHDMAxhcxfg/s1600/027.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-A5ckPwGcR14/TkEurz_o1vI/AAAAAAAAASs/BHDMAxhcxfg/s640/027.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-no-proof: yes; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;"><v:shapetype coordsize="21600,21600" filled="f" id="_x0000_t75" o:preferrelative="t" o:spt="75" path="m@4@5l@4@11@9@11@9@5xe" stroked="f"><v:stroke joinstyle="miter"> <v:formulas> <v:f eqn="if lineDrawn pixelLineWidth 0"> <v:f eqn="sum @0 1 0"> <v:f eqn="sum 0 0 @1"> <v:f eqn="prod @2 1 2"> <v:f eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelWidth"> <v:f eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelHeight"> <v:f eqn="sum @0 0 1"> <v:f eqn="prod @6 1 2"> <v:f eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelWidth"> <v:f eqn="sum @8 21600 0"> <v:f eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelHeight"> <v:f eqn="sum @10 21600 0"> </v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:formulas> <v:path gradientshapeok="t" o:connecttype="rect" o:extrusionok="f"> <o:lock aspectratio="t" v:ext="edit"> </o:lock></v:path></v:stroke></v:shapetype></span><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--RFHkl_gnPI/TibfGgrSGlI/AAAAAAAAAPs/zZJpHoRTyI8/s1600/027.JPG"></a><br />
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--RFHkl_gnPI/TibfGgrSGlI/AAAAAAAAAPs/zZJpHoRTyI8/s1600/027.JPG"></a></div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--RFHkl_gnPI/TibfGgrSGlI/AAAAAAAAAPs/zZJpHoRTyI8/s1600/027.JPG"></a><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--RFHkl_gnPI/TibfGgrSGlI/AAAAAAAAAPs/zZJpHoRTyI8/s1600/027.JPG"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"></div></a><br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;">T<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">his is, essentially, a short back-strip of property behind the Begin Center. At the top of the picture, you can see a portion of rear foundation work of a building (a church) on the street above--see the light-colored cement-work sitting on the stone. In a way, this scene probably looks like the rear of most public buildings in a crowded urban area: the building sits on as much of its property as it can; the rear is often just like this--rugged rock.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">But this is Israel, not New York or Boston, and the Begin Center (named after former Prime Minister Menachem Begin, and housing his papers) is in Jerusalem, a city that is more than 3,000 years old. So<o:p></o:p></span></div><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"> what you are looking at here is not just rugged rock at the rear of a modern building; it is an archaeological discovery--the remains of a burial cave, its roof collapsed and gone, from the period of the First Temple, 2500- 2800 years old- or older.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">The backround: in ancient Israel, at the time of the First Temple, Jewish burial, apparently, was done in one of two ways: if you were poor, your family found a spot for burial--sometimes under the floor of the house you lived in--and the body is buried there; but if you had wealth--or public position-- you were not buried in the ground, but above ground, in burial caves. In those times, all burial caves were at the outside of your city (since we are are talking here about a walled city, Jerusalem, I can only comment on walled cities; I assume the same held true for non-walled cities--unless no one of wealth lived outside a walled city --a strong possibility-- which would mean if you lived outside a walled-city, what you got was a poor-man's burial, in the ground under or near one's house). <o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">This burial cave, therefore, at the time of the First Temple, was outside the walls of the Jerusalem--we'll come back to this point later.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">For the wealthy and/or powerful, the burial process was completed in two stages.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Look at the next three pictures:<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Bq8sgbw5U5s/TkEv4JRYuyI/AAAAAAAAASw/Tjudhqk9pAg/s1600/031.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Bq8sgbw5U5s/TkEv4JRYuyI/AAAAAAAAASw/Tjudhqk9pAg/s640/031.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>Our licensed tour master, Ezra Rosenfeld, walks away from the sidewalk behind the Begun Center, towards a carved-out hollow rectangle (that looks like a walk-in bathtub).<br />
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</div><div align="center"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xqk9gneBQ7E/TkEw5pD4YDI/AAAAAAAAAS0/-6eSmTZpfys/s1600/029.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xqk9gneBQ7E/TkEw5pD4YDI/AAAAAAAAAS0/-6eSmTZpfys/s640/029.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div align="center">We are going to talk about that 'walk-in bathtub'. Look at the right-side outside edge of that 'bathtub'. Can you see a row of small squares of stone with hollows between them?</div><div align="center"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-P597nUlDNJM/TkEynQvjGZI/AAAAAAAAAS4/90JoZLC5EbY/s1600/033.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-P597nUlDNJM/TkEynQvjGZI/AAAAAAAAAS4/90JoZLC5EbY/s640/033.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div align="center">Take a closer look at that right edge again. If Ezra reaches out with his left hand, he can touch the row of squares. Do you see the hollows between the squares?</div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">As you look at these three pictures, remember that you are looking into a cave in a wall that faces a valley outside the city walls of ancient Jerusalem. This burial cave had a ceiling that would probably be, based on other, similar caves, perhaps nine - fifteen feet high. The roof of the cave has collapsed, and the debris has been removed. You are looking at what would have been a section of one room in the cave.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Now, back to the burial process for the wealthy. It was a two-step process. Step one was, the body of the deceased was brought into this room, in this cave. It was placed, lying flat on its back, with its head resting in one of those hollows between those stone squares I mentioned above. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Again, look at the right edge of the picture immediately above: the head was placed in the hollow. Can you see the hollow?There are four hollows visible in this picture (the first, in the foreground, has a chipped edge). The feet of the deceased would point away to the right. In this picture, from what you can see, four deceaseds can lie here at the same time (there are more spots in this picture for bodies, but that gets more difficult to point out).<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">The body of the deceased lies here, probably wrapped, for (it is thought) a year. Then, someone re-enters the burial cave and collects the bones of that deceased.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Look at this picture:<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-etXNMjiSSNY/TkEzvOuJBeI/AAAAAAAAAS8/GzX6SZUqbqY/s1600/032.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-etXNMjiSSNY/TkEzvOuJBeI/AAAAAAAAAS8/GzX6SZUqbqY/s640/032.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></div><div align="center">Here, tour master Ezra Rosenfeld is about to point to something in front of his left foot.</div><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">What Ezra is about to point at, is a small opening at the bottom inside of that rectangle he is standing in. It is a small opening that opens into a space that is perhaps four feet-by four feet-by three feet: a communal family ossuary.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">After one year, a person comes into the burial cave, gathers up the bones of the deceased lying before him, and places the bones into that family ossuary; the space vacated is now 'open'<o:p></o:p></span></div><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">for another deceased family member.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">By the way, after the Second Temple, Jews move away from this two-step process, and the wealthy are assigned their own individual death-spot, often, for the very wealthy, a sarcophagus. There is a well-preserved burial cave in, I believe, Beit Sha'an, where you can see dozens upon dozens stone sarcophagi.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Right now, however, we are in the First Temple era, behind the Begin Center.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">There is another point here. As in other cultures, the wealthy Jew at this time is not buried 'alone': he is often buried with pottery, items of gold and silver, and jewelry. Grave robbing was a concern. In fact, at one museum, we saw a replica of a stone sign that one family had erected on the outside of a burial cave. The stone engraving contained two sentences. The first sentence read something like, 'There is no gold or silver in this cave.'<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Pretty shrewd, eh? Do you think that kept the robbers away--or was that sign simply an advertisement that there might be something of value there?<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">The guide at the museum where we saw this replica--the original is in the Israel museum, I believe--told us that it probably didn't work. But what might have worked was the second and last sentence inscribed on the sign: (a rough translation) 'a curse be to the one who enters this cave.'<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">The speculation today is that a curse may have had some influence on people back then--at least enough, perhaps, to keep (lesser educated and perhaps superstitious) grave-robbers away.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">When discovered, that cave was 100% empty.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">So much for signs.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">However, our roofless cave behind the Begin Center was not empty: it contained at least 90 bodies. It also had a prize in it: a small silver amulet, something apparently meant to be worn on a necklace around a neck. It was rolled up and very small, perhaps no bigger than an inch wide and maybe a quarter-inch tall; rolled out, it is only app two inches long.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">It took years to figure out how to unroll it, without destroying it.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Once unrolled, however, it revealed ancient Hebrew letters. The letters spelled out the Bircat Cohanim--the Priestly Blessing--just as we know it today from the Torah. A couple of words were missing, but the Blessing was obvious.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">This small discovery suggested that this burial cave might have been for Chohanim, the Priests or, because of the silver and the quality of the amulet, perhaps for a Cohain Gadol--a High Priest. Maybe.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">This burial cave dates to the seventh century BCE, the time-period for our tiyul, and the writing on this small strip of silver is the oldest known name of Hashem (G-d's name) in Hebrew ever found. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">It is a significant discovery.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Today, because of a discovery at a dig-site called Qeiyafah--the subject of our July 14 Tiyul--there is now one older example of Hebrew writing, a stone ostricon (an ostricon is a flat stone with writing engraved on it). The writing found at Qeifaya is said to date back to David's time, the tenth century BCE. As we speak, its writing and its translation are still being studied.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Now, here is the next picture:<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OsufkMxUdaQ/TkE0_IoGd0I/AAAAAAAAATA/L8pV7geOfhM/s1600/034.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OsufkMxUdaQ/TkE0_IoGd0I/AAAAAAAAATA/L8pV7geOfhM/s640/034.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p> This is Har-Tzion, standing with your back to the burial caves we have been discussing.</o:p></span></div><div align="center"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div align="center"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Regarding this picture, there are two points of interest: First, look at the center of the picture, where the trees are: here, somewhere in those trees (I believe) there was found remnants of a wall that had been built during the First Temple period. This means that the burial cave we are discussing was outside the city and, as you can see, faced the city.The second point of interest is the modern geography. If you look to the upper left, you will see a tower-like structure--it is the farthest-left tower in the picture. That tower is near Jaffa Gate, inside the walls of the 'old city'.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Note: let's talk for a moment about the 'old city' of Jerusalem, and the wall of this 'old city'. This existing 'old city wall' has nothing to do with the era we are discussing, We are discussing the period preceding the First Temple, which was destroyed in the year 586 BCE, almost 2,600 years ago. The 'old city' walls are no older than 450 years.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><br />
When you discuss Jerusalem, you have to be careful when using a word like, 'old'.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Now, let's get to the heart of today's story: destruction. If you know about the story of the destruction of the First Temple, you might be wondering about my dating here. Something seems wrong. The dates aren't correct.The dates here are app 110 years <i>before</i> the First Temple was destroyed. Why are we talking about an 'eve' of destruction taking place so long before the Temple was actually destroyed?</span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Answer: We are talking a potential destruction. We are talking about a kind of almost total obliteration that would have been far more cruel and horrible than what the Babylonians did later, in 586 BCE. We are talking , in fact, about the attack against Israel by the Assyrian King Sennacherib. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">It is a story of destruction, faith, an incredible miracle that has two stories associated with it, and the King of Judah, Chezkiyahu. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">King Chizkiyahu (Hezikaya) ruled during the years (app) 715-686 BCE. This time range is approximate. Not everyone may agree on the exact years, but the general time-period appears accurate. Our Tanach credits him with being a strong king who was dedicated to the G-d of Israel. He ruled over a Jerusalem that had experienced dramatic growth since David, some 280 years (app) before. You can see how Chizkiyahu's Jerusalem compares to David's Jerusalem in this model.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Look at the model:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Vi3Q2VC4Obc/TkE2X4-0hKI/AAAAAAAAATE/z5cxaiytVPc/s1600/042.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Vi3Q2VC4Obc/TkE2X4-0hKI/AAAAAAAAATE/z5cxaiytVPc/s640/042.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">This is a model of Jerusalem, during Chizkiyahu's day. As you can see, it contains several pieces. First, the entire, largest outer circumference of the wall is Jerusalem at 701 BCE, at the time of the attack by the Assyrian King Senncherib. It represents all of the construction work King Chizkiyahu ordered completed (you'll see why in a moment).</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Now, the challenging part--finding the City of David, called 'Ear David', which was the Jerusalem of King David.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">We are going to concentrate on the bottom left section of the model. This section contains two pieces. First, there is a relatively small section that looks like a holding place for a salami--not quite rectangular, with pinched ends. Do you see it? Now, see if you can distinguish, within the bright light that shines on the model, there is a wall inside the outer wall that stretches from the left bottom corner, all the way across the model, to the far right. Can you see, or make out the outline of, that inner wall? That is unbroken. The wall has no openings or break in it as it reaches from side-to-side.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Now, still looking at that inner wall, let's look at what lies between the true outer wall at the bottom and this inner wall, for it will be inside these two walls that you will see the City of David. First, look at the detail work between the two walls--some of it looks mottled--bumpy (to the left). This 'mottled' look are tiny boxes representing housing--what you find in a city. This left-side section goes about half-way across the bottom of the model, and then stops; the floor of the model becomes clean--no buildings on it until you get to a larger outline of something. Can you see that? This left-side section , with the 'housing' on it (not including that 'salami holder' beneath it) is the original City of David. It is Jerusalem during King David's reign. Remember, it does <i>not</i> include the lower'salami holder' section. Can you see all of that? </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">The Jerusalem of King David, compared to the Jerusalem of King Chizkiyahu, some 260 years (app) later, is very small, is it not?</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">This model illustrates how dramatically Jerusalem grew in those intervening years. It also shows what King Chizkiyahu did.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Compare the model to a picture of a picture in the next two pictures:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6VNsDsi98_8/TkE3UkgdaeI/AAAAAAAAATI/BmDJohmmxHY/s1600/003.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6VNsDsi98_8/TkE3UkgdaeI/AAAAAAAAATI/BmDJohmmxHY/s640/003.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rIt1IL7NYqY/TkE4UCTX1sI/AAAAAAAAATM/CAkZjzA6JDY/s1600/042.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rIt1IL7NYqY/TkE4UCTX1sI/AAAAAAAAATM/CAkZjzA6JDY/s640/042.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">The City of David is in the area, in the top picture, where the lower of the two pens is pointing; actually, the lower pen is pointing at the top of the City of David. Can you see that? Compare it to the bottom picture, and find where I have already said the City of David is located. That older portion is much smaller than the Jerusalem of Chizkiyahu.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Now, before we talk about King Chizkiyahu in detail, let's talk about King Solomon who, after his father David died, built the first Temple. The first Temple is here, within those two walls we have been looking at--at the far right. Do you see that large, free-standing building at the far right? That, in the model, is the First Temple. In the picture above the model, the Temple is being pointed at by the upper pen. If you look closely at the picture, you will see that that upper pen is pointing at the current Temple Mount.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Okay. Back to our story of King Chizkiyahu. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">After Shlomo died, his son Rechavam became King. Apparently, Rechavam wasn't, shall we say, very wise. The people, especially in the North, rebelled against him and chose someone called Yeravam as <i>their</i> king.The United Kingdom of Saul, David and Solomon, that had lasted perhaps 100 years, now split into two Kingdoms, the Kingdom of Judah in the South (including Jerusalem) and the Kingdom of the North. For the next 220-260 years (depending on whose numbers you choose), the kings who reigned in both the North and the South were mostly not religious or particularly talented. One or two were mighty warriors. Some, like Ahab, were the pits. Chizkiyahu was one of the good guys. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Around 700 BCE, regional conflict broke out, and all of Israel became a target of the Assyrian superpower (to Israel's North-north-east) led by Senncherib. Senncherib came into Israel and obliterated everything in his path. He destroyed virtually every main city his could find and took captives. But he did not just exile these captive Jews; he took them and spread them out--so much so that they have literally disappeared. They have become the 'ten lost tribes'.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Senncherib knew how to devastate a people.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">In Israel at that time, there were app 47 cities. Sennchreib conquered, devastated and captured 46 of these cities. Then, in app 700 BCE, he turned to Jerusalem--the Big Apple, if you will, the last city and the main prize for him.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Indeed, if he took Jerusalem, the entire Jewish people might have disappeared, just as happened with the ten Northern tribes. Fortunately, Chizkiyahu does not wait for him to attack.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Chizkiyahu knew how to be a king.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">To understand Chizkiyahu, here is a short lesson in Kingship 101, circa 700 BCE:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">First, you need to protect your water supply. The reason for this is that Senncherib has also studied kingship 101, and he knows what everyone else knows: if you lay seige against a city, and you control their water supply, you win. Period. Check-mate.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Now, it just so happens that the water supply for the City of David is inside that 'salami holder' section of the wall.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Look again at the model:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rIt1IL7NYqY/TkE4UCTX1sI/AAAAAAAAATM/CAkZjzA6JDY/s1600/042.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rIt1IL7NYqY/TkE4UCTX1sI/AAAAAAAAATM/CAkZjzA6JDY/s640/042.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">As you look at that 'salami holder' section at the bottom left--that's where the water supply enters the City of David. Actually, the lower portion of that wall did not exist before Senncherib entered Israel. Chizkiyahu didn't have to be a rocket scientist to understrand what Senncherib's goals were--he knew Jerusalem was the ultimate prize. So, in order to protect himself, the Jewish king did a number of things. First, he built that lower, outer wall to that 'salami holder' section of wall, to bring the vulnerable part of the water supply into and behind protective walls. Got that? Then, he did something astounding: he brought in crews of men, and rechanneled existing water tunnels, so as to protect the water even more. What is startling about this project is that Chizkiyahu had two crews working from different ends, working towards each other, chiseling through limestone. Yes, it's the fastest way to chisel a fairly long channel--but it's also risky because who's to say the crews are going to line up properly enough to meet up?</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Not only did the two work crews meet up with very little error, but archaeologists found, chiseled into a tunnel wall, about shoulder height, a description by one of the chislers, explaining that here is where the two crews met.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">I have walked through a portion of that tunnel-work, and it is amazing that it could have been done so quickly, so expertly, and so accurately 2600 years ago.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">In addition, the Jewish King understood the topography his city sat on, and he understood that the north wall was the city's most vulnerable segment; the land outside the wall there was the best-suited spot for launching an attack on the city. Therefore, the Jewish King rebuilt and/or built new wall structures at that part, so that the North wall was reinforced.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Everyone in the city knew about the war preparations and the approaching army. People were frightened, especially since Senncherib was incredibly brutal. The land of Israel, North and South, was devastated, no other cities existed any more. Jerusalem was next.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">180,000 experienced and well-equipped Assyrian troops soon came to Jerusalem. At the ready. As they rested and prepared for the push against Jerusalem, the prophet Yeshaiyahu came to Chizkiyahu and scolded him: you have spent all of your time working to defend against the enemy? You have destroyed homes to build new walls?</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Look at this:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-laEHLNEQ5CY/TkE5MZKqTHI/AAAAAAAAATQ/PAeJGrXIOsk/s1600/048.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-laEHLNEQ5CY/TkE5MZKqTHI/AAAAAAAAATQ/PAeJGrXIOsk/s640/048.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">This is a piece of Chizkiyahu's wall. It is 7 meters wide (perhaps 22 feet).</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">How high do we estimate it was, originally?</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9fzdKnLOFEE/TkE5u31vtnI/AAAAAAAAATU/o_xTOTqxxYY/s1600/050.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9fzdKnLOFEE/TkE5u31vtnI/AAAAAAAAATU/o_xTOTqxxYY/s640/050.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">See that sign for, 'estimated height of wall'? It seems to be at least sixty feet above the wall (my estimate), which is directly below the picture.<br />
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And Cizkiyahu is accused of doing what? Destroying houses in order to rush-build this wall?</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GGcnL2S5JuE/TkE6dbMIiYI/AAAAAAAAATY/5duGMUpu8UU/s1600/049.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GGcnL2S5JuE/TkE6dbMIiYI/AAAAAAAAATY/5duGMUpu8UU/s640/049.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Look at the left side of the picture. Do you see what looks like two semi-circles of stone jusr below the wall, on the outside, on the left? Those are not semi-circles. They are walls from houses that have been destroyed as this wall was built. It is exactly as the prophet had said.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">The prophet continues: (a paraphrase) do you think you battle this enemy by yourself? Do you think you have the might to be victorious? All strength comes from G-d. Pray to Him. Only He can protect you (a very bad paraphrase, indeed). However, I think you get the point. The king has to turn to G-d, or else, he is warned, he is toast.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">The king is not a rocket scientist. Still, he gets the message. He prays.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">The Tanach, at this point, says that on that same night the camp of the Assyrian army was struck, and 180,000 soldiers died.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Jerusalem, Israel, and probably all future generations of Jews, were saved.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">But that is not the end of the story. You see, Senncherib was not the village idiot. He was king of a superpower--with an ego to go with that. He liked to record his war results; and he liked to have that record chiseled into stone--literally.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">In fact, there is a pencil-like stone, perhaps seven feet tall, called the Taylor Prism (the original is now in the British Museum), and on this multi-sided stone, Senncherib had carved the stories of his conquests, including his attacks on Israel.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Part of what he had had written is this:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Because Chizkiyahu... would not submit to my yoke...I came up against him...I took 46 of his strong fenced cities...and smaller towns which were scattered about...I took and carried off 200,150 persons, old and young, male and female...and Chizkiyahu himself I shut up in Jerusalem, his capital city, like a bird in a cage. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">He does not say that he conquered Jerusalem. Why not? He took all the other cities. What happened? The strong warrior with the big ego does not say.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">We are left only with that story in our Tanach. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">What do <i>you</i> think happened?</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">(I wish to thank Ezra Rosenfeld (tanachtiyulim.com) for showing me the Land of Israel with Tanach in hand)</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div></div>Tuviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09258309790095578616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4075615982504062505.post-19670195088169070972011-06-29T07:51:00.000-07:002011-06-29T07:51:13.168-07:00Tiyul to the Upper Gallil<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DEn6BNFj6_8/Tgs7tM2B5kI/AAAAAAAAAPg/6jCzoKdjFCo/s1600/084.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DEn6BNFj6_8/Tgs7tM2B5kI/AAAAAAAAAPg/6jCzoKdjFCo/s640/084.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Temple site, Tel Hazor</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Active archaeological digsite at Tel Hazor<br />
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</tbody></table>Tuviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09258309790095578616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4075615982504062505.post-90163984152557470022011-04-01T10:58:00.000-07:002011-08-19T03:04:16.228-07:00First Things FirstThis is the beginning of my blog on my aliyah and pre-aliyah experience. It opens with a piece of advice about reading aliyah blogs:<br />
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If you are looking for information, be careful: before you start reading about someone else's aliyah, find out something about them first.<br />
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Why?<br />
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Because even though aliyah might be simple (do this first, then this, then that, etc), it is not easy. Nothing worthwhile is. Aliyah generally means a move of thousands of miles, and could involve possibly hundreds of moving boxes and dozens of personal decisions. If you bring children and/or a need for work, you can multiply the decisions you need to make, and the pressure points you must address.<br />
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It's like getting married. If you're married now, do you remember what your wedding preparations were like?<br />
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The discussions (battles?) over the invitations, the photographer, the band, the table cloth colors, the napkin colors, the kind of bentchers you put out, etc, etc.<br />
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Right?<br />
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Then there were the negotiations with your parents and your future in-laws.<br />
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Remember that?<br />
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Then, as the big day approached, how many of you got butterflies in your stomach?<br />
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How many arguments were there?<br />
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Remember?<br />
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Most important--both to your wedding and to your aliyah plans--do you remember what pulled you through all of the sturm-und-drang (tempests) of the pre-wedding planning?<br />
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Do you remember what is was that got you through it all?<br />
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Love.<br />
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Right?<br />
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Despite the raised voices, the disagreements, the battles, the one thing that got you to the chuppa was your desire to be married, and your commitment.<br />
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To that partner.<br />
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Right?<br />
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Well, making aliyah takes you to through a similar path, and you stick to that path for a similar reason--your desire to do it.<br />
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All of which means that, if you want to get married, and wish for some advice about marriage, you need to know something about the person telling you about it--to measure how similar your situaton is to theirs, to see if you can realistically apply their experience to your situation. After all, if you are a calm and reasoned person, and the individual you talk to about marriage has a short temper and a violent tendency, their story of events leading up to their own wedding day may not really be easily applicable to you; but if you know something about them up front, their uniquely individual story may still teach you some basic principles.<br />
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Right?<br />
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So.<br />
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Let me tell you something about me.<br />
<br />
I am retired. I have made aliyah knowing that I do not have to find work in Israel, in order to survive.<br />
<br />
I have no children still in elememtary school or high school, which means that I do not have to worry about schools, adjusting to schools and/or dealing with schools.<br />
<br />
If you want the unvarnished truth, it is this: when you make aliyah free from issues of employment and schooling of children, you are probably doing so with perhaps an 80% to 90% reduction in headaches, problems and assorted crises.<br />
<br />
But then, if you are at retirement age, you are also probably ready to deal with less crises.<br />
<br />
Our original intent was to make aliyah five years before we actually did it. But at that time aliyah would have meant bringing an 8th grader with us. Plus, I was age 62 at the time. I was told that no one in Israel would hire a 62 year old person.<br />
<br />
Lesson number one about making aliyah: be very careful how you respond to bad news.<br />
<br />
Being told that no one would hire you is 'bad news'.<br />
<br />
How do you respond?<br />
<br />
This is a crucial point.<br />
<br />
Do you know why?<br />
<br />
Because, when you make aliyah, there will be many things that will happen to you that you cannot control--and have not been told about. That doesn't mean you were misled; it just means that no human being can foresee what issues and problems you, individually, are going to have. Your success or failure as an oleh generally will not be determined by what happens to you once you get here. What will determine if you succeed or fail will, to a very large degree, be determined by HOW YOU RESPOND TO THE THINGS THAT HAPPEN TO YOU!!!!!<br />
<br />
Remember that.<br />
<br />
Lesson number two about making aliyah is related to lesson number one: the extent to which you feel <em>happy</em> about your aliyah experience will be determined, to a large extent, by the way YOU RESPOND TO WHAT HAPPENS TO YOU.<br />
<br />
If that sounds a lot like lesson number one, you're right: do not underestimate how important your personal responses will be. <br />
<br />
What you see here in my aliyah story is really the story of how I have responded to being a new oleh.<br />
<br />
What will your responses be as a new oleh?Tuviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09258309790095578616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4075615982504062505.post-12840617066646154192011-03-30T06:27:00.000-07:002011-08-19T03:06:17.808-07:00INTRODUCTIONShalom, dear reader,<br />
<br />
The emails you are about to read tell a story about an office worker in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and a couple who have made aliyah to Maale Adumim, Israel.<br />
<br />
In this blog, I present both Tuvia and Shloimy as fiction characters. Yes, Tuvia is a real person--but here, I have fictionalized him. He has made aliyah with his wife, and Shloimy--a former employee whom Tuvia has mentored-- remains behind in Pittsburgh, working and leading his own life.<br />
<br />
Now that Tuvia is no longer at work, Shloimy is curious. He asks about Tuvia's aliyah.<br />
<br />
Tuvia responds.<br />
<br />
Shloimy asks simple, direct questions--which you do not see. What you see are Tuvia's responses, as he impatiently and at times incredulously tries to explain what his new life is like.<br />
<br />
Why do I fictionalize these characters (especially Tuvia), and present them this way?<br />
<br />
To entertain and to teach. After all, going to a different culture can be difficult and frustrating. But life is all about choices. So the new oleh can react to what's new and different by getting angry, or by laughing.<br />
<br />
So here we see both.<br />
<br />
My fictionalized Tuvia gets angry.<br />
<br />
The reader gets a chance to laugh.<br />
<br />
And poor Shloimy gets an education.<br />
<br />
Through this story, I hope you will get a fresh look at the experiences of a new oleh.<br />
<br />
My goal is to proceed according to 'themes', including: weather reports, a photo album of Maale Adumim, business tips, transportation, language lessons, food, religion and politics, and living on the edge (of the desert).<br />
<br />
I will try to do this in 'Parts'. Part one will be 'weather reports'. Part two will be a photo album, etc. Unless otherwise specified, all photos are taken from my apartment, in our neighborhood, or walking home from shopping.<br />
<br />
I don't know if this architecture will work out the way I envision it, because a blog does have limitations, and I cannot claim that I can squeeze this concept into the blog format.<br />
<br />
Because I write according to themes (and not in chronological order), all blog dates you see are artificial; only dates embedded in text are accurate.<br />
<br />
Finally, I do not claim I will stay 'in character', and always use the fictionalized voice of this self-important and grumpy 'Tuvia'.<br />
<br />
Maybe, I'll leave it up to you to decide which is the fictionalized 'Tuvia' and which is the real 'Tuvia'.<br />
<br />
Enjoy!Tuviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09258309790095578616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4075615982504062505.post-71881823356088748692010-10-07T06:26:00.000-07:002010-10-24T10:37:41.448-07:00PART ONE. A Weather Summary to Introduce Tuvia's 'Weather Reports'Shalom,<br />
September 2010<br />
<br />
Making Aliyah is certainly an adventure, but coming to Maale Adumim has proven to be wondrous--especially for someone from a moderate climate.<br />
<br />
For one thing, nature here seems to conspire in order to enchant.<br />
<br />
And to teach.<br />
<br />
Perhaps I can summarize my 'weather' experience, before you read about Tuvia in the sun. Perhaps, today, I can also suggest how this 'puzzle' called nature works--so you can see, through Tuvia, how extraordinary is this new and ancient place.<br />
<br />
First:<br />
<br />
When we arrived at our apartment in Maale Adumim, in early August, 2010 we were simply so amazed-- by the sun, the dry heat, how bright the light was, and by how far into the desert we could see-- that we didn't notice larger weather patterns. We became insensitive to some of the most obvious weather elements. I think we lost that sensitivity for good reason: during our first 63 days here, we had 63 consecutive days when the daily high was 92 degrees or higher. The range was, probably, 92 on the low side, to 107 for the highest temperature.<br />
<br />
I believe that, during this period, we had at least 10 days where the daily high was predicted to be 100 or higher. It didn't always get there--but it was still hot.<br />
<br />
And cloudless.<br />
<br />
Thankfully, there seemed to be little or no humidity.<br />
<br />
The first time I became aware of 'weather' came weeks after we had settled in, when, one morning, I noticed a dark spot on the desert landscape, something I had not seen before.<br />
<br />
For an instant, I was surprised, as in, 'where did that come from?'<br />
<br />
Then, of course, I realized that this spot was a shadow cast by a passing cloud.<br />
<br />
I had not noticed such 'shadowing' on the landscape before.<br />
<br />
Was this the first cloud I had seen?<br />
<br />
Had we had no clouds before?<br />
<br />
The desert landscape is barren, naked. Shadows like this are very noticeable.<br />
<br />
This was the first cloud since our arrival?<br />
<br />
I did not know what to make of this observation. Its major impact on me was to have Tuvia react to the appearance of the first clouds with his characteristic shocked, self-centered manner.<br />
<br />
Poor Shloimy. Was this his fault?<br />
<br />
Second:<br />
<br />
Since our arrival, throughout August and even into September, while the days were hot-- some days dangerously hot--the nights were different.<br />
<br />
Surprisingly different.<br />
<br />
The nights were cool--so much so, in fact, that we turned off the central air conditioning before going to sleep .<br />
<br />
Why turn it off?<br />
<br />
Because, beginning about one hour before dark, each evening, a wind came in from the west. For us, this wasn't an ordinary wind. It was a strong wind. Strong enough to blow a hat off your head, and certainly sustained enough to cool down the temperature.<br />
<br />
-Strong enough to howl around windows.<br />
<br />
Almost every night.<br />
<br />
-So strong that, one morning, after sleeping with the windows open, my wife commented that she had awakened during the night because she had felt her hair blowing in the wind.<br />
<br />
Dear reader, here's a question for you--when, in Pittsburgh, did you ever sleep with the windows open and then awaken, not because you were cold, but because the wind was blowing your hair around?<br />
<br />
I had never heard of such a thing.<br />
<br />
Third:<br />
<br />
From the day I had seen that first shadow on the desert landscape, I began to notice clouds. Nothing ominous, nothing special--but every day, or maybe every week, just a few more clouds than before.<br />
<br />
Still, I was only dimly aware of what was before me.<br />
<br />
Clouds?<br />
<br />
What's the big deal?<br />
<br />
Clouds?<br />
<br />
Listen, the sky wasn't the problem for me. The real story was on the ground-- the heat, and the need to protect skin, and the need to drink, drink, drink.<br />
<br />
Then, one morning--grey. <br />
<br />
That's the day I wrote to Shloimy, 'accusing' him of touching something him shouldn't have been touching, because the sun had 'disappeared.'.<br />
<br />
In Pittsburgh, even in the summer, we have days with 100% overcast skies.<br />
<br />
It's common.<br />
<br />
But, apparently, that's not the case here, not in the summer, not in a desert world.<br />
<br />
Still, none of this seemed connected. <br />
<br />
Four:<br />
<br />
While the clouds were forming and the sun continued hot, something else was going on--birds.<br />
<br />
You see, according to at least two websites, Israel is one of the largest migration flyways in the world. Over 500 million birds fly through Israel.<br />
<br />
Twice a year.<br />
<br />
First, they fly south from as far away as Scandinavia --or even the Artic--towards Africa.<br />
<br />
Then, months later, the birds return, flying north from Africa, to Europe, etc.<br />
<br />
According to one website, Israel is "currently considered the leading superpower (their words) in Birding."<br />
<br />
I suppose that if birds could read, write and create documentaries about migration, we'd hear a lot more about these 500 million birds.<br />
<br />
But.......<br />
<br />
Whether we hear about it or not, they are there.<br />
<br />
So here we are, in August and early September, and my wife hears that, in a certain two/three day window, storks are scheduled to fly over Israel.<br />
<br />
She wonders if Maale Adumim is close enough to their flyway for us to see these manificient creatures --or, will we miss them?<br />
<br />
We wait.<br />
<br />
No storks.<br />
<br />
We are, it seems, too far away from their line of flight.<br />
<br />
We talk of birds, and the place Israel has in the Birding Migration route.<br />
<br />
How curious, don't you think? Israel, the superpower of birding?<br />
<br />
Who knew?<br />
<br />
Then, next day, while out for a walk as the sun began to dip, we saw a flock of birds overhead. They looked like birds from a barn swallow family.<br />
<br />
Locals, or birds flying from Europe to Africa?<br />
<br />
Couldn't tell.<br />
<br />
What caught my attention was the wind--this flock, small birds, was having a devil of a time trying to keep in formation. Some of the birds actually seemed to fly sideways when the wind gusted.<br />
<br />
The flock, in the wind, scattered, blew apart, returned to formation--then quickly blew apart again as the wind gusted.<br />
<br />
Seconds after we noticed these birds struggling directly above us, it became our turn-- the wind became so strong that my wife and I, despite leaning forward, had moments when we could not move. The wind seemed to weigh more than we did--the irresistable force versus the immoveable object. Delightedly, laughing with an almost childish pleasure, we struggled, unable to move forward until the wind relented enough for us to walk.<br />
<br />
The moment stayed with me. It seemed to have meaning for me, but I could not understand.<br />
<br />
Five:<br />
<br />
Soon after this episode with the birds and the wind, it rained. Before the rain came, however, there was thunder. It was mid-week, early morning. We had just finished morning services that day, and I was still indoors at the time, talking to a friend, when the thunder rolled.<br />
<br />
I couldn't tell if the noise was thunder, the sound of jet fighters kicking in their afterburners, or a volley of heavy gunfire rolling in from the desert--given where we live, any one of those three options was realistic.<br />
<br />
It was so brief, no one reacted. I ignored it.<br />
<br />
But as I started to head out the door, my friend asked me if I had seen rain yesterday.<br />
<br />
No, I said.<br />
<br />
He told me that it had very briefly rained the day before--but he also added that this rain, at this time of the year, was not the'real' rain. It was a 'false' rain, that came in from the east, from Jordan.<br />
<br />
The 'real' rain, he said, came from the west and the north--from Europe. That, he said, was what brought the 'real' rain.<br />
<br />
Bingo!<br />
<br />
As soon as he said this, everything seemed to fall into place.<br />
<br />
As they say in England, 'the penny dropped'--I got it!<br />
<br />
In a moment of insight, I could see how nature's parts fit together.<br />
<br />
Think about it: here we are, in a harsh desert world.<br />
<br />
It's dry.<br />
<br />
It's hot.<br />
<br />
This time of year in Israel is the beginning of a planting season, for crops to be harvested next Spring.<br />
<br />
Rain is crucial for survival.<br />
<br />
Right now, with farmers here about to plant for next year's food, you realize that, in a desert world, you need all the help you can get; this is the season for the Jewish Prayer for Rain--and in this hot, dry world, prayer makes sense, right?<br />
<br />
As Tuvia writes to Shloimy--how else are you going to get watered up around here? By calling the water department?<br />
<br />
You might do that in Pittsburgh, Shloimy, but in the desert?<br />
<br />
I saw an online interview recently with a woman who lives in the Negev desert, with a group that is starting to turn their little slice of sand into a farming community. Her comments about living in such a harsh place were telling: living here, she said, reminds you every day that Hashem is in charge. Here, she continued, there is no water, no natural shade, no respite from the heat, no natural tillable soil. Living here, she said, teaches you that without Hashem's help, you cannot survive. It's that basic, that harsh.<br />
<br />
Spend several weeks in a desert environment, and you learn to ask a simple question: where in this desert is rain going to come from?<br />
<br />
More significant, how will it get here?<br />
<br />
The answer lies with the birds.<br />
<br />
How?<br />
<br />
I do not think it is a coincidence that the bird migration season from Europe, and the rain, come from the same areas, just as the winds pick up in power and duration. <br />
<br />
Remember that flock of small birds that struggled in the wind, sometimes actually flying sideways?<br />
<br />
Their struggle reveals the key--the wind.<br />
<br />
Curiously, the wind doesn't blow this hard throughout the year--just now and throughout the rainy season.<br />
<br />
The wind, very strong, comes from the west and the northwest; the birds come from the same direction, and the rain comes from that same direction!<br />
<br />
Three natural phenomena, happening at the same time.<br />
<br />
That's just a coincidence? I don't think so.<br />
<br />
It's as if all of nature has been constructed to bring the wind, the birds, the rain all together--a three-fer, right? The birds get what they need--a good tailwind, to help them with the long flight they are taking; the rain gets to where it needs to be--over the desert--and the wind, traveling as it does from the Arctic to Africa, makes it all possible, just at the right time, the right season, to the right places.<br />
<br />
There are no coincidences.This world, if we look carefully enough, and if we can understand what it is we are looking at, teaches us that nature has been pre-packaged to work a certain way. Each part is designed to work a certain way, and all the parts work together in ways that can boggle the imagination.<br />
<br />
Perhaps that is why my fictional Tuvia is so amazed by his aliyah experience. If only he wouldn't be so irascible.Tuviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09258309790095578616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4075615982504062505.post-65430619693664582212010-10-05T05:14:00.000-07:002010-10-23T11:48:58.221-07:00PART ONE. "Weather Reports". Number One<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">August 2010</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Shloimy,</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Shalom from Maale Adumim, Israel.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><br />
<br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">This place is beautiful.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">It’s different.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I'm not used to this--</span><br />
<br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_MmG_Sq3-OJo/TLQegUx3C0I/AAAAAAAAADI/wMrxWCaUF-I/s1600/013.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="480" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_MmG_Sq3-OJo/TLQegUx3C0I/AAAAAAAAADI/wMrxWCaUF-I/s640/013.JPG" width="640" /></a><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Shloimy, listen to what I'm telling you-- my wife and I are definitely not in Pittsburgh, anymore.</span><br />
<br />
For a Pittsburgher, this is better than DisneyWorld.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Just look at this place!</span><br />
<br />
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_MmG_Sq3-OJo/TLQbw1hRi4I/AAAAAAAAADA/QjrwHSEJPlk/s1600/015.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="480" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_MmG_Sq3-OJo/TLQbw1hRi4I/AAAAAAAAADA/QjrwHSEJPlk/s640/015.JPG" width="640" /></a><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">But.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Yes, Shloimy. There is a 'but' here.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">This is NOT the desert.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Do you understand?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">How do I know that?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">What, don't you get it?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Don't you know anything?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"> You have to watch the weather reports.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">That's the secret.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">That's what tells you we are not in the desert.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Got that?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We are not in the desert.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Of course, when I look out my window, it sure looks like a desert.</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_MmG_Sq3-OJo/TLQA_F1aFZI/AAAAAAAAACY/0AKsImDkkpc/s1600/079.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_MmG_Sq3-OJo/TLQA_F1aFZI/AAAAAAAAACY/0AKsImDkkpc/s640/079.JPG" width="640" /></a></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">But what do I know?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I’m from Pittsburgh, Pa.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Right?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">So I watch the weather reports.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">They tell me everything.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">For example, nearby, it’s the Dead Sea. </span><br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_MmG_Sq3-OJo/TLP9ZNQrH0I/AAAAAAAAACU/zuR0l-DlgnQ/s1600/022.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="480" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_MmG_Sq3-OJo/TLP9ZNQrH0I/AAAAAAAAACU/zuR0l-DlgnQ/s640/022.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Look at the hills in the foreground. See, in the left bottom foreground, how the hills tilt downward?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Now, look just beyond the farthest ridge in the left bottom corner--there is a haze, yes, but look closely at the haze, in that left bottom section, just above the ridge line: do you see how the haze is slightly darker there than the haze immediately above it? That's the Jordan plain, a valley between the hills on the Israel side (this side) and that taller ridge of hills on the Jordan side ( the darker horizontal line at the very top of the haze).</span><br />
<br />
In that portion of picture where you see the haze between the two ridges--that's where the Dead Sea is--off to the right, below and behind the foreground hills on the right.<br />
<br />
The Dead Sea area is the lowest point on earth, some 400 meters below sea level.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Now, that’s the desert--that plain area off to the right. The weather report tells me that today it will be 110 degrees down there in<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the Dead Sea.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Got that?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">110.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">That’s desert.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">But here, in Maale Adumim, we will not get 110.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">No way.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Got that?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We do not get 110 degrees in Maale Adumim.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Remember that.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">What, you think this is the desert?</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_MmG_Sq3-OJo/TLQGxMom8II/AAAAAAAAACc/NOYxzVqXkJE/s1600/005.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_MmG_Sq3-OJo/TLQGxMom8II/AAAAAAAAACc/NOYxzVqXkJE/s640/005.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Well, it’s not.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">You want proof?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I’ll give you proof.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">How do I know it’s not the desert?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Well, for one thing, do you think that that red flower in the left foreground can grow like that in a desert?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Don't be ridiculous.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The desert is too hot for that.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Didn't I just tell you that in the desert, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>it’s going to be 110 degrees today?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Shloimy, how many times do I have to repeat myself?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Here, in Maale Adumim, it will only be 102 degrees today.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">So it’s cooler than the desert.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">And if it’s cooler than the desert, you’re going to tell me this is desert?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">What are you, a city-slicker?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I have to tell you everything?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">City-slicking in the desert,</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Tuvia</span></div>Tuviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09258309790095578616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4075615982504062505.post-49146914767443386312010-10-04T00:39:00.000-07:002010-10-14T23:29:02.264-07:00PART ONE. "Weather Reports". Number TwoShalom, Shloimy,<br />
August 2010<br />
<br />
<br />
Got a double weather forecast the other day.<br />
<br />
One website said that the day's high temperature in Maale Adumim would be 104 degrees.<br />
<br />
Another website said the day's high would be 96 degrees.<br />
<br />
So.<br />
<br />
Which would it be?<br />
<br />
I think I see an opportunity here.<br />
<br />
You know, new olim are constantly talking about making money starting a new business here.<br />
<br />
Personally, I think they're nuts. I mean, they're new. What do they know about business over here?<br />
<br />
But this is different.<br />
<br />
It's pure genius!<br />
<br />
After all, if the temperature predictions are so varied, well, I can<br />
<br />
Start a lottery.<br />
<br />
Think about it. The winner would be the person who correctly guesses the day's final high temperature.<br />
<br />
What do you think?<br />
<br />
A real money-maker, right?<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_MmG_Sq3-OJo/TLVEXBs3JmI/AAAAAAAAAD8/-IsPenNTOBA/s1600/004.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="480" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_MmG_Sq3-OJo/TLVEXBs3JmI/AAAAAAAAAD8/-IsPenNTOBA/s640/004.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
Ahhh, Israel currency is so much more picturesque than ours, don't you think?<br />
<br />
A lottery will create lots of it.<br />
<br />
Oh, wait.<br />
<br />
There's a problem.<br />
<br />
If the daily forecasts are only 6-8 degrees apart, we could get more than one winner.<br />
<br />
Right?<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_MmG_Sq3-OJo/TLVFaCjlPBI/AAAAAAAAAEA/ZVQlzABlWA0/s1600/005.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="480" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_MmG_Sq3-OJo/TLVFaCjlPBI/AAAAAAAAAEA/ZVQlzABlWA0/s640/005.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<br />
Hmmm. That's right. Too many winners could cut into our profits.<br />
<br />
In fact, with temperature forecasts this close, there could easily be more winners than losers.<br />
<br />
Right?<br />
<br />
That could really hurt profits.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_MmG_Sq3-OJo/TLVGV-HrAHI/AAAAAAAAAEE/S_CKuIfkDAI/s1600/007.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="480" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_MmG_Sq3-OJo/TLVGV-HrAHI/AAAAAAAAAEE/S_CKuIfkDAI/s640/007.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
Hey. How can you make any money with a scheme like that?<br />
<br />
Say, Shloimy, where do you come up with these ideas?<br />
<br />
Have you been spending too much time in the sun?<br />
<br />
<br />
Having lots of fun in the desert --<br />
<br />
TuviaTuviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09258309790095578616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4075615982504062505.post-31605033394159962802010-10-03T23:54:00.000-07:002010-11-01T06:08:36.050-07:00PART ONE. "Weather Reports". Number Three<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">August 2010</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Shalom,</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I see online <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>that the temperature in Pittsburgh today<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>is supposed to reach a high of 84 degrees.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Here, we expect <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>98.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Right now,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>noontime, the thermometer on my roof balcony reads 94.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I think we’ll reach 98.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Easily.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">But that’s okay.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Know why?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Because this isn’t <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pittsburgh.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Here, there doesn’t seem to be any <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>humidity.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">It’s dry.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Really dry.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">So a temperature forecast of 98 doesn’t seem so hot.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">For sure, Shloimy, this is definitely not Pittsburgh.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">You know what happens in Pittsburgh when it gets to 98 degrees?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">You go out for a brief walk, and by the time you get back, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>you feel as if you’ve taken a shower.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">From the inside out.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">With your clothes on.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Right?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">But here, it’s so dry, you hardly sweat.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The air seems to suck the water right out of you, before you can begin to sweat.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I’ve been told to drink <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>100 ounces of water a day, or at the very least 2 litres—that’s something like 68 ounces.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Given how dry I feel with 75 ounces (right now, a newbie, I count my intake), I think that-- at least for a newcomer who is not yet acclimated to this kind of dry heat-- 68 ounces of water a day <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>is probably too low.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">So I drink.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_MmG_Sq3-OJo/TM65WOcS6JI/AAAAAAAAAGc/EnD_7XGmzvQ/s1600/003.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" nx="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_MmG_Sq3-OJo/TM65WOcS6JI/AAAAAAAAAGc/EnD_7XGmzvQ/s320/003.JPG" width="100" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Bottled water.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">And I drink.</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_MmG_Sq3-OJo/TM65smMp2ZI/AAAAAAAAAGg/NDYmxLs9UQo/s1600/001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" nx="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_MmG_Sq3-OJo/TM65smMp2ZI/AAAAAAAAAGg/NDYmxLs9UQo/s320/001.JPG" width="97" /></a></div>Bottled grapefruit soft drink (I mix with water) .<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">And I drink some more.</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_MmG_Sq3-OJo/TM66F1Nzx2I/AAAAAAAAAGk/RWK7cB3UjEg/s1600/002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" nx="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_MmG_Sq3-OJo/TM66F1Nzx2I/AAAAAAAAAGk/RWK7cB3UjEg/s320/002.JPG" width="105" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I don't really drink this, but I wanted to show you what Hebrew Coca-Cola looks like.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">And if you are really, really brave (I'm not), you can try to drink milk--the way the Israeli drinks it-</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_MmG_Sq3-OJo/TM66x_njQyI/AAAAAAAAAGo/IKlUqhBNw5E/s1600/004.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" nx="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_MmG_Sq3-OJo/TM66x_njQyI/AAAAAAAAAGo/IKlUqhBNw5E/s320/004.JPG" width="203" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">From a plastic bag!</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Drinking milk from a plastic bag is like trying to nail jello to a tree. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">And it's almost as much fun.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">But this isn't the only thing I’ve discovered here in Maale Adumim.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I’ve also discovered the sun.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">You didn’t know I could do that, did you?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Discover the what?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">That’s right.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The sun.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Listen, Shloimy,</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">How many times do I have to tell you---</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">This is not Pittsburgh.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This sun is no Pittsburgh sun.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">No way.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">It’s different.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Brighter.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Much brighter.</span><br />
<br />
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_MmG_Sq3-OJo/TLQJlA0DqQI/AAAAAAAAACg/rMIBJjprqso/s1600/043.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_MmG_Sq3-OJo/TLQJlA0DqQI/AAAAAAAAACg/rMIBJjprqso/s640/043.JPG" width="640" /></a><br />
<br />
Look into the courtyard, to the right. Look how sharp and crisp the shadow lines are. And look at the front fascade of the building, behind the white car: the stone around the four windows appears almost white, right?<br />
<br />
Well, the actual color is a very light beige.<br />
<br />
That's how bright the sun is. It lightens color!</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">It's also hotter, Shloimy.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">H-O-T.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I’ve got a decent tan on my face from walking in Pittsburgh, but here, if I do not put on lotion, I will burn.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">In fact, I put lotion on – and I still burn.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">But I think I know the reason for that.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Last week,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I found SPF 30 suntan lotion on sale, half-off.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">So I bought it.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Then, I found out why (probably) this stuff was half-off:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">It’s not effective.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The sun is too bright, too hot for SPF 30.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">How was I supposed to know?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I’m from Pittsburgh, remember?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">This should be a lesson to you, Shloimy.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Understand?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">So you don’t get fried.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">What, I have to teach you everything?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Frying <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>in the sun,</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Tuvia</span></div>Tuviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09258309790095578616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4075615982504062505.post-18659555208908431182010-10-03T04:31:00.000-07:002010-10-24T10:38:02.904-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_MmG_Sq3-OJo/TKgSjtF7uGI/AAAAAAAAAAM/fKq7wSeae-M/s1600/050.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" px="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_MmG_Sq3-OJo/TKgSjtF7uGI/AAAAAAAAAAM/fKq7wSeae-M/s400/050.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
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</div>Tuviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09258309790095578616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4075615982504062505.post-55146459589339202752010-10-03T04:30:00.001-07:002010-10-24T10:38:18.310-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_MmG_Sq3-OJo/TKhpQI3TfHI/AAAAAAAAAAU/Tq0pt5lx_ns/s1600/053.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" px="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_MmG_Sq3-OJo/TKhpQI3TfHI/AAAAAAAAAAU/Tq0pt5lx_ns/s640/053.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>Tuviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09258309790095578616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4075615982504062505.post-34603125204701776772010-10-02T01:27:00.000-07:002010-11-17T21:34:55.758-08:00PART ONE. "Weather Reports". Number FourShalom, Shloimy<br />
August 2010<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
I was talking to the locals the other day.<br />
<br />
Of course, my Hebrew is so bad, I couldn't really understand everything they told me.<br />
<br />
You'd think that would be a problem, right?<br />
<br />
But it also could be a plus.<br />
<br />
I mean, what's so wrong with being an optimist?<br />
<br />
If someone tells you something, and you can't understand them, why shouldn't you think the best.<br />
<br />
Right?<br />
<br />
Look at it this way: if you can't understand what a person is telling you, you might never be wrong!<br />
<br />
Right?<br />
<br />
So here's what I think they were telling me:<br />
<br />
Maale Adumim is not in the desert.<br />
<br />
Why does everyone around here keep telling me that?<br />
<br />
Know what they say to me?<br />
<br />
They say, hey, you think you live in the desert?<br />
<br />
Think about where you live!<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_MmG_Sq3-OJo/TLQNuPPI3fI/AAAAAAAAACk/37ggCcXjiMo/s1600/045.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="480" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_MmG_Sq3-OJo/TLQNuPPI3fI/AAAAAAAAACk/37ggCcXjiMo/s640/045.JPG" width="640" /></a><br />
<br />
<br />
So I say, okay--I can picture where I live. I can even picture my neighbor's white car, parked behind the fence.<br />
<br />
And they say, okay--<br />
<br />
Is that the desert?<br />
<br />
Well, is it?<br />
<br />
Does that house look like the desert?<br />
<br />
Does it?<br />
<br />
The desert, they say, is out there, to the east, closer to Jordan, where the Dead Sea is located.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_MmG_Sq3-OJo/TLQO2cwshWI/AAAAAAAAACo/6NcAyYDzVrg/s1600/006.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="480" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_MmG_Sq3-OJo/TLQO2cwshWI/AAAAAAAAACo/6NcAyYDzVrg/s640/006.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<br />
Out there, behind and below that beige sand simmering in the sun, inside that summer haze behind and below the sand, and off to the right.<br />
<br />
10, maybe 12 miles, east.<br />
<br />
That's desert.<br />
<br />
Remember the picture of the Jordan plain, with all the haze, back in Number One? Well, this is a picture of that same area, with a lot less haze. Here, you can see the plain behind the foreground hills, right? You just can't see the Jordan mountain ridge on the other side. Right?<br />
<br />
Want to see the other side--the Jordan side? Want to see the Dead Sea? Okay.<br />
<br />
So here's a Tuvia version of a digitally enhanced view of the same scene, this time at sunset:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_MmG_Sq3-OJo/TM2cakJvyxI/AAAAAAAAAGY/UnlcGN9lHkc/s1600/013.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" nx="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_MmG_Sq3-OJo/TM2cakJvyxI/AAAAAAAAAGY/UnlcGN9lHkc/s640/013.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
Those are the hills of Jordan in the backround!<br />
<br />
Look at the bottom of the picture, near the right. Can you see, above the front ridge of hills (one or two inches in from the right picture-edge), a thin slice of a body of water? It's a flat, bluish color. See it? That's the northern tip of the Dead Sea.<br />
<br />
There, in the Dead Sea area, the temperatures are, typically, 7 - 10- degrees hotter than our temperatures.<br />
<br />
Every day.<br />
<br />
But what's hot?<br />
<br />
That's what I want to know.<br />
<br />
Is 111 really all that different from 101?<br />
<br />
Look, Shloimy, you and I both know that, "if it looks like a duck, and it waddles like a duck, and it<br />
<br />
Quacks like a duck, then it's probably a duck."<br />
<br />
Right?<br />
<br />
What can be simpler than that?<br />
<br />
Well, it's simple if you're from Pittsburgh.<br />
<br />
Right?<br />
<br />
We know about these things.<br />
<br />
Right?<br />
<br />
If we had had 101 degrees in Pittsburgh, where'd you think we were, Alaska?<br />
<br />
Trouble is, these folks here live in Maale Adumim.<br />
<br />
What do they know about Pittsburgh?<br />
<br />
In fact, what do they know about ducks?<br />
<br />
So when I talk to them, what do I know?<br />
<br />
Oopps. Gotta go.<br />
<br />
I think I hear some quacking.<br />
<br />
<br />
Spending a lot of time in the sun on my balcony, looking out to the east--<br />
<br />
TuviaTuviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09258309790095578616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4075615982504062505.post-68673503074133901262010-10-01T01:56:00.000-07:002010-11-17T21:40:49.501-08:00PART ONE. "Weather Reports". Number FiveShalom<br />
August 2010.<br />
<br />
Shloimy!<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
WHAT DID YOU DO?<br />
<br />
Have you been touching stuff you're not supposed to touch?<br />
<br />
Have you?<br />
<br />
Have you been doing things you're not telling me about?<br />
<br />
Listen, Shloimy,<br />
<br />
Just because I'm not in the office any more, doesn't mean you can do anything you want.<br />
<br />
Understand?<br />
<br />
I am talking to you, Shloimy,<br />
<br />
Because<br />
<br />
Do you know what happened to me today?<br />
<br />
I said,<br />
<br />
DO YOU KNOW WHAT HAPPENED?<br />
<br />
Shloimy, I am right here.<br />
<br />
In the desert.<br />
<br />
I can see in every direction.<br />
<br />
I can see for miles.<br />
<br />
And do you know what I saw when I woke up this morning?<br />
<br />
I saw--<br />
<br />
NOTHING!<br />
<br />
Do you know why I saw NOTHING?<br />
<br />
Because there was no sun!<br />
<br />
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_MmG_Sq3-OJo/TLQSZoY2gFI/AAAAAAAAACw/ZDwLoctbAgI/s1600/017.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_MmG_Sq3-OJo/TLQSZoY2gFI/AAAAAAAAACw/ZDwLoctbAgI/s640/017.JPG" width="640" /></a><br />
I looked out towards Jerusalem--that's Jerusalem, at the top of the picture, that ridge.<br />
<br />
Do you understand?<br />
<br />
The sun was<br />
<br />
Missing!<br />
<br />
Do you see that tower up on the left, at the left end of the ridge?<br />
<br />
See it?<br />
<br />
Behind that tower, Shloimy , maybe 1,000 yards behind and below it, is the Har HaBayit, where you see the Dome of the Rock that sits on the Temple Mount.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_MmG_Sq3-OJo/TL24L0ifrcI/AAAAAAAAAEQ/g-L4hB-775Y/s1600/012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="480" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_MmG_Sq3-OJo/TL24L0ifrcI/AAAAAAAAAEQ/g-L4hB-775Y/s640/012.JPG" width="640" /></a><br />
<br />
Shloimy, listen to me. I had 5 seconds to take this picture--in a bus moving at 45 MPH--5 seconds to find it, focus and snap, before the road drops down, and the view disappears. Pretty nifty camerawork, eh?<br />
<br />
Shloimy, this is our holy place.<br />
<br />
Okay, so you want a better view?<br />
<br />
Here's a picture taken on the same bus--going in the other direction. Here, I had maybe 10 seconds to snap. This picture also gives you a better view of the area surrounding the Gold Dome that is on the Har HaBayit:<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_MmG_Sq3-OJo/TMBZh7PkkiI/AAAAAAAAAEc/kRZazLskdUY/s1600/009.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" nx="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_MmG_Sq3-OJo/TMBZh7PkkiI/AAAAAAAAAEc/kRZazLskdUY/s640/009.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<br />
<br />
With its Western Wall--<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_MmG_Sq3-OJo/TL25NZYeeiI/AAAAAAAAAEU/NP44K6QcGWU/s1600/009.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_MmG_Sq3-OJo/TL25NZYeeiI/AAAAAAAAAEU/NP44K6QcGWU/s640/009.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
Where Jews from all over the world come, and succumb to the emotional intensity of this spiritual place--<br />
<br />
And you did what?<br />
<br />
WHAT WERE YOU TOUCHING?<br />
<br />
I stand on my roof balcony and all I could see was<br />
<br />
Grey?<br />
<br />
No sun?<br />
<br />
Just grey stuff, <br />
<br />
You know, up in the sky--<br />
<br />
WHERE THE SUN IS SUPPOSED TO BE?<br />
<br />
Shloimy, I said,<br />
<br />
WHAT DID YOU DO?<br />
<br />
Oh, wait.<br />
<br />
Grey, fluffy, cotton-candy <br />
<br />
Up in the sky--<br />
<br />
Say now, that looks familiar.<br />
<br />
I think I've seen that before.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_MmG_Sq3-OJo/TLQT8js23QI/AAAAAAAAAC0/_QSCQOFtHhM/s1600/005.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="480" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_MmG_Sq3-OJo/TLQT8js23QI/AAAAAAAAAC0/_QSCQOFtHhM/s640/005.JPG" width="640" /></a><br />
<br />
Standing on my top balcony, looking at the sky above those hills of eastern Jerusalem there, in the backround--<br />
<br />
I know I've seen that stuff before!<br />
<br />
You know, back in Pittsburgh?<br />
<br />
What's it called?<br />
<br />
Smoke?<br />
<br />
No.<br />
<br />
Fog?<br />
<br />
No.<br />
<br />
Smog?<br />
<br />
No.<br />
<br />
Wait.<br />
<br />
I remember--<br />
<br />
Those are called clouds!<br />
<br />
That's it.<br />
<br />
Clouds.<br />
<br />
Wait a minute, Shloimy.<br />
<br />
Just wait one minute!<br />
<br />
I don't care what you call those things,<br />
<br />
The question still stands--<br />
<br />
WHAT DID YOU DO TO THE SUN?<br />
<br />
What?<br />
<br />
You want to me turn around, face the other direction, and then look up?<br />
<br />
Okay, but I don't see wh.......say, Shloimy, the sky looks really different over here.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_MmG_Sq3-OJo/TLRAP9F2rFI/AAAAAAAAADU/iuh8LiYLmsA/s1600/003.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="480" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_MmG_Sq3-OJo/TLRAP9F2rFI/AAAAAAAAADU/iuh8LiYLmsA/s640/003.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
Wow.<br />
<br />
Oh, right.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_MmG_Sq3-OJo/TLRAznyCp1I/AAAAAAAAADY/e-9g6Hc5mUc/s1600/002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_MmG_Sq3-OJo/TLRAznyCp1I/AAAAAAAAADY/e-9g6Hc5mUc/s640/002.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><br />
<br />
The sun is behind the clouds.<br />
<br />
Sorry aboul that.<br />
<br />
I forgot.<br />
<br />
Haven't seen a cloud since Pittsburgh.<br />
<br />
That's what the desert is like, you know?<br />
<br />
No clouds.<br />
<br />
Just sun.<br />
<br />
All the time.<br />
<br />
Except at night.<br />
<br />
Gosh.<br />
<br />
Just look at those pretty clouds up there.<br />
<br />
Cute little buggers aren't they?<br />
<br />
Look, they're even moving.<br />
<br />
What?<br />
<br />
Moving?<br />
<br />
SHLOIMMMMMMMYYYYYY!<br />
<br />
WHAT HAVE YOU TOUCHED NOW?????<br />
<br />
<br />
Suddenly sunless in the desert,<br />
<br />
TuviaTuviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09258309790095578616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4075615982504062505.post-24939841746951913342010-09-28T06:03:00.000-07:002010-11-17T21:45:03.098-08:00PART ONE. "Weather Reports". Number SixSeptember 27, 2010<br />
<br />
<br />
Shloimy,<br />
<br />
Hey!<br />
<br />
What's going on here?<br />
<br />
Would you tell me?<br />
<br />
I email to you about clouds,<br />
<br />
and you write back<br />
<br />
asking about what?<br />
<br />
Rain?<br />
<br />
I am shocked!<br />
<br />
I can't believe you'd do that!<br />
<br />
Have you no respect?<br />
<br />
Have you no decency?<br />
<br />
Don't you know that,<br />
<br />
when it comes to the desert<br />
<br />
and this harsh world of heat and sand,<br />
<br />
you don't talk about rain.<br />
<br />
In the summer,<br />
<br />
You don't ask about it.<br />
<br />
You don't even mention it!<br />
<br />
Don't you know that?<br />
<br />
What are you,<br />
<br />
some kind of city-boy?<br />
<br />
Here,<br />
<br />
You don't talk.<br />
<br />
You don't whisper.<br />
<br />
YOU PRAY FOR RAIN!!!!!!<br />
<br />
Do you understand?<br />
<br />
YOU PRAY FOR RAIN.<br />
<br />
How else do you expect to stay watered-up?<br />
<br />
Go to the refrigerator?<br />
<br />
Call the water department?<br />
<br />
Ask some guy on a plane to fly overhead<br />
<br />
and turn on a faucet?<br />
<br />
I don't think so.<br />
<br />
They might do that in Pittsburgh,<br />
<br />
Buit this isn't Pittsburgh, boy!<br />
<br />
Thias is the desert.<br />
<br />
In this environment, what other chance do you have<br />
<br />
to get water?<br />
<br />
Today<br />
<br />
it's going to be 96 degrees--again-- hot and dry.<br />
<br />
Do you hear that?<br />
<br />
Hot!<br />
<br />
Dry!<br />
<br />
Understand?<br />
<br />
You want rain, pilgrim, you better start praying for it,<br />
<br />
because<br />
<br />
how else are you going to get water in this place?<br />
<br />
Well, at least today,<br />
<br />
this is your lucky day.<br />
<br />
You're just in time for a Public Service announcement--<br />
<br />
"THE OFFICIAL PRAYER FOR RAIN WILL TAKE PLACE<br />
<br />
ON SEPTEMBER 30, AT 10 AM.<br />
<br />
CHECK YOUR LOCAL (ISRAEL) SYNAGOGUE FOR EXACT TIMES".<br />
<br />
So -- mark the date--September 30.<br />
<br />
10 am in the morning.<br />
<br />
Not before.<br />
<br />
Not after.<br />
<br />
You do this right, Shloimy, and we'll be okay.<br />
<br />
Got that?<br />
<br />
<br />
Waiting for ra.......I mean, water,<br />
<br />
TuviaTuviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09258309790095578616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4075615982504062505.post-50238132055864243482010-09-27T06:22:00.000-07:002010-11-17T21:45:47.639-08:00PART ONE. "Weather Reports". Number SevenSeptember 28, 2010<br />
<br />
Shloimy,<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
ARE YOU KIDDING ME?<br />
<br />
Can't you wait for anything?<br />
<br />
Don't you have any patience?<br />
<br />
Do you always have to be first?<br />
<br />
Do you have some kind of problem?<br />
<br />
IS THERE SOMETHING WRONG WITH YOU?<br />
<br />
I told you yesterday, didn't I?<br />
<br />
Didn't I tell you that the Prayer for Rain was on September 30?<br />
<br />
Didn't I?<br />
<br />
Didn't I tell you?<br />
<br />
Didn't I say, 'Not before'?<br />
<br />
Didn't I say that?<br />
<br />
SO WHY DID IT RAIN ON ME THIS MORNING?<br />
<br />
Huh?<br />
<br />
Well?<br />
<br />
Cat got your tongue, eh?<br />
<br />
Did you really think you could get away with this stunt?<br />
<br />
What, you think this is funny?<br />
<br />
I was outdoors, walking home from my mid-week morning services<br />
<br />
and it rains on me?<br />
<br />
Your ridiculous behavior leaves me speechless!<br />
<br />
What are you, a two year-old?<br />
<br />
I rushed home and went up to my top balcony,<br />
<br />
And I could practically feel the rain clouds settling down<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_MmG_Sq3-OJo/TLQYfN58ZOI/AAAAAAAAAC8/gejI7Ggdqg4/s1600/010.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_MmG_Sq3-OJo/TLQYfN58ZOI/AAAAAAAAAC8/gejI7Ggdqg4/s640/010.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
onto Jerusalem, starting to erase it from the picture!<br />
<br />
Shloimy, I told you, the Prayer for Rain is on September 30.<br />
<br />
What part of 'September 30' don't you understand?<br />
<br />
Why do you always have to be first?<br />
<br />
You know that nobody expects rain until after October 1!!<br />
<br />
WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU???<br />
<br />
<br />
Wet in the desert<br />
BECAUSE YOU ALWAYS HAVE TO BE FIRST, DON'T YOU--<br />
<br />
TuviaTuviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09258309790095578616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4075615982504062505.post-90327597176508013542010-09-26T01:49:00.000-07:002010-11-17T21:47:23.412-08:00PART ONE. "Weather Reports". Number EightOctober 2010<br />
<br />
Shalom, Shloimy,<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Have you looked out your window today?<br />
<br />
Do you know what you're looking at?<br />
<br />
My online weather report says you've got 47 degrees and rain.<br />
<br />
Do you understand?<br />
<br />
You're the one with the rain and the cold <br />
<br />
and the soggy boots--not me!<br />
<br />
See what happens when you try to be first<br />
<br />
when you're not supposed to be?<br />
<br />
Didn't I tell you that<br />
<br />
You're supposed to wait?<br />
<br />
Look at you!<br />
<br />
Do you realize how terrible 47 degrees is?<br />
<br />
I don't think they make an outdoor thermometer here<br />
<br />
that goes that low!<br />
<br />
How can you live like that?<br />
<br />
Don't you have any self-respect?<br />
<br />
You know what I'm talking about, right?<br />
<br />
How can you feel good about yourself, when<br />
<br />
You have to walk out into that cold and<br />
<br />
Miserable<br />
<br />
Wet, soggy rain?<br />
<br />
You like that?<br />
<br />
Why don't you think about our weather, for once?<br />
<br />
Huh?<br />
<br />
You brought this on yourself, you know that, right?<br />
<br />
I tell you to wait until September 30. <br />
<br />
But no, you can't wait!<br />
<br />
Does this always have to be about you?<br />
<br />
Can't you ever think about somebody else?<br />
<br />
Know what our weather report is, for today?<br />
<br />
Don't you even care?<br />
<br />
Look what I got outside MY window!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_MmG_Sq3-OJo/TLQjo37WcAI/AAAAAAAAADM/g1jBWVyI5Ys/s1600/041.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_MmG_Sq3-OJo/TLQjo37WcAI/AAAAAAAAADM/g1jBWVyI5Ys/s640/041.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<br />
That's what 's outside my window.<br />
<br />
92 and sunny.<br />
<br />
Do you see--not a cloud in the sky.<br />
<br />
What have you got?<br />
<br />
Eat your heart out.<br />
<br />
Shloimy, listen to what I'm telling you.<br />
<br />
How can you learn anything, if you don't listen?<br />
<br />
Gotta go now.<br />
<br />
Have to look for my sunglasses.<br />
<br />
<br />
Smiling in the sun,<br />
<br />
TuviaTuviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09258309790095578616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4075615982504062505.post-45425797439182503792010-09-25T01:05:00.000-07:002010-12-12T10:27:02.064-08:00PART ONE."Weather Reports". Number Nine.Shalom,<br />
<br />
Shloimy, you won't believe this!<br />
<br />
Today, we awoke to a world of grey.<br />
<br />
At first, I thought we had fog, but it never lifted--and the air wasn't wet.<br />
<br />
Normally, from our balcony, we can see maybe 12-15 miles out into the desert, eastward towards Jordan, before the haze that hovers above the far landscape blurs everything into a grey shroud, out there, in the distance, Jordan. <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_MmG_Sq3-OJo/TQUO-GPiocI/AAAAAAAAANg/rW70T7Y9mn4/s1600/029.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" n4="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_MmG_Sq3-OJo/TQUO-GPiocI/AAAAAAAAANg/rW70T7Y9mn4/s640/029.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<br />
But today, that shroud has settled closer in; we seem caught in a square box: we can see perhaps 1,000 yards in every direction, no more. Then, grey. Nothing in that enveloping grey is visible-- nothing.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_MmG_Sq3-OJo/TQUMYi3U5HI/AAAAAAAAANU/_ehsmsWZAzQ/s1600/056.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" n4="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_MmG_Sq3-OJo/TQUMYi3U5HI/AAAAAAAAANU/_ehsmsWZAzQ/s640/056.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Three days ago, we could see 15 miles. Today--1,000 yards.<br />
<br />
Jerusalem, to the west, perhaps 2-4 miles away, is clearly visible on most days, but today it has been swallowed by something invisible .<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_MmG_Sq3-OJo/TQUQOKifTvI/AAAAAAAAANk/ZB2W7mBh8MY/s1600/045.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" n4="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_MmG_Sq3-OJo/TQUQOKifTvI/AAAAAAAAANk/ZB2W7mBh8MY/s640/045.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<br />
We can barely see a nearby ridge that sits perhaps 1,000 yards away.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_MmG_Sq3-OJo/TQUQt7xz6TI/AAAAAAAAANo/HH4bY-8E5mo/s1600/044.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" n4="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_MmG_Sq3-OJo/TQUQt7xz6TI/AAAAAAAAANo/HH4bY-8E5mo/s640/044.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<br />
<br />
We seem surrounded by an opaque curtain.<br />
<br />
But it's not a curtain.<br />
<br />
It's not a cloud.<br />
<br />
It's not fog.<br />
<br />
It's not mist.<br />
<br />
Shlloimy, you know what this is?<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_MmG_Sq3-OJo/TQURevUy0LI/AAAAAAAAANs/sRQ57hk6AyA/s1600/059.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" n4="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_MmG_Sq3-OJo/TQURevUy0LI/AAAAAAAAANs/sRQ57hk6AyA/s640/059.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<br />
It's sand.<br />
<br />
It's a Soo-faht Chol--a sand storm. You might have trouble with the "ch" sound, because the Hebrew sound for "ch" does not exist in English; so you pronounce it, 'Soo-Faht Hole'--sand storm.<br />
<br />
A desert sand-storm.<br />
<br />
It's not like the movies. There's no howling wind. No blinding sand blowing in your face. There's no harsh, sand-paper-like grit scratching your skin.<br />
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It's far more subtle than that.<br />
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It's insubstantial-- weightless. 1,000 yards from wherever you stand, there's a dry grey mist drifting towards you, around you.<br />
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If you're outside too long (10 minutes? 15 minutes?), your eyes feel scratchy; subtly, you feel more thirsty than usual.<br />
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Sand.<br />
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Fine sand. So fine, you cannot feel it on your skin, cannot feel it in your nostrils.<br />
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More sand.<br />
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It seems to envelope and then swallow whatever it touches.<br />
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It drifts, it touches, and leaves it's mark.<br />
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Leave a window open, and in 30 minutes, you've got a fine, light-tan soot covering everything.<br />
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Everywhere, invisible dry sand touches.<br />
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Today's weather was predicted to be 96 degrees and sunny. <br />
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Today, we had 93 degrees and grey.<br />
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Very grey.<br />
<br />
What power this desert has.<br />
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What beauty!<br />
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Shloimy, remember--<br />
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This is Israel, not America.Tuviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09258309790095578616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4075615982504062505.post-9879455458826126012010-09-08T06:37:00.000-07:002010-11-07T01:50:37.809-08:00PART TWO. Photo Album. IntroductionMaale Adumim is a city of app 39,000 residents, less than 10 minutes away from Jerusalem. It is a planned community. All architecture must pass a municipal review, all household renovations to residential property must pass a city review board, and all infrastructure elements--electric, water, cable, telephone, internet and gas lines are all underground.<br />
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In many ways, Maale Adumim is like any American city of this size.<br />
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<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_MmG_Sq3-OJo/TMWNSAw3TZI/AAAAAAAAAFo/6gI6o3-fvLE/s1600/039.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" nx="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_MmG_Sq3-OJo/TMWNSAw3TZI/AAAAAAAAAFo/6gI6o3-fvLE/s640/039.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>There are pleasant roads leading into and through the residential neighborhoods. As part of the 'planned community' concept, there are, in each neighborhood, a variety of playground areas for children--some larger--<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_MmG_Sq3-OJo/TMWQj89ih2I/AAAAAAAAAFs/OzKrME01b5w/s1600/032.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" nx="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_MmG_Sq3-OJo/TMWQj89ih2I/AAAAAAAAAFs/OzKrME01b5w/s640/032.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
some tiny--<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_MmG_Sq3-OJo/TMWRPbeWxGI/AAAAAAAAAFw/FBIy24mPMfg/s1600/008.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" nx="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_MmG_Sq3-OJo/TMWRPbeWxGI/AAAAAAAAAFw/FBIy24mPMfg/s640/008.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><br />
Some with special play areas--<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_MmG_Sq3-OJo/TMWuvkOeMkI/AAAAAAAAAF0/yaTfSHLmc6w/s1600/022.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" nx="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_MmG_Sq3-OJo/TMWuvkOeMkI/AAAAAAAAAF0/yaTfSHLmc6w/s640/022.JPG" width="640" /></a><br />
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and some still under construction, as new housing gets built--<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_MmG_Sq3-OJo/TMWvaaA2SqI/AAAAAAAAAF4/Oj4C1LsymHU/s1600/009.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" nx="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_MmG_Sq3-OJo/TMWvaaA2SqI/AAAAAAAAAF4/Oj4C1LsymHU/s640/009.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
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As in many smaller American cities, there are clean, quiet streets--<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_MmG_Sq3-OJo/TMW7MlKggpI/AAAAAAAAAF8/xJbqYZcMcAc/s1600/062.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" nx="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_MmG_Sq3-OJo/TMW7MlKggpI/AAAAAAAAAF8/xJbqYZcMcAc/s640/062.JPG" width="640" /></a><br />
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Some of the "older" streets have nice greenery--<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_MmG_Sq3-OJo/TMhqasniSsI/AAAAAAAAAGM/UOOrg4_MVMg/s1600/001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" nx="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_MmG_Sq3-OJo/TMhqasniSsI/AAAAAAAAAGM/UOOrg4_MVMg/s640/001.JPG" width="640" /></a><br />
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And, along with the quiet residential areas, we also have an indoor mall--<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_MmG_Sq3-OJo/TMW77vZ7qZI/AAAAAAAAAGA/qBJFTyPSQXE/s1600/057.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" nx="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_MmG_Sq3-OJo/TMW77vZ7qZI/AAAAAAAAAGA/qBJFTyPSQXE/s640/057.JPG" width="480" /></a><br />
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But there is something different here, because even though a street here looks similar to streets in the US--<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_MmG_Sq3-OJo/TMW8vO6ziWI/AAAAAAAAAGE/PEZERYKSA7w/s1600/051.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" nx="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_MmG_Sq3-OJo/TMW8vO6ziWI/AAAAAAAAAGE/PEZERYKSA7w/s640/051.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
once you look to the left, in this picture (above), you realize that you are in a special place, because you see<br />
a flowering green home--<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_MmG_Sq3-OJo/TMhsQOjA7zI/AAAAAAAAAGQ/jFldT-1C9Lo/s1600/047.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" nx="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_MmG_Sq3-OJo/TMhsQOjA7zI/AAAAAAAAAGQ/jFldT-1C9Lo/s640/047.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
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that is surrounded by a naked, barren world of natural beauty that<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_MmG_Sq3-OJo/TMhtDxZO5sI/AAAAAAAAAGU/wi1lk8WJ_Gk/s1600/045.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" nx="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_MmG_Sq3-OJo/TMhtDxZO5sI/AAAAAAAAAGU/wi1lk8WJ_Gk/s640/045.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>We like to call Maale Adumim.Tuviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09258309790095578616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4075615982504062505.post-67829375181933428742010-09-07T10:53:00.000-07:002010-11-02T00:06:00.857-07:00PART TWO, Photo Album. Number One<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_MmG_Sq3-OJo/TK4KHkkLLYI/AAAAAAAAABA/B4SxxdmDhtc/s1600/019.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_MmG_Sq3-OJo/TK4KHkkLLYI/AAAAAAAAABA/B4SxxdmDhtc/s400/019.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>This is what we see as we walk home from shopping.<br />
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Ma'ale Adumim appears to consist of two shapes, one of which fits into the other.<br />
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The outer shape seems to be a curve, a kind of flattened letter "U". Very flattened. It is a topography that seems to follow the curving contour of the top of a desert moutain. <br />
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In this outer curved shape, which might from the air look something like a boomerang, there appears to sit two residential neighborhoods. On the left arm of the curve--one neighborhood--and on the right arm, a second neighborhood.<br />
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On the inside portion of the base of this curve, is the town center. Here, you'll find the municipal building, an indoor shopping mall, an "L"-shaped four-story apartment building that houses another strip-mall kind of shopping mall that is built as a multi-tiered shopping area, a public library, two parks--one of which seems quite large--and a large Community Center campus.<br />
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That's the outer shape of our city.<br />
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The inner shape can best be described as three fingers (ridges) that jut out into the desert from the inside of the base of the curve.<br />
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Think of a boomerang lying on the ground. Take a breadknife and lay it down inside the curve of the boomerang, with the base of the knife touching the inside of the curve, near the base, and the point of the knife pointing straight up, outward, in the same general direction as the left and right arms of the boomerang.<br />
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Then, take a short baby spoon, and lay it to the right of the breadknife, parallel to it.<br />
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Then, taker another bread knife, and lay it to the right of the baby spoon, also parallel.<br />
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All three knives are now inside the curve, all three are parallel, and all three point upwards, in the same general direction as the two ends of the boomerang.<br />
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Can you picture that?<br />
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The inside portion of Maale Adumim looks like that--with three finger-ridges jutting out from the inside of the base, pointing out into the desert.<br />
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The two longer finger-ridges are about the same length. They flank the baby spoon, so that the shortest finger-ridge is in the middle.<br />
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To help, look at the picture here: I am taking this picture while still standing on the inside of the base of the boomerang, looking out into the desert. The trees that you see at the left stand at the end of the middle finger-ridge, which essentially ends where you see the land slope down.<br />
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Look at the lower mid-center of the picture. Here, you'll see a line of red-roofed buildings. These are part of the left-side finger-ridge jutting out into the desert, as that ridge begins to drop to the desert floor.Tuviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09258309790095578616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4075615982504062505.post-31099825482642966612010-09-06T10:59:00.000-07:002010-10-12T10:37:18.771-07:00PART TWO, Photo Album. Number Two<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_MmG_Sq3-OJo/TK4LWe_2AmI/AAAAAAAAABE/5U3zzChFrSo/s1600/020.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_MmG_Sq3-OJo/TK4LWe_2AmI/AAAAAAAAABE/5U3zzChFrSo/s640/020.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>As we continue to walk toward home from shopping, another vista appears.<br />
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This picture actually shows portions of all three finger-ridges.<br />
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Look into the middle distance, near the middle of the picture. On the left, you see a portion of the lower tip of the left finger-ridge as it continues out into the desert. Across from it sits the right finger-ridge, just before it also continues, curving downwards and to the right, out of sight, towards the desert floor.<br />
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The end of the shorter middle finger-ridge is also here, closer to the left foreground. Here, on the left, all you can see of it is the land sloping down away from its end-point, sloping down into the middle of the picture-front to the desert floor. The trees in the right foreground, bottom, are at the base of that slope.<br />
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See that?Tuviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09258309790095578616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4075615982504062505.post-79158766579679505962010-09-05T11:07:00.000-07:002010-10-12T12:03:48.844-07:00PART TWO, Photo Album. Number Three<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_MmG_Sq3-OJo/TK4NvMLkW2I/AAAAAAAAABI/j_op1_PyJns/s1600/021.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_MmG_Sq3-OJo/TK4NvMLkW2I/AAAAAAAAABI/j_op1_PyJns/s640/021.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>This is a slightly different view of the same scene. Look at the left edge of the picture, middle of the picture. Can you see the red roof-tops of buildings there? There are green trees clustered with the buildings. Can you see that? Those buildings on the left are near the bottom tip of the left finger-ridge that I described in the previous picture.<br />
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I show you this second view, however, for a reason. It teaches you something about the desert.<br />
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Look how the landscape forms a 'V' ; my guess is that the height between the bottom of the 'V' (which is actually not visible) and the buildings on the right is about 600 feet--or more.<br />
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It's also steeper and than it looks.<br />
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In the desert, it seems that the closer you get, the more you realize how massive this setting is.Tuviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09258309790095578616noreply@blogger.com0