Freda: We got news yesterday that my luggage had been found, so we were excited to think we’d have some clean clothes, toiletries and a blow drier. Yeah! We were getting some bad vibes about Katie’s luggage after Whitney spent a couple hours back and forth on the phone with United and Lufthansa baggage claim people in Israel and neither had a record of Katie’s baggage number. {Katie: THANK YOU TO MY SAINT OF A HUSBAND!} At this point we were happy that Katie and I wore similar clothes size, but realized that shoe sizing would be a challenge but we’d face that tomorrow. We had tried to find some tennis shoes in the old town in Bethlehem without any luck. Katie had broken a toe last week {Katie: while paddle boarding — cool way to break a toe, at least} and her toe and the lower part of her foot are still pretty purple and sore, so finding a comfortable shoe was a challenge. Between sizing issues and the stiffness of the shoes, we gave up after about 3 or 4 shops. We were so excited to see my bag when we got back to the hotel last night and both relished our shower and clean clothes. After trying on all of my shoes, Katie found a pair that she could use – not great, but better than what she had with her. {Katie: I was so damn happy to wear shoes with traction on our long walks instead of my little ballet flats. No complaints here.}
Katie: Over the course of this trip, we’ll visit both “traditional” and “archaeological” sites. Traditional sites are those which early Christian tradition claim as the actual site. In addition to historical writings of the church, our knowledge of much of 1st century Judaism and early Christianity comes from non-Christian sources, such as Flavius Josephus. Archaeological sites are those which have been collaborated by archaeology, rather than just writings. Mom and I will try to note which kind of site each one is as we write.
Tuesday was Epiphany for the Western church, and it was celebrated here in Bethlehem in the Roman Catholic churches, but the Eastern and Western churches have not been united in about 1,000 years and use different calendars. So on the day that the Western church (Catholic, Episcopalian, and Protestant) celebrates Epiphany, the Eastern church (Orthodox) is celebrating Christmas Eve. Since a substantial portion of the Christians that live in Israel/Palestinian territories are Eastern Orthodox, it was a day full of celebration in Bethlehem when we woke up.
We drove east through the Judean Mountains towards the Dead Sea, and then south towards Masada. On the drive, we crossed from Zone A (Bethlehem) through a few checkpoints into Israel. Even though I knew it was coming, it was still unsettling to see the soldiers armed with machine guns idling around. For a quick primer on those who don’t remember the Oslo Accord, it was an agreement reached between Israel and the Palestinians in 1995 that divided the West Bank into three areas:
Area A- full Palestinian civil and security control. There are no Israeli settlements in Area A and it is off limits to Israelis. This area includes Bethlehem and Jericho.
Area B- Palestinian civil control and joint Israeli-Palestinian security control. There are no Israeli settlements here either.
Zone C- full Israeli civil and security control. This area includes Jerusalem.
Everything other than the West Bank (so named because it is to the west of the River Jordan) and the Gaza Strip belong to Israel and has no checkpoints.
Once we turned south, we followed the western coast of the Dead Sea. It was beautiful, shimmering aqua in the shallow areas. You could see where the water has receded – the sea is significantly smaller than it was in Jesus’ day.
Our first stop of the day was Masada, the city fortress built by Herod the Great on a large plateau. It overlooks the Dead Sea, so it provided the perfect vantage for controlling (and taxing) the sea trade. It was also hard (basically impossible) to approach without being seen, so it was a relatively secure fort. It is significant for the siege that took place there in the 1st century. Sicarii Jews led by Elezar were living there after the destruction of the Temple. The Romans attacked and killed them all.
Interestingly, members of the Israeli army used to take their oath to the military and state of Israel at Masada, saying something along the lines of “Israel will never be taken over again” until about 20 years ago. The oath of the army now occurs at the Wailing Wall.
A synagogue was built on Masada when the Jews were living there, and the walls and seating area still stand today. I read the Shema (Deut. 6:4-9) to our group, which had gathered in there, and we recalled the timeless call to obey. It was incredible to think that the same words were spoken in that place 2,000 years ago as the Jews prayed for safety and victory over the Romans.
Dad, you would appreciate the architectural details. Because Herod spent time in Rome, his architecture and building style was influenced by Roman architecture. The steam room at Masada had 3 foot columns on the floor that held up a platform. A furnace was built under the platform so the floor level was heated. Cold water was then poured on it, creating steam. The ingenious part is the ceiling, which was a half dome. Since it wasn’t a flat ceiling, the water didn’t form droplets that dropped straight down– it ran down the semi-circle ceiling and walls and collected at the bottom where it hit the hot floor and created steam again. This also had the added benefit of preventing cold droplets of water from falling on the men who were relaxing there.
We went from Masada back north to Qumran. Qumran was the area in which the Essene Jews lived in the 1st century. Essenes were celibate men who chose to leave society and live in the wilderness as a more pure form of worshipping God. About 60 years ago, a shepherd was searching for a lost sheep at Qumran and threw rocks into caves trying to scare the sheep out. When he heard a ping in one of the caves, he went in to explore and found clay jars containing scrolls – what we now refer to as the Dead Sea Scrolls. These were the 1st century writings of the Essenes.
The literature found at Qumran has helped with clarification of Biblical languages and given us a picture of 1st century interpretation of scripture. For instance, Qumran was an apocalyptic community, speaking in dualistic tones, so it helps us understand the apocalyptic atmosphere that pervades the New Testament. It also gives insight into the “open/closed” nature of the canon. We wonder when the Hebrew canon was really closed, but the finding of certain authoritative books at Qumran (like Jubilee, which is a rewriting of Genesis– part of the “rewritten books”) give us an idea that the canon was viewed by this group as evolving. These kinds of finds raise questions about “authoritative” nature of scripture. Protestants see scripture as authoritative language that can’t be reinterpreted or reimagined, unlike Catholics who have four senses of scripture (literal, allegorical, moral, and analogical).
From Qumran, we followed the River Jordan north and to reach the site (Aenon near Salim – John 3:23) at which John the Baptist performed baptisms.. Due to its close proximity to Jordan, this part of the river was closed and no one was allowed to visit until about two years ago. As we drove towards the river, our guide pointed out the minefields lining each side of the road, leftover from the — war to prevent tanks coming into Israel from across the River Jordan, which are still active today.
Rev. Beth Pratt Tatum, an alumni of Perkins who is on the trip also, was moved by the Holy Spirit and suggested that we renew our baptismal vows. One by one, we approached Beth. She bent down and dipped her hand into the water of the River Jordan – the same river in which Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist (Matthew 3:13-17) – and gently touched our foreheads, saying, “Remember your baptism and be thankful.” Meditating on the covenant reminded me that it was not just between God and me, but that my baptism initiated me into a worldwide community of believers.
Being united with all other Christians through the sacrament made it doubly heartbreaking to look across the River Jordan, a mere 30 feet wide, at the pilgrims gathered on the other side. Most likely, they were Middle Eastern Christians who were unable to visit the site on the Israeli side, coming instead through Jordan. They were flanked by Jordanian soldiers carrying machine guns, and when I turned and looked behind me, I realized that we had armed Israeli soldiers in our shadow. These people, my brothers and sisters in Christ, were a stone’s throw away but might as well have been across the world for as separated as we were by the political tension of Israel and Jordan.
We also noticed an orange life preserver hanging by river. The life preserver, which can bring life to a drowning person, was a reminder of the salvation that baptism brings to us.
From one source of water to another…. Next up was swimming in the Dead Sea! Mom and I hadn’t thought to bring swimsuits on this trip, but no worries – the Israelis are capitalists and were selling swimsuits, towels, and flip flops by the beach. It was a chilly day (high 50s F) but we braved the cold and rushed into the water, which was surprisingly warm. You wade in until you can no longer touch the ground and then sort of lean backwards until you are floating. It was truly the weirdest feeling – maybe the closest I will ever get to zero gravity. We could not have drowned even if we tried as the salt content (something like 25%) in the water made us very buoyant. It felt like we were gently bouncing around as we floated. I placed my fingertip on my tongue to taste the water and was blown away by how salty it is – for 20 minutes it tasted like I had sucked on a block of salt.
We finished the day by visiting Jericho, which is the oldest inhabited city in the world. It is in Zone A, so we had to go back through checkpoints to get into the city. We stopped in front of the Mount of Temptation (where Matthew records Jesus being tempted by the devil) and rode camels!
p.s. The wifi is terrible here so we aren’t able to upload pictures right now. We’ll add them later if we get more wifi.
Mark and Freda's Wanderings 