was it worth it?

worth: having value, merit, appeal, significace, attraction, importance, meaning

so, was going to Israel worth it?

was it worth the money, the time, the jet lag, the experience, the packing, the pondering, the etc.?

did it have value, merit, appeal, significace, attraction, importance, meaning?

yes.

absolutely.

the money? i am a person who keeps a tight fist around my money. i budget well. i spend well. i like to think that i give well. i do not blow a few thousand dollars well. heck, i don't even blow $5 well without feeling a bit of buyer's remorse for that silly thing i passed and thought was a good idea at the time and now sits collecting dust. my mom sometimes refers to me as 'the bank of hannaH'. so for me to drop a few thousand dollars on something that lasted 10 days was sort of a big deal.

but having been there and back, i would do it again, maybe not in the same calendar year, but i would drop that money with no regret.

was the time off work and being away from things of familiarity worth it? 110% yes.

the jet lag? it was terrible. but i would do it again tomorrow to see a new place.

the experience? i have learned that all experiences are worth it. not just the feel good ones, even the ones that hurt and leave you with no understanding of why it happened. i believe all things are meant to be and somehow and some way, maybe small, maybe huge, they affect your life. so, yes, although likely more significant than other experiences, this experience was entirely worth it.

the packing, pondering, the etc.?
of course.

but why? why was this trip, at this time, to this place so worth it?

part of me can't put my finger on it and part of me could list 10000 reasons why this trip was worth it.

this week i was reading and working on a Bible study and had a question about the timeline of events, so i called my dad. and as we were talking he said 'you know that tunnel we were in under the wailing wall, that walked on the 1st century street? that is the temple that is referring to.'

this experience made things real. tangible. touchable.

that is why it was worth it.

 sunrise over Jerusalem

the last morning before parting ways

Jerusalem

i think i could write a series of posts about Jerusalem alone. i am going to try and keep it to just one however.

we did a lot of things in Jerusalem as we were there for 3 days.

we stayed in a downtown hotel plaza which was super nice and had super good food. it was also walking distance from the market and the downtown strip. after touring each day we went for a walk around the city on our own.

during the day we went at a pretty fast pace to get to see all that was on our list.

we visited:

• the wailing wall
• the underground temple corridor where the 1st century road has been uncovered
• st Ann's church which has perfect acoustics
• the pool of Bethesda
• the Israeli museum where part of the dead sea scrolls are kept
• the holocaust memorial museum
• the only christian kibbutz in Israel
• a ministry known as Revive Israel
• the christian Arab market
• places believed to be Golgotha, the Garden Tomb, the Garden of Gethsemane, ciaphas' house, and the pit in which Jesus would have been held in before crucifixion
• the temple archaeological park

many of the things we saw are places that are definitively what they say they are.

many of the places are what could be the places that they say they are.

one of our guides made the point of telling us that he thinks a good reason for the speculation and not knowing definitively if that really was the place that Jesus was buried is that we then would begin to worship the place and not the Lord. He knows us well and will reveal what we need to know as we need to know it.

also in Jerusalem i was able to meet up with an old co-worker who is native of Jerusalem. he and his girlfriend took me downtown and showed me some of the non-touristy local places. it's funny with old friends how 3 years can pass without speaking or seeing each other and it's as if you saw them yesterday.

the last night in Jerusalem dad, mike, and i went for a walk to the downtown area and had what my local friend told was the best pizza in the city. and it was very good. we then got our last bit of souvenir shopping in and headed back to get some needed rest.

the last morning dad and mike departed for Jordan and i packed up and went for a walk by myself around a place my friend recommended. i found myself ending up at the market as it was opening for the morning. it was a very different feel than arriving in the middle of the day. i liked it. as i walked around i thought to myself that it would be pretty fascinating to live in a foreign city for a time. maybe someday.

when preparing for the trip i wasn't sure i would be ok navigating for myself in the airports and around, but having been there im pretty sure i could do it anywhere.

my friend asked me if i felt safer in an American city or in Jerusalem with the heavy military and police presence. i told him i felt about the same i think. maybe safer in Jerusalem as a tourist than an American city as a local.

although i have not been to many big cities, i think Jerusalem will stay pretty high on my list of favorites for a long time. so much rich history and culture to absorb.

the western/wailing wall

 

the market. so colorful! 

overlooking the old city

garden of Gethsemane

 

best pizza in town

 

the southern steps of the temple

young IDF on an educational visit. take away the uniforms and weapons and they are no different than any other group of 19 yr olds hanging out.

the market as it was opening.

i think i will have one more post to wrap up the trip and my overall thoughts on it. then it will be on to the craziness that is working at a summer camp in the middle of summer.

Masada and Beit She'an

on our trip we got to experience a lot of ruins and old things.

these things might have been my favorites.

2 of the places we got to see were Masada and Beit She'an.

Masada was a mountain top fortress mostly built by king Herod around 37-31 BC. the entry to the front is a winding snake path that would make for a very difficult climb. the one in the back is not as difficult, but still would be a challenge. we went up via a cable car.

the amount and quality of things on top the 1500 ft fortress was of the highest standard which would be expected of anything Herod was responsible for.

after the Herodian period Jewish extremists found refuge on Masada but were under attack of the Romans. the story the tour guide told us was that it got down to about 9 people left and rather than surrender or be captured by the Romans they killed each other or committed suicide.

Masada has a very interesting history. it is unlikely that Herod spent much time there. as it was in the middle of nowhere near the dead sea. but it was stocked and ready for any amount of time he would need to be there with cisterns and huge store rooms of food.

sake path entrance, yes there are people hiking it.

a doorway on the edge of the fortress

canon balls shot by the Romans

beit she'an is a city with evidence of occupation since ancient times. which is fascinating. but the more fascinating thing to me was the city that was left of the Hellenistic period. it was part of the Decapolis and would have been known as Scythopolis to the roman culture.

in 749 it was destroyed by an earthquake and abandoned. this is why the ruins were so intact in the Hellenistic/byzantine period.

they have uncovered 400 acres with more than that still buried.

the life style of those living here in the times of Paul would have been similar to those that he was writing to.

the construction and detail of carvings and mosaic tile floors were amazing. i could have explored there the entire day.

overlooking the bathhouses and main street

the theater, the seats are 1/3 the height of the original

column at the theater, things were very big

column topper carving of Dionysus, the Greek god of partying

original mosaic tile floor from the Hellenistic period

Floating and Camels

one thing i did in Israel i could do nowhere else and another i could not do all that frequently in this part of the world.
and those things were:

float in the dead sea uncle paul

and riding a camel with 'uncle' mike



we stayed at a hotel on the dead sea for a night and had the next morning off to do as we wish. i opted for a dip in the dead sea. they recommend that you only stay in it for about 15-20 minutes because of the saltiness of the water.

the first few steps were pretty normal as far as walking into a lake go. then when it got a little above the waist it became difficult to keep my feet on the ground. so, i decided, why fight it? and let my feet come up.

while floating i was thinking to myself, 'is this really all that different from a regular lake?' having not swam in about 9 months i really couldn't remember.

since being home i have swam in a couple lakes and have dually notedto myself, 'yes, it is that different.' i tried to float, face and limbs out of the water as pictured below, but i was not successful.

in the dead sea i could more or less lay on, not in, the water on my stomach and keep all limbs entirely out of the water, effortlessly. in the lake at Look Up i can do that with the help of a life guard tube or two.

i think it was the next day that we got to ride the camels. i am not a huge fan of horses and the like, so this was a little out of my comfort circle. our camel was a bit hesitant to stand up, but eventually he did. and we rode for a little ways. and i sang the song sally the camel. it was only appropriate.

what was possibly more entertaining than the camel ride itself was dad running along side the camels trying to get good pictures of us on them. if you don't know my dad and can't get the mental image for this, i apologize, he had my camera. i do however appreciate his efforts and taking the above pictures of the camels and us.

both were touristy things to do. and i am ok with that. because they were unique and fun and good memory makers.

i think i have about 3 post left to finish up the trip.

then it will be on to summer camp and the craziness that entails. which started last week and is going rather well.