Qirat Ye'arim

Qirat Ye'arim

Qirat Ye'arim (The hill top)

Jerusalem( The furtherest building that are visible)

We made it to Israel yesterday (Sunday) night. We came in in the dark so we did not see much. I feel as if i have learned so much about the culture already in just this one day.

We woke up around 7 for breakfast and then an early start on the orientation material. We read through that and took a tour of the Moshav. In Israel there are small communities called Moshavs that people live in. Not all people in Israel live in these communities but many do. Our particular Moshav was founded by Finish people. There were 7 women and 1 man who founded this. He was a Holocaust survivor. The way in which the Moshav makes money in tourism. They used to do this back woodworking but have turned it into a tourist place. There are places to stay at the Moshav for the tourist and sites to see. It is in the hills of Judea so it is also a sort of a get away. 

At the Moshav the students have a library, 1 classroom, a email room with computers, and a Miklat, which means bomb shelter. This bomb shelter has never been used and has been around for many decades. It was turned into a sort of hang-out for the students. There is a projector, bunk-beds for relaxing on, a refrigerator, and a bathroom. It is a place that we can go hang out. Eating here is fun. There is a central cafeteria that everyone at the Moshav eats at. The food has been fine, better than i thought it would be. 

After lunch we had our first class and then we set out for our first field-trip. We went to Qirat Ye'arim. At this spot the Ark of the Covenant sat for over 100 years. The Philistines brought it up off the coast to this strategic location. The place in which this mountains sits act as a guard for Jerusalem. To get into Jerusalem one must travel through these mountains so it was a popular spot on the map. Also, from one side of the hill you can almost see the Mediterranean coast and the other side you can see Jerusalem. Qirat Ye'arim is also a city that is the connecting point of three tribes; Benjamin, Judea, and Dan. So that also brings in lots of travel through this area. We actually walked the route that it is to believed that the Ark went up on top of this hill by!

The Ark, after sitting there for over 100 years was brought up into Jerusalem by King David.

Then we went down into Abu Dosh.  There we saw some of the culture of Israel. This is a city of Arabs that are Israeli citizens. They submitted to Israel when Israel took it over. So it was a bit different than normal Israel because of the Arab influence but it was not fully Arab. We saw some temples there and got to sing it is well and give thanks in two different Catholic churches. It was a great experience. 

We are all still tired and trying to overcome Jet-lag. I was ready to go to sleep at 6 tonight but i am forcing myself to stay awake so that I can have a full nights rest.

Christina and I got Jobs today. She will be getting to mail and cleaning certain areas and I will be getting up at 7 each morning to unlock the library and email room as well as cleaning some things. We both will be doing set up for church and chapel friday and saturday. 

Tomorrow we will be going into Jerusalem all day and seeing those sites. I am really looking forward to it!

Thanks for the prayers.

Ben