Shabbat Shalom- Happy Sabbath!

So this week we had the opportunity to go on two field trips as opposed to the normal one on Mondays. Which is why I am blogging again so that I can get all of these memories down before I forget them! And so you all can read about them of course. I won't be having pictures in this post... but I will post some later, I promise.

So on Thursday, it was our Negev field trip. Look on a map for further reference on to where the Negev is- but as a generality, it is about an hour and 15 minutes south of Jerusalem. And this was a FULL day. We left early in the morning and headed down to a Bedouin city to watch a demonstration on bedouin women weaving carpets and rugs and such. The BYU Jerusalem Center supports this group because it is helping these women gain skills in order to support their families. They are also teaching them to read and speak English, which are much needed skills in order to gain more rights and employment. The program is really incredible, actually. There are so many problems with women in the middle east and many of the problems can't be fixed because these women are stuck in their situations due to a lack of education and skills. This program is helping women gain an education and skills in order to provide them with tools to advance and progress out of their dyer situations. And the rugs that they make are absolutely beautiful! We went into a large tent, that was made of canvas that these women had made and watched how they make wool into yarn and then how they dye the yarn and then weave it. It was quite the process! And these women were so kind and hospitable to us. They offered us tea and little pastries- both of which were delicious. Unfortunately the rugs and things that they make are quite expensive, so I wasn't able to buy anything, but it was still fun to look! I can get you the website if you would like to order something online. It was so cool to watch the weaving. And it was also cool to be in the tent because this would have been the same kind of tent that Abraham or other prophets of the bible would have lived in.

We then went to Tel Arad- remember what a tel is? We are seeing a lot of them, so I sure hope so. At this site there was a large city at the bottom of the mountain which would have been a Canaanite city and then we climbed the mountain that had a large Israelite fortress at the top of it. The city was cool- even though it was basically just a bunch of ruins. It was cool to see how narrow the streets were, how big the houses would have been, etc. The fortress was much cooler, I must say, however. Inside the fortress was an ancient temple with all of the stuff in it, like an altar and a holy of holies! And then there were other things like dwelling houses, shops, etc.

After that we headed further south to the ancient city of Avdat. This was something from the Byzantine era, so after the bible, but it was still sooo awesome! Since it is newer, even though it is still over 1000 years old, there was a lot more to see, which was cool. And it is quite well preserved. We mainly focused on the two Greek Christian churches there- one was a monastery, and one was a cathedral with a baptismal font and other things. There were also cave houses, which was awesome. Everything was so beautiful and much more artistic in this era as well.

We then headed back North a bit to visit the tomb of David Ben Gurion- who was the first prime minister of Israel. It was very interesting to hear about him- and his gravesite has a gorgeous view of the Zin wilderness- which is where the Israelites wandered for 40 years after they were afraid to go and take over the promised land because the people were rumored to be too big and hard to overtake. See the bible for further explanation on that story- it's in Numbers. I know it would have not been fun to be in the wilderness for 40 years, but wow was it beautiful. And there was even a rainbow since it had rained earlier that day. We then sang the hymn "Redeemer of Israel." So many people that I know say that this is their favorite song and I feel like we sing it in sacrament or other meetings ALL the time and I've never really understood why. But looking out onto the very wilderness that the song is referring to just gave it a whole new meaning, and I pretty much now love the song. Refer to the lyrics for further details.

We then made an attempt to travel to the well of Abraham in Be'er Sheva, but we ended up finding it under construction because they are building a park around it. Boo. It was weird though because the well is in the middle of a modern developed city, unlike the rest of the sites we have been too. It was right next to a dominos actually. haha. This is the same well where God appeared to Abraham and to Isaac- so pretty legit. After the well we made the long journey back to Jerusalem and ended our day.

What I really want to tell you about, however, is my experience yesterday. One of the coolest I've had so far, actually. We went to the Western Wall around sundown to watch the Jews welcome the Sabbath- or Shabbat. It was seriously one of the coolest things ever. There were people EVERYWHERE. Unfortunately we weren't allowed to take cameras, since it was a religious service and all, but I sure wish I could taken pictures. What was cool about it was there were so many different reactions to the coming of the Sabbath. Mostly they were extremely joyous and celebratory. People were dancing and singing and were just so happy that the Sabbath had finally come. A friend and I also went towards the Western Wall to actually touch it- because you just have to in Jerusalem right? And it was so powerful to see all of these people touching this wall and crying and praying, and places written prayers in the cracks of the wall. It was so touching. And I wish I were eloquent enough to really describe the feeling close to the wall. These Jewish women (since we were on the side for women, obviously) are so devout and solid in their faith. I feel like I can learn so much from them and how they worship God. Although there were many tears, it was still a happy, peaceful feelings, although very reverent. Further away from the wall, though- many people were dancing and singing and just purely celebrating the start of the Sabbath, which was so cool. There were a few Jewish girls that called to some of their group to come and join them! So we sang some of the songs (which we learned in Hebrew class thank goodness) and danced around in a big circle with clapping and jumping involved. It was such a happy moment and so awesome that they welcomed us with open arms to join them. It was such an amazing experience, one that I will never forget. Ever since I've been here I can't help but be impressed with those of the Jewish faith and specifically how they treat the Sabbath. I want to treat the Sabbath in my own life more like they do. They love their Sabbath and it obviously shows. And they turn off all of their electronics and such so that they can truly be with their family for the whole day. Where can I sign up to do that? When I have my own family, I definitely want to do something like that.

So yeah- in short I am loving Jerusalem and the customs. Life is great and I will blog again soon!