Jerusalem: The Old City

On today's tiyul, we went to the Old City of Jerusalem. The old city is probably the most culturally diverse place I have ever been. Not only is it a city of many religions, but there are different sects to each religion, each having a different culture. As Americans, this is a huge culture shock, but once you learn to get past this, the beauty of it all starts to come together.
During the day, we danced with Israeli middle schoolers, sang with people on the street, watched the tourists go by, and learn about the history of this magnificent city. There really is no other city like it anywhere in the world.

Jenna and Shoshana joining the Israeli middle school dancers.



Jews and Sports

Athletics have been a body cleansing activity since the ancient Romans and Greeks. Both of these empires oppressed the Jews during biblical times. For this reason, many Jews believe that participating in athletics should be discouraged.
The ancient Roman athletes would compete in competitions that were cruel and dangerous. Many events would include wrestling with beasts and some even required the athletes to kill each other. The Greek culture, Hellenism, glorified the beauty of the human body. Therefore their athletic events were less dangerous and played in the nude. Jew athletes were discriminated against because Greeks believed that circumcision destroyed part of the body's beauty and purity.
Modesty is a moral that Jews value greatly. Many Hasidic Jews believe that athletics are unnecessary. It takes time away from caring for the family and studying in the yeshiva.
I disagree that athletics are a waste of time. They not only improve the body's health and fitness, but they can also help calm down the mind. When someone does any kind of work out, the mind becomes attentive and focused for long periods of time. Although athletics were once not modest, modern day athletics is not done in the nude. It is not a problem to work out while wearing modest clothing. Also, the time that is taken away from studying in the yeshiva can be made up with the attentive state that the mind is in.

Is the Exodus from Egypt Factual?

The Exodus from Egypt is one of the most important stories in the entire Tanakh. It tells the story of how the Israelites were slaves in Egypt for 400 years and how Moses led them out. Although there are no reliable records that allow us to ensure that we were really enslaved in Egypt, I believe that we were. The Tanakh wouldn't go through twelve chapters of constantly explaining how miserable we were and how much we suffered to tell us that it was just a story. Although there is no factual evidence, there are theories that are backed with evidence about many of the other teachings of the Tanakh. If some of it is proved to be true then it is very likely that the rest of it is as well.

Jerusalem: The City of David

Today, as a Jewish History tiyul, we went to the City of David just outside the Old City of Jerusalem. This city was where King David built his palace and it was also the location of his capital city. David decided on that Jerusalem would be on the border of Judah territory and Benjamin territory (territory belonging to each of the tribes of Jacob/Israel). David is of Judean decent. He decided to place Jerusalem where it is not only for the four major reasons that any major city is built (water, trade, food, and defense), he was also influenced by two other reasons. These reasons were divine and DC. Divine, meaning that this is the site that Abraham "sacrificed" Isaac to God, and DC, meaning that it was on the border of two opposing brotherly tribes.
Jerusalem's hilly landscape makes it difficult to collect water. Jerusalem has no real significant natural water source except springs. The fact that David would establish a major city at a place with no natural water source, but real religious value. This really got me thinking about what was more important to people back then. Was it water or religious value? I came to a decision that the most important thing is unity between the Israelites. Until the time of the kings, the Israelites had constant unity and disunity. The most important thing was to unite everyone and keep them united for even during times where there was much prosperity. This was the Israelites weakness and it was greatly improved during the times of the kings.

Scarlett Johansson-SodaStream

SodaStream is an Israeli company, whose spokeswoman is Scarlett Johansson, a famous Hollywood actress. The SodaStream factory is located in a Jerusalem suburb on the West Bank. This creates controversy and is a problem as to whether it is illegal for Israelis to operate a factory on Palestinian territory.
I believe it is not illegal for Israel to continue operating their factory. The West Bank is not officially owned by anyone, therefore there is no real reason that it should be illegal. It provides multiple jobs for Arabs in the area. The factory was also established before the boundaries of the West Bank were officially determined. A good reason to have a factory in vacant territory is that you don't have to pay taxes to that country. Israel has a right as an independent country to continue operating their factories in the West Bank as long as they don't pollute the environment and create unsafe living conditions for the Palestinian settlers in the area.

Abraham and God's Teachings

In Jewish History, we discussed Abraham's relationship with God and why it is significant. In the Tanakh, or Old Testimate, Abraham is tested by God to see if he is truly faithful to him. One of the tests Abraham is given is to sacrifice his favorite son Isaac.
It was really interesting to hear everyone's interpretations, but I was really curious to know if God had given Abraham the test to see if he was different that all the other Canaanite civilizations. In Canaanite cities, children were sacrificed to the Gods to please them. I believe God wanted to see if Abraham would really kill his son and become one of the ordinary polytheistic people living in Canaan at the time.
Furthermore, Abraham failed the test because he would have killed his son to please his God, yet it is written that he had passed a test and God saw that he is truly faithful to him. It is possible that there were multiple parts to the test in which he failed and passed some.

Jerusalem: The Kotel

On Saturday evening, the students of EIE went to the Kotel, or Western Wall, in Jerusalem. I have been to the wall many times before so I was not expecting to feel anything different than what I had already felt towards it. Once we got there and actually caught a glimpse of the wall, I realized that I had been wrong.
I had never felt a more powerful feeling in my life. I don't even know what words can be used to describe this feeling. I walked closer and closer to the wall until I was finally close enough to touch it. It was like something came rushing through me and I knew that this was special. It is almost as if there are ancient souls hidden beneath the wall and they just want to reach out to you and congratulate you for making it to the Kotel, a holy place where prayers to God will be heard.
I think reacted so emotionally towards the Kotel because the first time I was there I placed a note, but I was little so I didn't know any better. The next couple times I felt like a tourist and I went just for the fun of it, but this time was different. I was by myself. It felt like it was just me and God. I was able to say what I felt and feel like someone was on the other side listening and telling me what to do.
The fact that I have no words to describe what I felt reminds me of God's name. Although there is a distinct spelling and everyone knows what it is, there is no perticular way to say it. When going to the Kotel I felt that many people experinced the same feeling that I had, but none of them had any idea how to describe it. It was just special.