Kyiv Diary

Back in the Classroom

2010-09-28T09:49:00.000-07:00

This fall I am lecturing at five universities in the cities of Lviv and Chernivtsi, including Lviv National University. Here I am with a few of this year's students. It is a continuing delight to associate with brilliant and personable young people, especially in this amazing land. Returning to the classroom always inspires me to dig deeper in my own studies and attempts to learn new things. Even at age 53 I feel the need to get back in the classroom, over and over, for the rest of my life.

An Apartment Which Elevates Thought

2010-09-27T09:36:00.000-07:00

I am staying in a beautifully decorated and maintained apartment in a nineteenth century building in the city center of Lviv. The owner of the apartment is a Canadian artist who has filled the rooms with paintings and other works of art, as well as many fine old pieces of furniture. In fact, this room reminds me of the inner vision I have always had of the characters of Tolstoy's War and Peace, which I first read as a fifteen year old and have read many times since. Whenever I walk into this fine sitting room at No. 2 Lysenka Street, I can almost imagine the Rostov's and the Bolkonskys at dinner or conversing. This is where I get to serve my own little solitary breakfast or dinner each deay! It is a delight to hang my hat here for the next two weeks.

The apartment is emblematic of this fine old city, which is one of the great treasures of the old Hapbsburg and Austro-Hungarian Empires. The city center is on the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites and contains a wealth of significant churches, museums, squares and among the finest late Renaissance architecture found anywhere in Europe. I haven't had a chance to do any exploring yet, but am looking forward to taking many solitary walks and excursions over the next weekend.

This all gets me to pondering how places often have the capacity to elevate one's very thoughts. I find that I think best in my home library, surrounded by books and the peaceful surroundings of my unique and idiosyncratic home camp. The same is true with great churches and temples, which invite the thoughts to soar beneath their vast domes.

Kyiv in Shirtsleeves

2010-09-26T09:14:00.000-07:00

My previous trips to Ukraine have all occurred between the beginning of November and early March, so it was an amazing experience to walk around downtown Kyiv in shirtsleeves on a hot early fall Sunday afternoon. I walked through the district around St. Sophia's, visited St. Volodymyr's Cathedral, strolled down the long aisle of trees in the center of Taras Shevchenko Blvd., passed through Shevchenko Park south of the Red University, and then to Lva Tolstovo and into my old haunts from my first trip to Kyiv in 2007.

In the park there were children riding on ponies, many families picknicking on the park benches and a throng of men standing around the stone chess boards watching chess games and smoking.

I had on my suitcoat, white shirt and tie, as I was visiting several churches on this Sunday morning, including the little Mormon congregation at the Ukrainian speaking ward on Shota Rustavelli, but even though it is late September I had to remove my jacket in the warmth of the autumn sun.

It is fascinating to see a familiar place during a different season. There is a mountain near my home in Salt Lake City which I run past every day, which changes dramatically with the seasons, wearing deep green in the spring, browns and rust colors in the summer, brilliant oranges, yellows and reds in the fall, and finally brilliant white in the snows of winter. It is always the same mountain, of course, but it is endlessly fascinating to watch it change under the procession of the seasons, almost as if it were a living thing. The same is true with any special place, like Kyiv. I have barely begun to know this city, and to see it in a new season and temperature makes me see it almost as if for the first time.

This phenomenon--of getting to know something more deeply with the passage of time and with the change of fortune--is especially true of people. You may think you know people well in their youth, but your appreciation of them changes and shifts and deepens as the years pass.

My wife and I just celebrated our thirtieth wedding anniversary three weeks ago. We thought we knew each other then, but my love for her has ripened as the spring and summer have passed. May it be an even richer connection as autumn turns and the snows of winter fall.

The Temple Mount

2010-03-21T11:16:00.000-07:00

On this last full day of my time in Jerusalem, I was privileged to set foot upon the Temple Mount. Known in Hebrew as the Har ha-Bayit and in Arabic as al-Haram al-Qudsi ash-Sharif, this is the holiest site in Judaism, one of the three holiest sites in Islam, and one of the holiest sites in Christianity, for it was here that Jesus's teaching, ministry and last days were centered. In my faith the Temple Mount has additional significance, as my beliefs also center upon Temples and Temple worship.

According to Jewish tradition, the Temple Mount is Mount Moriah, the place where Abraham went up to offer Isaac, his son. Here the Israelites built a Temple under King Solomon, which stood on the site for some 400 years until its destruction by the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar in 586 B.C.Two later Jewish Temples were built or expanded on the site, in 538 B.C. and again by Herod after 19 B.C.

My personal feelings on visiting this last and greatest site in the Holy City are deep and emotional. There is a power in this place unlike any other. A few impressions. First, I was amazed at the sheer size of the Temple Mount. Indeed, the area is so vast that on the outer fringes one has the sense of being in the country, among the trees and flowers on little country paths. Also, there is a profound sense of peace in the holy space, of something more powerful and more vital than anything below in the bustling and strife-filled city.

As a final act of devotion in my visit to this holy city, I took away a small white stone from the Temple Mount, near the inside of the long-sealed Golden Gate, which I will take with me back to United States.

Qumran

2010-03-21T11:06:00.000-07:00

When I knew I was coming to Israel, the two places I must see above all others were, first, the temple Mount, and second, Qumran. Today, on my final full day in Israel, I got to see both.

At Khirbet Qumran are the ruins of an ancient settlement adjacent to the hiding places of the Dead Sea Scrolls in the caves of the sheer desert cliffs overlooking the Dead Sea. The setttlement of Quran is located on a dry plateau about a mile inland. The settlement was built between 134 and 104 B.C. and was occupied continuously until its destruction by the Romans in about 68 to 70 A.D. Between 1947 and 1956 almost 1,000 ancient scrolls were discovered in caves above and near Qumran. Also, cisterns, water courses, Jewish ritual baths and cemeteries have been uncovered, together with assembly rooms, a tower and what many think was a great writing room or Scriptorium where many of the precious scrolls were written or copied.

I don't have space here to discuss the Dead Sea Scrolls themselves, but let it suffice to say that their discovery and slow translation has been the most explosive and paradigm-shifting event in Biblical scholarship of the past 1,000 years. The implications of the content of the scrolls fundamentally shifts our understanding not only of ancient Judaism, but early Christianity as well.

I was amazed by the great height of the mountains surrounding Qumran, and also by the depth of the two ravines that slope down on either side. Also I was unprepared for the massive nature both of the water system and the ritual baths in the structure. Seeing this site was a dream come true for this afficianado of history and religion.

Masada

2010-03-21T09:05:00.001-07:00

We visited Masada today near the south end of the Dead Sea. Though I have read much of Masada in years past--most recently Stephen Dando-Collins's "Caesar's Legion: The Epic Saga of Julius's Caesar's Elite Tenth Legion"--I was surprised on three fronts. First, but the amazing height of the city above the Dead Sea plain. (I include here a video of the tram ride up). This is a truly spectacular summit, and indeed almost frightening on its edge with a stiff desert wind blowing. Second, I was amazed at the sheer size of the settlement and fortifications on the summit. Third, in view of all of this the engineering and military feat of the Tenth Legion in assailing this stronghold is truly remarkable.

St. Anne's Church in Jerusalem

2010-03-21T08:54:00.000-07:00

On this, my last full day in Jerusalem, I was finally able to go into St. Anne's Church near St. Stephen's gate. There was a mass in process, which include beautiful music. I include a sample below. Notice the dove fly, as if on cue, from the sanctuary as the video begins.

Out in the courtyard there was an amazing fenced garden, including this orange tree which reminds one of the Tree of Life.

Sabbath Services at the Jerusalem Center

2010-03-20T06:35:00.000-07:00

This morning I attended religious services at the Jerusalem Center for Near Eastern Studies. It was a perfect day, warm and clear. I had the chance to see the amazing grounds around the Jerusalem Center for the first time in daylight. The collection of authentic olive presses was most amazing, and the view of the Old City was nothing short of spectacular. On the plaza overlooking the Old city there are a series of four bronze historical relief maps showing the Old City at 600 B.C., at just before 70 A.D., in about 600 A.D. and then in about 1500 A.D.

The services began at 10:00 a.m. The program consisted of a Russian woman speaking, translated into English by a graduate student who is living here with his family. Max then spoke, followed by a member of the branch presidency. I was privileged to administer the sacrament, using large flat, round loaves.

Sabbath at the Hurva Synagogue and the Western Wall

2010-03-20T06:26:00.000-07:00

Last evening at sunset Max and I visited the newly dedicated Hurva Synagogue (beit ha-Knesset ha-Hurba, which literally means "the Ruin Synagogue"). This synagogue is very ancient, having been founded in the 2nd century A.D. It has been destroyed many times since, including in 1721 after which it lay in ruins for about 150 years. This is when it became known as the Hurva or the "Ruin" Synagogue. It was rebuilt in 1864, but was again reduced to rubble by the Jordanian-controlled Arab Legion during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war of Independence. After the site came under the control of Israel in 1967, plans were laid to rebuild it according to its 1864 plan, but it took 40 years to do so. It was dedicated a few hours after I arrived in Jerusalem this week!

Visiting the Hurva Synagogue at the commencement of Shabbat on the week of its dedication was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. We first went into the basement where the men were at prayers. We entered the room and moved to the back. The room was laid out in two long aisles before very ancient pillars. Before the men were slanting desks where the prayer texts could be laid out. These were readily available in bookshelves along the walls. A cantor would sing the lines, and then at intervals all of the men would sing, reading from the books. Most of the men were wearing long black coats and black broad brimmed hats. There were many small boys, wearing Kippahs. (Max and I wore the blue Kippahs I bought from Shaaban Amer).

After observing for fifteen or twenty minutes in this basement part of the Hurva, we moved outside and around the building to the main entrance. In a mighty crush of men, we moved into the main room of the Synagogue upstairs, beneath a soaring dome decorated with murals of Rachel’s Tomb, the Tomb of the Patriarchs, the Tower of David and the Western Wall. In the center of the room under a canopy with four pillars was a raised platform where the cantor stood wearing a Tallit, a long white and striped prayer shawl, with a few old grizzled men around him. The voice of the cantor was amazing—he really sounded like Pavorotti to me. The room was filled to overflowing with perhaps three to four hundred men and boys, who were sitting at the long desks or standing shoulder to shoulder in the aisles and along every wall. It was a great crush of humanity. We all faced the Western Wall, which was only a few hundred meters away. (By the way, that reminds me of something our young guide said on the tour of the Western Wall Tunnels—he said that all Jews, wherever they might be in the world, pray towards the Holy Land. Those who live in the Holy Land pray towards Jerusalem. Those who live in the Jerusalem pray towards the Temple Mount. Those near the Temple Mount pray toward the Foundation Stone on the top of the Temple Mount.)

The variety of the male worshipers was amazing. Men with simple Kippahs on their heads and collared white shirts. Most men had on black jackets. Some wore the wide brimmed black hats. Others had on splendid fur hats with cylinder-like rims. Most austentacious were the men with the fur hats and long black and white pin-striped jackets with wide silk sashes at the waist. The men swayed back and forth as they sang, or bobbed their heads over their open prayer books. Their devotion and utter joy was almost palpable. Someone handed us a prayerbook and Max followed along in the Hebrew. There were small niche-like windows above man-height on the right side opening onto what was obviously an elevated plaza outside, and through these tiny windows we could see scores and scores of girls and women, all dressed finely with scarves, looking through joyfully at their fathers or lovers. It was a truly amazing sight. The devotion, the joy, the unbridled worship was enlightening. I was also struck by the order, the uniformity and by the symmetrical beauty of the worship--especially since modern Judaism essentially has no monolithic leadership, no central authority figure. Each man knew his place, and the proper way to proceed, born of centuries--no millenia--of custom and practice! This was a special, special occasion to be in this unique and sacred place—on the first Sabbath at sunset after the dedication of this edifice.

Incidentally, it was the dedication of this structure which resulted in Hamas issuing a proclamation of a “Day of Rage” on Tuesday, which shut down so much of the city. Max said that the Palestinian fear is that now that the great synagogue is completed, the next step will be a Jewish move to reoccupy the Temple Mount and build the Temple.

After spending perhaps a half an hour inside the great Synagogue, Max and I went to the Western Wall, which was a scene of utter joy in the twilight. Hundreds and hundreds of worshippers gathered, all in their Sabbath best, pressing toward the Western Wall. Max and I stood at the wall, wearing our blue Kippahs, and with hands outstretched to the Herodian stones, said our private devotions. Max and I spent perhaps an hour at the Western Wall. We also went inside the tunnels to the side fo the wall, where the exposed Herodian Stones of the Temple Mount run for many hundreds of feet beneath the living buildings of the city above. Here there were hundreds and hundreds of additional worshippers. There were many elaborate Torah cabinets with velvet covers, where various cantors sang with scores of men surrounding them. There were great libraries of books on the back shelves and in alcoves. At one point I heard exhuberant singing and the drum-like beat of hands upon wood, and wondered if some enthusiastic teenagers were singing, but it was an old Cantor, who with his head bobbing tremendously, was singing while banging his hands on the wooden rostrum, and both old men and young boys surrounding him were singing in a haunting tone a song of pure joy. Back out on the plaza before the Wall there were great rings of men, perhaps 50 to 75, dancing in great circles. In one ring I saw perhaps 20 Israeli soldiers, dressed in their battle gear with automatic rifles slung over their shoulders and extra ammunition clips in their belts, linked arm in arm in the great dancing circle with men and teenagers in their hats or Kippahs. It was an unforgettable sight on this unforgettable night.

The Syriac Orthodox Church

2010-03-20T05:19:00.000-07:00

This little Church dedicated to St. Mark is built atop one of the supposed sites of the Last Supper. In this case the “Upper Room” is down a flight of stairs under the chapel. The Syriac Orthodox Church had its founding under Peter in Antioch and has the oldest surviving liturgy of any Christian Church. Indeed, it was at Antioch that believers were first called “Christian.” See Luke 11:25 (I think—I don’t have my bible here). The liturgy is in Syriac Aramaic, which is significant because Aramaic was the common language of the entire eastern Mediterranean during the early Roman Empire, and thus would have been the language that the Lord spoke in Palestine. In the Church we were sadly too late for prayers, but we met Justine, the caretaker, who was a stout little woman of about sixty, who took us inside the chapel, unlocking the doors from a large ring of keys at her belt, and drawing back the red and gold emblazoned curtain to let us see the altar. She bade us sit on a bench while she gave us, in enthusiastic and slurring English, a history of her beloved Church. I made the faux paux of crossing my legs in the Church as we sat, which brought a stern reprimand—I now know one never crosses ones legs in an Orthodox Church, nor ever show the bottom of your shoes to a Muslim. Live and learn. Justine, among other things, told us of many miracles which have occurred in the Church in history before the altar of the Virgin Mary, off to the side, including, according to her account, an event of speaking in tongues a year ago and at about the same time an appearance of the Savior to a woman from France in the underground “Upper Room.” The event of the appearance is secondhand, as the Frenchwoman told her through translation. Her description of the event of speaking in tongues is more interesting, as she was one of the participants. She said that she speaks Syriac, Hebrew and English. One day a Russian man came into the church, who spoke only Russian. She said that she conversed with the man for over an hour “In English.” The man left, and then returned 3 months later. As they spoke upon his return she could not understand him, nor he her. He became angry and signaled for her to stop speaking and then retreated to the side altar to Mary. She said she prayed to understand why he was angry and why he would not speak to her in Engish. As she prayed a friend from Jerusalem entered who spoke both Russian and Hebrew. She had the newcomer ask the Russian man why he was angry. He told Justine, through the translator, that he couldn’t understand why she didn’t speak Russian to him as she had before. It was a very interesting account. Today, at the conclusion of our visit with Justine, before we inspected the underground “Upper Room,” (which was unremarkable, indeed had modern plastered walls) Justine sang for us the Lord’s Prayer in Syriac in the chapel, which was remarkable.

A City of Gates and Doors

2010-03-19T00:39:00.000-07:00

I am fascinated by the gates and doors of Jerusalem--church doors, doors into walled gardens, doorways into the most humble houses and dwellings by the way, and of course the great gates of the Old City--Lion's Gate, Herod's Gate, the Damascus Gate, Jaffa Gate, Zion Gate, the Dung Gate and the Golden Gate, which has been sealed for 2,000 years.

This is a city where many doors and gates are closed and locked--locked by prejudice, by the crushing forces of empire, by suspicion, by violence. In the past few days I have had discussions with Jews, Palestinians and Christians who all feel the oppressive frustration of closed doors in this great city. Because of security threats earlier this week, there were neighborhoods of the city which were literally sealed off.

But for the accident of history, this place would be unremarkable--another Mediterranean or Levantine city which time would forget. Fortunately there are many open doors in this special place. Because of the great confluence of the forces of history upon this place, because it is a city unto which many nations merge together there must be a wise effort to keep as many doors open as possible.

None of us can open all the doors--but we can open our small doors, one by one. I saw this yesterday as we visited in the home of Hefa Khalidi. If enough small doors are opened, it may usher in a time when even the greatest gates will grind open on their rusty hinges, and perhaps we'll all see the day when even the Golden Gate is opened wide to receive a Messiah of peace.

The Faces of the People

2010-03-19T00:30:00.000-07:00

I am fascinated by the amazing diversity of those in the Old City--Jews, Muslims, Christians, Priests, Rabbis, tourists, pilgrims, vendors, thieves, soldiers, beggars, men and women and children of every color, creed and nation. Indeed, I find myself sometimes more interested in faces of the people who come here--the worshipers, the curious, the seekers, the pilgrims--than in the monuments they have come to see.

Welcome Home from the Hajj

2010-03-19T00:24:00.001-07:00

Hajj is the annual pilgrimage to Mecca performed by devout Muslims. Hajj is the fifth pillar or principle of Islam--essentially it is a religious duty for every able bodied Muslim that must be carried out at least once in his lifetime. In the Muslim Quarter of the Old City today, Max pointed out to me the way families decorate the doorways of their houses to welcome home a returning pilgrim. The doors are painted with bright colors, stars and Islamic insignias, much the same way we might place streamers, banners, balloons outside our American houses to welcome home soldiers or missionaries. Max said that once the Hajj has been accomplished, the returning pilgrim has then earned the honorific title of "Hajji" for the rest of his life.

Western Wall Tunnels

2010-03-18T23:55:00.000-07:00

After paying my devotions at the Western Wall, Max and Brooke and I went on a tour of the amazing underground excavations all along the Western Wall. These tunnels were begun in the 1860's by British Army officer Charles Warren, but in recent years and months they have continued by the Israeli government. Essentially, these tunnels run along the base of the Western Wall of the Temple Mount from the Western Wall Plaza on the south all the way to the old foundation structures of the Antonia Fortress and its amazing underground aquaduct system.

The finely dressed stones in the lower courses are Herodian, while the rubble-like upper stones are from the later Islamic reconstruction. Some of the Herodian stones are more than 40 feel long and way more than 800 tons. They are laid without mortar but are so finely cut that it looks like it would be impossible to pass a knife blade between the crevices.

Another fascinating feature of these tunnels is the way they have been constructed beneath the living city of the Muslim Quarter of the Old City. Also, the depth of these underground structures is astounding. Essentially beneath every house in the Muslim Quarter near the Western Wall you may have 50 to 100 feet of historical buildings--First Temple, Herodian, Roman, Byzantine, Islamic Reconstruction, Mamluke, Ottoman, etc. These consist of streets, walls, foundations, arches, aquaducts, cisterns, etc., each built on top of the other.

Via Dolorosa

2010-03-18T23:06:00.000-07:00

At various times today we explored the Via Dolorosa, which is the traditional path Jesus took from his judgement to his crucifixion. Along the way we say many tour groups and pilgrims. There are brass numbered plaques on the walls bearing Roman numerals showing each of the 14 stations, as follows:

Jesus is condemned to death.
Jesus takes up the cross.
Jesus falls beneath the weight of the cross for the first time.
Jesus meets his mother, Mary.
Simon of Cyrene is ordered by the Roman soldiers to help Jesus carry the cross.
Veronica wipes away Jesus's blood and sweat.
Jesus falls for the second time.
Jesus consoles the women of Jerusalem.
Jesus falls for the third time.
Jesus is stripped of his clothes.
Jesus is nailed to the cross.
Jesus dies.
Jesus is taken down from the cross.
The holy sepulchre where Jesus is laid.

The setting along the Via Dolorosa is somewhat garish, contrived and strange. Each of the stations is memorialized by a small plaque in the walls of the narrow street or by some small chapel or memorial. Usually there are gift shops incorporated as part of each little chapel. The streets themselves are filled with Muslim vendors, calling out, "Hello! Shopping?" Moreover, the street and buildings one now sees are at best Byzantine or Ottoman structures--the streets that the Savior passed along are destroyed or buried deep beneath the city.

My chief interest in the Via Dolorosa is not in the "theme-park" like capitalism, but in the living people themselves who come here for whatever reason.

Along the way we stopped at a little hole in the wall restaurant in the Muslim Quarter for lunch.

Visit to the Western Wall

2010-03-18T09:54:00.000-07:00

One of the things I have most looked forward to is to stand before the Western Wall in Jerusalem. I had that privilege today. I had previously written out a personal prayer on a small piece of paper, containing the names of all of my family members and asking for blessings upon them. I, of course, had to don a Kippah--the round hat devout Jewish men wear--before approaching the wall. It was a joy to touch the wall, and stand before it for some time meditating and praying. I took the small paper I had brought with me, folded it up and placed it between the cracks of the great Herodian stones.

The Khalidi Family's Private Library and Mosque

2010-03-18T09:21:00.000-07:00

As a surprise, Max and Brooke took me today to meet Hefa Khalidi in the Muslim Quarter of the Old City. Hefa is the heir and conservator of the Khalidi Library (al-Maktaba al-Khalidiyya), which was established in 1899 by her great grandfather, Hajj Raghib al-Khalidi. The Khalidi family have lived in the Old City for centuries and members of the family have served as judges, administrators and leading aids to the Ottoman Empire. The library is based on family holdings of manuscripts and books collected by the family over many centuries.

We went first to Hefa's house, which is entered by an unobtrusive green door along the narrow streets of the Muslim Quarter. She was expecting us, and took a ring of keys and invited us about two doors down the street. Inside a stone structure we were shown a family mausoleum with graves of three of her ancestors. In an adjoining room we were shown the private family mosque, with bookshelves and family photographs along one wall, a spiral staircase in the corner, and the marble niche facing Mecca on the opposite wall. She gave me a history of her family, dating back many centuries to days when her forefathers were prominent in Ottoman Empire affairs. She then took us up the spiral staircase to the manuscript collection. Here on steel shelves were many thousands of manuscripts. She showed us a half a dozen of these. The were all richly illustrated, and written in Arabic, Turkish and Kurdish. Most were at least 4-500 years old and at least one of the manuscripts she showed us was more than 1,000 years old.

Hefa's family has lived in this house, very near the Western Wall of the Temple Mount, for centuries. Interestingly, she also told us that her family previously owned vast tracts of land on Mount Scopus, which were taken away from the family upon Israeli Independence, and the Jerusalem Center for Near Eastern Studies is now built on former Khalidi land. Max later told me that while the family never received compensation for its Mount Scopus holdings, the University has been very generous in offering scholarships to Palestinians over the years, in part because of the Khalidi family. Max also told me that one of Hefa's cousins is a renowned Palestinian scholar living in the United States, now teaching at the University of Illinois.

One of the impressions I take away from meeting Hefa Khalidi is the rich heritage of Islam.

Ten Mile Run at Hebrew University

2010-03-18T01:58:00.001-07:00

Running has been something of a problem here in Jerusalem for a couple of reasons. First, there are not a lot of pedestrian friendly sidewalks--traffic is very busy and people tend to park on the sidewalks. Second, it is rather difficult to get places because of divided neighborhoods, walls, gates and deep ravines alternating with high mountains. What looks like a pleasant 3 mile jog on the map may in reality be a 3 hour ordeal of endurance requiring a bodyguard and a United Nations escort.

Today I decided to try to run around the gated student housing area of Hebrew University. It was a beautiful morning. I rained in the night and the sky was clear with large cumulous clouds. It was cool and windy but exhilerating. I found a large figure eight loop running through the housing area that took me about 7 minutes to run--let's call it 8/10 of a mile. I ran this loop continuously for 90 minutes--let's call that 10 miles.

Interestingly, in 3 weeks of running in Kharkiv, Kyiv and now Jerusalem, I haven't met another single runner.

"Shining a Singular Light on the Ancient Land"

2010-03-17T22:29:00.000-07:00

Max and Brooke Stoneman are putting me up for the week in their study, with its window overlooking the Old City. They are an amazing young couple. Brooke is one of the most creative and artistic people I have ever met. An artist and writer, she is now learning the skill of book binding from one of the finest old masters in Jerusalem.

Max is one of the most brilliant people I have ever known, but he carries his intellect lightly behind a sunny, gregarious exterior. He has recently passed the Foreign Service exam and will complete his training in Washington D.C. this fall. Then, the adventures just begin for this special young couple.

In the living room of their apartment in Jerusalem I found a framed poem written by my sister, Ruth, who is Max's mother. It expresses a mother's prayer for the safety of her children half a world away:

Prayer

our treasure lives afar

across the world

in the great city

of gate

and wall

and tower

our children there

in youth and beauty live

shining a singular light

on the ancient land

Lord

bless their days

guard their feet

multiply joys

and sustain them

with thy peace

and let our love

be given wings

to cross the world

and hover near them

in the evening breeze

Mom

August 2009

This is for My Wife Julie

2010-03-17T22:17:00.001-07:00

My wife Julie loves quilts, and has designed and made so many by hand, so I have to show her several more fine pieces which were displayed at the Jerusalem Center last night as part of the art show and organ concert. These are all from local artists living in Jerusalem.

They all have names. The first one is something like "the Sound of Celestial Music."

The second one was something like "the History of Jerusalem," or something like that.

The third one was something like "Four Seasons in Jerusalem."

This one was something about birds (I think I posted it sideways)

This one was called "David's Harp" or something like that.

Enjoy, Julie! I love you always!

Organ Concert at the Jerusalem Center

2010-03-17T13:10:00.000-07:00

This evening I attended an organ concert by Walter Whipple at the Jerusalem Center for Near Eastern Studies. This is my first visit to the center, which is one of the most amazing places I have ever been. Located on the top of Mount Scopus, the large arched windows of the center overlook the Old City. Outside the gardens are enclosed by a high wall, and there are about a half a dozen working olive presses on the grounds. Inside the meeting rooms and reception rooms are lofty and airy with beautiful woodwork throughout. There was an art show underway (as there always is). My wife, Julie, would have loved this one--quilts created by local Jerusalem artists (I attach one example, Jewel).

The highlight of the evening was the amazing organ concert put on by Walter Whipple, who is one of the service volunteers working at the center.

Walter Whipple is one of the kindest, most humble men I have ever met. But his amazing history belies his modesty. He studied organ from the age of 11, eventually studying with Alexander Schreiner. He eventually earned a Phd. in organ performance and for about two decades was a professor of organ at a University in Illinois, while also playing cello in the Rockford Symphony Orchestra. At age 40 he took a sabbatical to Poland, where he lived for a year learning to make violins. He returned for his academic career, but at age 50 changed careers and became a professor of Polish Language at BYU, where he finished his career.

Tonight he played a program of Bach, Mendelssohn and Franck. I include some sample videos of his playing.

Manhole Covers and Kosher Fast Food

2010-03-17T08:58:00.000-07:00

A couple of details caught my fancy today. First, I noticed the amazing manhole covers including a crest with a lion and the Hebrew inscription for "Jerusalem." Second, as we ate lunch back near campus in a hamburger place I appreciated this certificate that the fast food was all "Kosher."

Max told me that restaurants and fast food places clamber to qualify for the Kosher Certificate. Among other things, to qualify a place must either serve no dairy whatsoever, or alternatively, no meat whatsoever. So, for example, there is a hamburger restaurant right next door to a pizza outlet. Both display the Kosher Certificate. At the hamburger place you cannot buy a cheeseburger, milk shake or anything dairy. At the pizza place none of the pizzas have any meat on them. Amazing and fascinating.

Lecture at Hebrew University

2010-03-17T05:40:00.000-07:00

This afternoon I attended a lecture on security issues with Max, which was held at the Rothberg Center of Hebrew University. We had to pass through two security stations to enter the campus, including passing through a metal detector. The campus itself is beautiful, with lush landscaping and buildings of the highest standards of modernity and functionality. The lecture we attended featured an anthropologist who is an expert in the Israeli military. I was most interested when the lecturer asked each participant to identify him- or herself that the students were from all parts of the world--Holland, Romania, Russia, Lithuania, Canada, etc. Interestingly, there were more Americans than any other single group. There were only two students originally from Israel.

The City of David

2010-03-17T05:33:00.000-07:00

This morning I went with Max and Brooke to the City of David--the historical area located south of the Temple Mount and just outside the city walls. This is the original site of the Jebusite city which was conquered by the Israelites as they moved into the region. It is also the location of David's palace. We drove to the city by taxi, where they were selling these amazing bread rings. The City of David is actually a National Park, and we signed up for the "three hour tour" (yes, just like Gilligan's Island). We saw a 3d film depicting the history of the City of David, then went to observation points where we could watch the archaeological work going forward, and also see the exposed walls of the ancient Jebusite stronghold as well as of the walls and other structures of David's time. We also had spectacular views of the Kidron Brook far below, of the ancient Moslem neighborhood on the opposite side of the ravine, of the many graves and tombs in the valley and a spectacular view of the city south of the Old City. We also were able to descend deep into the earth to see Hezekiah's tunnel and other tunnels associated with the amazing underground water system of ancient times, and ended up at the south end of the City of David where they have recently uncovered the upper part of the Pool of Siloam, mentioned in both the Old and New Testaments. This is the place where Jesus healed a blind man by anointing his eyes with mud and then instructing him to watch in the Pool of Siloam. We also saw a Byzantine structure nearby which was for centuries identified as the Biblical Pool of Siloam, but which is actually a later structure. Finally, we walked all the way back up nearly to the Temple Mount to catch a taxi back to Hebrew University.

We had a very outspoken tour guide, "Helen," who passed up no opportunity to belittle and denigrate the Muslims who live in the area. The historical presentation was interesting and enlightening, but blatantly one-sided. For example, the period from 600 B.C. to the destruction of the Temple in 70 A.D. was literally explained in a single sentence in the introductory film. From "Helen's" viewpoint, the historical events surrounding the lives of Jesus and Mohammed and their followers is insignificant.

We were also quite amused how "Helen" seemed to get in confrontations with other tour guides conducting tours in other languages--Hebrew, German, Portuguese, etc.

Choir Practice with Max

2010-03-16T22:20:00.000-07:00

Late Tuesday evening I accompanied Max to his choir practice. He sings in an all Jewish choir which has achieved some renown in Jerusalem, singing at the Menachem Begin Center on the same program with the Mayor of Jerusalem and in other venues this year. Next week the choir will be performing in Tel Aviv. The practice was held in a school in the modern part of Jerusalem. We traveled by bus through the beautiful city. Eli, one of the choir members gave us a ride home later. I enjoyed listening to the good-hearted conversation at the choir practice—all in Hebrew, and of course to the beautiful music, a sample of which I attach here.

(Kinda' makes me want to dance with a bottle on my head--"Ay, yai, yai, yai, yai!!")