Yehiyeh Asher Yehiyeh- Israel I am on my way

Tour De Israel

2011-06-22T11:12:00.001+03:00

Hej alle sammmen ( eller skulle jeg sige "farvel alle sammen")

Dette bliver min sidste blog herfra Jerusalem, Israel
Det har været fantastisk berigende: åndeligt, kulturelt, personligt, holdingsmæssigt osv.
Har mødt så mange fremmede kulture samlet på et sted, har mødt folk med andre holdinger end mig selv, folk som havde anden religion end mig og folk som forholdte sig forskelligt til konflikten her I landet. Det har helt sikkert været lærerigt og til tider udfordrende.

Kommer helt sikkert til at savne følgende:
Falafel,
Hummus,
frisk frugt,
Alle kulturene,
Cafe kulturen,
Mine venner fra Nazarene Church og andre bekendte,
Min danske kontakt familie ( Aka Lise og Jakob)
Mine kollegaer fra Caspari,
Mine kollegaer fra House of Prayer,
Arabisk Kaffe,
Nagila ( eller lugten af nagila)
Varmen
Folk der taler med sidemanden i bussen
og så mange andre ting at listen aldrig ville slutte.

Hvad jeg ikke vil savne er bl.a:
Israelsk slik ( jeg er sliknakoman)
Irregulere Bus tider
Hadet
Spændingen
kolde huse om vinteren
Dyttende biler

For at sige farvel eller måske skulle jeg sige Lehitraot ( vi ses) i stedet for. Er sikker på jeg kommer igen engang. Man bliver aldrig færdig med dette fantastiske land, der er oceaner af ting at se både historisk og naturmæssigt. Så for at sige farvel til Israel tog jeg en sidste tur igennem Israel, for at gøre det nemmere for mig selv har jeg valgt at sætte billeder ind så kan du danne dig dit eget billede af Israel.

Bethlehem

flygtninge lejr - Refugee camp

Jule kirken - Weinnacht church

- Rakels grav - Rachels tomb

Wi-Am

Historie fortælling på Muren - Story telling on the Wall

Herodion

Bar Kochba Tunnel

Manden der fandt Herodes grav, og efter at han fandt den faldt han og snart tog han sine sidste åndepust. - The man who searched for the tomb of Herod, and after he found it he fell down and soon after died.

Herodion

Caesarea

the arena

the view

Collesæum - Colloseum

Havnen - Harbor

varehuset - Warehouse

Haifa -Bahai Shrine

Jeg boede I Bet Skandinavia i Haifa, hvor jeg mødte to unge mennesker ( Suvi (finland) og Minnet ( Tyskland)) der også var rundt alene og jeg tog dem med mig til Akko, Bahai, Tiberias.-- I lived at Bet skandinavia where i met two young people ( Suvi ( suomi) and Minnet ( deutchland) they also travelled on their own, I took them with me to Akko, Bahai and Tiberias.

Bahai shrine Haifa

Haifa

Bahai Gardens

Akko

Gamle Akko - Old Akko

Templar Tunnel

Havnen i Akko - Harbor in Akko

Tiberias - Sea of Galilea

Gamle Tiberias -old Tiberias

Galilea søen - Sea of Galilea

Arad - Tel Arad

Ruinen på Tel Arad - The Ruin at Tel Arad

Aradian Hus - Aradian House

En ny Ven - a new Friend

Dimona

Maktesh Ramon

Eilat

Fik en gratis bådtur for at hjælpe ejeren af bden - had a free ride on the boat to help the owner of the boat.

Røde hav - The Red sea

Dolphin Reef

Timna Park

Et fantastisk unikt sted, hvor Salomon havde sine kobber miner. - A fantastic unique site where Solomon had his copper mines

En svamp - A mushroom

En kopi af Tabernaklet - A true copi of the Tabernacle

Salomon's søjler - Solomon's Pillars

Spiral bjerget - Spiral hill

Mt. Sodom

Mig og min skygge og ellers ingen mennesker, alt var dødt og hvidt - Just me and my shadow, no humans and everything was dead and white.

Dead Sea

Efter denne foto montage er der vel kun en ting at sige - Hvad venter du på - Kom til Israel og se dette fantastiske land rigt på kulturelle oplevelser, historisk oplevelser og natur eller endnu bedre bliv voluntør I Israel! Det er Her det sker.

After this photomontage I only have one thing left for me to say -- What are you waiting for -Come to Israel and see this amazing country rich on cultural experiences, historical experiences and nature experiences or even better become a volunteer in Israel! It Is here eveyrthing can happen!!!

HI Everybody (or should I say "goodbye everybody")

This will be my last blog from Jerusalem, Israel
It has been wonderfullt enriching: spiritually, culturally, personally, in terms of attitudes, etc.
I Have met so many cultures in one place, have met people with other opinions than myself, people who had different religion than me and people who see the conflict in this country differently. It has certainly been instructive and sometimes challenging.

Will surely miss the following:
Falafel,
hummus,
fresh fruits,
All the many cultures,
the Coffee culture
My friends from the Nazarene Church and other acquaintances
My Danish family contact (Aka Lisa and Jacob)
My colleagues from Caspari,
My colleagues from the House of Prayer,
Arabic Coffee
Nagila (or the smell of nagila)
The heat
People who speak with the person sitting next to them, in the bus
and so many other things that the list would never end.

What I will not miss are among other things:
Israeli candy (I'm a candyaddict)
Irregulere Bus times
the hatred
the tension
cold houses in winter
honking cars

To say goodbye, or perhaps I should say Lehitraot ( see you) instead. I'm Sure I'll come again some day. You never finish with this amazing country there is loads of things to see both historically and naturally. So to say goodbye to Israel, I took one last trip through Israel. To make thigns easier for myself, I have chosen to put pictures so you can get your own image of Israe and my trip. ( go to the danish section to see the photo montage)

Hiking up North - på vandretur oppe nordpå

2011-06-14T09:59:00.002+03:00

Shalom
Som lovet kommer der nu et lille indlæg omkring vandreturen oppe nordpå
Mine kære kontakt personer her I Israel: Lise og jakob.
Har hele året arrangeret fantastiske ture, med rigt indhold, godt forberedt og der har været en tur eller en ekskursion hver eneste måned. Men indtil videre havde jeg ikke taget på en af disse ture, men så synes jeg at det var på tide, og jeg havde heller ikke været meget oppe nordpå i landet. Så da jeg fik muligheden for at komme på en tredages vandretur slog jeg til.

Det skal dog siges at Da jeg fandt ud af hvor meget Vandring der var over - vandreturen -slog det lidt af gejsten væk fra mig. Men da jeg først kom ud, og jeg så omgivelserne fik jeg hurtigt gejsten tilbage igen. Vi tog afsted tidligt om morgenen, og første dag skulle vi til banias ( panias) Her vandrede vi forbi Nimrod og Banias vandfaldet. En fantastisk flot tur, men hård for kroppen. På et tidspunkt undervejs medens vi troede vi var de eneste i hele naturen, eller sådan føltes det i hvertfald, så kom der en gruppe ortodokse mænd gående, de var klædt i deres normale jakkesæt og laksko, og jeg skal da love for de bevæger sig hurtigt selv med laksko på sten og i vand.

Banias (Panias)

Dagen efter rejste vi så til Yehudiyya hvor vi fandt en kampingplads der lå lige ned til Genesereth søen, en dejlig måde at vågne op på, synes selv jeg var ret så heldig da jeg stod op og så solen skinne ned i genesereth søen. Morgenmaden bestod af havre gryn med chokolade i, Energi skal der jo til når man skal ud i naturen og vandre op og ned hele tiden. Vores førse tur i Yehudiyya tog vi omkring Nahal Zavitan og så gik vi tilbage til campingpladsen. Jeg har vidst ikke sagt endnu at vi var seks mennesker af sted: Jakob wilms (guide), Jakob ( tel aviv), Knut Arne ( tel aviv), Mette ( ordet og israel) Kirsten ( en utrolig frisk langtids Turist fra Danmark) og så mig selvfølgelig. En utrolig hyggelig, frisk og dejlig flok.

Camp

Yehudiyya - Nahal Zavitan

Den sidste dag tog vi så turen igennem yehuddiyya kløften hvor vi klatrede ned af rebstiger, måtte svømme igennem vandet for at nå den anden side. Det skal lige siges at på min første dag fik jeg en meget uheldig vabel, der sad lige ved det punkt hvor min fod var i kontakt med min sål, og denne vabel blev aldrig mindre, og til tider føltes det som om jeg vandrede på nåle. Av av. tænk at sådan en lille ting kan gøre så ondt og skabe så mange problemer for resten af kroppen. Okay sidste dag var det ikke bare vablen der gjorde ondt, hele min krop var fyldt med rifter, og der var ikke et sted hvor jeg ikke kunne mærke at jeg havde vandret i times vis tre dage i streg.

The Yehudiyya gap -Yehuddiyya kloeften

Det var lidt om de Tre dages vandretur jeg var på, tog billeder og synes selv du skal se hvor fantastisk det hele så ud der oppe.

Shalom
As promised in my previous blog, this is a little breefing about my hike up north. My dear contact persons here in Israel: Lise and Jacob.They Throughout the year, arranges amazing trips, with a rich content, well prepared and there has been a trip or an excursion every month. But so far I had not taken any of these trips, but I then I thought that it was time and I had not been very much up north in the country anyhow. So when I got the opportunity to get on a three-days hike I took the chance.

It must be said that when I found out how much Hiking were over - the hike-it stole a bit of my spirit. But when I first arrived and I saw the surroundings, I quickly got my spirit back. We left early in the morning and the first day we went to Banias (Panias) Here we hiked past the Nimrod and the Banias waterfall. A fantastic trip, but hard for the body. At some point along the way while we thought we were the only ones in all of nature, or so it felt anyhow, came a group of Orthodox men passing by, they were dressed in their normal suits and there black polished shoes, and I must admit that they were really fast, even if they were wearing these black polished shoes in water and to step on slippery rocks.
The following day we traveled to Yehudiyya where we found a Camping site placed right next to the branks of the Lake of Genesereth. It was a nice way to wake up, and as I stepped out of my tent next morning seing the sun shine in the surface of Genesereth, i felt really blessed. Breakfast consisted of oat meal with chocolate, energy Is essential when you are in the nature and hiking up and down, up and down all the time. Our first ride to Yehudiyya we passed around Nahal Zavitan and then we walked back to the campsite. I have forgotten to say that we were six on the hike:Jakob Wilms (our guide), Jacob (Tel Aviv), Knut Arne (Tel Aviv), Mette (the word and Israel) Kirsten (an incredibly fresh long-term tourist from Denmark) and then me of course. An incredibly friendly, spirited and lovely bunch.

The last day we went through The Yehuddiyya gap where we climbed down rope ladders had to swim through the water to reach the other side. It must be said that on my first day on the hike,I developed a very bad blister, which was located at the point where my foot was in touch with my soles, and this blister never lessened, and at times it felt like I walked on needles. Outch outch. To think that such a small thing can cause you so much pain and create so many problems for the rest of the body. Okey last day it was not just blisters that hurt - my whole body was filled with cuts, and there was not a place where I could not feel that I had walked for hours three days in a row.
That was my hree-day hike, I took some pictures and then you can see how amazing it all looked up there. ( Go to the Danish section to see pictures)

National dage og Dage hvor man Mindes - A lot of National Days and Days of remembrence

2011-06-05T17:39:00.000+03:00

Hej Mine Trofaste læsere

Det er nu igen blevet tid til at fortælle jer lidt fra mit ophold her I Jeruslem.
Siden sidst har vi haft en serie af 1 til "2" dages mærkedage. To tallet er i klammer fordi at Dage her i dette land starter om aftenen, så for os ville det starte omkring solnedgang, og så stoppe dagen efter ved solnedgang. Men for dem der bor her er det jo En dag. Hm... Lidt forvirrende til tider - men sådan er det altså.

Først havde vi Holocaust memorial day d. 2 maj - På denne dag vil sirenerne lyde og så stopper alt trafikken og alt aktivitet og man forholder sig stille mens man tænker på dem der døde i koncentrationslejrene, når sirenerne lyder anden gang fortsætter dagen som før, nogle af butikkerne lukker dog ned for at holde dagen hellig. Det var en ret så intens oplevelse at fornemme atmosfærden. Jeg var dog på en tre dages vandretur oppe nordpå, men vi kunne dog stadig høre sirenen, og vi holdte da også en pause i stilhed inden vi vandrede videre. Mere omkring vandreturen følger i et andet indlæg.

Så havde vi Memorial day den 9. maj for faldne soldater, den foregår på samme måde som Holochaust mindedagen - med sirener og stilhed. Man mindes ikke blot dem der døde før i tiden man bruger den også til at mindes dem der dør som soldater i dag. Da alle israelere har militær pligt inklusiv pigerne er det en dag hvor man mindes ens kammerater eller familie der faldt i krig eller uroligheder.

Den 10'ende maj havde vi Independence day, hvor Israelerne fejrede at de fik deres land tilbage.
Jeg tog med Israelsmissionen og Ordet og Israel (senior og junior) Ind i Independence park for at grille. Det er vist tradition at de fleste familier tager i de forskellige parker rundt omkring og griller, pynter: sig selv og deres hjem, restauranter osv med blå og hvide flag. Det var en lidt mærkelig fornemmelse, i det at den Jødiske del af Jerusalem hyggede sig og hang ud med vennerne, mens den Arabiske del af befolkningen befandt sig hjemme, og de var mere i sorg over at Jøderne fik deres land tilbage. Men det var en hyggelig dag alligevel for mig, og det var en oplevelse at opleve hvor meget det nationale betyder for dem der bor i dette land. Jeg har aldrig selv haft en stærk nationalfølelse så det var helt sikkert lærerigt at se noget andet.

Grill i Independence Park - Barbecue In Independence park

Ja de pyntede sig med flag - some walked around with flags around themselves

I see Bue and white

Den 15. Maj fandt det Palestinensiske modstykke til Jødernes Independence day sted, Al Nakba ( katastrofens dag), Du har muligvis hørt tale om dette i medierne. Da nabolandende til Israel macherede langs grænserne for at solidaritere med Palestinenserne. Det gik jo som i nok ved galt i det der opstod optøjer og nogle af demonstranterne mistede livet.

Den 1. Juni Havde vi så Jerusalem day, ( Jeg sagde jo vi havde et regn af national og minde dage) Her mindes man Seks dags krigen, og at man fik dele af Jersusalem tilbage. Det blev fejret med et optog med 40.000 deltagere der vandrede i Jerusalems gader med: sang, musik, flag og dans. Jeg var så uheldig at ende i byen efter byen havde blevet lukket af for trafik, så jeg gik hjem fra byen, og undervejs endte jeg op midt i cenrum af optoget. Synes jeg ville prøve at fange noget af atmosfærden så jeg optog lidt video med mit lille kamera .

En stor familie begivenhed - A big family event

Der var en god stemning - There was a good atmosphere

Live musik - live music

Den 5. Juni vil Al Naksa day så forefalde, der er det palestinensiske modstykke til Jerusalem day. Al Naksa betyder ( dagen for tilbagefald), og i avisen står der at man har planer om igen at macherer langs Israels grænser, plus der vil være demonstrationer ved Al aksa moskeen. National følelserne er i hvertfald i høj kurs i disse dage.

Så kan jeg da vidst kun sige en sidste ting i afsked - Shalom, shalom shalom - Fred, fred fred.

Hello my faithful readers
It is once again time to tell you about my stay here In Jeruslem.
Lately we have had a series of 1 to "2" days National holidays. The Two is in brackets because the days here in this country starts in the evening, so for us it would start around sunset and then stop the day after sunset. But for those who lives here it's one day. Hmm ... A bit confusing at times - but thats just how it is.

First we had the Holocaust Memorial Day on May 2th - On this day, the sirens sounded and then all traffic and all the activity stops and you remember in silence those who died in the concentration camps, when the sirens sounds for the second time life goes back to what it was before - some of the stores, however closes down to keep the day holy. It was a pretty intense experience to feel the atmospher. Nervertheless, I was on a three-days trek up north, but we could still hear the siren, and we held a break in silence before we continued on our trip. More about the hike follows in another blog.

Next we had Memorial Day on 9th of May for the fallen soldiers,. it is celebrated in the same way as the Holochaust memorial day - with sirens and silence. However they dont just remember those who died in the past , they also remember those who die as soldiers today. Since all Israelis Have got military duty, including the girls - then that one day is also a day to remember your buddies or family who fell in war or civil strife.

On 10th ofMay, we had Independence Day, where Israelis celebrates that they got their land back.I went with The Israel Mission and the Word and Israel (senior and junior) to the Independence Park in Jeruslem to barbecue. It is tradition that most families go to the various parks and barbecue, and then they decorate: themselves and their homes, restaurants with blue and white flags. It was a strange feeling in a way, since the Jewish section of Jerusalem had fun and hanged out with friends, while the Arab population stayed at home, and they were in sorrow because the Jews got their country back. But it was a nice day anyway for me, and it was an experience to see how much the national days mean for those who live in this country. I've never had a strong national sentiment so it was certainly instructive to see something else. ( go to the Danish section to see pictures)

On 15th of May the Palestinian counterpart to the Jewish Independence Day took place, Al Nakba (Day fo catastrophe) You may have heard talk about this in the media. As the neighboring countries around Israel Marched along the borders. To show solidarity with the Palestinians. It ended up in a riot and some of the demonstrators lost their lives.

The 1. of June Jerusalem Day took place, (I told you we had a rain of national and commemorative days) Here they commemorate the Six-Days War, and that they recuperated some of Jersusalem. It was celebrated with a procession of 40,000 participants who walked the streets of Jerusalem with: singing, music, flags and dancing. I had the misfortune of ending up in the middle of the city after the city had been closed to traffic, so I walkedhome from the city and along the way I ended up in the middle of the procession. I would tried to capture some of the atmospher so I shot a little video with my little camera. ( Go to danish Section to see photo's and Video)

The 5th of June, Al Naksa day fell, which is the Palestinian counterpart to Jerusalem Day. Al Naksa means (day of setback), and the newspaper says that their are plans for yet another demonstration day along the borders of Israel, and possibly some demonstration around the AL Aksa Mosque. National sentiments are certainly in high demand these days.

Then I only have one last thing to say in parting - Shalom, shalom shalom - peace, peace peace!

Purim og påske - Purim and Passover

2011-05-16T13:29:00.000+03:00

Shalom alle sammen

Vi er nu vel overstået to jødiske højtider, henholdsvis - Purim ( læs Esthers bog) og Påske ( læs beretningen om jødernes udgang fra egypten og instiftelsen af højtiden + Jesu sidste dage i Jerusalem). Purim er nok det der kommer tættest på fastelavn i danmark. All børn, unge, voksne ja alle er klædt ud, de har specielle sange, de giver kurve til fattige, spiser sammen. Det er også denne fest hvor det er påbudt at man skal blive så fuld man ikke kan høre forskel på - velsignet være Mordechai og forbandet være Haman. Da mange af de ortodokse ikke drikker til dagligt, så er det altid en oplevelse at se dem gå rundt helt beruset. Det var ret så hyggeligt at se alle gå rundt med forskellige kustymer. Det er vidst kutyme at piger skal være dronning Esther og drengene enten Haman eller Mordechai. Så da også nogle små prinsesser rende rundt. Derudover var der sindsygt mange mariehøns og ellers utrolig fantasifulde dragter. Så sågar en der havde klædt sig ud som en barbiedukke stadig indpakket i sin boks. Jerusalems gader var i hvertfald fyldt med udklædte mennesker, og der var en fantastisk god stemning. Tog lidt billeder

Street musicians - gade musikere

Dancing Jews


	reading of the book of Esther

Dancing in the streets

Dressed up people

the multitude

Så har vi også haft Påske ligesom i resten af verden. Forskellen var blot at Jøderne havde deres version af påske - Pesach hvor de fejre udgangen fra Egypten, og de kristne Jesu lidelse, død og opstandelse.

Jeg var så heldig at jeg fik chancen for at opleve det tætteste du kan komme på en gammel testamentlig jødisk påske fejring med ofring af lam osv. Jeg tog nemlig en smut tur til Mt Gerizim hvor Samaritanerne bor. Samaritanerne fejrer stadig deres version af påskeofringen, deres Tempel er nemlig ikke i Jerusalem men på toppen af Mt Gerizim. ( Se historien med Jesus og den Samaritanske kvinde) Heidi, Toni, Paivi og Jeg all fire Voluntøre tog afsted, vi så ruinerne fra de to templer samaritanerne havde haft, vi så samaritanere i deres specielle dragt og hvordan de levede. Bjerget var dog stopfyldt af turister, samaritanere, pressefolk etc - så selve oplevelsen var lidt skuffende idet det var svært at se hvad der foregik. Men vi gav ikke op og forsøgte at komme hen til tribunen for hedningerne, der var tættest på selve ritualet med slagtning. Vi fandt et sted hvor vi kunne snige os ind, vi mtte dog gå igennem en terrasse, en losseplads eller var det en ruin?? det fandt jeg aldrig ud af, men rifterne på mine ben fortalte mig at det havde kostet lidt at få en bedre udsigt. Jeg har taget billeder så du kan opleve det samme som jeg. Hvad du ikke kan opleve, er glæden, spændingen og lugten selvfølgelig.

Jews Waiting for their Pessach basket

At Mt Gerizim

what is left from two temples and one Church

ruins

Highpriest praying

look close and you will see blood in his tempel

praying while lamb is getting slaughtered

Blessings, Slaughterings and more praying

putting the lamb on the spears

the spears

Var da også til en messiansk/skandinavisk Seder fejring. En middag med alle de jødiske ritualer, i midten en nadver fejring efter andet bæger vin. Musik, læsning af skriften, ritualer osv. Arrangeret af Knut og Jakob, det var en sjov oplevelse og jeg skal da lige love for at de rå peberrødder gav mig sved i panden

Hvad vil jeg huske fra min påske uge i Jerusalem?? Det kan blive sagt ret kort - Mennesker, religiøse ritualer og mennesker. Der var så mange mennesker i denne by, og alle skulle de ind i den gamle by for at se optog med kors, hellig ild etc. Den jødiske og kristne højtid faldt samtidig i år og det kunne godt mærkes. Trængslen i den gamle by var værre end Roskilde festival i Danmark. Men føler mig dog stadig priviligeret at jeg kunne være i samme by som Jesus under hans sidste dage, og har ihvertfaldt set meget af også katolsk karakter jeg aldrig ville have oplevet andre steder i verden.

Shalom all

We are now on the other side of two Jewish festivals, respectively - Purim (see Esther's book) and Easter (read the story of the Jews escape from Egypt + Jesus' last days in Jerusalem).

Purim is probably the closest to Halloween. All children,youth, adults, yes everyone is dressed up, they have special songs they give baskets to the poor, eat together. This is also the party where it is required that you have to get so drunk you can not hear the difference of- blessed be Mordecai and cursed be Haman. As many of the Orthodox Jews do not drink on a daily basis, it was quite an experience to see them walking around completely drunk. It was fun to see them walk around with different customs. I think they originally dressed up the girls as Queen Esther and the boys either as Haman or Mordechai. I did see some little princesses running around. Additionally, there was insanely many ladybugs and otherwise incredibly imaginative costumes, a big variaty. I even saw one who had dressed up like a Barbie doll still wrapped in its box. Jerusalem's streets were certainly filled with costumed people, and there was an extremely good mood. Took some pictures - ( see Danish session)

Then we also had Easter, like the rest of the world. The only difference was that the Jews had their version of Passover - Pesach where they celebrate the escape of Egypt and the Christians Jesus' suffering, death and resurrection.

I was so lucky that I got the chance to experience the closest you can get to an old Testament Jewish Passover celebration with sacrifice of lambs, etc. I took a trip to Mt Gerizim where the Samaritans live. Samaritans celebrates their own version of Passover slaughterings, their temple is not in Jerusalem but on top of Mount Gerizim. (See the story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman), Heidi, Toni, Päivi and I all four volunteers went together to the mountain, we saw the ruins of the two temples the Samaritans had had, we saw the Samaritans in their special attire and how they lived. The mountain however, was packed with tourists, Samaritans, reporters, etc - so the experience in itself was a bit disappointing because it was hard to see what was happening. But we did not give up and tried to get to the tribune for the Gentiles who were closest to the ritual slaughter. We found a place where we could sneak in, we had to go through a terrace, a dump or was it a ruin? I never figured it out, but the scars of on my legs told me it had cost a little to get a better view. I have taken pictures so you can experience the same thing as me. What you can not experience is the joy, excitement and then the smell of course.( see danish section)

I also Attended a messianic / Scandinavian Seder celebration. A dinner with all the Jewish rituals, in the middle a sacramental celebration after the second cup of wine. Music, reading of scripture, rituals, etc. Arranged by Knut and James, it was a fun experience and I would just say that the raw pepper roots gave me sweat on my forehead.

What will I remember from my Easter week in Jerusalem? It can be said quite short - people, religious rituals and people. There were so many people in this city, and all had to go to the old city to see the procession of crucifixes, holy fire, etc. The Jewish and Christian holiday fell simultaneously this year and we could clearly feel it. The amount of people in the old city was worse than a big music/drinking festival. I do however feel privileged that I could be in the same city as Jesus was in, during his last days on earth, and I have certainly seen much of also Catholic rituals I would have never experienced elsewhere in the world.

Norwegians invades Jerualem - Nordmænd invaderer Jerusalem

2011-04-27T10:40:00.000+03:00

Fra den 20. marts til den 15. april Caspari Centret havde 21 norske Teology studerende invaderer vores daglige liv og arbejde. Jeg må nok indrømme, at ændringen i den ellers så ensformige arbejdsdag, var meget velkommen. Det bragte en masse arbejde for os voluntøre. Før invationen, og efter flytningen af Caspari fik vi to voluntøre begge fra Finland til Caspari for at hjælpe os med de studerende - Päivi og Toni. Päivi joinede da også Heidi, Janne og jeg i vores Caspari lejlighed og har boet med os lige siden. Jeg må indrømme, at jeg er taknemmelig for at de var her, ellers tror jeg Heidi og jeg ville have udviklet Stress. Så tak Caspari for at være så betænksomme.
Hvad gjorde jeg under invasionen?
En af mine største opgaver var at sidde i biblioteket.Tage mig af betalinger, skrive kvitteringer og også give penge tilbage for brug af Taxa. Der undertiden viste sig at være et molboarbejde, og vores pengekasse skulle fyldes op igen og igen.
Min arbejdstid ændredes til - Weekendvagt, nattevagt og Dagvagt.Det kan virke lidt irriterende med dine øjne, men for mig som et vaske ægte "B-menneske". Var det en god forandring, jeg nød mine fridage og derefter at gå på arbejde om eftermiddagen.
Jeg må nok også indrømme, at ændringen var velkommen, og det gjorde virkelig kontorarbejdet og miløjet sjovere for mig. Men det er også godt at føle mig afslappet igen og komme tilbage til de daglige rutiner.
Jeg havde også lejlighed til at deltage i en af deres guidede ture. Heidi og jeg ledsagede dem til Qumran, En Gedi, Massada og Det Døde Hav. Her var vores opgave at forberede morgenmad, frokost, et liturgisk måltid.
Før turen, mtte vi handle på det jødiske markede for at købe alle forsyningerne. Den store taske vi havde med os, blev for alvor fyldt til lastepunktet og den var tung kan jeg sige dig. Det var hårdt at gå med tasken hele vejen tilbage til Caspari centret. Jeg er yderst taknemmelig for at tasken havde hjul ellers ville jeg have været i store problemer.
Vi havde den sjældne mulighed for at besøge en af hulerne ved Qumran, som normalt ikke er tilladt for turist grupper. Men vores guide Steve Phann havde arbejdet ved Qumran, og han havde tilladelse til at tage os til en af hulerne. Steve vidste virkelig en masse, måske for meget, men jeg er ret sikker på at vi alle lærte i hvert fald noget fra hans undervisning alligevel. Vi har også oplevet en solopgangs andagt i ægte Essene stil, med bønner, sang og mere bøn. Vi deltog ogs i et liturgisk måltid i ægte Essene stil. Det eneste problem var at Heidi og jeg havde glemt en vinoplukker og nogle af vores studerende kom op med en smart måde at åbne den udenom det lille praktiske redskab .
Her er nogle billeder fra vores tur.
Det var også afslutningen på min lille blog

God påske allesammen!

In the cave, steve showing a scroll

Lunch essene stile. at En Feshka

these you can eat, they are filled with electrolytes

Masada. for more pictures scroll down

From the 20th of march until the 15th of April Caspari Center Had 21 Norwegian Teology students invading our Daily life and work. I will have to say that the change in the otherwise so similar looking working weeks, were very much welcome. It braught alot of jobs for us as Volunteers, prior to there visit and after the Moving of Caspari we had two additional volunteers both from Finland coming to our aid, to help out with the Students - Paivi and Toni. Paivi also joined Heidi, Janne and I in our Caspari flat and has been staying there ever since. I must admit that i am gratefull the two of them where here helping out during the visit of the Students, otherwise i think Heidi and I would have developed Stress. So thank you Caspari for being so considered.

What did I have to do during the visit?
One of my major contributions to the Study group were primarily sitting in the library.
Taking care of the payments, writing checks and also giving back money for the use of Taxa. which sometimes showed to be a bit of a hassle, and our casebox had to be filled up again and again.

My working hours changed into - Weekend shift, Night shift and Day shift.
That might seem alittle anoying from your point of view, but for me being a true "B-human" as we call it in Denmark, ( Not good at mornings, and awake in the night) It was a good change, I enjoyed my days off and then heeding of for work in the afternoon.

I must also admit thought that the change was great and it really made the office work and environtment seem brighter for me. However It is also good to feel relaxed again and get back to the daily routines.

I also had the opportunity to participate in one of their guided tours, Heidi and I accompanied them to Qumran, En gedi, Massada and the Dead sea. Here our job were to prepare breakfast, lunch, a liturgical meal. before the trip we had to shop at the Jewish market to buy all the supplies, the big bag we had with us were severely loaded and heavy when we left the market to walk back to Caspari with our shoppings. I am grateful that the bag had wheels otherwise i would have been in major trouble.

We had the rare opportunity to visit one of the Caves at qumran, which is normally not allowed for turist groups. however our guide Steve Phann had worked at Qumran and he had permission to take us to one of the Caves. Steve really knew a lot, maybe too much, but i am pretty sure we all learned at least something from his teachings. We also acted a sunrise devotion in true Essene Style, with prayers, singing and more praying. Later we had to participate in a liturgical meal in true essene style as well, the only trouble was that Heidi and I had forgotten the wine bottel opener and therefore some of our students came up with a clever way to open it without the little practical tool.

Here are some pictures from our tour.

jericho rose

Liturgical meal

masada storage

sunrise service

Sunrise devotion

swimming pool at masada

in the syngagoge

Teaching

the whole group

This was also the end of my little blog.

Happy Easter everyone!

Caspari was on the move - Caspari I bevægelse

2011-04-10T15:32:00.000+03:00

Hej Allesammen

Jeg tror, at det er på tide at jeg skriver om flytningen af vort kontor. Ja mine damer og herre Caspari har flyttet adresse fra Jaffa street til HaNeviim street. Det betyder for mig personligt, at halvdelen af min tid her på Caspari har været koncentreret om, eller er blevet påvirket af - Flytningen. Endelig efter måneders planlægning, pakning og udpakning er vi her i den nye bygning placeret lige ved siden af Bikur Holim Hospitalet - og få minutter fra Mea Shearim som er det Religiøse jødiske kvarter i Jerusalem.

Mit job i denne proces har været at tælle vort lager, lave æsker, mærkering af kasser, pakke i kasser, flytte kasser og udpakke kasserne plus genudfolding af kasserne, slippe af med kasserne og selfølgelig stable kasser og flytte dem fra det ene rum til det andet, indtil kassen nåede det rigtige sted. Kort sagt i ugevis var mit liv - I kasser - Jeg har fået boksfobi, og hver gang jeg ser en boks enten kløer det i mine fingre for at pakke den ud, eller jeg ønsker at flygte så langt væk som muligt. Selv fra hvor jeg nu sidder kan jeg se ufærdige bokse # Sukker #

Jeg tog billeder, så du kan få en ide om hvad det vil sige at flytte et bibliotek - vi har måske mere end 6000 bøger og alle skulle flyttes til det nye bibliotek.
Selve flytte dagen var en hård nyser, teamet på Caspari måtte flytte måske omkring 500 kasser fra tredje sal ned i Knuts store bil, og derefter tog holdet på det nye Caspari kasserne ind i det nye Caspari, stablede dem på rigtige sal, i rette værelser mv. Det er vel ikke ndvendigt at sige at vi flere dage efter stadig kunne mærke effekten i vore ben, ryg og arme.
Hvad godt har flytningen gjort for Caspari?
1) Vi er tættere på det Jødiske samfund i Jerusalem
2) Biblioteket er måske tre gange så stort som det gamle bibliotek (Jeg har ingen idé om, hvordan den samme mængde af bøger nogensinde kunne have passet ind i vores gamle Caspari - Det er ikke så mærkeligt, at det var som om bøgerne ville angribe dig når du befandt dig i det gamle Bibliotek og gik omkring i de smalle passager i biblioteket på jagt efter bøger)
3) Næsten alle de ansatte har et kontor hver.
4) Vi er beliggende i samme bygning som andre organisationer og menigheder (Christian Mission Alliance Church, Etiopisk Menighed, en Koreansk menighed, Arabisk menighed.
5) Vores Internationale studerende kan bo i samme bygning i nogle af værelserne.
6) Vi har en kirke hvor vi kan huse forelæsninger, vi har klasseværelser til seminarer mm.
Hvad savner jeg fra det gamle sted?
1) Stedet er så meget større, og vores kontorer er spredt på tre forskellige placeringer - hvilket betyder, at jeg ikke ser mine kolleger så ofte som før.
2) Jeg har en længere rute til posthuset end før, det gamle kontor var meget mere centralt.
3) Så savner jeg vores sanger (okay han kan ikke synge, det lyder mere som messende sætninger hver gang nogen går forbi) Pjat jeg savner ham over hovedet ikke - jeg er glad for at komme mig væk fra den evige umusikale stemme der bliver ved hele dagen lang.
Det var min beretning om: flytningen, fordele og min involvering i processen.

All our many many boxes

moving day / we had help from Jews for Jesus, and Heidi's friends from Norway

packing inventory

I am tired of Boxes

Marking boxes

Hi Everybody

I believe it is about time that I write about the move of my office. Yes ladies and gentleman Caspari has moved the adress from Jaffa street unto HaNeviim street. This means for me personally that half my time here at Caspari has been concentrating on, or been affected by The Move. Finally after month of planning, packing, and unpacking we are here in the new Building placed right next to Bikur Holim Hospital - and few minutes from Mea Shearim which is the Religious Jewish Quarter in Jerusalem.

My Job in this moving process has been to count stock, make boxes, mark boxes, pack in boxes, move the boxes and unpack the boxes plus remake the boxes, get rid of the boxes and ofcause stack the boxes and move them from one room to another until it reached the right destination. In short for weeks my life was A Box - I have got box issues, and everytime i see a box i am either itching to unpack it or I want to flee as far way as possible. Even from where I am now seated I can still see unfinished boxes #Sighing#
I took pictures so you can have an Idea as to what it means to move a Library - we have perhaps more than 6000 books and all of them had to be moved to the new library.

The moving day itself was tough, the team at Caspari had to move maybe around 500 boxes plus inventory from third floor down into Knuts big car, and then the team at the New Caspari had to move the boxes into the new caspari stacking them on the right floor, into he right rooms etc. Neadless to say several days after we could still feel the impact on our legs, backs and arms.

What good has the move done to Caspari?
1) We are closer to the Jewish community in Jerusalem
2) The library is maybe three times as big as the old Library ( I have no idea how the same amount of books could ever have fit into our old Caspari, I guess it is not so strange that it looked like the books would attack you when you entered the old Library and walked the narrow pathways of the Library searching for books)
3) almost all the staff have an office each.
4) we are situated in the same building as other organizations and congregations ( Christian Mission Alliance, Ethiopic congregation, a Korean congregation, Arabic congregation.
5) Our International students can live in the same building in some of the Dorms.
6) We have a church where we can house Open lectures, we have Class rooms for Seminars etc.

What do I miss from the old place?
1) the place is so much bigger, and our offices are spread in three different locations - meaning that I dont see my colleagues as often as before.
2) I have a longer route to the postoffice than before, and the old office were much more central.
3) Then I miss our terrible singer ( okay he cannot sing, its more like chanting a sentence everytime someone passes by) Kidding i dont miss him at all - I am delighted to get away from the neverending unmusical voice going on all day long.

That was my account on: The move, the benefits and my involvement in the process.

Just see the height

packing into poxes

You get stronger

Hebraisk og nye venner - Hebrew Class and new Friends

2011-03-13T13:58:00.005+02:00

Hej kære læsere

Siden mine forældre besøgte mig er der sket en masse nye ting.

Jeg er blandt andet begyndt I Ulpan, to aftener om ugen forsøger jeg mig på at læse, skrive og tale dette anderledes sprog Hebraisk. Nye bogstaver osv. - trygte og skrevne er selvfølgelig forskellig bare for at gøre det nemmere for os studerende. Men fremad går det da, og i et ret så raskt tempo.

Min første time var lidt mindre sindsyg end min første Arabisk time. * se forrige indlæg * Det var anderledes på den måde, at alt foregik på Hebraisk fra den første stund til vi forlod lokalet tre timer senere. Hun brugte håndbevægelser og tegninger til at forklare alt, medens på Arabisk blev alt gjort med engelsk som det forklarende sprog. Min lærerinde er meget motiverende, dygtig og fuld af krudt og humør. Hvilket betyder, at vi har mange gode stunder sammen, hun kan bl.a få hele klassen til at synge grammatik, og allerede efter den første time, kunne hun alle vores navne. Det har ikke været mindre imponerende siden da hun kan huske, hvor alle hendes elever er fra, hvad de gør her, og om de har børn eller ej. Hun bruger denne viden på klassen ved at se på personen, hver gang deres land eller profession bliver berørt.

Heidi fra finland fortalte mig at nogen tid efter hun havde stoppet i Ulpan, mødte hun hendes lærer inde i byen og hun kunne stadig huske hende, hvor hun fra fra også videre. De må virkelig have trænet en masse, de har nok mindst fire hold pr. år, samt de underviser på Hebrew University ved siden af Ulpan. Det kunne vi andre der har svært ved bare at huske et enkelt nyt navn da godt lære lidt af synes jeg.

Jeg savner nu lidt den megen fokus på det talte sprog fra Arabisk, det går langsommere når du skal lære at skrive, læse osv. Men jeg kan nu alle bogstaver på tryg og ved skrift, så nu er det bare med at lære så mange ord som muligt. Hvis du ikke vidste det før så bruger de ikke vokaler hernede, det jo ikke nødvendigt, du kan jo bare lære alle valgmuligheder udenad og så er vokaler jo bare spild af tid ( hvis du fornemmer en smugle sarkasme, så var det med fuldt overlæg fra min side)

Ud over min imponerende lærer, så er det altid rart at møde nye ansigter.
Der er så mange nationaliteter repræsenteret på mit hold, for at give et eksempel er der: russere, tyskere, britter, brasilianere, amerikanere, sydkoreanerne, polakker - ja listen er lang. Sidste uge havde jeg aftalt med to unge damer fra mit hold, at vi skulle ud og spise sammen i løbet af ugen. De ville virkelig gerne med, de er voluntøre som jeg. De er dog fra tyskland (Du må jo tage lidt gas på vores naboer) Da dagen kom, havde jeg inviteret endnu en ny ven til at komme med os. Hun arbejder på Mahase (Jeg ved ikke hvordan det staves), hvor Louise havde hendes praktik. Vi havde mødt hinanden under en forelæsning på den Finske skole i Jeruslem. Hendes navn er Lisbeth og er dansker. Så vi stod og ventede på de to tyskere, men i stedet for to - ankom der fire. De havde inviteret to af deres venner med og dermed skete det, at vi seks piger spiste frokost sammen. Det var dejligt at møde nye mennesker, og også at få maden serveret for dig. Nogen gange har selv en voluntør brug for lidt luksus.

Det var nogle af nyhederne i mit liv. Lehitraot eller toartihel (på hebraisk læser du fra den anden retning)

Hello Dear readers

Since my parents visited me a lot of new things has happened. Among other things then I have started in an Ulpan, two evenings each week - I attempt to read, write and speak this strange language Hebrew. New letters, in both Print and written Hebrew, Ofcause it has to be different just to make it all easier for us students. But I am progression slowly, while the lessons progress in a quick tempo.

My first lesson was a tad less crazy than my first Arabic lession. * see previous blog * It was different in the sense, that everything is in Hebrew from the lesson begins and until it ends three hours later. Our teacher she uses hand gestures and drawings to explain everything, but in Arabic everything was done with English as the explanatory language. My Teacher is really motivating,clever and full of energy and humor, which means that we have many good times together. She can fx. get the entire class to sing grammar, and already after the first lesson, she could say all of our names. It has not become less impressive since the first lesson. She can remember where all her students are from, what they do and whether they have children or not. Which she uses in class by looking at each of us every time their country or profession is being touched upon in the sessions.

Heidi from Finland told me that long after she had stopped in her Ulpan, she met her teacher in town and she could still remember Heidi. They must really have trained alot, they have at least four teams each year, and they teach at Hebrew University as well as in the Ulpan. All of us having trouble just remembering one single name, could learn alot from them.

I miss the much focus on the spoken language from Arabic, the paze is slower when you have to learn to read, write and speak. But I have now learned all the letters in print and written. Now its just on me to learn as many words by heart as possible. If you did not know it then they dont use vowels in Hebrew, Its not necessary when you can learn all the possible combinations by heart. Then vowels are simply a waste of time. (If you sense a hidden sarcasm, then its on purpose from my side)

In addition to my impressive teacher, then it is always nice to meet new faces. There are so many nationalities represented on my team, to give an example there are: Russians, Germans, British, Brazilians, americans, South Koreans, Polish - yes the list is long. Last week I had arranged with two young ladies from my team, that we should go out and eat together during the week. They would really like to come, they are volunteers like me. they are form germany though( you have to make some Jokes on behalf of our neighbooring country) When the day arrived, I had invited another new friend to go with us. She works at Mahase ( I do not know how it is spelled) where Louise was doing her internship. We had met each other during a lecture given at the Finish school in Jeruslem. Her name is Lisbeth and a Dane. So the two of us where waiting for the two Germans to arrive, but instead of two - four arrived. They had invited two of their friends and thus it happened that us six girls had lunch together. It was so great to meet new people, and also to have the foot made for you.

Sometimes even a volunteer needs some luxury.

It was some of the news in my life. Lehitraot or toartihel (In hebrew you reed from the other way)

Lisbeth er pigen længst til højre. --- Lisbeth is the girl furthest to the right side.

Mine klassekammerater - Silvi og Marlese. -- My fellow class mates - Silvi and Marlese.

Hele gruppen. Vi bestilte mange retter og delte alt ---- The whole group. we ordered several courses and split it all.

Fortsættelsen - The continuation

2011-02-22T12:40:00.001+02:00

Shalom!

Så er det endelig blevet tid til at vise billeder fra et fantastisk land - rigt på naturiske og historiske oplevelser.

De næste billeder blev taget på vores tur til Massada, Et stort fort ( badeland) midt i ingenmands land.

Once again it is time to show pictures from a fantastic country - Rich on Nature and Historic experiences.

These Next pictures was taken on our trip to Massada, a great fortress ( Bathehouse) in the middle of nowhere.

Udsigen fra Massada, Der var bygget på en afsides liggende klippetop i ørkenen. - The view from Massada, it was built on top of a lonely cliff in the desert.

Her midt i ørkenen er vand en sjældenhed, men Herodes designede et vandsystem så der altid ville være vand på toppen af klippen. - Dette er blot en af de store cisterner hvorfra beboerne kunne hente vand. Herodes byggede endda en masse svmming pools, der var sågar varme i gulvet. Fantastisk. - Here in the middle of the dessert water is scarce, but Herod made a clever designed water system -this is just one of the cisterns where the inhabitans could gather the water they needed. Herod had built a lot of swimming pools in this place, there was even heat in the floors. Amazing.

Ja der var virkelig langt op til massada. --- There really was a long way to the top.

Så tog vi da også til det Døde hav, det er altid en god tur, uheldigvis var vejret ikke med os og min familie følte ikke for at prøve det salte mineralfyldte vand --Then we went to the Dead sea, its always a nice trip to take, unfortunately the weather wasn't so good and my family didnt feel like trying out the salty mineral filled water.

Diskusion om Hvad vi skal finde på ved det laveste punkt i verden - At the lowest place in the world discussing what to do next

Hvad gør man ved det døde hav hvis vejret er dårlig? køber mudder selvfølgelig. - What do you do if the weather at the Dead sea is terrible? you buy mud of cause.

Efter at have diskuteret frem og tilbage valgte vi at køre videre og se Sodoma. desværre var det for mørkt til at mit kamera kunne tage billeder. Vi så en meget høj statue af Lots hustru, hvis det er sandt så må hun virkelig have været den højeste kvinde jeg nogensinde har set. Ej jeg har svært ved at købe den historie - When we had discussed what to do we came to the conclusion that we wanted to travel further south to see Sodom. Unfortunately is was too dark for my Camera to be able of taking a picture. We saw a very tall Statuet of Lots wife, If that is so, then she must really have been the tallest woman I have ever seen. No that story is not something I will be able to Buy.

Den næste dag rejste vi nordpå og naturen ændrede sig drastiskt fra den golde rken til de grønne marker og den fantastisk sø Genneserat. Den første destination var Tiberias, så tog vi til Nazareth hvor vi blev fanget i trafikken, og endelig til Megiddo for at se den gamle ruin. The next day we traveled up north and the nature changed drastically from the dead Desert to the green fields and wonderful lake Kinnerat. The first destination was Tiberias, then we went to Nazareth and got stock in the trafic, then we went to Tel Megiddo to see the old ruin.

Søen under dårligt vejr I Tiberias. For mig personligt, siden jeg bor i en storby som Jerusalem, var det at se grønne marker og vand meget forfriskende.--The lake during bad weather in Tiberias. For me personally living in a big city like Jerusalem, seing green pastures and water is truly refreshing.

Markerne ved Armagedon. - The fields of Harmageddon

Ja smukt ser det ud, det er slet ikke til at forstå at det er i det samme land som sydpå. Beautiful right? Its hard to imagine that it is the same country as the dessert in south.

Hvad kunne være bedre end at være på et bjerg under solnedgang, God timing. Dette er Tel Megiddo. - What could be better than being on a mountain during sunset. Nice timing! This is Tel megiddo.

En af de mange kirker i Nazareth - One of the many churches In Nazareth.

Nazareth. - The city of Nazareth

Den næste dag var Nytårs aften. Men vi besluttede at tage til Maktest Ramon et unikt natur fænomen der kun ligger i Israel. Vi tog til Be'er Sheva for at se, hvor Abraham boede, og så tilbragte vi Nytårst nat i Be'er Sheva, selv om det var nytårsaften var det stadig shabbat så alt var lukket, du så ingen fyrværkeri. Efter langtids søgen fandt vi et sted, hvor vi kunne spise sammen. Den næste dag var den sidste dag og min families sidste i Israel, og vi tog til Oliebjerget.-- The next day was New years evening. But we decided to go to Maktest Ramon a unique nature fenomenon only located in Israel. We went to Beer sheva to see where Abraham used to live, and then we spent New years night in Beer sheva, even if it was new years eve it was still Shabbat so everything was closed, you saw no firework. after a long searched we found a place where we could eat together. The next day was the last day of my families stay in Israel, and we went to The mount of Olives.

Historien om Abrahams ophold I Be'er Sheva. Billedet viser hvordan byen så ud engang i tidernes morgen. -- The story of Abraham's stay in Be'er sheva. The picture is how the city looked like once upon a time.

Ruinerne af byen. -- The ruins of the City.

Det er mærkeligt at tænke på at dagen før var alting grønt nu er det hele sand ørken. Its strange to imagine that the day before everything was green but now its sand dessert covering the view.

Et meget specielt bjerg. Her bliver femkantede sten presset ud fra undergrunden. - A very peculiar mountain. Here pentagonic rocks are forced out from the ground.

Maktesh Ramon. Et stort krater i midten af ingenting. Det ligner et landskab fra en anden planet. Forskellige mineraler farver sandet i forskellige farver. -- Maktesh Ramon. A big crater in the middle of nowhere. It looks like a landscape on a different planet. Different minerals colors the sand of this place.

En kamel på toppen af oliebjerget. -- A camel on top of The Mount of olives.

Vi nåede endelig slutningen på vores turne, Min mor kunne godt lide at være på Oliebjerget, eller også var hun glad for at turneen var overstået. - We finally reached the end of the tour, My mother liked to be on the mount of Olives, Or she was happy that the tour was finally over.

Lehitraot!

fotomontage fra min israel tur 2010-11 - photomontage from my Israel tour 2010-2011

2011-02-07T10:54:00.001+02:00

Hej læsere.

Jeg har besluttet at denne blog skal indeholde billeder fra de steder jeg besøgte med min familie, ellers bliver jeg aldrig færdig. der er så meget at se hernede, og man oplever hele tiden noget i dette lille land.

Hi Readers

I have decided that this blog will contain pictures from the places I visited with my family, otherwise I will never finish my stories. there are so much to see here, and you experience stuff all the time in this small country.

Den anden dag i dette land, ville min familie og jeg til Betlehem for at opleve Jul i den by, hvor Jesus blev født. Efter at have spist brunch på altanen i min lejlighed, tog vi den arabiske bus til byen - altid en oplevelse for nybegyndere. Vi fandt den rette bus til Bethelehem, men vi var ikke de eneste, der havde besluttet at gøre det -bussen var pakket med mennesker, der ønskede at tilbringe Jul i Betlehem. Vi ankom til Betlehem og de mange mennesker i gaderne, var ganske overvældende.

The second day in this country, my family and I went to Bethlehem to experience chrismas in the city, where Jesus was born. After having eaten brunch on the balcony of my flat, we took the Arab bus to the city - Always an experience for newcomers. We found the right bus to take us to Bethelehem, however we were not the only ones having decided to go there- the bus were packed with people wanting to spend chrismas in Bethlehem. Finally we arrived in Bethlehem and the multitude in the streets where quite overwhelming.

Der var konkerter, Parader og flere tusind mennsker - mindst! There were concerts, parades and people by the thousands at least.

Vi besøgte en kirke til en af minoritets grupperne - Jeg tror ikke den gruppe eksistere mere i hjemlandet - men her i Israel kan man finde alle slags. We also visited one of the churches of a minority group - I dont even think they exist in there own country anymore, but here in Israel you can find everything.

Så skulle min familie da også lige have lov til at opleve en israelsk checkpoint. Then of cause my family had to experience an Israeli checkpoint.


Julemiddagen nød vi godt af på et hotel i bethlehem. For en voluntør der lever af brød og hummus, var det himmelsk endelig at få noget god mad. The chrismas dinner we enjoyed in one of the hotels in Bethelehem. For a volunteer living of bread and hummus, it was like heaven to finally get some good food.


Den næste dag gik vi til den gamle by i Jerusalem, vi vandrede i gaderne, og så nogle af de steder man skal se derinde. I sidste ende blev vi trætte, fordi gaderne i den gamle by er forfærdelige for fusserne. Derfor fandt vi denne restaurant med en virkelig fed udsigt over den gamle by. På billedet tager min søster billeder af den gamle by.	The next day we went to the Old city in Jerusalem, we wandered in the streets, and saw some of the sites in there. In the end we got tired because the streets of the old city can do that to you, and we found this Restaurant with a really greet view over the old city. On the photo my sister is taking pictures of the view.

Udsigten - The view

Dette er ikke udsigten over byen - dette er en kopi af Det gamle Jerusalem - This is not the view over the city - This is a copy of the old Jerusalem


Israels museet. Dette rum er atombeskyttet og rummet indeholder Esajas rullen ( Det vil sige den var der engang, men nu er der kun en kopi) The Israeli museum with the shrine of the scroll. The room you see is protected from even atom bombs and the room contains the Isaiah scrolls ( or used too, now there is a copi instead)

Vi besøgte protestanternes Golgata med Gravhave, -We visited the protestants Golgatha with garden tomb.

Og herved afsluttes min første fotomontage fra Israel tour 2010-2011. Hereby ends my first photomontage from the Israel tour 2010-2011

In the most boring Airport in the world and The beginning of the adventure of the Fantastic five Danish Vikings

2011-01-04T15:49:00.003+02:00

I am behind in my chain of blogs, it has got its reasons - My family (four of them) visited me for eleven days.
While they were here we traveled around seeing this amazingly rich country in nature and historical treasures, meaning that I have a lot of visits to account to you all - I will take one adventure at the time.

The story begins like this ---.

Once upon a time a young lady was traveling from Jerusalem to Ben-Guryon airport to greet her family there. Little did she know that her Parents had missed their airplane in Turkey, when she was almost at the airport her phone began to ring --- We missed our airplane we will be coming around 2 o'clock in the night. Instead of taking with a Nesher back to Jerusalem she choose to wait in the airport - let us just say she suffers a little from her Jutlandic - save money, mentality.

She was a bit confused concerning the family not reaching their airplane- usually they were particularly punctual - so how could it happen that they missed their Airplane? -Mother nature had intervened in their travel plans. It had taken longer to reach Turkey than planned, they had before hand asked if the agency was sure they could reach the next plane in Turkey if they took this flight - yes was the answer, but it showed to be untrue, and the family had to spend several hours in the airport in Turkey.

The young lady spend eight almost nine hours in the most boring Airport in the world. They had no benches, no rooms you could rent, not a big choice of stores. So what do you do when you are sitting nine hours in such a boring place? --- You Eat. lucky for her, she had brought her laptop with enough power to last three hours. Thanks to Ben Guryon for Internet access in the airport. After eight hours her family arrived to the Airport, it would take an hour before they had found their belongings and entered the arrival hall, where the very eager, tired and bored young woman greeted them with a balloon saying: Welcome. Why the balloon? After all the waiting, and the thought of her families frustrations over the long flight to Israel, she felt a strong need to find something half funny and half frustrated item to showcast their annoyance with the transportation system.

The four family members started there adventure in Israel with more than an hour long drive in a Nesher (Airport taxa),on bumpy roads and in higher speed than what they were used to from the Danish Traffic. Nevertheless, they survived the experience and arrived safe and sound in the young ladies apartment. - That was the first night of their visit.

When the family arose the next morning the country of Israel had chosen to show itself from its best side-The sun was shining from a clear heaven and the family could spend their first day, sitting outside eating breakfast. For the family coming from a snow-filled cold Denmark, it was the best gift they could have had. Then they decided that they wanted to see the city, and so they left to find an Arabic Bus. They started up by visiting The young ladies Work. They were met with an office on the verge of moving into new facilities. Yes ladies and Gentlemen the Caspari center is moving to bigger and hopefully greener pastures. Hurray!

The adventures saw the newer part of the city, they saw the Old city and finally the party of five reached the Western wall. The men went to their part of the wall and the three ladies left for the women's part of the wall. They found that the women for some reason had to back out of the sacred sight. While the three ladies where waiting for the men to return form the visit to the western wall, something unforeseen happened. The place was packed with tourist, packed with stern looking black coated Ortodox Jews, and heavily armed Soldiers. Then in this tense atmosphere a group of Jewish men burst out in Song, while dancing around in a circle. The group was very diverse from old to young people, from Ortodox Jews to soldiers with their weapons in place. This group started the dancing, and from all over the place Jewish men started to join the rejoicing. Why believe the story to be true - create your own opinion from this video.

I appologise for the poorly held camera, but close your eyes and just listen to the sound. - Jeg beklager den ringe kamera kvalitet, men luk dine øjne og lyt til lyden.

After they had seen this Rejoicing, they went to a guided tour in the Western wall tunnel.

The tunnel exposes a total length of 485 m of the wall, revealing the methods of construction and the various activities in the vicinity of the Temple Mount^. The excavations included many archaeological finds along the way, including discoveries from the Herodian period (streets, monumental masonry), sections of a reconstruction of the Western Wall dating to the Umayyad period, and various structures dating to the Ayyubid, Mamluke and Hasmonean periods constructed to support buildings in the vicinity of the Temple Mount.Warren's Gate" lies about 150 feet into the tunnel. This sealed-off entrance has been turned into a small synagogue called "The Cave", since it is the closest point a Jew can get to the Holy of holies, assuming it was located at the traditional site under the Dome of the Rock At the northern portion of the Western Wall, remains of a water channel, which originally supplied water to the Temple Mount, were found. The exact source of the channel is unknown, though it passes through an underground pool known as the Strouthion pool. The water channel was dated to the Hasmonean period and was accordingly dubbed the Hasmonean channel. The biggest stone in the Western Wall often called the Western stone is also revealed within the tunnel and ranks as one of the heaviest objects ever lifted by human beings without powered machinery. The stone has a length of 13.6 meters and an estimated width of between 3.5 and 4.5 meters; estimates place its weight at 570 short tons.

This Was some information about the tunnel, if you have never been there you should take the time to do so, it gives you an insight into how important the Temple is to the Jews, and helps you understand the conflict in Israel. Hang on as the journey continues for the five Adventures.

that will be the the Western stone - dette er vest stenen

There is a person standing in one end and i am taking the picure in the other end of the long stone - Der er en person der står i enden af billedet og mig der tager billedet i den anden ende af den lange sten.

long under the streets of the old city - langt neden under den gamle bys gader

I found my very own balcony - its supposed to be the womens balcony of the synagoge underground - Jeg fandt min egen Balkon - Det skulle være kvindernes balkon i den underjordiske synagoge.

Jeg er bagud i min kæde af blogs, det har sin grund - Min familie (fire af dem) besøgte mig i elleve dage.
Mens de var her rejste vi rundt for at se dette utroligt rige land i naturistiske og historiske skatte, hvilket betyder at jeg har en masse at berette til jer alle - Jeg vil tage et eventyr af gangen.

Historien begynder sådan her ---.

Der var Engang en ung dame på vej fra Jerusalem til Ben-Guryon lufthavn for at hente sin familie der. Hvordan kunne hun vide, at hendes forældre havde misset deres fly i Tyrkiet. Da hun næsten var i lufthavnen begyndte hendes telefon at ringe --- Vi missede vores fly vi vil ankomme omkring 2 i nat. I stedet for at tage med en Nesher tilbage til Jerusalem valgte hun at vente i lufthavnen - lad os bare sige at hun lider lidt fra hendes jyske - spar penge, mentalitet.

Hun var en smule forvirret over at hendes familie ikke nåede deres fly-de var som regel ret punktlige. - så hvordan kunne det ske at de missede deres fly? -Moder natur havde interveneret i deres rejseplaner. Det havde taget længere tid at nå frem til Tyrkiet end planlagt, de havde før turen spurgt, om rejseselskabet var sikker paa at de kunne nå det næste fly i Tyrkiet, hvis de tog turen - ja var svaret, men det viste sig at være usandt, og familien tilbragte flere timer i lufthavnen i Tyrkiet.

Den unge dame tilbragte otte næsten ni timer i den mest kedelige lufthavn i verden. De havde ingen bænke, ingen værelser du kunne leje, ikke et stort udvalg af butikker. Så hvad gør du, når du sidder ni timer pået saa kedelig sted? --- Du spiser. Heldigvis, havde hun medbragt hendes Computer, med strøm nok til at vare tre timer. Tak til Ben Guryon for internet adgang i lufthavnen. Efter otte timer ankom familien til lufthavnen, det tog en time før de havde fundet deres ejendele og kom ind i ankomsthallen, hvor en meget ivrig og træt ung kvinde hilste dem med en ballon hvor der stod: Velkommen. Hvorfor ballonen? Efter alt den ventende, og tanken om hendes families frustrationer over den lange flyvetur til Israel, følte hun et stærkt behov for at finde noget halv sjovt og halv frustrerende ting for at vise alle fems frustrationer over den megen venten
De fire familie medlemmer startede deres eventyr i Israel, med mere end en time lang køretur i en Nesher (Airport taxa), på hullede veje og i højere hastighed, end hvad devar vant til fra det danske Trafik billede. Men de overlevede den kedelige oplevelse og ankom i god behold i den unge dames lejlighed

Det var den første nat af deres besøg.

Da familien stod op næste morgen, havde Israel valgt at vise sig fra sin bedste side-Solen skinnede fra en klar himmel, og familien kunne tilbringe deres første dag med at spise morgenmad udenfor. For familien, der kom direkte fra det snefyldte kolde Danmark, var det den bedste gave, de kunne opleve. Så de besluttede at de ville se byen, og de gik for at finde en arabisk Bus. De startede op ved at besøge Den unge dams arbejde. De blev mødt af et kontor på nippet til at flytte til nye fasciliteter. Ja mine damer og herre, Caspari centret er ved at flytte til større og forhåbentlig grønnere græsgange. Hurra!

Eventyrne så den nyere del af byen, de så den gamle by og til sidst ankom de fem til Vestmuren.. Mændene gik til deres del af muren og de tre damer til kvindernes del af muren. Her fandt de ud af at kvinder af en eller anden grund var nødt til at bakke ud for at forlade det Hellige sted. Mendens de tre dame ventede på de to mænd, skete der noget uforudset. Stedet var pakket med turister, pakket med sortklædte alvorlige Ortodoxe jøder, og tungt bevæbnede soldater. Så i denne spændte atmosfære brød en gruppe ud i sang, mens de dansede rundt i en rundkreds. Gruppen var meget forskellig fra gamle til unge, fra Ortodoxe jøder til soldater med deres våben på rette sted. Denne gruppe startede med at danse, og fra hele stedet, begyndte jødiske mænd at slutte sig til dansen. Hvorfor tro at historien er sand - se det med egne briller udfra videoen. ( se engelsk afdelingen)

Efter oplevelsen med de Dansende fyre, tog familien videre og tog paa dered guidede tur i Vestmurs tunnelen.

Tunnelen har en samlet længde på 48 m, den afslører konstruktionsmetoder og de forskellige aktiviteter i nærheden af Tempelbjerget. Udgravningerne omfattede mange arkæologiske fund undervejs, herunder opdagelser fra Herodianske periode (gader, monumentale murværk), dele af en rekonstruktion af den vestlige mur dateret til den umayyadiske periode, og forskellige strukturer dateret til Ayyubidisk, Mamlukisk bygget og Hasmonæisk perioder. Warren 's Gate "ligger omkring 150 meter inde i tunnelen. Denne afspærrede indgang er blevet forvandlet til en lille synagoge kaldet" The Cave ", da det er det nærmeste punkt en Jøde kan nå til det allerhelligste, hvis den ellers var placeret på den traditionelle hjemmeside under Klippemoskeen. I den nordlige del af den vestlige mur, er der rester efter en vandkanal, som oprindelig leverede vand til Tempelbjerget. Den nøjagtige kilde til kanalen er ukendt, selvom det passerer gennem en underjordisk kilde kendt som Strouthion pool. Den største sten i den vestlige mur oftest kaldet den Vestlige sten er også afsløret i tunnellen og rangerer som en af de tungeste objekter nogensinde løftet af mennesker uden strøm maskiner Stenen har en længde på 13,6 meter og en anslået bredde på mellem 3,5 og 4,5 meter. Anslåes at veje 570 tons.

Det var nogle oplysninger om tunnelen, hvis du aldrig har været der, bør du tage dig tid til at gøre det. Det giver dig et indblik i hvor vigtig Templet er for jøderne, og hjælper dig med at forstå konflikten i Israel. Hæng på, medens turen fortsætter for de fem Eventyrere.

the western wall - Vestmuren

celebrating Hanukkah in Jerusalem - At Fejre Hanukkah I Jerusalem

2010-12-12T17:56:00.002+02:00

Happy Chrisnukkah everyone.

I guess it Has been a while since I wrote last time, It has its reasons though - I have a much too good time here and too much to do. I take It as a sign that I am begining to feel at home in my new environments.

I thought I would share with you all, what I have experienced during the holiday hanukkah. In Europe you are celebrating Christmas - I see no evidens of Christmas in this city, the closest thing is the chocolate wrapped in santa claus paper, but you can buy it all year round, so its not like its a sign that Chrismas is here. However instead of Christmas I have experienced yet another holiday in Israel - Hanukkah, which I must say, I find cozy and to some extent the Hanukkah Decorations reminds me a bit of Chrismas time in Denmark. The nine lights in the hanukkiah, they light one every night for Eight days in total. They have certain songs they sing while lighting the lights, which reminds me of the Chrismas songs we sing while we walk around the chrismas three - ( or tries to, due to the vast amount of food in our bellies).

The first Day of Hanukkah, Heidi and I was told by Rita ( one of my collegues at Caspari) that we should go to the Jewish quarter in the old city and see all the hanukkias in the windows. Therefore we ventured into the Old city to see what the fuss was all about. First we had to find the Jewish quarter and once we got there we were not disapointed. we had finally arrived to the quarter, and then we heard Music - it was no carolls or the usual religious songs, no it was the soundtrack from the pirates of the Carribean. We thought it was strange and approach the sight. We arrived and we saw this lightshow with different symbols, Hebrew writings ect. Ortodox Jewish kids were dancing around in smoke, while the soundwaves and lightshow were lighting up the area. unfortunately we had arrived a bit to late, and few minutes later it all died out. Nevertheless I thought it was an interesting experience. If nothing else just witnessing the happines of the children, and all the Jews in great spirit because of the holiday.

On the second day of Hanukkah, Heidi and I had been invited to take part in the Hanukkah ritual at the Bible society, where Heidi worked last year. They said they would wait until we arrived and then we could light the candles together and sing the traditional songs, and eat greasy Donuts. When work finished we walked to the bible society, and together with the customers, guests and personal we lighted the candles, sang the very happy songs, and were almost being drowned in donuts. I Had a wonderful time there, and i really liked the happy songs, while they walked around the Hanukkiah. So thank you so much Heidi for visiting your old job, and thank you to the bible society to make it possible for a curious Dane to experience this Hannukah ritual.  As I was walking home from the bible society, I came to Zion square where the streets had been barred, and a scene been set up. the square was filled with Military personal, and on the stage a military band was playing to celebrate Hanukkah. It was interesting to see, although I must admit that so many soldiers in such a small space, was a bit overwhelming.

Friday Heidi and I had been invited to visit one of our colegues from the Jericho project, it was my first visit to an Arabic family, Therefore I was really excited to go. We had to travel to a city called Bet Said ???, which is location outside of Ramallah. The building in which she lived in, Heidi used to live in when she worked in Israel, so it was a memorable day for her to see her old flat again. What can I say about my visit to these two families - the first thing popping into my mind is - FOOD IN ABUNDANCE. The next thing popping into mind are - FRIENDLY PEOPLE and GREAT STORIES about there lives. The food part is easy to explain, but hard to experience. Our host had first made this national dish called Mac cluba ( I am not sure about the spelling, but that's how it sounds to me) Rice and chicken. So we sad with her family and ate this special dish, we came in the morning and stayed until night time. During this time period various supplies were put unto the table - fruit, cookies, vegetables, more fruit and more cookies. It was insane, then after we had visited our colleague, we went upstairs to visit another family, Heidi knew them from last year. Ironically just as we arrived they were about to eat supper, and guess what? they were having mac - cluba again. So here we sat down with this new family and had supper with them. i didn't even have to eat breakfast the next morning, I was still stuffed. The friendly part is easy to explain as well, both families were very sociable, they treated us well and they made us feel at home almost immediately. The decoration in the two homes were very different, in the first home there were less stuff, more European in style and four people. In the next home the place was littered with colors, pillows, knitted patterns and decorations. They had tons of kids, and while we were there guests arrived and the home were packed with people. Despite the difference on the inside, their hospitality and warmth were very similar. Both families were believers, and they had some fantastic stories, out of safety for the families I cannot give them to you, but I can tell you they were interesting.

Saturday I went to Jericho to help out. One of the girls had birthday, so we celebrated that. My job was to talk to the girls in English for 15 minutes, it showed to be a bit difficult, they are not used to verbal English, so it was difficult to get the communication flowing. Heidi and I have a plan though for next time, we hope it will work out. They had arranged another event for the girls, the decoration of glass, with homemade lights in various colors inside. I thought it was a good and cozy day.

That was my experiences during Hanukkah, I could have continued - but at some point you have to stop.

Bye for now - and happy Christmas everyone.

the explores - eventyrene

bible society

fat Donuts

This years christmas three

light show

outside the synagoge

thats a hanukkiah, Dette er hanukkia'er

Glædelig Chrisnukkah alle sammen

Det er længe siden jeg skrev sidste gang, det har sine grunde - Jeg har en alt for god tid her, og for meget at gøre. Jeg tager det som et tegn på, at jeg begynder at føle sig hjemme i mine nye omgivelser.

Jeg tror, jeg vil dele med jer, hvad jeg har oplevet i løbet af festen Hanukkah. I Europa bliver der fejret jul - Jeg ser ikke nogen vidnesbyrd om jul i denne by, det tætteste er chokolade indpakket i julemands papir, men du kan købe det hele året rundt, så det er ikke ligefrem et tegn på, at Chrismas er her. Men i stedet for jul, har jeg oplevet endnu en fest i Israel - Hanukkah. Som jeg må sige, jeg finder hyggelig og til en vis grad minder Hanukkah dekorationerne mig en smule om juletid i Danmark. De ni lys i hanukkiah'en, de tænder et hver aften i otte dage i alt. De har nogle sange, de synger, mens man tænder lysene. De minder mig om de julesange vi synger, mens vi vandrer rundt om juletræet - (eller forsøger -t på grund af den enorme mængde af mad i vores maver).

Den første dag under Hanukkah, blev Heidi og jeg fortalt af Rita(en af mine kolleger på Caspari), at vi skulle gå til det jødiske kvarter i den gamle by og se hanukkia'erne i vinduerne. Derfor vovede vi os ind i den Gamle by for at se, hvad der skulle være så spændende. Først måtte vi finde det jødiske kvarter, og når vi kom der blev vi ikke skuffet. Vi ankom til det Jødiske kvarter, og så hørte vi musik - det var ingen julesalmer eller de sædvanlige religiøse sange, nej det var soundtracket fra Pirates of the Caribbean. Vi synes det var mærkeligt og fulgte efter lyden. Vi ankom og så et lysshow med forskellige symboler, tal, hebraisk skrift mv. Ortodokse jødiske børn dansede rundt i røg, mens soundwaves og lysshow lyste op I hele området. Desværre var vi ankommet en smule for sent, og få minutter senere døde det hele ud. Men jeg synes, det var en interessant oplevelse. Om ikke andet bare at bevidne lykken hos børnene, og alle jøderne i godt humør på grund af festen.

På andendagen af Hanukkah, var Heidi og jeg inviteret til at deltage i Hanukkah ritualet i Bibelselskabet , hvor Heidi arbejdede sidste år. De sagde, at de ville vente indtil vi ankom, og så kunne vi tænde lys sammen og synge de traditionelle sange, og spise fede Donuts. Da arbejdet var færdig gik vi direkte til bibelselskabet, og sammen med kunderne, gæster og personale tændte vi lysene, sang meget glade sange, og n;ev næsten druknet i donuts. Jeg havde en vidunderlig tid der, og jeg kunne virkelig godt lide de glade sange, mens de gik rundt om Hanukkiah'en. Så tusind tak Heidi for at besøge dit gamle job, og tak til Bibelselskabet for at gøre det muligt for en nysgerrig dansker at opleve dette Hannukah ritual. Da jeg gik hjem fra Bibelselskabet, kom jeg til Zion 's square, hvor gaderne var blevet lukket af, og en scene sat op. Pladsen var fyldt med militær personale, og på scenen spillede et militær band for at fejre Hanukkah. Det var interessant at se, selvom jeg må indrømme, at så mange soldater på sådan et lille område, var en smule overvældende.

Fredag tog Heidi og jeg Til bet Seit??? ( en by længere væk en Ramallah) vi var blevet inviteret til at besøge en af vores kollegaer i Jeriko. Det var mit første besøg i en arabisk familie, derfor var jeg virkelig forventningsfuld. Den bygning, hun boede i, boede Heidi i sidste år, da hun arbejdede i Israel, så det var en mindeværdig dag for hende at se sin gamle lejlighed igen. Hvad kan jeg sige om mit besøg i disse to familier - den første ting Jeg kommer i tanke om er - Mad i overflod. Den næste ting er - venlige mennesker og gode historier om deres liv. Mad delen er let at forklare, men hård at opleve. Vores vært havde først lavet denne nationale ret kaldet Mac cluba (jeg er ikke sikker på stavemåden, men sådan lyder det for mig) Ris og kylling. Så vi sad med hendes familie og spiste denne særlige ret, vi kom om morgenen og blev indtil aftentid. I løbet af denne periode blev forskellige retter sat på bordet - frugt, kager, grøntsager, mere frugt og mere kage. Det var sindssyg, så efter vi havde besøgt vores kollega, gik vi ovenpå for at besøge en anden familie, Heidi kendte dem fra sidste år. Ironisk nok ligesom vi ankom, skulle de til at spise aftensmad, og gæt hvad? de havde lavet mac - cluba. Så her sad vi så og spiste denne ret igen, med denne nye familie. Jeg havde ikke engang behov for at spise morgenmad næste morgen, jeg var stadig mæt. Den venlige del er let at forklare, begge familier var meget venlige, de behandlede os godt, og de fik os til at føle os hjemme næsten med det samme. Inden for var de to hjem meget forskellige, i første hjem var der færre ting, mere europæisk stil og fire personer. I det næste hjem var stedet fyldt med farver, puder, strikkede mønstre og dekorationer. De havde tonsvis af børn, og mens vi var der ankom der flere gæster og hjemmet var pakket med mennesker. På trods af forskellen på indersiden, var deres gæstfrihed og varmen i hjemmene meget ens. Begge familier var troende, og de havde nogle fantastiske historier, af sikkerheds mæssige hensyn, kan jeg ikke videregive dem til dig, men jeg kan fortælle dig, at de var interessante.

Lørdag tog jeg til Jeriko for at hjælpe. En af pigerne havde fødselsdag, så vi fejrede den. Mit job var at tale med pigerne på engelsk i 15 minutter, det viste sig at være en smule vanskeligt, de er ikke vant til mundtlig engelsk, så det var svært at få kommunikationen til at flyde. Heidi og jeg har en plan til næste gang, vi håber det vil virke. De havde arrangeret en anden begivenhed for pigerne, dekoration af glas, med hjemmelavet lys i forskellige farver indeni. Jeg synes, det var en god og hyggelig dag.

Det var mine oplevelser i løbet af Hanukkah, jeg kunne have fortsat - men på et tidspunkt må man jo stoppe.
Farvel så længe - og glædelig jul.

The story of hanukkah + Historien om hanukkah
follow the link above + følg linket oven over

Beer Sheba and The small bomb

2010-11-16T22:59:00.001+02:00

Hi again

Last week was very busy for me, ( okay, not more busy than I was able to cope with it)
Heidi my fellow secretary had gone with the Norwegian Ministry to Israel for a Retreat, therefore I had to be the sole secretary at Caspari. If it had been a normal week it would have been no problem, however I was to prepare for a Shabbat School Seminar in Beer Sheba, thus I had more to do than normally.

If it had been in Europe we would have called it "Sunday school Seminar". - The point of the seminar was to train the teachers of the Sunday Schools, Caspari had arranged for lectures, materiales for teachers ( Activity books, Song books, Story books etc), and workshops.

Friday morning, which is normally my day off, I went with my boss Knut for Beer Sheba, at 6.00 o'clock in the morning - I had a flashback to my pendling days between Randers and Aalborg, where I every day took the train at 6.20 from the station to go to the Teachers College, for four years running. As it had been a while since I had been up that early, I must admit, I had to drink a lot of coffee - But since I had been too lazy to make coffee before I went with my boss to the Seminar, ( alarm clocks are not my best friends) Therefore it backfired and I had to struggle with my body in the car, and once I got to Beer Sheba, I was so in need of coffee that I immediately went straight for the coffee machine and took the biggest cup I could find, and it felt like heaven when the black substance did its magic.

During the Seminar my job was to make sure the coffee table was filled up, that the bathrooms looked decent, selling books, preparing lunch etc. We had one problem during the preperations for lunch, suddently this man came into the kitchen, and he wanted to tell us something - yet again language became an issue - he only knew two languages: Russian and Hebrew. Therefore, Heidi and I did not understand what he was trying to say to us. He contacted one of the other workers from Caspari, and she told us that there were trouble with the sink, so we had to prepare the Lunch somewhere else.

The Seminar was being held in this local congregation, the area in which it was placed was not very welcoming. It looked like someone had tossed a small bomb and no one had found it in them to clean up after the explosion. In reality they were rebuilding the area, Knut told me that last year when they had been to the same congregation, it had looked the exact same way, the only difference a year after the beginning of the rebuilding, were some brick stones intented to be used on the road. It says something about the planning culture and Siesta mentality of this country.

The next I want to tell is my experience with the Security in this country, and a slight raising of my heartbeat.
I was on my way to the post office, as I do almost everyday. Everything looked normal, the man who is incapable of singing, was still singing in his microphone just outside of our office, the smell of cake from our next door neighbour, the sun shining from a clear sky. Nevertheless, when I came to a certain crossing point, a bunch of Israelis were pushing me, and everyone else in close contact with a small object on the ground, away. I looked down and discovered this explosive device on the ground, I think they were afraid some one would step on it and make it explode. My heart certainly rose with several beats, I had to go to the postoffice and it looked like people had it under control, I saw them push some guy several inches to keep him from stepping on the device and another guy was calling for the police. (Therefore I saw no reason for me to stand their aswell) I passed the gathering and went into the postoffice, when I returned ten minutes later the entire street had been closed off, their were soldiers and policemen everywhere, bars had been set up and no one could go anywhere close without being pushed away by the security personal. They certainly took it very serious, I dont think it was so dangerous as it was made to be, on the otherhand I feel safe in knowing that they watch over their citizens, with so much awareness and diligence.

Thats all folks!

Hej igen

Sidste uge var meget travlt for mig, (ok ikke mere travel, end jeg var i stand til at klare det)

Heidi, den anden sekreter var taget med den "Norske Mision til Israel" på en slap af tur, derfor var jeg den eneste sekretær. Hvis det havde været en normal uge ville det ikke have været noget problem, men jeg skulle forberede til et Shabbat skole Seminar i Beer Sheba, så jeg havde mere at gøre end normalt.

Hvis det havde været i Europa ville vi have kaldt det, Søndagsskole Seminar. - pointen med seminaret var at uddanne lærerne til søndagsskolerne, Caspari havde sørget for undervisning, materialer for lærerne (Aktivitets bøger, Sang bøger, historie bøger osv.), og workshops.

Fredag morgen, som normalt er min fridag, tog jeg med min chef til Beer Sheba ved 6,00 tiden om morgenen - Jeg oplevede derved et flashback til mine pendler dage mellem Randers og Aalborg, hvor jeg hver dag tog toget klokken 6,20 fra stationen for at komme til Lærer Seminariet, fire år i streg. Det havde været langt tid siden jeg havde været oppe så tidligt, så jeg må indrømme at jeg var nødt til at drikke en stor mængde kaffe - Men da jeg havde været for doven til at lave kaffe før jeg tog med min chef til seminaret, (alarm klokker er ikke mine bedste venner) gav det bagslag, og jeg var nødt til at kæmpe med min krop i bilen, og da jeg kom til Beer Sheba havde jeg så meget brug for kaffe, at jeg straks gik lige hen til kaffemaskinen og tog den største kop jeg kunne finde, og det føltes som himlen, da den sorte væske gjorde sin virkning.

Under seminaret blev mit job at sørge for, at kaffebordet var fyldt op, at badeværelserne så anstændige ud, at sælge bøger, forberede frokost osv. Vi havde et problem under forberedelse til frokost, pludselig kom der en mand ind i køkkenet, og han forsøgte at fortælle os noget - endnu en gang blev sprog et problem - han kunne kun to sprog: Russisk og Hebraisk, Derfor forstod Heidi og jeg ikke hvad han prøvede at sige til os. Han kontaktede en af de andre arbejdere fra Caspari, og hun fortalte os, at der var problemer med vasken, så vi var nødt til at forberede frokosten et andet sted.

Seminaret blev afholdt i en lokal forsamling, det område hvor forsamlingen var placeret, var ikke særlig tiltrækkende, det så ud som om nogen havde smidt en lille bombe, og ingen havde fundet det nødvendigt at rydde op efter eksplosionen. I virkeligheden var de ved at renovere området, Knut fortalte mig at sidste år, da de havde været i den samme forsamling, havde området set ud på nøjagtig samme måde. Den eneste forskel her et år efter påbegyndelsen af renovationen var nogle brosten man ville lægge på vejen . Det siger noget om: planlægnings kulturen og Siesta mentaliteten i dette land.

Det næste jeg vil fortælle er min oplevelse med sikkerheden i dette land, og en lille forhøjelse af mine hjerteslag. Jeg var på vej til posthuset, som jeg gør næsten hver dag. Alt så normalt ud, den mand der er ude af stand til at synge, sang stadig i sin mikrofon lige uden for vores kontor, lugten af kage fra vores nabo, solen skinnende fra en klar himmel. Men da jeg kom til en vis fodgængerovergang, så jeg en flok israelere der skubbede mig, og alle andre i tæt kontakt med et lille objekt på jorden, væk. Jeg kiggede ned og så denne eksplosive genstand på jorden, jeg tror, de var bange for at nogen ville træde på den og få den til at eksplodere. Mit hjerte steg med flere slag end normalt. Jeg var nødt til at gå til posthuset og det så ud til at folk havde det under kontrol, jeg så dem skubbe en fyr flere centimeter for at holde ham fra at træde på genstanden og en anden fyr ringede efter politiet. ( Derfor så jeg ingen grund til at jeg skulle stå der) Jeg gik forbi gruppen og ind på posthuset, da jeg kom tilbage ti minutter senere var hele gaden blevet lukket af, der var soldater og politifolk overalt, bomme var sat op, og ingen kunne komme tæt på uden at blive skubbet væk af sikkerheds personalet. De tog det ihvertfald meget alvorligt, selvom det ikke var så farligt som det blev gjort til, på den anden side føler jeg mig tryg ved at vide, at de våger over deres borgere med så megen opmærksomhed og omhu.

Det var det folkens!

Jesus house of prayer

2010-11-07T18:24:00.000+02:00

Hello again!

Before I went to Jerusalem I took part in this Volunteer-information week. During the week I met up with Bodil skjøtt. She asked me if I wanted to help out with some teenage girls in Jeriko, in a project called Jesus house of Prayer.

I thought it sounded like an interesting opportunity and I agreed on helping out. Although at the time I had no idea that things in Israel is not always planned and I have had a lot of surprises already. They dont have the Danish mentality of planning, that takes a while to get used to for me personally. Why am I giving you this dribble? Because I found that there was some extra info I hadnt really counted into the equation.

On my first time in Jeriko - I was told that we would be having a meeting, in order that I could find out what they wanted from me. I thought it would be once a month, and then I had the idea it was only teenage girls we were working with.

But no, no no the "meeting" took place in the car back to Jeriko, and when I arrived in Jeriko the house was filled with kids in all ages- boys and girls. The only arabic I knew - came from my two first arabic lessons- and my arabic only extented to say: I am not from here, I am from Denmark, I live in Jerusalem. My name is etc. I couldn't even tell them how old I was - That was the first major challenge - language. Even if I only knew such a limited amount of Arabic I was very grateful for the little amount I knew. A fun factor is that most of the kids in Jeriko only reads English, so they have trouble speaking English and understanding it when being verbal. Therefore the only sentence they could say was: hallo - whats your name? A bit like me actually. Although they kept on asking me again and again: what is your name? Because they wanted to talk to me.

Then on my way back home to the Caspari flat, I realized they were expecting me to come every Saturday. After some days of reflexion I came to the conclusion that I would tell them, I would help out every fourteenth saturday, I thought one Saturday pr. week was a little too much for me.

Therefore I am now helping out in Jeriko: with kids from five to the age of fifteen, both male and female. It is always an energetic lot, but that is what you can expect if you put so many kids together in a small amount of space. It functions a bit like a day care center, the kids come to the house to have fun and play with the facilities in the place.

My second time there all the kids was to go to a local pool, it was touching to see and experience the joy of the kids about finally being able to go to a real life pool - Since it cost money. So for them it was a big thing to visit the pool. On this my second time, I suddenly found some reason in what I was doing, one of the younger girls was clinging on to me and wanted to swim with me all the time. When we had been swimming around for a while, one of the co-workers pulled me aside and told me that the girl had just lost her father. So for me being able to be there for this girl - made the whole situation worthwhile.

By for now.

I tried to catch some of the atmosphere in the bus on the way to the pool - Jeg forsøgte at fange noget af glæden i bussen, på vej til poolen.

Hej igen!

Inden jeg tog til Jerusalem deltog jeg i et voluntør kursus. I løbet af ugen mødtes jeg med Bodil Skjøtt. Hun spurgte mig, om jeg ville hjælpe med nogle teenage piger i Jeriko, i et projekt der hedder Jesus House of prayer.

Jeg syntes, det lød som en interessant mulighed, og jeg indvilligede i at hjælpe. Men på det tidspunkt havde jeg ingen idé om, at ting i Israel ikke er planlagt og jeg har allerede fået mig en masse overraskelser. De har ikke den danske planlægnings mentalitet. Det tog lidt tid at vænne mig til for mig personligt. Hvorfor skal du høre det nu? Fordi jeg fandt ud af at der var nogle ekstra informationer jeg havde glemt at tælle med ind i ligningen.

På min første tur til Jeriko - fik jeg at vide, at vi skulle have et møde, for at jeg kunne finde ud af, hvad de ville bruge mig til. Jeg troede, det ville være en gang om måneden, og så havde jeg den idé det kun var teenage piger vi arbejdede med.

Men nej, nej nej "mødet" fandt sted i bilen tilbage til Jeriko, og da jeg ankom, til Jjeriko var huset fyldt med børn i alle aldre-drenge og piger. Det eneste arabisk jeg kunne - kom fra mine to første arabisk lektioner- og dette var bla: jeg er ikke herfra, jeg er fra Danmark, jeg bor i Jerusalem - mit navn er osv. Jeg kunne ikke engang fortælle dem hvor gammel jeg var eller noget - det var den første store udfordring - sprog. Selvom jeg kun kendte sådan en begrænset mængde af Arabisk, var jeg meget taknemmelig for den lille smule, jeg besad. En sjov detalje er, at de fleste af børnene i Jeriko kun læser Engelsk, så de har svært ved at tale og forstå det verbalt. Den eneste sætning de kunne sige var: Hallo - Hvad hedder du? lidt ligesom mig faktisk. Selv om de blev ved med at spørge mig igen og igen: hvad er dit navn? Fordi de ønskede at tale med mig.

Så på min vej hjem til Caspari lejligheden- fandt jeg ud af, at de forventede at jeg kom hver lørdag. Efter nogle dages overvejelser kom jeg til den konklusion, at jeg ville fortælle dem, at jeg ville hjælpe ud hver fjortende lørdag, jeg fandt at en dag per uge var lidt for meget for mig.

Derfor hjælper jeg nu i Jeriko, med børn fra fem til en alder af femten, både piger og drenge. Det er altid en energisk gruppe, men det er hvad der kan forventes, hvis du placere så mange børn sammen i et begrænset område . Det fungerer lidt ligesom en daginstitution, børnene kommer til huset for at have det sjovt og lege med de faciliteter der er på stedet.

Min anden tur til huset, skulle alle børnene på tur til en lokal pool, det var rørende at se og opleve glæden ved børnene som endelig kunne komme til en vaskeægte pool - Det kostede nemlig penge, så for dem var det stort at besøge en pool. På denne min anden tur, fandt jeg en mening med det jeg lavede. En af de yngre piger klyngede sig til mig og ønskede at svømme med mig hele tiden. Da vi havde svømmer rundt i et stykke tid, vinkede en af medarbejderne mig til side og fortalte mig, at pigen lige havde mistet sin far. Så for mig at kunne være der for denne pige - gav arbejdet mening.

Farvel for denne gang.

Beware Scandinavians invades Qumran, En-gedi and the Dead Sea

2010-10-24T19:18:00.001+02:00

Shalom!

My Boss Knut had invited me and a gathering of other scandinavians to take part in a visit to: Qumran, En gedi and the dead sea. We were five norwegians and three from Denmark in the gathering. Therefore I was very grateful that the car of Knut is a car with many seats - Especially since we were to drive for awhile, in an overwhelming heat in order to get there ( I am most grateful to Knut, for chosing to go to the dessert after the very warm summer, and not during). The ride to the destinations where an experience in itself and we had a lot of fun making fun of each others languages. At this trip, I was having trouble deciding if I wanted to speak (Danish-Norwegian) or if I should use my "all danish" accent. Sometimes I had difficulties in figuring out how to speak fluent Danish, especially due to the fact that all my roommates are norwegian, therefore my native tongue is becoming worse.

The first place we visited, was Qumran - this is where the Dead Sea Scrolls have been found, it had also housed a Jewish sect called the Essenes - the sons of light, we could call them. It had been a group of Jews, living in the desert waiting for the great Apocalyptic war between the sons of darkness and the sons of light. They had ritual bathing, wrote scrolls and studied them, they shared everything, lived together. Some are claiming that John the baptist should have been a part of the group. There are even those that claims that Jesus was an Essene, or that he had a lot of the same teachings as the Essenes had. Whatever the case? This was the first place we visited. It was interesting to see, although I most say I found it defficult to imagine that the remaining ruin's had once beeen walls around a pottery, a dininghall etc. Here are some pictures!

its a great place to play hide and seek - Dette er et fedt sted at lege gemmeleg

here you can read the story of the dead sea scrolls + Her kan du læse historien om dødehavsrullerne

do you see the difference between the rooms? - ser du forskellen mellem rummene?

Den grotte du ser, er en af de huler hvor i man fandt rullerne - The cave, is one of the crave's in which they found the scrolls.


it is not easy being a kid in this place - det er ikke net at være barn her.

When we had seen everything we could get out of Qumran, and heard all the extra facts from Knut- who knew alot about the place. Then we traveled on to reach En-gedi. En-gedi is a green oases in the middle of the desert. We drove for a long time, and everything around us was dead, we didn't even see any animals, Suddenly in the middle of nowhere this green view started to emerge. En-gedi was where David had hidden himself with his men, because he was afraid of King Saul. The oases is filled with various falls, and the biggest of these was named after my younger brother - it was called David's fall - I am sure he wasn't aware that he had a Fall, but he does -in the middle of the dessert, nonetheless. The water was cold, but it felt really good because of the overwhelming heat, and ofcause the place had to be located in a mountain area, thus we had to walk uphill to get to the bigger fall.

In the end of our destination we came to the dead sea, the smell is not what I would describe as being pleasant, it smells like death. Luckily, in the area we chose to bathe, the smell was less apparent. Here I found the lowest located bar in the world. It was also a place where the grown ups played with mud, while the kids where swimming around. If you are tired of life and wants to drown yourself - this is not the place to go - drowning is impossible or so it felt while the salty water held you floating. It was alittle like having a gigantic water madrase. I am telling you, Dont get water in your eyes- it is like pouring acid into your eyes - or so I think, I have never actually had acid in my eye.

All together it was a great trip, we had lots of fun and I can highly recommand the trip to others!

Shalom!

Min Boss Knut havde inviteret mig og en gruppe af Skandinavere til at deltage i en tur til: Qumran, En Gedi og Det Døde Hav. Vi var fem nordmænd og tre fra Danmark. Derfor var jeg meget taknemmelig for, at Knut's bil er en bil med mange siddepladser - Især da vi skulle køre i lang tid, i en overvældende varme. (Jeg er meget taknemmelig overfor Knut, for at have valgt at tage til ørkenen efter den meget varme sommer, og ikke under). Turen til destinationerne, var en oplevelse i sig selv og vi lavede sjov med hinandens sprog. Det skal lige siges at jeg her havde problemer med at beslutte, om jeg ønskede at tale (dansk-norsk), eller hvis jeg skulle bruge min "naturlige" danske accent. Nogle gange havde jeg endda svært ved at finde ud af, hvordan man talte flydende dansk, især på grund af det faktum, at alle dem jeg bor med er fra norge, derfor er mit modersmål blevet slemt forværret.

Det første sted vi besøgte, var Qumran - det er her Døde havs rullerne er fundet, dette var også bosted for en jødisk sekt kaldet Essenerne - sønner af lyset, kunne vi kalde dem. Det havde været en gruppe af jøder, der boede i ørkenen mens de venter på den store apokalyptiske krig mellem mørket og lysets børn. De havde rituelle bade, skrev skriftruller og studerede dem, de delte alt, levede sammen, og nogle påstår, at Johannes Døberen skulle have været en del af gruppen. Der er endda dem, der hævder, at Jesus var en Essener, eller at han havde en del af de samme lærdomme som Essenerne havde. hvordan det end måtte hænge sammen, så er dette det første sted, vi besøgte. Det var interessant at se, selv om jeg må sige, at jeg fandt det svært at forestille mig, at de resterende ruiner har engang været værelser for et keramisk værksted, en spisesal osv.

Da vi havde set alt, hvad vi kunne få ud af Qumran, og havde hørt alle de ekstra oplysninger fra Knut- Der vidste en masse om stedet. Så rejste vi videre for at nå frem til en-Gedi. En-Gedi er en grøn oase midt i ørkenen. Vi kørte i lang tid, og alt omkring os var dødt, vi så ikke engang dyr, så pludselig i midten af ingenting anede vi denne grønne plet forude. En-Gedi var der hvor David havde gemt sig med sine mænd, fordi han var bange for kong Saul. Oasen var fyldt med forskellige vandfald, og den største af disse var opkaldt efter min lillebror - det blev kaldt Davids vandfald - Jeg er sikker på, at han ikke var klar over, at han havde et vandfald, men det har han -midt i ørkenen. Vandet var koldt, men det føltes rigtig godt på grund af den overvældende varme, og selfølgelig skulle stedet være beliggende i et bjergområde, så vi måtte gå op ad bakke for at komme til det større vandfald.

this is how a true israeli/norwegian family travel to En-gedi - det er således en ægte israelsk/norsk familie tager til En-gedi.

An oasis in the middle of the dessert - en oase i midten af ørkenen

up it went - op det gik

the Fall of my brother - min brors vandfald.

Its good to be a kid here - Det er herligt at være barn på dette sted

I slutningen af vores tur kom vi til Det Døde Hav, lugten er ikke, hvad jeg vil betegne som værende behagelig, det lugter af død. Heldigvis, var det område hvor vi valgte at bade, et sted hvor lugten var mindre mærkbar. Her fandt jeg den laveste liggende bar i verden. Det var også et sted, hvor de voksne legede med mudder, mens børnene svømmede rundt. Hvis du er træt af livet og ønsker at drukne dig selv - er dette ikke stedet at tage hen - drukning er umulig eller sådan føltes det, da det salte vand holdte dig flydende. Det var lidt som at have en gigantisk vandseng. Jeg siger dig, få ikke vand i øjnene-det er som at hælde syre i øjnene - eller sådan jeg tror det føles, jeg har aldrig haft syre i mine øjne.

Alt i alt var det en god tur, og jeg kan varmt anbefale dig at foretage samme rejse!

den lavest liggende bar 418 meter under havets overflade - the lowest bar - it is located 418 meter under the surface of the water

the dead sea - det døde hav

the view from the car - udsigten fra bilen

the grown ups played with mud - de voksne legede med mudder

the most peculiar mountains i have seen, looked like someone had slized of the tip of the mountains - de mest underlige bjerge jeg har set - det så ud til at nogen havde skåret toppen af bjergene.

The quest for the Dancing Jews - Jagten på de dansende jøder

2010-10-14T21:59:00.000+02:00

Once again it is time for a little breafing on my time here in Israel.
In my previous blog I wrote about my doings during the succot - This time I will tell you about a funny little experience I had in the end of the succot. Nevertheless before I tell you what I did on this holiday - I will try and give you a tiny bit of information about the ending of Succot.

The holiday of Sukkot is followed by an independent holiday called "Shemini Atzeret." In Israel, this is a one-day holiday;but in other countries it is a two-day holiday, and the second day is known as "Simchat Torah." This holiday is characterized by utterly unbridled joy, which surpasses even the joy of Sukkot. The joy reaches its climax on Simchat Torah, when they celebrate the conclusion – and restart – of the annual Torah-reading cycle. this festival is found mentioned in Leviticus 23:36.

During the Sukkot someone told me about a certain tradition in the final day of the Succot - I was told that on this day the Jews would dance around with their Torah- scrolls. I must admit I was extremely curious and I really wanted to see what it was all about. I mean how many times have you seen an ortodox Jew dance? The only way in which I came close to have seen something slightly similar was during the morning, when I am waiting for the buss. If the wind then is a little too strong and therefore manages to cause their Kippas to fly away, and them running after the Kippa trying to catch it. Nevertheless, Dancing Jews, I had never seen before.

Therefore just as the service In Upper Room Ministries - the church I attend on wednesdays - I left to find the dancing jews. which showed to be a bigger challenge than I had expected. Why? because everybody I asked about this ritual with scroolls and dance, they knew which day it was held on - but no one could tell me where I could go to see it. Therefore I had to figure it out on my own. The first thing I thought to myself was - maybe if I went to the western wall in the old city - maybe they will execute this ritual there. However when I got there nothing seemed to happen, thus I thougth to myself: what am I going to do now? Then I notized that a lot of ortodox jews were walking in the opposite direction - and I thought to myself - maybe I should just follow the Jews. Therefore I followed after the cluster of Jews going away from the old city, however when I first got to the jewish area, it looked like everybody was going in different directions - and then I actually thought that i should quit the quest and go back home - it was becoming late anyway. Thus on my way towards the flat - I suddenly heard Music, clapping and singing. I cannot tell you how happy I felt - I followed the sound and this time I was not disapointed - I found the rejoicing ortodox jews. All the female's where standing outside the synagogue, while the men were dancing with something looking like a shine with marmor and gold on it. someone was carrying these scrools in the shrine, while the most enthusiastic jews were jumping up and down like an African Mazai. They were clapping and I have seldom heard such happy songs, not even in a church. Since I was female I could not go into the festivity, but I found a place where I could look inside, I tried to take pictures in order to make you see it too - But then I was discovered by some ortodox women who asked me to leave. Which I did, only as far away as I was able to look inside a place where they could not see me. I catched some of it on my camera, but then I thought I would have to leave because it became difficult to hide what I was doing - they do not like to be taken pictures of - I felt a little like a spy - however I will certainly never forget the happiness I experienced - or how highly they valued the Torah.

by for now!

Endnu en gang er det tid til en lille breafing på min tid her i Israel. I min tidligere blog skrev jeg om mine oplevelser i løbet af sukkot - Denne gang vil jeg fortælle dig om en sjov lille oplevelse jeg havde i slutningen af Sukkot. Før jeg fortæller dig, hvad jeg gjorde på denne dag - vil jeg forsøge at give dig en lille smule information om slutningen på Succot.

Festen Sukkot bliver efterfulgt af en uafhængig fest kaldet »Shemini Atzeret. ' I Israel er det
en en-dages ferie, men i andre dele af verden er den delt over to dage. Den anden dag er kendt som Simchat Torah. Denne fest er karakteriseret ved helt uhæmmet glæde, som overgår selv glæden ved
Sukkot. Glæden når sit klimaks på Simchat Torah, når de fejrer afslutningen og begyndelsen
- Af den årlige Torah-læsnings cyklus. Denne fest er fundet nævnt i Tredje Mosebog 23:36.

Under Sukkot blev jeg fortalt om en vis tradition på sidste dag under Sukkot - Jeg fik at vide, at på denne dag dansede jøderne rundt med deres Torah-ruller. Jeg må indrømme, at jeg var meget nysgerrig, og jeg ønskede virkelig at se, hvad det hele drejede sig om. Hvor mange gange har du set en ortodox Jøde danse? Den eneste måde, hvorpå jeg kom tæt på at have set noget lidt lignende er om morgenen, når jeg venter på Bussen. Hvis vinden så er lidt for stærk og derfor formår at få deres Kippaer til at flyve væk, og ejeren styrte efter den for at fange den igen. men, dansende jøder, havde jeg aldrig set før.

Derfor lige da mødet i Upper Room Ministeries - kirken jeg går i om onsdagen, sluttede, gik jeg på jagt efter de dansende jøder. som viste sig at være en større udfordring end jeg havde forventet. Hvorfor? fordi alle jeg spurgte om dette ritual med ruller og dans, de vidste, hvilken dag det blev afholdt på - men ingen kunne fortælle mig, hvor jeg kunne gå at se det. Derfor måtte jeg finde ud af det på egen hånd. Det første jeg gjorde var at gå til vest muren i den gamle by - måske de ville udføre dette ritual der. Men da jeg kom syntes intet at ske, så jeg tænkte ved mig selv: hvad skal jeg gøre nu? Jeg bemærkede en en masse ortodoxe jøder der gik i den modsatte retning - og jeg tænkte ved mig selv - måske skulle jeg bare følge jøderne. Derfor fulgte jeg efter jøderne, men da jeg først kom til det jødiske område, gik alle i forskellige retninger - og så besluttede jeg at afslutte jagten og gå hjem - det var ved at blive sent alligevel. Men på min vej mod min lejlighed - hørte jeg pludselig musik, klap i hænderne og sang. Jeg kan ikke fortælle dig hvor glad jeg følte mig - Jeg fulgte lyden og denne gang blev jeg ikke skuffet - jeg fandt glade ortodoxe jøder. Alle kvinderne stod udenfor synagogen, mens mændene dansede med noget der ligner en boks i marmor og guld. Nogen var i færd med at løfte disse ruller i den skinnende indpakning, mens de mest entusiastiske jøder hoppede op og ned som en afrikansk Mazai. De klappede, og jeg har sjældent hørt så glade sange, ikke engang i en kirke. Da jeg var kvinde, kunne jeg ikke gå ind på pladsen, men jeg fandt et sted, hvor jeg kunne se ind, jeg forsøgte at tage billeder for at du kunne se det - Men så blev jeg opdaget af nogle ortodoxe kvinder, der bad mig om at forsvinde. det gjorde jeg også, men kun så langt væk så de ikke kunne se mig mere. Jeg fangede noget af det på mit kamera, men da jeg skønte, at jeg ville have sværre ved at forblive usynlig at forlade, så besluttede jeg mig for at forlade området. De kan ikke lide at blive taget billeder af - Jeg følte mig lidt som en spion - men jeg vil helt sikkert aldrig glemme den glæde jeg oplevede - eller hvor højt de værdsatte Toraen.

Farvel så længe.

This was the only thing I was able to record or to show you - and I had really done anything I could. dette er det eneste jeg var i stand til at optage eller vise dig - og jeg har virkelig forsøgt mig så godt jeg kunne.