A Trip into the West Bank

So for the next two weeks, my cousin Anna is in Jerusalem with some of her classmates from Calvin College to learn about the geography and history of Israel. Including in their course, they get to take tours of pretty much all of Israel to get a well-rounded education of it all. On Friday, a few friends and I took the sherut into Jerusalem to hang out and grab dinner with her, and over dinner we casually asked what other places she was due to visit, and she said Samaria. Needless to say, you can't just mention Samaria to a group of archaeologists over dinner. We freaked out and ate our the rest of our dinner in complete and utter envy. We weren't able to go there with our program, you see, since our professors are all Israeli and probably wouldn't want to risk taking us (their first class in the program) into occupied territories. On Saturday night, I was checking my facebook, and I had a message from Anna, saying that she remembered that I said we didn't have class on Monday, and that's the date of their tour of Samaria. She said she was going to ask if I, as a graduate student in archaeology, wanted to come. Cue freak out. Her professor said yes and said I could bring a friend, so that's how I got to go to Samaria and a few other places!

So on Sunday night after class, back to Jerusalem I went, this time by bus. The bus station is huge and kind of difficult to navigate, but we made it to Jerusalem all in one piece. We checked into our hotel and then went to grab a bite to eat before settling in for the night to prepare for our early morning. Usually I sleep terribly the night before tours, and this night was no different. After what seemed like no time at all, my alarm was beeping, and we went to go meet Anna at the Jaffa Gate to board our bus. Anna's professor was very happy to have us and was also very happy that we were so excited to be tagging along with them.

First we stopped at the site of Shechem, which used to be one of the capitals of the northern kingdom of Israel. It was really exciting, because we had learned all about Shechem in one of our classes and found ourselves muttering the answers to the professor's questions under our breath (or telling them to Anna to answer).

Shechem

After Shechem, we continued north to Samaria, the destination that I had been waiting for. It definitely did not disappoint!!! It was sooo cool to see the capital of the northern kingdom of Israel. It was mostly Herodian architecture left there. 

Samaria

When we were driving down from the tel, we saw some flags of the Hamas. Rachel and I found it mildly terrifying, but none of the younger students really knew what was going on (or even who the Hamas were). We were completely safe the whole time though!

We headed to Mount Gerizim later, which was the location of the temple of Israel. On Mount Gerizim is a small Samaritan community (I had no idea they still existed!). The Samaritans believe that their holy place is Mount Gerizim, rather than the Temple Mount in Jerusalem as the Jewish faith believes. The Samaritans also believe only in the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Hebrew Bible). While we were there, we had the opportunity to go in the synagogue there and listen to the High Priest, in his limited English, tell us about the Samaritan faith. Because it was a Christian tour, it was most people's first time in a synagogue. Before we entered, we removed our shoes as a sign of respect for the sanctity of the place. We asked how the High Priesthood was obtained, and he told us that it was passed down father-to-son, and they were descendants from the tribe of Levi. This was one of the most powerful moments in probably my entire time in Israel thus far. To imagine that the little old man in front of me, talking to us in his broken English, was a descendant of Levi was simply astounding! It's an opportunity that I imagine I will never have again.

Samaritan High Priest and the Torah

View of Palestine from the top of Mount Gerizim

As we drove to Shiloh, I quite enjoyed looking out the bus window and observing the differences between Israel and Palestine. Although I do not claim to have seen all of Israel, I have been many places in the country. One of the things about Palestine was how these really extravagant houses would be in the midst of a completely desolate location and also near other houses that were really run-down. 

I was also looking forward to going to Shiloh. I actually could not remember why I thought Shiloh was important; the name really rung a bell, but I couldn't remember its significance. Turns out it's where Samuel spent his childhood. In fact, they've narrowed it down to three possible areas where the Holy of Holies was. SO incredibly amazing to consider that I might have been standing where the Holy of Holies was situated, and also neat to think about that biblical figure of Hannah being there, simply because we have the same name. :)

Shiloh

Terraces for farming

Location of the Holy of Holies?

After we returned to Jerusalem, we were all exhausted. Anna, Rachel, and I decided to do a bit of shopping in the Shuk at Jerusalem for a bit. I forgot how much I love/hate the Shuk. Love cuz they have absolutely everything. Hate because the shopkeepers generally hassle you and assume you're a tourist and thus try and give you a bad deal. I hate to have them hear me speak English. When they ask why I'm in Israel and if it's my first time here, I like to be a bit snarky and respond in Hebrew, "No, I live in Tel Aviv..." I took Anna and Rachel to my favorite scarf man in the Shuk though, who I discovered last summer. He actually has a degree from Northwestern and gives great prices on his scarves! He saw that I still had his card all the way from last summer and gave us a great price and treated me like an old friend. :) It was great. 

After shopping, Rachel and I decided to take Anna out to eat at the Armenian Tavern, as a thank-you for allowing us to tag along. I had the lamb shishlik, and it was delicious. Then we stopped by a bakery in the Jewish quarter to buy some baklava for dessert, and Rachel and I then had to catch the bus back to Tel Aviv. 

And that was the close of one of the best days ever. :)