12/29 to 12/31 | Writing, Studying, and a Happy New Year to Everyone!

For me, the past few days have been filled with one single activity: writing.  For some 72 hours, I have been writing my Foreign Policy of Israel paper on "Modern Diplomacy, Ancient Societies: Analyzing the Relationship between the People’s Republic of China and the State of Israel."  As of a few minutes ago, however, I can officially announce that I am finished and it is ready to be handed in.  This is how my checklist looks now:

• Finish my paper on "Business Ethics within the Israeli Diamond Industry." 
• Start and finish my paper on "Modern Diplomacy, Ancient Societies: Analyzing the Relationship between the People’s Republic of China and the State of Israel." 
• Take the second part of my Hebrew final exam. 
• Take my Foreign Policy of Israel final exam. 
• Take my Archaeology of Israel final exam. 
• Visit my family in Ramat Gan. 
• Shop for souvenirs. 
• Say goodbye to everyone!

All I have left is to study for and take two exams. That means the next three days will be miserable; however, I am fortunate because when everything is finished, I will still have all of Wednesday and Thursday (I leave for the airport at 8:00 at night on Thursday) to do whatever I choose. Right now, I am deciding between two activities for Wednesday: either staying in Jerusalem and spending the entire day wandering the Old City or taking a trip to Beersheva and visiting the Israeli Air Force Museum.  My plan is to pack everything on Tuesday night after my last exam in order to keep the rest of my time here completely free.

On a different note, tonight marks the beginning of a new year: 2012.  I cannot believe that 2011 is already over.  One year ago today, I was flying back to the United States from Ukraine on AeroSvit Airlines.  As the clock struck 12:00, I was sleeping in my father's car as we drove back to Maryland.  Look where I am now!  Back to square one in Israel, where we celebrated the new year--Rosh Hashanah 5772--back in September.  It is a little sad being away from home for New Year's Eve for the second year in a row, but I know that this time next week I will be back at home and that makes it all better.  A good and sweet new year--shanah tovah u'metukah--to everyone!

The sound of the shofar is used to ring in the new year in Judaism.

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2011 Retrospective

A month-by-month look at the events that defined my year.

January: Returning from Birthright Israel.  Beginning a new semester at American University.  Starting an internship at the Anti-Defamation League.

February: Going to Relay for Life Kickoff.  Attending SigEp Carlson Leadership Academy.

March: Participating in SigEp History Quest II.  Going to the Colleges Against Cancer club event.

April: Participating in Relay for Life.  Going to SigEp retreat.  Getting accepted to the Hebrew University of Jerusalem for the fall semester.  Partying at SigEp semi-formal.

May: Starting employment at Target.  Starting an internship at NCSJ.

June: Marching in the Celebrate Israel Parade.

July: Touring the White House.  Visiting the Pinnes family.  Learning at AIPAC Saban Summer Leadership Seminar.  Attending a Nationals baseball game with NCSJ.

August: Finishing employment at Target.  Fearing Hurricane Irene.  Beginning study abroad at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel.

September: Starting and finishing ulpan.  Losing a great man, my uncle Steve Levy.  Visiting my Israeli family.

October: Having an adventure in Eilat.  Meeting fellow descendants of the people who lived in my grandfather's village.  Going to an Idan Raichel Project concert.

November: Having adventures in Bethlehem, Ein Gedi, and Eilat.  Going to a shabbaton in Arad.  Listening to my grandmother's testimonial at Yad Vashem.

December: Having an adventure in the Galilee.  Hosting my cousin Scott Berman.  Visiting my Israeli family again.

12/28 | A Walking Tour of the Old City and the City of David and a Farewell to Rachel

Today, some friends and I decided to do a walking tour of the Old City of Jerusalem and the City of David with a licensed tour guide.  Although I have seen many of these sites before, I figured this would be my last real opportunity to see them again before my departure.  Fortunately, the day was beautiful and our tour guide was fantastic.  Here are some pictures from today's adventure:

An amazing view of Heichal Shlomo, former seat of the Chief Rabbinate, and the Jerusalem Great Synagogue.

 Walking towards the G-d's city.  We were fortunate to have an absolutely incredible day for a walking tour of Jerusalem.

We started our tour with a walk on the Old City ramparts.

The view form the ramparts.  The big building in the background is the King David Hotel.  The buildings in the foreground are part of the Mishkenot Sha'ananim, the first neighborhood to be built outside of the Old City walls in 1860 by Sir Moses Montefiore.

Inside the Old City walls, the Armenian Quarter contains a big barren grassy lot.  One can only imagine what type of artifacts and ruins lay under this land!  Unfortunately, the Armenians do not want the Israel Antiquities Authority to claim this spot as a Jewish heritage site.

A Christian cemetery outside of the Old City walls on Mount Zion.

A view of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in between the white dome of the Churva Synagogue and the gold dome of the Dome of the Rock. 

The Broad Wall is a First Temple period city wall dating back to King Hezekiah.

The ruins of the Tiferet Yisrael Synagogue, destroyed by the Jordanians in the 1948 War of Independence.  Notice the beautiful stonework.

One of the few Karaite synagogues in the world.  Karaite Jews only believe in the Torah and do not follow any additional oral laws.

A magnificent view of the Western Wall. 

Balloons at the Western Wall added some magic to an already beautiful day.

A Bar Mitzvah at the Western Wall. 

G-d's presence at the kotel.  There is a sign at the entrance to the plaza that says, "The Divine Presence never moves from the Western Wall.

Excavations of the cardo right behind the Western Wall plaza. 

A bagel menorah! 

A view of the excavations at the City of David. 

A view of the Silwan neighborhood and the Kidron Valley. 

 Excavations of what is thought to be the palace of King David.

 The entrance to Hezekiah's Tunnel, an ancient aqueduct that was built around 700 BCE to connect the Gihon Spring to the Pool of Siloam (and which continues to do so today). We did not want to get wet, so we took the dry tunnel instead.

The end of Hezekiah's Tunnel. 

The Pool of Siloam, which collected water from the Gihon Sping for residents of the ancient walled city of Jerusalem.  

Tombs of Jewish kings from the Davidic dynasty. 

Disheartening moment of the day: a Fatah flag (with some pretty violent imagery) and a Palestinian flag flying in the Silwan neighborhood.  There were some Hamas flags, too, but I was not about to get close to those.

Empowering moment of the day: a flag of Jerusalem, Israel, and the Tower of David flying proudly over the Old City.

Tonight, Esther, Fara, Rachel, and I plan to go out before Rachel heads back to the United States tomorrow.  I cannot believe the moment has finally come!

Until next time!

12/27 | The Tower of David Museum and Christian Sites on the Mount of Olives

Today, I had the opportunity to tour various Byzantine-era sites in the Old City of Jerusalem and the Mount of Olives with my Archaeology of Jerusalem class.  In the Old City, we took a tour of the walled citadel, which includes the landmark Tower of David.  Like most places in Jerusalem, this location was misinterpreted to be the site of the palace of King David; however, the name has stuck and successive structures built by Christian, Muslim, Mamluk, and Ottoman rulers have all been associated with David.  Today, the citadel has been turned into a museum that explains the history of Jerusalem with several detailed models to help explain how the city has changed.

The imposing entrance to the citadel, today home to the Tower of David Museum. 

The moat of the citadel.

A chandelier by famous glass sculptor Dale Chihuly hangs in the entrance of the Tower of David Museum.

The inside of the citadel features an incredible archeological park.

The view from the top of the citadel looks out at the entire Old City.  The gold dome to the left is the Dome of the Rock; the white dome to the right is the Churva Synagogue.

A view of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the holiest site in Christianity.  This was one of the focuses of our previous field trip.

A close-up of the Dome of the Rock.  The gold domes of the Russian Orthodox Church of Mary Magdalene can be seen to the right.

A view of the Student Village--Kfar HaStudentim--where I live.

A view of the Mount Scopus campus of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Idols were found in excavations of Jerusalem.  These are what the biblical prophets warned against, fearing that people would shift their devotion away from G-d.

A reconstruction of Robinson's Arch, which carried traffic from the street-level market to the basilica, known as the Royal Stoa, on the Temple Mount.  Today, there is only...

...a little piece of the arch left.  This was taken two field trips ago.

A model of Jerusalem during the Second Temple period.  The walled city was much more expansive than today's walled city, which was built by the Ottoman Turks in the sixteenth century.

Glass grass sculptures by Dale Chihuly. 

Kids were playing a large game of Chutes and Ladders in the center of the citadel.

When we finished at the Tower of David Museum, a bus took us to the Mount of Olives.  The Mount of Olives is famous for two things: the largest, most ancient Jewish cemetery in the world and the location of many of the stories of Jesus from the New Testament.

The Chapel of the Ascension, where Jesus allegedly ascended into heaven 40 days after his resurrection.

A stone slab that supposedly contains one of Jesus' footprints. 

The Chapel of the Ascension is one of Christianity's most venerated sites, but it has been turned into a Muslim mosque.

A view of the largest, most anceint Jewish cemetery in the world.  The Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock is in the background.

The Roman Catholic Dominus Flevit church marking the spot where Jesus wept over the coming destruction of Jerusalem.

A Byzantine-era mosaic in the Dominus Flevit church.

The old gnarled olive trees of the Garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus and his disciples prayed the night before his crucifixion.  The word Gethsemane comes from the Hebrew words Gat Shemenim, which means oil press in English.

 The mosaic facade of the Roman Catholic Church of All Nations, where Jesus prayed before his arrest.  The mosaic depicts Jesus as a mediator between G-d and man.

The rock in the apse of the church where Jesus prayed before his arrest. 

The Crusader facade of Mary's Tomb.