The trip home, and the difference a kippah makes?

When I flew back from Israel earlier this month my journey was a gauntlet as usual; long layover, long flights, however one part was much easier than normal--the security. Whenever I've explained what the Tel Aviv airport security is like to an Israeli they always respond with looks of disbelief, because they aren't treated the same when they leave. One of my instructors this summer was herself a security worker at the airport during her military service. She said that part of her job was explicitly to profile people by their race and religion, and she disliked her job a great deal for this reason. People that have read my older blogs will recall that I've had some pretty rough encounters at Israel's airport security in the past. So this time I thought I would try an experiment. This time when I left I decided I would do exactly as I had in the past, pack the same way, and answer the questions in the security interview with same candor that in the past resulted in this. This time however, I put on a kippah (yarmulke in America), nothing flashy, just a little doily size piece of cloth. In America it's common for religious Jews not to wear one, but in Israel it serves as a strong indicator of whether or not someone is a religious Jew. There are actually not a few Christian orders that also wear a skullcap, called a pileolus or a zucchetto. I also like to wear strange objects as hats as a matter of habit. At any rate, when I came to the security interview I answered the same questions with complete honesty, regarding why I was in Israel, who I knew, how much Hebrew I knew, etc. and after about sixty seconds I was waved through every line. I didn't so much as have to open a single bag or send my checked bags through the x-ray. Exiting customs was equally fast, and the security officer behind the desk, rather than the usual stern attitude was, frankly, flirtatious. I get searched leaving the Harvard libraries more thoroughly than I experienced this time around at the airport. The airport security which had taken two to three hours in the past, took me all of twenty minutes from the first interview to sitting at my gate. Though I know this is but one experience, and only anecdotal evidence, I can't help but presume that I was treated so differently and presumed to be nonthreatening because I wore a piece of fabric on my head which served as a symbol of Jewishness. I'm not sure which part I find more interesting, that Israel's famously extreme security measures which take advantage of the most advanced technology available can be thwarted by a three inch diameter piece of knitted yarn, or that Justin the religious Jew would, because of that religion, be waved through, while Justin the Christian would be held and searched from top to bottom and interrogated.

A Year in Review

Almost exactly one year ago I left Israel and Palestine in order to begin my master's degree. When people asked me if I would ever return, I would always reply, "I hope, at least someday." Today, certainly sooner than I expected, I find myself in Israel once again. Returning here once more has brought me to reflect on my where I've come this past year. So much has changed in this short time, and the surprises and twists have not slowed down. The general progress in my life which seems unremarkable as I busy myself in undertaking these various tasks and goals takes on a new light when I remind myself where I was just one year ago today. On the academic side of things, since I last left Israel, I've completed half of a master's degree at Harvard, finished two years worth of biblical Hebrew, published my first scholarly works (along with a volume of papers I never thought feasible to produce in this short time), and earned the award which provided me the funding to come here to Israel once again. I have come a long way it seems. My personal life has been equally eventful, though most of these changes I wish not to recount here. I have coped with the reality of returning to an environment largely numb to the issues of peace in the Middle East and its immediate relevance to our society. Because of my past experiences here I have had to face more challenges reintegrating into American life, the social world, and especially the Academy. I also survived a Boston winter, certainly that’s worth something.

Spiritually I am a work in progress, as always, and I take it as a good sign. The pressing fear of detachment from the things I study and what I practice as my faith has not diminished. I’ve been feeling as though I have less and less in common with the people that fill the pews on Sunday. I know the reason for most of this feeling is because I’ve been so privileged to have the education I have had, but I know that this doesn’t account for everything. During my recent visit with family and friends in California I was able to visit Foothill Community Church, where a great deal of my spiritual formation and ministry training took place. All of my friends there were familiar and I felt at home, but to think that just a few years ago I was the youth ministry intern, and even more recently as one of their missionaries, it feels like a lifetime ago. To put a positive spin on it, my service to the Church has been transforming as quickly as I have, but not diminished. I did come all the way to Israel after all. And I’m here to understand, if only a little better, the relationship between Jews and Christians in Antiquity, something I believe is crucial for interfaith dialogue today.

Going back to Israel

I was granted a very generous fellowship from the Harvard Center for Jewish studies through the Anne B. Malloy Memorial Fund to return to Israel this summer to do some exciting research!  I will be attending a program at Tel Aviv University entitled “Jewish-Christian Encounters in the First Centuries CE,” a topic which has been the focus of much of my studies here at Harvard.

The focal course will compare early Jewish and Christian literature in how they approach certain topics like gender, ethnicity, and the Bible, and also how these literatures interacted with one another. We’ll also be visiting locations in the Galilee and Jerusalem and various archeological digs. One of my few regrets about my previous time in Israel was that I didn’t do enough of this kind of travel because I had no time to. The program also includes an advanced course in Hebrew during the early-Rabbinic period which will flesh out my Biblical Hebrew skills. I hadn’t taken any Hebrew before I started here at Harvard, and this course will make five full semesters before I start the second year of my Master’s! I’ve come a long way since then. There will also a lecture serious, on “Talmud and Theology,” which will discuss the Talmud’s relationship to modern Jewish thought and practice, and provide me with the practical context for better understanding modern Jewish theology. I’ve dug myself into the beliefs of the ancient world so much it will be helpful to engage in the modern world a bit.

Being at Tel Aviv University will also place me just a short distance from the Wolfson Medical Center, the main hospital I worked in during my first sojourn in Israel in 2009. Hopefully this summer study will allow me to pay a visit or two.

I’m still finishing up my papers for my spring semester here at Harvard, which has kept me from writing much here, but I hope I will be able to follow up with plenty of updates during this summer program.

I'm Safe

I made it through all of the security checks without delay or hindrance. I walked to the Holy Sepulcher Church, arriving just before dawn, in order to watch a ceremony performed by Armenian monks entering the tomb of Christ. He wasn't there, I saw it myself!



From there I went to Christ Church (the oldest Protestant church in Jerusalem), to partake in a wonderful dawn service. We sang praises in Hebrew and English and shared communion among the congregation; it was a very powerful experience.




I arrived in Beit Sahour, the Bethlehem suburb where Paidia is located and where I am staying for now, in the afternoon. I had no trouble getting across the West Bank barrier. I put down my things and after barely sleeping a wink in 72 ours I promptly fell asleep.

Departing Again

So as not to abscond from those who don't already know, I will be going back to Israel/Palestine this Friday. I didn't give much thought to it at the time that I bought the ticket but I will be leaving on Friday afternoon (around the same hour as Christ's death on Good Friday), and should be arriving in Jerusalem shortly before dawn on Easter (around the same hour the empty tomb was discovered Easter morning). I still do not have the financial support I need to live on but I am confident the Lord will provide. Don't feel pressured to give if you cant, but if God has called on you to give I would encourage you not to ignore it.

How long I will be able to stay will depend on a number of factors, firstly getting a visa to stay. Tourist visas are typically issued for three months and are often renewable, however the interior ministry is notoriously capricious. Another factor will be where I start graduate school for theology in the fall since each school has a different start date. Yet another factor will be when I can schedule a long overdue surgery I need in coordination with when my health insurance will cover it. Finally, there is the ever looming factor of the general military and political situation, which at times can bring this kind of work to a halt.

Safely Home

I’m 38,000 feet over Missouri as I write this. So far everything on the journey home has gone relatively well. Getting through Israel security on the way out was exactly what I expected; meaning it was everything. Upon entering airport security every person is assigned a number 1-6, 1 being for example the least threatening little old Orthodox Jewish lady who’s never left the country; 6 being someone extremely threatening and potentially dangerous, me for example. I received just about every test they could do that didn’t involve me taking off all my clothes (I was taking to a back room behind a curtain, where I had every inch of me patted down multiple times however). Every book I brought, which was in the neighborhood of 30 was opened and flipped through to see if anything was in between the pages, every item was tested for chemical weapons and explosives, etc. I even got a few interrogations, which I managed to make light hearted since I knew the security officers doing them were likely no older than me. After a couple hours I was through security and, having expected the worst from the security in advance, still made it on my flight with plenty of time. Whether you find it comical or something more, I thought people would be interested to see my bags stamped with 6, 6, 6.

I spent three days on the East Coast during my layover in JFK. My ticket was the same price if I took the next plane to Los Angeles a few hours or a few days later. Having never been to the East Coast, I thought it would be a good idea to stop off and see some sites and visit some of the graduate schools I’m applying to at Harvard and Yale. After purchasing my ticket, and as my arrival in New York City was quickly approaching I began to realize just how big of an operation accomplishing the East Coast adventure would be. Especially considering I was still in a mode of mental recovery I felt in over my head. But would you know it, the entire trip went without a hitch, and much better than I could have expected, thanks mostly to some family friends living in Brooklyn who took great care of me. My visits to Yale and Harvard went very well, I showed up at Harvard Divinity School without any kind of appointment, noticed a student tour passing by shortly after I arrived, and jumped right in. The student leading the tour was in the same program I'm applying to and is from Southern California so asking her questions was very helpful. I got a lot of great info from staff at Yale, and was able to sit down to lunch with some Divinity students; not at all the blue bloods I was worried about. I also had the opportunity to see a lot of sites before leaving NYC, Rockefeller Center, Time Square, Ground Zero, etc.

I'll be home for Christmas

I will be home next week for the Christmas season to visit, and to raise support and awareness. As my departure nears I am fighting a strong sentimental bond I have developed with this place during my short stay here. There is so much I have yet to do, and so much more I wish I could have done, though I suppose these feelings are common. It feels a bit ironic to be living in Bethlehem itself, and leaving it for Christmas; I hope you can appreciate the sacrifice in this.

Please pray for my safety as I travel, and that I will get through security with few hassles. I will be trying to get through security at about 8pm Saturday night (PST), please pray for this time especially. I will be back in LA sometime late Wednesday evening. Because the price of my flight was the same regardless of how long my layover in NYC is, I decided to take a few days, having never been to the East Coast, to visit NYC, Harvard, and Yale where I am applying for Master’s programs in Theology. Please keep this time in your prayers as well, as I attempt to make myself presentable facing 7 hours of jet lag, reverse culture shock, and having never been in the temperatures expected during my stay. I look forward to seeing you all shortly! If you would like to receive information about the work I am doing and/or support me and would like to meet in person just shoot me a message here, on facebook, email, whatever is easiest for you.

Departure

She left a few nights ago. The past six weeks with Maddison have been wonderful.

The goodbye at the airport was terrible, though nothing like when I left her so many months ago. I convinced her that it won't be so bad if I come home for Christmas, all the while sucking back the tears myself. Who can find a woman like this, willing to stay with me after I left, never knowing when we would be together again? That would walk blindly off a precipice hoping that God would be faithful catch her.


God, through some generous supporters, did of course catch her and I both, some 6 or 7 months after I first left. When she was here it was like a day hadn’t past away from her, nothing between us had changed, and here for the first time I was able to try out just how exactly her and I work together in this kind of setting.

I don’t like to admit to learning anything from people less than 30 years my senior with anything less than multiple degrees in higher learning, but I find myself, half grumbling and half giddy, to admit just how much I've learned from her and how much potential there is for more in the future. Learning from a bubbly newly minted 20 something girl is something I can’t underestimated, or underappreciate. Where did she come from? It’s the sort of thing that makes me suspicious God has been interfering (thanks!)

We are full of plans for the future, dreams would probably be better. Ambitious notions that wouldn't be possible by one without the other. I Only wish I could act and feel in such a way deserving of this sort of attention. I've learned that in ministries such as this, where life lessons and prospects are extracted like soil is tilled, that all life’s rocks are forced to the surface begging for a toe to stub. For me they are more accurately a few boulders, and their impact more akin to life crippling. This is where I pray God (and Maddison) will deal graciously and gently with me, as I attempt shove off these limitations, or perhaps more realistically, become accustomed to their continual impeding.

It’s interesting, as gushingly romantic as it sounds, I love her more, and I’m closer to her with each goodbye. In such a way that I don’t know if I would be capable of this sort of depth of affinity to someone otherwise through any means available to me in the past. This is better, its different, closer, more legitimately God focused (however you take that), and it’s getting stronger all the time.

In the hours following Maddison’s takeoff I struggled with the temptation to follow her on the next flight, or book my next flight one way. While the latter is not out of the question, the next day, which I spent in the hospital I was reminded of how pure and meaningful this work can be, even in the mundane activities, and remembered that it was Maddison who helped turn my attention to this. She wants me to stay, as long as God would have me, because as I grow so does she, until we are reunited in His timing.

My first night in Jerusalem

The last jot on the plane from Vienna to Tel Aviv was 3 hours and went by quickly. From there I made it through customs and borrowed a cell phone from an Israeli girl in exchange for helping her with her luggage so that I could call Keleigh, my ride. I found Keleigh and we left the airport without incident. It almost seemed anti-climactic how it happened because it was so casual and businesslike, after months of preparation and a long journey there was no fanfare and we left unceremoniously.

On the trip to Jerusalem we picked up Erica from the main hospital we work with in Tel Aviv who was needed to translate for one of the Iraqi mothers. As far as I know Erica was the first Palestinian resident I had met, hailing from Bethlehem in the West Bank. Before taking me to Shevet Achim we traveled to Bethlehem to drop Erica off at her home. Everything seemed eerily normal as Keleigh and I stopped for a pizza in a Bethlehem pizzeria on the way back. Erica, seemed perfectly normal and fun to talk to, the pizzeria was more normal than the ones in Azusa, and the other patrons and waiter seemed perfectly normal and congenial as well. There was even a Christmas tree and a Santa Claus in the window! The layout and look of the city was reminiscent of Mexico (based on my very limited travels) but that was about it. The only clue to any hostility was a metallic clock above our table that bore an embossed cartoonish assault rifle with a Palestinian flag extending out of the wall.

On our way back to Jerusalem we were checked by security at the border and arrived at Shevet Achim a short time later. On the way I caught glimpses of the Dome of the Rock, and some other significant features but was too exhausted to take any of it in. Once we arrived I carted in my things to the 150 year old cobblestone building and met the two other volunteers staying there at the time. I was given a quick tour by Keleigh and met all the Iraqi mothers and children who were as cute as can be. A room had been prepared for me however 2 Iraqi mothers returned to Jerusalem unexpectedly and they needed the room. So for the time being I am staying in Donna's room (another worker who is out of town for a few weeks). I took a long awaited and much needed shower and retired for the night at around 8pm local time.

I will try to upload pictures soon.

Safe in Vienna

I'm sitting on a bench waiting for my next and last flight to Tel Aviv and what better way to spend my time than to blog. Saying goodbye to Maddison was the most emotionally difficult thing I've had to go through in a very long time. There were a lot of tears and salty kisses. Even now I am still amazed at her strength and her willingness to suffer this for the sake of the kingdom even so far as to lovingly pack and check the bags that would take me away from her through her tears. Still our love for each other gives me hope for what love can accomplish and sets for me an example of what I will strive to demonstrate to those I serve in Israel. Maddison and I both have faith that with God in control there is nothing to fear.

I left for the airport at 5:30 am, having not slept the night before. My first flight left at 9:11 to Washington D.C... yes, 9:11 to Washington D.C. Perhaps it was a blessing in disguise as there were a few rows with only one passenger including mine. I was able to lay down across my row of 3 seats and get a little shut eye, though not much after what I had just gone through. I slept through most of the view of the continental US which I had wished to see, but I was willing to sacrifice the view for some much needed sleep. I arrived in D.C. safely 4 hours later.

From D.C. I took a flight to Vienna where i sit now. It was a looong 8 hours. I tried to sleep for much of it but found myself only able to fall asleep just in time to be awoken for breakfast. The view from the take off was great though, as we followed the Eastern Seaboard just as night fell, so I was able to see the New York skyline lit up, albeit from 30,000 feet. The view of Europe in the morning was beautiful as well, when not covered by clouds I could see snow capped mountain ranges and villages below. The food and entertainment were good, I had my own TV which let me watch some Discovery channel half-conscious; but a lot went wrong, I lost my pillow, my first pair of headphones didnt work, and it was cramped. But I got here, and so far so good!

The next update will be from Israel. I will upload pictures from the plane soon.