King Kaleb (you'll have to search to see how this blog got this name)

BJ spoke in church on Sabbath. Bless his heart, he woke up with a stiff neck that he couldn’t move. He couldn’t turn his head at all. He didn’t feel like speaking, but he got up and did it anyway. I am proud of him. Plus he continues to do so well with taking care of the sacrament. He is a good kid.
This week started out with a bang. We did my favorite Old Testament FT. It is the Shfeylah (or shphelah) trip. Shphelah means “to be low, or lowland”. It denotes the low lying hills that slope down to the coastal plain, and are an important fertile and strategic part of Israel. Going West to East, the Kingdom of Judah had 3 different types of terrain. The first is the coastal plains, then you get the low hills, then the high hills in which Jerusalem and Bethlehem reside. The word shfeylah is not in the KJV, though it is used 20 times in the Hebrew text. It is sometimes translated as “vale”, or “valley” or “plain” or “low plain” or “low country”.
The most recognizable way for you to know it is “shphehlah” is when it has the combination of hills, valley and plains. Then you know it is high hills, low hills (shphehlah) and coastal plains.
Because the Philistines held much of the coastal plain, and because so many invaders (such as Egypt, Assyria, Babylon) traveled along the coast and tried to enter Judah from there, the five valleys that go through the Shphelah became important strategic centers. Thus they fortified a major city in each valley to protect that entrance (and probably to levy taxes/tariffs as well). It is worth learning the name of each valley and its attendant city: Ayalon Valley, Gezer guards it; Sorek Valley, Beth Shemesh guards it; Elah Valley, Azekah guards it; Guvrin Valley, Mareshah guards it, it’s the way to Hebron; Lachish Valley, Lachish guards it.
We first go to Tel Gath, which we can do because Jeff Chadwick excavates there. He takes us through it, showing us the Canaanite level, the Philistine level, the part where Goliath would have lived, and the Israelite part. It is a great site, I love it. N. 31* 42.117, E. 034* 50.845.



Chadwick teaching the students about his excavations


Me watching Chadwick teach (which means I don't have to teach for a moment, kinda nice)



After that, we went to Guvrin. Guvrin was the town that rose up when Mareshah died out, was important until Bar Kokhba revolt of ca 130 AD. When they figured out they could mix the limestone into plaster, and eventually figured out firing it made very good plaster, mining for limestone in this area became a big thing. This was used for cisterns and walls. They would punch through the hard black top, a hard limestone called Na’ari. When they got to the soft limestone they would mine it in ever widening circles, (about 30 cm deep, you can point out the lines inside). Since each lower row was larger, this made a bell shape. Hence these are called the bell caves. All the caves we go to are Byzantine (inside we find crosses) but some nearby are from Iron Age II. We sang songs inside and enjoyed the incredible acoustics. Then we did some battle yells.


Students singing in the Bell Caves



Our whole family was with us on this field trip, and as usual, they had a great time in this cave. Little Jacob recognized where it was as we got off the bus, and he was so much fun to watch as he ran around jumping, sliding, yelling, and having a great time.


Playing in the Bell caves



After this we went up to the entrance of Tel Mareshah. It was an important site. Joshuah conquered it. Solomon built it up, but it was made a greater fortification by his son, Rheboam. Asa, king of Judah fought a battle there that he won with the help of the Lord. Here we go to a Columbarium, which is a dove-cote. This is important because they used doves for food, for fertilizer, but also for sacrifices. Joseph and Mary offered two doves when they brought baby Jesus to the temple. Those doves probably came from a place like this.

Sabrina inside the dove cote


BJ and Jacob in the dove cotes


We also went to an ancient olive press. There we spoke of how olive oil was made and how this symbolism teaches us about the all important atoning sacrifice of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ at Gethsemene (Greek version of the Aramaic word for Oil Press).
From there we made a quick stop at the Sidonian Tombs. After Babylonian destruction of the temple, this area was taken over by Edomites (called Idumeans by the Romans). One tradition holds that Herod was from Maris (Mareshah). These Idumeans largely adopted Hellenistic culture (and later Roman). While some Jews and Egytpians lived here, the largest groups were Idumeans who were joined by Sidonians and Greeks. These tombs are Hellenistic, and as a result have very Greek style decorations.

Greek decorations in the Sidonian tomb of Mareshah


Greek tomb decoration. This is a three headed dog, either Cerebos or fluffy. You don't see a three headed dog every day, even if you are in the business.



Jacov inside the Sidonian tomb



The kids (and students) love running around in these things and hiding, etc. Jacob recognized the place in the parking lot (he has an amazing spatial memory). He went right to his favorite tomb for hiding, and ran around and around in it. What fun!
After this we went to Lachish, my favorite tel. (954 ft. elevation, N 31* 33.942, E. 034* 50.916) It is huge. It was the most important city outside of Jerusalem, and was larger than Jerusalem at the time of the Assyrian siege, or at least just before it. It is a huge place. It has a Canaanite palace and temple which Joshua would have conquered after defeating their army in the Aijalon Valley. It was a fortress for a long time, made especially large by Rehoboam, Solomon’s son. But the big stories there are the Assyrian and Babylonian destructions. Lachish is the last city to fall before each of those armies went to Jerusalem. The Assyrians built a huge siege ramp, still visible today, because that was the only way to get in. The Israelites built a counter siege ramp, tearing down houses and roads to build it up to support the wall against the pressure being put on it by the Assyrians. They Assyrians were known for their horrible treatment of conquered enemies. They ruled by fear, trying to make people afraid to rebel because of the terrible things that would happen to them. They cut hands and feet off of conquered enemies, raped and plundered, flayed and impaled them. Surely those inside Lachish looked out of their walls and saw their friends from Azekah, the city that fell right before theirs, being tortured and impaled in the valley around Lachish.

Tel Lachish


As we go through the large gate that Rehoboam built I have the students turn and look at the lintel and try to picture their ancestors desperately holding a door closed, pressing it against that stone as the Assyrians tried to break through. (we also talk about the Lachish letters, and read the one that may be talking about Jeremiah). Then we go up on top of the countersiege ramp and wall and look down, trying to picture the Assyrian army. We then switch gears to talk about Babylon, who did the same thing in the same place. I point out where Azekah is (it was too hazy to see today). Then we read the Lachish letter that talks about how they could no longer see the signal fires of Lachish. I try to have them picture what it would be like to see those fires go out, to know that Azekah had fallen, and that you are next. You are all that stands between the Babylonians and Jerusalem. No one will come to your aid. You are all that is left, and the army is coming your way. This is dramatic stuff. I then ask my students to think about how in our life we sometimes see the watch fires go out, comparing it to when we feel the spirit leave. When that happens, we know we are in as dangerous circumstances as the Lachish residents were when those watch fires went out. We better pay attention to things when we sense that spirit leaving and do something about it or we will fall too.
It apparently has some effect on my students. This is what one of my students wrote on her blog:
The most meaningful part of Lacish to me was what Brother Muhlestein talked about at the entrance to the city (see picture below). He had us imagine being an Israelite inside the city with the formidible Assyrian army attacking the door with a battering ram. We imagined our Israelite ancestors holding that door shut with all their might, knowing what would happen to their wives, daughters and families if they got in. I cannot fathom the despair and heartache they must have felt when the city fell. We also talked about the Lacish Letter #4 that was found. A near-by town called Azekah (in the time of the Babylonians) had their signal fires lit, but when the Babylonians destroyed their city, their signal fires went out and the Israelites in Lacish knew that the Babylons were victorious and that Lacish was next to be destroyed. Again, I can't fully comprehend the dread that must have filled their souls when the lights at Azekah went out. Brother Muhlestein applied this to our spiritual life and I will never forget the words he said there to us.


Pointing out the threshold to students



Students watching Jeff Chadwick point out features of the Canaanite temple at Lachish




We also toured the palace, and an old temple. I gave them time to write in their journals, and then off we went. During this stuff we tried to have some fun too. As we were looking at the siege ramp, pointing out where the big stone and brick wall was, where they found in one 5mx5m square over 100 arrowheads lodged in the brick, suddenly Julianne, Tashara and Sabrina appeared on the top of the wall and threw rocks at us, trying to protect the city. We were far ahead of the Judd class by then (that never happens), so when they showed up below we were already on top of the wall, so we threw stuff at them. They didn’t like being identified as the Assyrians, but what could we do, they looked like Assyrians to us?

From there we went to the Valley of Elah. We talked about how the whole thing happened, pointing out the geographic features of the area that bring the story to life. As great a story as it has always been, there in that valley it seems so real that it becomes all the more powerful. It is a great place to teach about the faith and perspective of David. You can see where Saul’s camp would have been, up towards Sha’araim. They camped there because the Philistines had been coming up from the West and had gone around Azekah (not a huge fortress at that time) and were coming up towards Bethlehem and Jerusalem, which are almost straight east from there. The Philistines were the south hill, so the Israelites made a camp on the north hill (north of the valley and brook of Elah, pronounced ey-lah) just east of them to stop their advance. Then David comes and demonstrates such incredible perspective and faith. It is a great story.



Students looking for stones to sling



Sabrina about to kill Goliath


Sabrina cutting Goliath's head off



To illustrate the story we had Sabrina do her third and final David impression. Little Sabrina, not quite 3 feet tall, got out her sling and came against 6’4” (skinny, but tall) Morgan. She totally took him down, and stood on him and cut his head off. It was a fine moment, I was very proud.

When David slew Goliath, the Israelites chased after the Philistines, who left so quickly they left their tents and everything behind. Just west of the battle site the valley turns north, then curves to the west again, making an “S” curve, as I spoke about last week. The Israelites caught up to the Philistines just on the other side of the curve, just before they were about to head west again. I think this was because you go slower as you turn, and because the Israelites could come down off their camp going two directions, thus chasing them from behind the curve, but meeting them on the other side of it as well. Then they slew them all the way to Gath.

In order to more fully get this, we went up onto the top of Azekah. (1033 ft. elevation, N. 31* 33.947, E. 034* 50.965) There we talked about the short history of the site. It became the great guardian city of that valley. Also, from there, you can see the valley very well, and we got a great vantage point to further understand the story. And we sang the classic Chadwick song “Goliath’s back, and you’re gonna be in trouble.”

View from Azekah of the valley where the battle took place (furthest to the right and up in this picture), and the first part of the S curve that goes around Azekah




Then we went to Bet Shemesh. (863 ft. N. 31* 45.027, E. 034* 58.536) This was the guardian cit for the Sorek Valley. There we read about Amaziah losing a battle to Jehoash, a battle which he had sought for and which led to the pillaging of Jerusalem by the Northern Kingdom. We also looked around at where Samson was from, where he killed a lion, set fire to fields, etc. Heady stuff. Then we talked about the story of the ark of the covenant being lost, how it afflicted the Philistines, and how it was returned to Israel in the valley we were looking at, and was brought to Bet Shemesh, where we were standing. We spoke of how we all need our own Bet Shemesh, a place where, when we have lost our covenant because of our wickedness, we can let the Lord bring it back to us. Break the covenant we surely will. When we do, lets run to Bet Shemesh, or in other words, lets repent and let the Lord restore us in his way and time.


Jacob and Sabrina at Beth Shemesh



Tashara near the walls of Bet Shemes




It was a great field trip, we loved it.

The next morning we did another great field trip. We went to the City of David. We looked at the geography of the whole place. We talked about why it was built where it was, how its topography and political geography made it a great capital. We read Psalms and prophecies about Jerusalem. Then we moved below and saw the building that I think has to be David’s palace, which later became an administrative building after Solomon built his palace. Think of the things that happened there. David lived and loved there. He saw Bathsheba from there, and you know how that story ends, there in that palace. Solomon lived there. Probably Isaiah worked there, even prophesied there. Jeremiah probably prophesied there and was probably imprisoned there. There is a decent chance that Lehi was there. The excavators found there seals bearing the names of people that we know persecuted Jeremiah, and maybe even Lehi. What a place.


The corner of David's Palace




Then we went just below there. We look at the remains of houses that were there in Jeremiah, Lehi, and Zedekiah’s day. There is evidence of burning in those houses, and arrowheads. These are houses that were destroyed by the Babylonians. One of the houses had a seal from someone that we know helped Jeremiah. Then we looked over the valley and again tried to picture what it looked like to have it filled with either the Assyrian or Babylonian army. Judah was delivered once, under a righteous king who listened to the prophet, but later they didn’t, when they chose not to listen to the prophet.


The room on the right was burned and had arrows in it


Many in my class looking down at the houses that were burned by the Babylonians




We went down to touch the early walls, the walls that David had to deal with when he took the city, and then that he used. These walls very well may have been built by Melchizedek, so we talked about him. We were roughly in the place where Isaiah met Ahaz and delivered a prophecy about a virgin conceiving, so we talked about that. What a historic place.



Students touching what very wall may be "Melchizedek's stones"



From there we went through Hezekiah’s tunnel. It is a tunnel he built to take the water from the Gihon spring to the Pool of Siloam. It took the water under the city, and thus kept it inside the first wall, rather than having it outside that wall so that if the lower wall fell the water was vulnerable to the Assyrians. This is a very long, very cool tunnel, going right under the city. You enter at the Gihon spring, and walk through water, sometimes bending over quite a bit, sometimes squeezing through. It is a great experience. We always turn out our lights part way through and go a ways without lights. We also sing in there. Good stuff. Just as you enter the spring you are on the ancient gate towers of the city. It was there that Solomon was anointed king after riding on David’s ass. My guess would be that this made it the traditional site of coronation. For good measure we re-enacted it by anointing Kaleb king. He seemed to be okay with this.

The Gihon Spring


Part of the tower at the Gihon Spring



Anointing Kaleb King



Inside Hezekiah's Tunnel



Kaleb and BJ and Josiah inside the tunnel. Kaleb and BJ were the only family members to come on this field trip with me.




When we get out we go to the Pool of Siloam and talk about the miracle of the man who was born blind and was healed when Jesus sent him to wash at the Pool of Siloam. After we go through the story and the great line “whereas I was blind, now I see,” then we talk about how Jesus Christ does that for all of us, and hopefully many times. It is a wonderful moment.


The Pool of Siloam



My class at the Pool of Siloam




After that we went through the quarry, and then talked about Solomon’s temple, and then we were done. I hung out in the city for a while with BJ and some of the students. We went to St. Peter of Galicantu church. I love that church. Finally I got home and we worked on various things, including having a wonderful family home evening.

Candles at St. Peter of Galilcantu


The stairs at St. Peter Galicantu on which the Savior probably walked as he was led to trial




We were back to great classes after that, and a whole bunch of Jordan Orientation things. It is weird to think this will be our last time going to Jordan. Its going to be hot, but I’m sure it will be good. We also had a court of honor, where BJ received his Star award, and Kaleb got his wolf and bear. We had a field trip to the Separation Wall that was almost worthwhile. And Kaleb, Tashara and Alexia had a recital for their guitar class. They each played a few songs. They were great. I think we are in for some good guitar playin’ in our family. We had a great forum speaker from the American Embassy. We had our Seder dinner, which went very, very well, probably the best yet. Julianne works so hard to get those things ready. She really does a fantastic job. She is so good at this kind of thing. We also had lunch this week with a new faculty member we just hired in Provo, named Matt Grey. He is here doing an excavation, and came to be with us for a few days. It was good to get to know him better. We also had him and the Judds over for dinner and got to know him better. He has some great ideas and I think we will end up doing some cool things together in the future.


Alexia playing guitar


Kaleb playing guitar



Tashara playing -- you guessed, the guitar


The whole guitar class



BJ getting his Star



Kaleb getting his Wolf


Getting Ready For Seder Meal!!!
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This week we also had a bunch of students get sick. We ended up with over 30 of them very sick (that is over 37%). Some of them were violently sick. I spent a lot of time going from room to room, giving blessings, making sure they were okay, cleaning up messes, and just trying to help these poor students feel like they are not alone as they suffer through this stuff. Moreover, it is the time of the semester where there are so many things due, and people are so worn out, that a lot of people feel frustrated with whether or not they are progressing the way they would like. I spent a lot of time talking with one wonderful student or another about these things. They are so wonderful and have such a great future ahead of them, I love helping them see their potential. I also worked a lot on my book about God’s Love in the Old Testament. It is almost done.

So, we wrapped up a typical week at the JC. BJ got his cast off. We had something every night of the week, a ton of extra things during the day. Our family did a lot together, a lot with other people, we got behind on some things, caught up on other things, anointed one son king of Israel, and in general wore ourselves out. The good news is that I understand everything we do better because, like David, sometimes I see that we are in the army of the living God, and because through the power of Jesus Christ, whereas I was spiritually blind, now I sometimes see.

Magical Week

Holy Moly, the time is flying by. Too soon it will be over. I can’t seem to slow it down. At least every week is a week we are living to the fullest. I do have to admit that there are days and times when I am so very ready to be done. It usually happens during something like doing the dishes, when I feel nostalgic for days when we had a dishwasher. Or when I am making breakfast with lousy pans that make it so hard to fry eggs. We used to have all sorts of things for breakfast. Pancakes, scrambled eggs, oatmeal, fried eggs, waffles, French Toast. Here the bread is lousy, so no French Toast. We have no waffle iron. The pans are bad, so frying eggs is tough and spraying oil onto the bad pans puts up a fine mist of smoke, but the sensitive fire alarms make them go off, so I just count on the fact that some people will have to evacuate their room due to the alarm that goes off every single time I fry eggs. Most oats you buy here have a very funny flavor, and we just can’t take it. As a result, it is very seldom that we have fried eggs or oats. In the end, we have either scrambled eggs or pancakes almost every day. I am not one who needs a lot of variety, and I love these breakfasts, but even I am getting sick of it. At least I love the yogurt here, I love to put it on my pancakes, it is so good. And I love the date honey we can put on our pancakes. Most of the time I love it, but I am starting to have more moments when I look forward to going home. Typically thinking of having to mow the lawn cures me of that.


Jacob drawing water at the well for Rachel/Ashley, at Neot Kedumim




In any case, it was one great week. Bright and early on Sunday the whole family went on a field trip with the students to Ne’ot Kedumim. We had a great time. We herded sheep. The kids loved that, and they were very good. Both groups in my class set a record for how well they did herding the sheep! These guys are good. We ground hyssop into a spice. Very Biblical, very good. As far as hyssop goes, it has antiobiotic properties which make it highly symbolic in rituals such as Passover, cleansing the leper, etc. We made shepherd’s pita the way they would have for thousands of years. We cooked some wheat and added date honey, probably very similar to what they would have done for Ruth when they fed her while she gleaned. We tried plowing, threshing, winnowing, and sifting. We acted out the Ruth story. We looked at all sorts of plants and got a feel for what they mean in the Bible. We learned from a Torah scribe about how to make Torah scrolls, and he performed the act of being a cantor from the scrolls with the Ashkenazi, Sephardic, and Yemeni intonations. All in all, it was one incredible day. I think the kids really liked it.

The sheepherding crew. Our kids are mostly in the back.



Sabrina was a bit afraid to feed the sheep, but with a little help she did it



Alexia had no fears, and held a few sheep!


Kaleb and Alexia sifting wheat from chaff



The class learning about Torah Scrolls



Sabrina and Michelle grinding their hyssop



a small, blooming hyssop plant



Ground hyssop: the finished product



Jacob was wandering off all the time




Sabrina, Alexia and Lauren making pita


The threshing floor, with a winnowing fork, a sieve, plow, and threshing sledge



Justin pulling Kaleb on the threshing sledge


One cool incident is when our bus driver spied a huge asp just off the road, ran over it, backed up and let it start to chase the bus, then ran over it again. That was one big, bad snake, and it was right by a guy cutting trees. Lucky guy, good bus driver.


This was a big, bad, mad snake.



Jaker got a bit tired there



The next day we did a quick faculty field trip prep. Jeff and Kim Chadwick, Julianne and I, and Frank, all went out to a few great sites. We stopped off quickly in a likely site for Emmaus. We are looking into how to do a little hike there, so we can walk at least part of the road to Emmaus. Then we went out to what is almost certainly Sha’araim, the site of where the Israelites caught up to the Philistines after David killed Goliath, and they started slaying them there. The story makes such perfect sense to me in this way. The little city there is probably built where Saul’s camp would have been. You can look down into the Elah valley to where David would have slain Goliath. Then the Philistines would have started to flee to them to the West. But the valley jogs north and then west again right there, in a kind of “S” curve. The Bible says they started killing the Philistines in the “way to Sha’araim”. That would be right where they had to make their second turn as they were navigating the S curve. That is exactly the kind of place where one army will catch up with another, as they have to make turn after turn. What is more, if some of Saul’s camp had run down the hill into one part of the valley to chase them, but some had run down the other side, it is right in that curve where they would have caught the Philistines on 2 sides. The whole story works so well right there. It is incredible. I wish I had understood how this worked all the time, it would have been nice to explain it better all along the way. But at least I am learning and catching on now.


One of the gates of Sha'araim, looking down into the Elah Valley




From here you can see both parts of the S curve in the valley




>The part of the Valley where David slew Goliath, taken from the probably site of Saul's camp



Then we went to Tel Gurnah, which is probably Biblical Libnah. That place figures into the Bible a few places, but for us it is most prominent as the place that Josiah’s mother was from. Which makes it the place that Mulek of Book of Mormon fame, had relatives, since Josiah’s mother was his great grandmother. Fun stuff. They are just starting to excavate there. They have only done so for two seasons now. Interesting. I love getting a better feel for the land. This place is just outside of Mareshah, just a little further west in the Shpheylah than I usually go. It was a great day.

Jeff showing ut Tel Libnah




It was a busy week of class. This week we did exciting things like Elijah, Elisha, and the fall of the Kingdom of Israel. We got into some of the meatier stuff of the Old Testament. Plus I was able to send off a cd with all the material for publishing the proceedings of my 2006 conference on it. Then I got my dissertation rewrite finally all finished, and sent it off to the publisher. That was a great feeling. Then I got a long ways into rewriting my book on seeing God’s love in the Old Testament. It was a very productive week.

Highlights of the week also included a great forum speaker. Khaled Abu Tomeah is a Palestinian journalist. He calls it like he sees it. He describes eloquently the corruption among Palestinian leaders which has led to their never progressing in the way they should towards statehood or peace. He outlines the failure of foreign nations to understand what is going on here and to really help. He shows how foreign media so selectively covers things that they are essentially lying to the public. He demonstrates some serious shortcomings in Israeli policy. He is very, very insightful. I also gave some good friends a ride to the airport as they moved away. It made it clear how little time we really have left here. We celebrated Shavuot, but not as much as we should have. We had a fire outside the building that almost gave me a heart attack. Julianne had a hard time getting the car into the place because of all the fire trucks and smoke. She sent Tashara in to tell me she would be a while because of all of it. But Tashara came and told me that there was a fire and Mom was stuck because she couldn’t get through the smoke. She forgot to mention that Mom was not in any danger, and listening to her I assumed that Julianne was in the fire and couldn’t get out. I ran and ran, searching for her, heart pounding. When I couldn’t find her anywhere and Tashara explained a little more, I saw that she was probably okay and even called her. She was inside the building by then, having a nice time. I recovered later.


The fire damaged some of our security system. Here you can see how it came right up to our walls.



The students have been doing a fun thing here. I arrange my bus travel committee into a Harry Potter theme. We have the four houses, we have madame pomfreys, and each member of the committee is also part of the quidditch team, so that we have beaters, a seeker, etc. And Jeff Chadwick always adds lots of fun Potter lines to the stuff he does. This semester has really gotten into it. The JC is now Hogwarts, the Oasis/dining room has become the Great Hall, and all the faculty and staff have been assigned to different characters. Chadwick is the headmaster, Dumbledore. His wife is Trelawney. Ray Huntington is Cornelius Fudge, the minister of magic. His wife is Professor Sprout. The Judds are Arthur and Molly Weasley. And it goes on. Each group has a picture of who they are on their door with a little label denoting who they are. The headmaster’s office has a huge picture of the guardian gargoyle/eagle.






The Judd door


Now, to understand the story you have to know that when I started this the first semester I thought this might happen sometime. And I asked myself who I should be. I thought about it long and hard, and decided that I was most like Remus Lupin. He is a kind of shabby looking guy who would do anything to help, but every now and then he just might bite you. I’ve become quite taken with the Lupin character. As the students tried to decide who I should be apparently it was a split decision. Apparently most saw me as Lupin, but they just didn’t see Julianne as Tonks. So, the official decision was that we were James and Lily Potter. I am most flattered by this label. They are, after all, the best couple in the series. And Julianne is so Lily, beautiful, kind, good, inspiring love in everyone, reaching out to everyone, able to save by the sheer force of her love, and eventually willing to marry a guy with potential but who was a bit mischievous and sometimes too headstrong or rough around the edges. This really seemed to work, and I was happy with it. However, some were still describing me as Lupin, and I am also happy with that. I added the Lupin and Tonks sign to the James and Lilly sign, so that we have two. I did a little presentation on it as well in class with lots of pictures, just to make things fun (showing how, while I am Lupin-like, I wondered if they might think of me as Gilderoy, but then they would see that I certainly wasn’t stylish enough for that, so they would probably think of me as Mad-eye Muhlestein, but really the chance that I might bite you pushed us back to the Lupin identification, except how much Julianne is so like Lily, and BJ is like Harry, because afterall he sleeps in the entry way. But then I moved on to a Lord of the Rings theme and argues that I should be Aragorn. I acknowledged that many of them probably thought of me as Gollum, but that really when they thought of it, Julianne was a smashing Arwen, so I had to be Aragorn, though I am really more like Strider than Aragorn. They have decided to call me Strider). In Chadwick’s class he had also decided to do a little fun presentation with it. He changed his identity to Snape. He then identified Judd as Gilderoy, and me as Lupin. So, since three separate studies have identified me with Lupin, I think that is where the matter must stand. But I’m good with being both Lupin and James, since Julianne is so Lily. I am happy to report that Hogwarts is doing well, and we have not seen any dementors for some time now.


Our double identity door



We also had the talent show. It was our last time doing our Pirates of the Carribean act. It went well, but it is hard to believe it is over. Julianne and Tashara were also in a hula dance, and Julianne and the other older ladies here did a song called “waking up is hard to do” about the students having a hard time getting to class on time. The funniest part was how Julianne and Kim Chadwick hammed it up while they waited for some technical difficulties to be overcome so the song could start. But in the end it was great. The whole show was so funny. I laughed and laughed. We have funny people here. And of course, that is the best part. The people here are the best part. I love the people here.


We were pirates one last time



Julianne and Kim Chadwick making us laugh while they waited, and waited, and waited for the music to start



The whole crew when the music did start


Julianne and Tashara doing the hula

Calm but fast week

Wow, it was one year ago today that our adventures started as my parents took us to the airport to fly to Hawaii. It is hard to believe it has been a year. Yet we have done so much in that year. Plus, that means it is my Dad’s birthday. Happy Birthday Dad!

This week, like the past year, has flown by. The highlight of the week was last Sabbath when I was able to set BJ apart as a Teacher, and the Branch President made him the Teacher’s Quorum President (he is the only person in the quorum). I am so proud of him. He is really an outstanding young man. I spent some time looking through some pictures of BJ at this time last year and how he looks today. It has been quite a year for that boy. He has grown, he looks more mature, he needs to shave, his voice cracks, and he has become so much more wise. He spends all his free time hanging out with college students. He holds his own in conversations with them, they genuinely enjoy being with him, and constantly talk to me about how they can’t believe he is only 14 since he talks like he is one of them. If we could just get him to behave that way at home, wow, we’d be set. In all seriousness, I think he will have a bit of a letdown when he gets home and has to hang out with other 14 year olds, who will act like 14 year olds and treat him like a 14 year old. He is not used to that anymore. It will be interesting.

We were able to spend some time last week doing some more filming for our nativity movie. We went to the City of David and filmed Isaiah prophesying about the Savior in some of the places Isaiah would have been. Pretty cool stuff.

Monday was a very interesting day for me. I had been invited to speak at the University of Haifa. Since it is a 2.5 hour drive away I decided that if I was going to take the time to go up there I might as well see some things. On the long drive I listened to a UC Berkeley podcast class on the history of Rome (I got through about 5 lectures). This was a wonderful way to spend the drive, I loved it!

On the way, I stopped by Caesarea on the way up to see some stuff I haven’t had the time to investigate before. That was cool, and I will take my class to some of it.


Site of a temple, then Byzantine church, then mosque at Caesarea



Some cool ruins at Caeserea


Then I went to Tel Dor, a place where Egyptians had docked before. It was tough to find. It turns out you have to go through a gated Kibbutz hotel area to get there. But it is breathtakingly beautiful, really amazing.



Ancient anchors at Tel Dor



Port of Dor with some of the excavations visible on the hillside. My camera battery ran out while I was here, so I didn't get many pics of this, sadly.


Then I consulted my gps and it looked like I had time to go to Montfort Castle. So I ran up there. It is also hard to find, and I got lost a few times because the gps couldn’t find its way. I was just about to give up and head to the U. of Haifa when I thought to myself, “self, take this one last little winding road and see if you can get your bearings.” I couldn’t, and just when I decided I needed to turn back for sure, I pulled into a parking lot to turn around, and discovered it was the scenic overlook parking lot for Mont Fort castle. I could not stay long, but I enjoyed the beautiful view I had.

View of the castle from a bit afar



Montfort Castle closer up




The gps was wrong, it took a lot longer to get back than it thought it would (horrible, horrible traffic, who would have guessed?), and not only did I not get there an hour ahead of time to visit with my friend there and get a bite to eat and get all set up, I got into the lecture room about 3 minutes before it was supposed to start. Not a great beginning. But the lecture went well, they gave me good ideas, I gave them some things to think about, and it all went well. Then my friend, Dan’el Kahn, the Dept. Chair there, spent some time with me giving me ideas for my dissertation. Then I packed up and drove home, getting in very late. It was way too tired, but all in all it was one whale of a day!


Me in front of the tower at the University of Haifa. I lectured inside here.



I was glad to be back in classes. This week we covered the story of David, which is such incredible stuff. I love this material. Probably my favorite teaching moment of the week is when we went outside, on the 7th floor plaza, and looked over the temple mount while we read the description of Solomon building and dedicating his temple, and talked about the theology fo the dedicatory prayer, stressing how it was all about atonement and forgiveness. It was a beautiful moment. We also had our midterm, and I think the students survived.

Tuesday night we took the students on the Kotel tunnel tour, where they can go in the tunnel that was built along the western side of Herod’s wall around the Temple Plaza. It is amazing to see how long it was and the stones that were used. It is an interesting tour to be sure (that rhymes). I love to see the students learning and loving this stuff. It is a thrill for me.



One of the largestn building stones ever used. It is about 15 feet tall, and you can see how long this one block is by looking for Kori Sakahashi, one of my students who is way back there (not the once close that you can see, the little one furthest away). That is a bit stone!


Students at the cistern at the end of the Kotel Tunnel




Of course by the time we got back it was so far past when I normally go to bed, and it was on the heels of not much sleep the night before, that I am pretty sure I was largely incoherent on the van ride returning to the Center. I suspect some students somewhere have some bribery material on me.

Sabrina read her first book ever!




We also had Matthew Kalman as our forum speaker. He is always so good, helping the students see how the media around here really works, and entertaining them with such ironically true stories as he did it. On Friday I was privileged to introduce the movie Raiders of the Lost Ark. BJ helped by dressing up, bursting through a wall we built, cracking his whip, escaping a giant rolling ball/rock, and running away from a blow gun he had invented. It went pretty well I think. Then Julianne and I started watching the mini series “Masada.” Pretty interesting stuff.


BJ crackin' the whip!


Tashara shooting the blow gun at BJ


BJ giving me the idol he had gotten




This Sabbath I had the chance to extend a few more callings and set a few more people apart. That is always so amazing to me. The Lord loves these students, and they are incredible people. Jesus is making them into such wonderful, holy, heavenly creatures. I am glad to just get a glimpse or two into what they are becoming. It is a privilege to be a part of it. That is even more true for my own children. It is humbling to be part of their becoming what they will become. I thank the Lord, and plea for his help in so great a cause.