Yad Vashem!

Visiting Yad Vashem was a day that I anticipated since my arrival into Jerusalem. This Holocaust Museum provided a new insight as to the perspective of the Jews within Israel at the time of the European upheaval during WWII. I personally had no idea what to expect. Our Judaism teacher, Ophir, was our “tour guide” for the tour throughout the museum. When I say tour guide, I mean he was with us but was not permitted to guide us throughout the museum. Rather we were each given a piece of paper with important information and key historical facts to be aware of and we were left to guide ourselves. 

There were many rooms separated into different sections based upon sequence and theme such as the rise of the Nazi party or the ghettos evolving into concentration camps. The design of the exhibit was magnificent. Each display was equipped with personal testimonies and original artifacts. The most amazing part of this exhibit was the fact that it was from an Israeli perspective. The concept that caught me the most off guard was the fact that many Israelis at the time of the extermination of the Jews didn’t feel as sympathetic as they did frustrated. Israel previously advised the Jews to come to Palestine and get out of Europe. Therefore when many Jews were being killed it was seen as a consequence for not heeding to their counsel. Israel fought for their independence, so must the other Jews. There are two types of Jews depicted within the holocaust: fighters and those who submitted to the Germans. When this exhibit first opened, the main court was dedicated solely to the resisters and fighters within the ghettos. However, as more information and understanding evolved the court yard changed the dedication into “Holocaust and Heroism.” I assumed Israel would have been very sympathetic and open to the suffereing Jews spread across Europe, which in some cases they were, however, Ophir brought up an interesting point. When many Jews came into the land of Israel to find a safe haven, they were presented with the concept of judgment, judgment not only by their neighbors but also by themselves. Why would I survive and not my family? Many may accuse the Jewish survivors as betrayers to their own race because they escaped death, unlike many of their friends and family members. Even after the war the Jews did not have it easy. This cold time in history affected millions of people all over the world and continues to effect people living today.

I could not have prepared myself for such an experience. Nothing can justify the way humanity treated each other at this time in history. How could a human soul reach to such a low, selfish state? Throughout the entire exhibit I simply could not comprehend the level of disparity and hatred. My words simply cannot do justice to such an experience. Therefore, along the way I collected a few profound quotes from the individuals who are capable of expressing this pain in the most accurate manner possible (if it can be expressed at all), the victims.



“When I grow up and get to be 20 I’ll travel and see this world of plenty. In a bird with an engine I will sit myself down, take off and fly into space, far above the ground. I’ll fly, I’ll cruise and soar up high above a world so lovely into the sky…”

-Abramek Koplowicz (Murdered in Auschwitz at age 14).

“This is a time for sanctifying life, not for sanctifying God’s name through death. In the past, our enemies demanded our soul, and the Jews sacrificed his body to sanctify God’s name. Now the enemy is demanding the Jew’s body, and the Jew is obligated to defend it-to protect this life.”

-Rabbi Yitzhak Nissenbaum (Warsaw Ghetto)

“Remember only that I was innocent and just like you, mortal on that day, I, too, had had a face marked by rage, by pity and joy, quite simply, a human face!”

-Benjamin Fondane (1944-Killed at Auschwitz)

The Entrance

Outside the museum there were many trees dedicated to the "righteous among the nations." In other words, those non-Jews who put their own lives in danger to safe and protect Jews. This here is Oskar Schindler's plaque.

Before we entered the museum, we went through the exhibit dedicated to the children. These stone structures are dedicated to al lthe children who died throughout the span of the holocaust. These stone structures are set up in the arrangement of a class picture.

The Jewish Flag

BEAUTIFUL Cemetery outside the museum.

Peace Among the Storm

Within These Garden Walls

Sabbath.

Today a group of students and I went over to the Garden Tomb for a few hours. We all gathered in a remote area near the site of the tomb. We pulled out our handy dandy hymn books and began to sing. Music is a definite highlight of this trip. I absolutely love singing hymns. We began singing. Slowly but surely people began to gather. People of all denominations and nationalities gathered to enjoy the spirit. A few people even tried to join in and sing with us-knowing that English is their second language is quite moving. Although we cannot proselyte, we can spread our testimonies through our music and actions. It was  a wonderful experience. I learn so much about people and our religion every time I visit the Garden Tomb. The most amazing part of these experiences within the garden walls is the fact that Jesus Christ is the one common interest that brings all of these random souls together as one.

Simplicity

My life is bliss. I could end a blogspot with those four words but I will elaborate just a little bit. I have many wonderful experiences to blog about such as the Holocaust Museum experience...I simply need to dedicate more time to a blog post like that one (Do not fret it shall be sooner rather than later). However, I am happy and I need to share a few reasons why.
This week the JC crew is currently experiencing a little thing they like to call finals. This is a bitter sweet experience. Sweet because after next week our work load will decrease dramatically (like 3 classes significant) but bitter because these next few days will be in overdrive. Today was a great, long day of studying. Lately I have been living, eating, and breathing the Old Testament. It is a beautiful book and I am sad I haven’t tried to comprehend it in full detail until now….it is magnificent. Unlike most studying days, this one was glorious. The hours just flew by and I felt content and at peace. All of those the scrambled puzzle pieces separating Jeremiah, Ezra, Isaiah, and 1-2 Kings just came together. Many of the random facts floating aimlessly in my brain from the fields trips also contributed nicely to the geography and stories within the Bible. I love moments like today. I found myself standing up dancing or clapping with joy because I finally understood a principle or relationship among two of the many kings within the kingdoms of Judah and Israel. I hope to always apply this valuable information I am learning now to future experiences in my life. It is valuable and golden. 

Exercise is also becoming more apparent within my life. I slacked off a bit since I have been here but I am beginning to pick it back up again. Running soothes the soul, especially in Jerusalem. It is beautiful and so fun. The JC is planning to participate in a marathon, half marathon, or 10k depending on the ambition and ability. I am so excited, well that is if we can get it passed by the administration. You should see the center now. People who never admitted their hidden passion for running suddenly emerged from their little shell. What? That’s what I thought. Though can you imagine saying, “I ran a marathon in Jerusalem (or any race for that matter)?” I am so stoked. Currently there is a morning crew and night crew.  The people are drastically different within each group as I am sure you can imagine. LOVE IT! The two downsides (I mean if there could be a downside to living in Jerusalem) of running in Jerusalem are the (1)constant hills and (2)the inability to wear shorts. Other than that, golden.  

The things I have learned/thought this past week:

1)Students have to have their google docs. It blows my mind how quickly students begin circulating one of these bad boys for a test.

2) If sleep is a priority, don't bring up cheesy jokes with Sky before bed. She is loaded with the craziest riddles and jokes imaginable.

3) My Arabic teacher, Ayman, is more concerned about my love life than I am. He was trying to set me up with his friend who gets out of prison in two months...my future is looking bright:)

4) I love Rach. Nothing can stop a laughing session with her. Our laughs are beginning to harmonize...creepy, I think not!

5) Sunsets make the whole day worthwhile. I will never get tired of looking out to the Old City just as the sun is emerging or disappearing behind the beautiful horizon.

Hezekiah's Tunnel

It all started with an abrubt phone call at seven thiry Monday morning. My roommates and I were just wandering aimlessly around the apartment, doing our morning routine of incoherent conversation and lots of laughing. The phone call was from the security desk.

Security JC:"Are you coming on the field trip?"

Me: "Yes...?"

Security JC: "Well they are leaving you right now!"

Me: "WHAT!?!"

Frantic hang up. Scream. Panic with roommates. Shove everything and anything in a bag and run out the door with an empty stomach, bed head, and a passion to go to Hezekiah's tunnel. This is officially the second time I have almost been left by the field trip bus...I am a very lucky girl.

Monday was a day I looked forward to since the beginning of this study abroad. Water, swimsuit, dark tunnel, head lamp, and lots of fun! What more could you ask for? 

Hezekiah's Tunnel was so wonderful. All the girls wore long dresses with swimsuits underneath because when we got to the tunnel we were able to strip down into bball shorts and swimsuits in order to truly and fully enjoy the water experience.

We sang loudly and boistfully throughout the tunnel. It was built in order to better distribute the water to the ever expanding City of David. It is about 1750 feet long full of knee-high deep water. I love how this tunnel illustrates the history coorelated both between my Old Testament class and my Ancient Near Eastern studies class about the archeological sites and biblical history.

I loved it, I loved it, I loved it!

 Victoria and I at the pool where Christ healed the blind man in the New Testament located after the tunnel.

 Here we are learning about an ancient home built against the outer walls of the city.

 Entering the beloved Hezekiah's Tunnel.

 Jess and I inside the tunnel with our darling headlamps.

 A little mosh pit inside the tunnel. It was so crowded with people I love.

Emerging from the tunnel a little wet, a little cold, and mostly full of pure bliss.

Livin the Dream

It completely boggles my mind to think we are half way done with this glorious experience. I can't even fathom how fast time flies over here...I have been thinking the hours must be shorter in Jerusalem than back home but there is simply no evidence to prove such a thing. The days are so long but the weeks just fly by....I am enjoying every second of it.
I am completely out of the loop when it comes to the outside world. I have removed myself from the Provo bubble and have now entered the JC bubble. However, the one word that I have heard coming from Provo starts with a J and ends with an I-M-M-E-R. He is a legend both at BYU and Israel. I am currently in a classroom with fifty other students, overlooking the Old City, watching BYU play San Diego State University. It is literally the same environment just a few thousand miles away from our dear old P-Town. Sky, my roommate, pulled out her little trumpet and began playing the BYU fight song….haha it brought back pure memories of BYU. I LOVE IT HERE!!!
Blogging has been a difficult endeavor. I know I have been slacking a bit. Work load is heavy. Spontaneity is overflowing. Therefore time is simply vanishing before my eyes. Sorry family. Thank you for being patient with me.
Here is my life this past week in a nutshell. Right now I study. Run on a good day. Laugh. Visit the city. Talk to Natives. Eat random fruits and seasonings. Old Testament. Laugh even louder. Play with the YW. Journal. Think of sleep then quickly avoid such a thought. Eat. Crave Chocolate. Organize pictures. Break out into random song and dance. Take more pictures. Bond with my JC peeps. Do the weekly laundry (only when it comes to drastic measures….the swimsuit). Start a movie but get distracted during the credits. Did I mention laugh? Run eight flights of stairs 20 times a day. Call the Fam. Entertain the idea of academic productivity in the day light but realize how silly it is and start the hw around midnight. Roommate makeover party (we finally realized we don’t need to be as creative with the three outfits we brought when we borrow each others’ clothes).Predict/sympathize with the JCC (Jerusalem Center Crushes).Send a few emails. Get the news my little sis got into BYU (YA GIRL!!! BYU just won’t know what to do with three Jackson girls down there in the Fall). Do a little Jillian Michaels workout video in the gym with thirty other girls (estrogen?). Run around like a hooligan at the service project to make hygiene kits which always eventually turns into a large JC mosh pit. Baby watch in the post office (seriously this is the best place to find hundreds of darling babies all in one location). Lastly, look out to the beautiful land I call home.

I am simply living the dream. I simply cannot express my love and joy in words. We are going to the Holocaust Museum on Monday and I am anticipating this moving experience. I will keep you all updated on the many adventures of the JC. However, I have loved following other friends’ blogs and receiving random updating emails. I am glad life is moving just as quickly everywhere else in the world as it is here.

My Temporary Home

These are just a few random shots of us roamin the Old City and attending activities held in the JC. Although I love the planned field trips and scheduled activites, some of my favorite moments have been simply relaxing and venturing around Jerusalem. I love the freedom and the peace I feel when wandering aimlessly around the small side streets of the Old City without a care in the world. It is fun to get lost and explore. There is so much to see and so little time. We (the students) try to take advantage of every moment and opportunity available to us. The Old City is never a waste of time because there is always something to be learned around every corner. These are just a few of the many adventures within the walls of this historical city we now call home:

Cats, cats, oh ya more cats. We all made friends with this little guy. What a little charmer he was.

Just chillin in the Old City! Sprite never tasted so good.

These are two of my favorite boys outside Orson Hyde Memorial Garden. Oh how they make me laugh...

With all the hustle and bustle it is often nice to stop and smell the roses. The flowers are beginning to bloom and it is BEAUTIFUL!

This is the Shuk or market place. The colors are fabulous. The people are friendly. The food is great.

For young womens this week I taught about eternal families. Our motto: "Find the right Hubba and make him last."

Arab Night.

We learned about the Call to Prayer, ate traditional Arabic food, and learned an Arabic dance which eventually turned into a crazy mosh pit...oh silly Americans.

This is our Arabic teacher, Ayman. He is honestly the most hysterical man alive I am convinced.

 I really struggle learning the material because I am too distracted by his crazy facials and quick tendency to pop (or should I say demolish) any "space bubbles" anyone may have had.

I love being here with Rach, my best friend.

Many times we need to take breaks from all the walking. This is a common sight by the time lunch rolls around.

Enjoying the Western Wall.

Our relationship in a nut shell. Haha I love these girls...and Brock.

Love in the Old City

Service, service, and more service. Before I left on this wonderful study abroad they assigned me to be chair for the humanitarian committee. Therefore this week has been crazy!!! I love my life. It has been nothing short of wonderful and all of the students here are very excited and willing to participate. My life has currently been consumed with trying to establish the most effective humanitarian projects for the JC. It has been a great experience and I am grateful to have been given this opportunity to work so closely with the Bentleys, the service couple, to find ways to better serve the students and the community of Israel.

This past week, the Bentleys took two other students and I to Princess Bosma. This is a hospital/school for children with disabilities in need of rehabilitation. The outside of the building was nothing short of a dump. Honestly it looked like we were entering a cinderblock prison. However, once we stepped into the building it was a dream come true. I could feel my temperature rise with excitement as I saw many children running, wheeling, and skipping throughout the hallways. One of my favorite parts of the inside were the mural covered walls. Most of the murals happened to be done by previous BYU students in previous semesters. Our task at this building is to paint a mural of our own on their cafeteria wall. Not only do I love service and children but I am passionate about art. This is the perfect humanitarian activity EVER! We scoped out the building and picked one of the three walls we were given permission to paint. I liked the wall in the cafeteria the best because of the location and size. While we were taking measurements of the wall I began talking to a woman eating with her little son. She told me she was staying in the center for 21 days in order to help her little boy (precious beyond reason) heal his little leg. At times the parents are required to stay with their children in the center for the purpose of learning ways to aid their children. The mother went with her son to his different classes to learn how to walk again. I was amazed by her diligence and willingness to sacrifice much of her time to be with her darling child. My excitement and passion for this project increased dramatically as I talked and associated with the many people inside the building. After we toured the building, we went downstairs to meet the children. Oh how I loved it. These little Arab children are outgoing and very welcoming to strangers. They were learning English and therefore would scream random phrases like, "HELLO" or "HOW ARE YOU?" Many of the littlest chidren (4-5 years of age) liked to shake hands and high five. So cute! I wanted to stay there all day. Bless these little children and the wonderful teachers who encourage them to get better. From disabilities such as hearing impairments to mental disabilities-these little children spend much of their time healing and learning. I am so excited about this project. A group of students and I brainstormed sketches to put on this wall a few days ago. We will eventually get to drawing and painting the wall next week.

Today we journeyed on another activity the humanitarian committee created. The Bentleys are so wonderful and have all these wonderful activities to get us students out into the city to interact with the people. A group of eight students, the Bentleys, and I went to the Elderly Supportive Community Service Society. It is a small building within the Christina Quarter of the Old City. We entered at the Jaffa Gate and wandered around the busy streets until we came to the entrance of what appeared to be the same building of the many thousands of shops wer passed by along the way. Raja, the charitable man in charge of this charity, came out to meet us at the door. We went into the building and up the stairs to his living room. He sat us down and talked to us about the city and his charitable organization. It is independent of any religion, therefore the services are open to anyone of any denomination. He talked about the poor treatment of those with mental disabilities. “They are not crazy, they are simple.” He talked about the love he had for each individual. This man radiated purity and kindness. “We don’t need any more preachers, we have enough, but rather we need service.” He talked about the need for action rather than words. This man, whom we later learned came from a difficult past with drug addictions and associations, changed his life around (found Jesus as he said) and dedicated his life to blessing others. I felt so much love for him as he was talking about the people this service society blesses. He took us around to two families. One in which spoke English very well. They were very appreciative of our visit. The woman had prominent dimples with dark crow feet wrinkles (smile wrinkles as I like to call them) around her eyes. She was aged and spent 80 years within the Old City raising her children. Her husband recently passed away last year and therefore her son came back to live with her. He works for National Geographic and made an award winning documentary called “The Last Supper.” They were so nice to us and I just loved being with them so much. We sang a few hymns and asked a few questions, then moved on to the next house. Along the way to our journey fot the next woman, we stopped into a man’s house in whom recently recovered from a stroke a few years ago. Raja was so kind and gentle with him. All of the people we met just loved him. He was so nice to his man in a wheelchair who was previously smoking from a pipe when we entered. Raja pattted the man on the head and gave him a huge hug then quickly took the pipe from his mouth. Haha the man was a little distraught. I knew how good a man Raja was simply by the way these wonderful people looked at him. A few doors down we entered a small, aged woman dressed in a pink nightgown. Her house was a one room home. Her bedroom, which acted ast he living room during the day time, connected directly with the kitchen. She reminded me of the old witch on Sword and the Stone if anyone has watched that movie recently. Although we could not communicate with her directly I could tell of her spunk and love for life. She offered us a plate of chocolates which I am sure was at least a year if not two years old. We enjoyed them, for it is disrespectful not to. Then much to our surprise she again offered us cookies and pretzels because we did not get up fast enough. Raja told us, “hurry stand up, she is trying to offer you another thing.” We had to run out of her house in order to avoid her many offerings. This is a simple example of how charitable these people and the culture are. I love it!

I felt peace as I walked along the cobblestone streets. Little boys playing soccer along the cobblestone pathways, the smell of freshly baked bread, and the laundry hanging over the porches of little homes that have been there for hundreds of years is quite an incredible sight. Although they call this winter semester, the weather is perfectly sunny. I am in heaven. Meeting people within the city is definitely one of my favorite pars of this trip. These are the moments when all our classes and training regarding culture become the most apparent. I learn more in the few moments I am at someone’s house then an hour of class. I love to see how the classes directly correlate with the city. We learn about the people and then go out to see them and their culture first hand. It is so fun to meet people who live here and hear of their perspective on the land and culture. Oh to be in the land of Israel!

 This is the cafeteria wall we are venturing to paint.

 One of the many incredible murals.

 This wall is the semester of Daniel Wade I believe.

 Color, color, and more color.

 Children in the classroom.

 Haha devious little guy. They are all so cute!

 This is the crew. The Bentleys on the right, Sister Judd in the middle and there is Greg and Kate on the outside.

 Chattin with the children.

 It was so funny to me how the kids always wanted to shake your hand or give a high five. Compared with the children in the city, these little kids were much more friendly and outgoing. They loved the attention.

 Ha the flirt of the class for sure. I waved to him and he giggled and waved his little, stubby fingers back. Can you say DARLING?

 Here we all are in this woman's one room house. A little crowded but all full of love.

 This woman had a larger home with one of the only pianos in the old city. She was so kind and I can't wait to go back to visit her.

The gang on the bus.