Back to Istanbul for the last time

Well, I’m back in Istanbul! It’s kind of strange to think that this is my last time! Everything from now on is a “last time”! Sorry that I didn’t write last week. I just ran out of time. I’m not going to send too many photos this week because the wifi in the hotel isn’t very good. I’m trying to write this email now because the students are out on the the town, so it might work a little better :o)

I think that the highlight of teaching for last week was discussing the Tabernacle and its function, especially in relation to the concept of holiness. We had completed out field trip to Arad and seen the temple there, so it was a good visual as we discussed the architecture of the Tabernacle with the distinction between the profane space of the world and the demarcation as one left behind the world to enter into increasing levels of sacred space. We had discussed Exodus 3 where Moses entered into God’s presence on Mount Sinai when he saw the burning bush. There Moses is told to take off his shoes because it was “holy ground.” The Hebrew word for holy here is qodesh = ground that is not inherently holy, but it has been declared holy by god. The we looked at Exodus 19 where Moses is again at Mount Sinai. This time he has left the children of Israel camped at the  base and again climbed the holy mountain. Again God appears to him and declares his hope for the children of Israel: “And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation.” This time the word “holy” is slightly different; it is qadosh, rather than qodesh. Qadosh is that word that is ALWAYS used to describe God. God is qadosh because he makes others holy. It is a dynamic quality. So in Exodus 19, God’s hope is that Israel will become qadosh, like he is qadosh. It’s not enough that we are declared holy (qodesh); we must use that holiness to help others become holy. So we discussed what it means for us to become qadosh, what that would look like in our personal transformations, and how temple experiences can promote that type of transformation. Understanding this process changes the way that I understand my temple experience. Anyway, this was a great discussion with the students.

On our faculty development trip this week we went to Gibeah and the Israel Museum. Gibeah was the ancient capital for Saul. We don’t take the students there. Instead we go to Nabi Samwell and look at Gibeah on the horizon. So it was fun to actually go. The site today has the remains of King Hussein’s (of Jordan) palace that he began before the 1967 Six Day War. All that was done was to lay the cement foundation of the two story building. With the war, it was never finished. 

                            Me standing among the wild flowers with the remains of the palace in the background.

Me standing on the remains of a wall that was built on the top of the wall that dates back to the time of Saul and may have been the wall of his palace! Before King Hussain started the work on his palace he had the place excavated and they found these walls. Then the filled everything back in and this stone is one of the ones that still remains above ground!

We also went to the Israel Museum. I hadn’t been there on this trip, although I’ve wanted to go ever since I arrived. We spent a wonderful couple of hours seeing original artifacts of things that I talk about all of the time in class.

This is the heel bone (calcaneum) of the only crucified person that we have archaeological remains. You can see that the nail of crucifixion is still in the calcaneum! On the left is the head of the nail. On the right you can see that the point of the nail is bent. We think that it hit a knot of wood and bent and so it couldn’t be removed when they took down the crucified individual! This is an AMAZING archaeological find. 

This week my boss and friend Camille Olsen came to Jerusalem leading a tour. Part of her touring group were the parents of one of our students from last semester, so it was great to meet them. It was also wonderful to see Camille again. This is a picture of  me, Camille, and Tina.