Challah (Halla) and Hope

To follow up on my last blog, I wanted to share with everyone my challah recipe. This was given to me by an orthodox Jewish woman who at one point this year, would not talk to me or look at me "thanks" to our differences. She is one of the women who inspired my blog on "peasants and scum." Since that time she still struggles to talk with me, and does not "hang out" with me. However, she has allowed her son to become a permanent fixture in our apartment, as he is 5 years old like my middle son and never seems to have anything to do. When she comes to pick up Noam at the end of the day, I can usually get a bit of small talk out of her now, and I also got the following Challah recipe.

Challah will be baked tomorrow morning by many, many Jews, and probably bought by many more. It is a staple of the Friday night Shabbat table (as I wrote once before). There are always two loaves on the table, representing the double portion of manna that the Jews were required to collect the morning of Shabbat. The cover over the challah represents the dew that fell on the manna and the board under the bread represents the ground that the manna lay on. In all, this bread represents Gods faithful provision each day for the Jewish people as they wandered in the desert.

This year I feel much like a wanderer. I am in a foreign place, knowing at the moment this is where I need to be, but not quite sure when I will get to where I am going. I feel a bit like the Jews of old may have...in a very large and dry desert, feeling a little lost, a little thirsty, feeling the heat (or ache) in my soul, as Rich Mullens puts it. And yet, like the manna, God has provided me daily with sustenance to get me through. He has provided me with loving friends and family at home who continue to encourage me and send us care packages and letters. He has provided me with some people here who also understand how it feels to be a sojourner in a strange land. He has provided just enough peace, just enough grace, just enough strength. And with this challah recipe He even gives me hope. That even those who have hurt me can become acquaintances, perhaps even friends - that walls can be softened and maybe even torn down. God provides for our basic needs. He loves and restores. Go ahead and "whip up some challah (as I like to say!)" - this recipe makes a lot. Put a loaf on the table (or two if it is the sabbath) and thank the God of the Universe for providing for us always, even when wandering.

Challah

2 cups warm water
1 packet yeast
1 T. white sugar
(mix in separate bowl)

8 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 T salt
2 eggs
3/4 c. oil
extra egg

Put all dry ingredients in a bowl. Mix and make a well. Add the wet ingredients and yeast mixture into well and knead. Let rise 1 1/2 hour covered. Knead again. Separate into loaves and let rise again uncovered for 10-30 minutes. Brush beaten egg over top and bake at 340 degrees F. (or 170 C) for about 20 minutes. This makes 6 medium sized loaves - I make each loaf by braiding three rolls together and pinching at the ends.

Home-made

A funny thing is happening to me here in Israel. In an attempt to keep my family in a somewhat "normal" state of being, I have had to get creative in how I do certain things. For instance, in order to keep my kids out of the somewhat chaotic Israeli school system and to keep them in their spanish immersion program in the states, I am homeschooling them. I am attempting to teach my children Spanish in a Hebrew speaking country, when the only languages I have mastery over are English and pig-latin (and I am ashamed to admit this). Also in order to provide my family with foods that they are accustomed to, I have resorted to making things from scratch at home, that in the states I would just buy pre-made. I have made home-made stuffing (at thanksgiving), chicken stock (I have yet to see campbells here) and spaghetti sauce (only two brands are available, each with sugar as the first ingredient). Cereal and milk is expensive so I have made more pumpkin and banana bread this year than ever in my life. Baby food is scarce and even the baby food jars of bananas have sugar as their first ingredient - so I am making baby Ben his own mashed up baby food. We dont have a microwave so I first have to roast stuff in the oven the old-fashioned way (or would an open fire pit be the old fashioned way??). Two days ago I got a challah (pronounced Hallah) recipe from our neighbors and whipped up some home-made bread for the family. By night all three loaves had been eaten so in the morning I whipped up another three loaves (with real yeast and no bread maker!). Because it is rainy right now and we dont have a car, today the boys and I made our own exercise video for kids. It has lots of jumping and kicking (they may have just been fighting at this point) in it, as well as crunches and I think at least one downward dog.

Our Halloween costumes were home-made out of towels and clothes pins. Our Christmas play included a sheep made from cotton balls taped onto a stuffed dog (not to say we would have used a real sheep had we still been in California but maybe..).

The other night, Ryan came home to find me sitting at the table, crayons in hand, creating the first installment of the book series "Jack" - about a cat that lives out front of our apartment. It was written and illustrated by me and I have to say I am genuinely proud of the book. My middle child has since created "Jack III" as he is well educated on the concept of the lucrative sequel. Aparently now I need to write "Jack II." This is all because I have not found the time to walk to the library to get a special form, take it to the post office, pay them money and then go back to the library to get a card - in order to use the small English book section of the library. Apparently making books is more convenient in my mind.

I have yet to start sewing my own clothes or making my own furniture.

I dont know if this is a good or bad development. I do have to say that I admire people who can create with their own two hands - I love Martha Stewart for goodness sakes. There is something gratifying about baking bread and making homemade apple sauce. I really think I just have far more time on my hands this year than I will ever have again. So for the moment I will roll up my sleeves and get working on "Jack II."

End of the 1st Semester

Now that I have reached the end of my first semester of studies here in Israel, I thought I would give a quick update. For those who expect a high quality prose from this web-site, please accept my apologies in advance. There will be no fancy words, just a quick update of each class.

Modern Hebrew- My reading of hebrew has improved dramatically and I can now confidently say things like "I like cake"
אני אוהב עוגה
even though I do not particularly like cake). I have a neighbor who speaks Hebrew and Spanish and when the two of us talk we intermix Spanish and Hebrew frequently. I purchased the first Harry Potter(הארי פאתר ) book in Hebrew and began reading it. Because Harry Potter does not use many theological terms, I miss a lot of the words. לאט, לאט

Apocalyptic Literature- This course focuses on the development of the "Apocalypse" genre. My final paper deals with the book of Revelation in this mix and how our understanding of this genre affects our understanding of the book. It turns out that Kirk Cameron might be wrong!

Christian Memory and Jewish Tradition- This class is taught by 5 different professors in a seminar style. The debate and conversations are really good. Arguments often occur in Greek, Hebrew, English, and sometimes a little French. Our readings come with some of all of these languages plus some German. If it is more than one sentence, the French and German are a bit too much for me. ein Tag erlerne ich auch Deutsches, but for now it goes slowly. The focus of this class is how early Christianity developed in light of its Jewish roots. Most of the conversation is useful and some of it is entirely speculative and not worth the time.

Early Christian Literature and the World of Late Antiquity- The focus here is also on the development of Christianity with most of our focus going to the writings during that time. It is a bit different than a seminary class on "Church Fathers" because the focus is on all of the sources to provide a complete framework for understanding. Some of the writings are very enjoyable but the 100-200 pages per week in this class add up after a while.

Biblical Archaeology of Jerusalem- I tell people that this is like my P.E. class because we travel around Jerusalem to real archaeology sites in an effort to understand the Bible. Our focus is on 1st temple period so the time of David through King Zedekiah is all we discuss. This is a great class with an amazing professor who is one of the world's leading 1st temple period archaeologists. His knowledge of the bible and of archaeology are intimidating but very useful for study.

I would discuss some of what I am learning in each but there is no time. Next semester I will have a lighter schedule as I will be using a lot of time to prepare messages and ideas for leading a church. Hopefully next semester will be a bit more relaxing which I am sure is possible living in Israel with three young boys!

Shalom, Salaam, Peace

The Week in Photos

This week's theme is... "Jerusalem when the President of the United State Visits". I could also call it, "Why are there men on the rooftops with rifles?" or "Why are those men in black suits chasing me?" or "What the city look like with 10,000 extra officers." I will offer no detailed explanations to these photos, just let the sites and sounds speak for themselves.

Away

As much as I have learned to appreciate our time here in Israel, and as many lessons as I feel we are learning, it does not change the simple fact that some days it is very hard to be away. It seems that for some reason, many of our friends in the States are going through some of the most difficult times in their lives. Friends and family that we love are fighting for their marriages. Our son's best friend (who is 5) is fighting for his life right now. This is heartbreaking for me and makes it very hard for me to be away. We have friends who are struggling in faith, friends who have been hurt, or are being hurt and beat down emotionally by people they should be able to trust. This makes it hard for me to be away. I want to be home, where I can hold these friends. Where I can pray with them face to face. I want to shed tears on his bedside and not from Israel, from so far away. I dont know why the God who gives us such a love in in our hearts for people, or gives us such a longing to be near people, also sends us away. I trust that God is "near to the brokenhearted, and saves those who are crushed in spirit (Ps 34:18)." I know that he is with my friends. And I know that he is here with us in Israel. But today, knowing that doesn't make it easier to be away.

The New Mundane pt 2

Those of you who read Sara's "New Mundane" post a few days ago can consider this a follow up to her thoughts. If you did not read it... you should.
Imediately after Sara wrote about life becoming routine we decided to change things up a bit. All three of our boys are taking turns fighting off various sicknesses which have included a week of sleep being interupted every half hour by "Dad, I need some water", "Dad, I want you to hold me (this is what our baby said in his own words", "Dad, I don't feel ....BLAAAH (That is the sound of throwing up)", or "Dad, why does mom act like she can't hear us at night so you are the one who has to always wake up". That last one might have been what I said, but I know I heard it somewhere.

In addition to these sicknesses that Sara and I also decided to participate in, we have a visitor to our town that has changed life for everyone. The visitor is known as G-Dub and he is the President of the United States. In his honor, the city of Jerusalem has closed a good portion of roads, it has placed robots in the sewers to search for bombs, it has called in 10,000 extra police officers, it has cleaned the streets for the first time since Israel became a country, and it has re-routed all the buses.
No matter how you feel about G-Dub, you must admit that this is an exciting event. This is actually the first time that I have even been in the same city as the President and now he is staying in a hotel less than a mile from my house. Of course I will not see him because he is literally locked in his Hotel room and when he travels, the 10,000 police officers on duty close the whole area surrounding him.

The point is, even the routine of taking the same buses and getting to class at the same time has been changed. Even the fact that we have grown used to see large amounts of security personelle has changed this week as we marvel at the snipers on the rooftops and the large motorcades of black Suburbans. And if all of that is not enough, today the weather is rainy and 38 degrees with lows expected this week to be in the 20's. Our routine Jerusalem weather might actually give us some snow this week. So for now, we take a break from routine and face the reminder that life has its way of keeping us waiting for the unexpected. So now I must venture out into the closed streets of Jerusalem in an attempt to make it home to my sick family (sick is only describing their health). Don't worry, I am carrying my camera so if I happen to bump into the president I will take take his picture and say "hi" for you.

The Week in Photos

This week we want to share a few photos from the Galilee region. This is a part of Israel where a guy named Jesus lived and breathed.

This is a photo of the valley of "Har Meggido" or Armageddon. In light of the historical battles and perhaps future battles that might take place here, I thought this sign was well placed.

This mosaic is found in the "Church of the Loaves and the Fish" which is the traditional site of the miracle of Jesus. This church is from the 5th century AD.

This is a photo of the Jordan river on the south side of the Sea of Galilee. This is where hundreds of tourists come to be baptized in the Jordan but does not seem to be the location where Jesus was baptized.

These are the ruins from the ancient town of Capernaum where Jesus and many of the disciples lived. These are the remains that date to the time of Christ. Pieces of what is reported to be Peter's house, the synagoge from that time, and other houses on that street still remain today.

This is a view of the east side of the lake. On this side we find the likely location of Gardenes where Jesus sent some demons into a herd of pigs.

This is a 2000 year old fishing boat found in the mud in the Sea of Galilee. This is likely the same style boat used by fishermen during the time of Christ. In case you are wondering, the aluminum support beams are not original.

With views like this, I don't blame Jesus for spending his time in the land of Galilee.

The New Mundane

When I first came to Israel, it seemed like everything was new and foreign to me. The language, the culture, the little idiosyncracies of the country. It has now been nearly three months, and it seems like the things that used to suprise me or overwhelm, or even inspire, have become part of ordinary life. It took two sets of visitors to open my eyes afresh to some of these things. They saw things that I have ceased to notice - the "new mundane" for me. Some simple things would include the hummos aisle in the grocery store. There are over 200 types of hummos and dips to go with pita at my grocery store, and yet only 10 different varieties of baby food (if that). They noticed the cats on every car, on every doorstep, the cat sleeping in my sons stroller (I hope he isnt allergic), and the hundreds more to be found in most nooks and crannies of the city. They commented on our apartment life. The way I have to take the garbage out and down the street to dump it. Or the kosher kitchen - how it is exausting to do but keeping the dairy and meat utensils and dishes, sinks and pans separate has become the new norm. I can now walk into my grocery store, the McDonalds or the mall, hand my purse to the armed security guard and walk through the metal detector without giving it a second thought. Our guests noticed. My mother had two particulary unique experiences here that I would now consider normal. We were at a city park walking to the Old City and we stopped at the public restrooms. As we were standing in line (now as women, this is normal all over the world), a young woman came out wearing a rifle over her shoulder, washed her hands and left. She was one of the required armed guards for a field trip of elementary students having lunch in the park. Then one night as we were walking home from dinner, we heard someone talking on a cell phone saying something like "Man, I just wish she would give me more space..." We turned to see a young man fully dressed in ultra orthodox black overcoat, top hat and curly tendrils, discussing his love life on his cell. I remember how on the plane ride here there were a few orthodox families on their way to Israel with us. They were dressed so differently and stood out so much. Now the man on his cell phone suprises me no more than a kid in board shorts and Rainbows would in my home in Southern California.

It is interesting to me how that happens. How adaptable we are as humans. But also how quickly the extraordinary things can become mundane to us. So far there are some things which have not become mundane for me here. They have not lost their wonder - floating on the Dead Sea (which left my mother in giggles!), haggling in the Old City, the hills overlooking the Galilee. As a believer in Christ there are days when I wonder if even the Holy land could become the everyday for me. I fear that perhaps like a new believer would, Christ becomes more real daily, but then as time goes on, He fades into my life again as "just another part of life." I fear His demise into my mundane and pray that it wouldnt be so. I pray for those who are on this journey with us - those who want to journey to Israel and experience a little adventure vicariously (you know who you are!) and those on a journey of faith - I pray that Christ does not fade, that he comes into clearer focus. That God as Man would never be ho-hum, that God dying for us in His mercy would never be mundane. Perhaps we need to spend time with some "visitors" to the faith, some new-comers to Christ in order to avoid this. I dont really know the solution but I know the challenge. May life...and our God be new every morning to us!