Up to the Temple Mount

Visiting the Temple Mount is not for the faint of heart or faith. Religious Jews believe no one should walk on the Temple Mount lest they step on the spot where the "holy of holies" was located in the Second Temple. Religious Muslims believe non-believers have no business on the Temple Mount. Christians believe Christ will return through the Golden Gate on the east side of the Temple Mount. All three faiths have cemetaries outside the Golden Gate area.....possibly the most expensive burial plots on the planet it they were ever to be sold.....If the Palestinians ever get their state off the ground, this could provide their entire federal budget! Ok, back to the visit. Visitors from West Jerusalem enter the Temple Mount through the Mughrabi Gate just south of the Western Wall. Yes, directions matter here....a lot. We waited nearly 20 minutes to pass through the metal detectors. Personally, I think the Israelis set up the detectors just to be able to look tourists in the eye to decide if they are wacko or not. The detectors are only looking for metal. No, the shoes don't come off. A Japanese tour group was behind us in line. While there were probably Christians in their group, it was more fun theorizing that practitioners of Buddhism and Shintoism were going through a Jewish run checkpoint to visit a site holy to Muslims, Christians, and Jews. Once through the checkpoint, we walked up an enclosed wooden ramp past gun-toting Israel soldiers, a raftload of plastic riot shields, and finally past two heavily armed (as in body armor in addition to their sidearms) Israeli policemen. Walking onto the Temple Mount was an unbelievably peaceful experience. OK, once past the gauntlet of Arab tour guides; "$5 each or $20 for all of you (there were 3 of us!)," it was peaceful. Muslims enter the Al-Aksa mosque, but tourists may not. Most folks head for the Dome of the Rock, we headed for the southeast corner, away from everything. Amazingly peaceful. I could have stayed all day. The smells and sounds of the market stalls seemed so far away. No sign of conflict anywhere. OK, after you realized there were heavily armed Israeli Police up on the buildings, there was no sign of conflict. We were walking along eastern wall, skirting a soccer game being played by young Arab boys (on damp, slippery, sloping stones) when a man who belonged to the same union that employs people on the Acropolis came running at us. "Hey, what are you doing? Don't go there," he screamed. At least the Greeks let these guys use whistles. And, so much for the peaceful part. There are piles of rubble on the Temple Mount. They cannot be removed since they might contain something of historical value. Right now, I suspect they serve only as rock piles for the Palestinians who throw stones on the Jews praying at the Western Wall. The Dome of the Rock was our final stop. Somehow it seemed much smaller and less glorious than I had imagined it. Yes, it is beautiful to observe in changing light conditions, but it still has a run-down feeling to it. Again, I imagined something glorious along the lines of the Duomo or St. Peters. Instead, the building looks in need of major renovation.....which is currently happening on the inside, judging from the noise coming from the mosque. 10:30 was approaching which meant it was time to leave (actually, it was only 10:00, but we weren't going to argue with people shouting at us that we needed to "please go NOW." We departed through the gate of the cotton merchants and were treated to the old city waking up. Men on hookahs, children hanging with their fathers, not a daughter or wife in sight. Shops opening up. Wares being displayed. It was quite a contrast to our Saturday afternoon visit just three days ago. We could actually walk through the narrow streets. We found our way to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre once again. Empty, this time, we walked down into chapels, up into chapels, came upon a service being conducted in a chapel, and were amazed at the contrast to the Temple Mount. Tourist groups moving through at breakneck speed mixed with religious folk who were trying to pray. The whole scene reminded me of Alice in Wonderland. There is no flash rule in this church so people were taking pictures of everything! They were posing together, talking loudly, etc. Compared to the tranquility of the Temple Mount and the sheer religious bent of the Western Wall, this place reminded us of Disneyland. We left shaking our heads and headed out for some lunch. Note on the pictures....The closeups and cemetaries were shot at full digital zoom with a Nikon Coolpix 630. The apple pic is meaningful to those studying Rosetta Stone Hebrew....Tapuah!

Up to the Temple Mount

Visiting the Temple Mount is not for the faint of heart or faith. Religious Jews believe no one should walk on the Temple Mount lest they step on the spot where the "holy of holies" was located in the Second Temple. Religious Muslims believe non-believers have no business on the Temple Mount. Christians believe Christ will return through the Golden Gate on the east side of the Temple Mount. All three faiths have cemetaries outside the Golden Gate area.....possibly the most expensive burial plots on the planet it they were ever to be sold.....If the Palestinians ever get their state off the ground, this could provide their entire federal budget! Ok, back to the visit. Visitors from West Jerusalem enter the Temple Mount through the Mughrabi Gate just south of the Western Wall. Yes, directions matter here....a lot. We waited nearly 20 minutes to pass through the metal detectors. Personally, I think the Israelis set up the detectors just to be able to look tourists in the eye to decide if they are wacko or not. The detectors are only looking for metal. No, the shoes don't come off. A Japanese tour group was behind us in line. While there were probably Christians in their group, it was more fun theorizing that practitioners of Buddhism and Shintoism were going through a Jewish run checkpoint to visit a site holy to Muslims, Christians, and Jews. Once through the checkpoint, we walked up an enclosed wooden ramp past gun-toting Israel soldiers, a raftload of plastic riot shields, and finally past two heavily armed (as in body armor in addition to their sidearms) Israeli policemen. Walking onto the Temple Mount was an unbelievably peaceful experience. OK, once past the gauntlet of Arab tour guides; "$5 each or $20 for all of you (there were 3 of us!)," it was peaceful. Muslims enter the Al-Aksa mosque, but tourists may not. Most folks head for the Dome of the Rock, we headed for the southeast corner, away from everything. Amazingly peaceful. I could have stayed all day. The smells and sounds of the market stalls seemed so far away. No sign of conflict anywhere. OK, after you realized there were heavily armed Israeli Police up on the buildings, there was no sign of conflict. We were walking along eastern wall, skirting a soccer game being played by young Arab boys (on damp, slippery, sloping stones) when a man who belonged to the same union that employs people on the Acropolis came running at us. "Hey, what are you doing? Don't go there," he screamed. At least the Greeks let these guys use whistles. And, so much for the peaceful part. There are piles of rubble on the Temple Mount. They cannot be removed since they might contain something of historical value. Right now, I suspect they serve only as rock piles for the Palestinians who throw stones on the Jews praying at the Western Wall. The Dome of the Rock was our final stop. Somehow it seemed much smaller and less glorious than I had imagined it. Yes, it is beautiful to observe in changing light conditions, but it still has a run-down feeling to it. Again, I imagined something glorious along the lines of the Duomo or St. Peters. Instead, the building looks in need of major renovation.....which is currently happening on the inside, judging from the noise coming from the mosque. 10:30 was approaching which meant it was time to leave (actually, it was only 10:00, but we weren't going to argue with people shouting at us that we needed to "please go NOW." We departed through the gate of the cotton merchants and were treated to the old city waking up. Men on hookahs, children hanging with their fathers, not a daughter or wife in sight. Shops opening up. Wares being displayed. It was quite a contrast to our Saturday afternoon visit just three days ago. We could actually walk through the narrow streets. We found our way to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre once again. Empty, this time, we walked down into chapels, up into chapels, came upon a service being conducted in a chapel, and were amazed at the contrast to the Temple Mount. Tourist groups moving through at breakneck speed mixed with religious folk who were trying to pray. The whole scene reminded me of Alice in Wonderland. There is no flash rule in this church so people were taking pictures of everything! They were posing together, talking loudly, etc. Compared to the tranquility of the Temple Mount and the sheer religious bent of the Western Wall, this place reminded us of Disneyland. We left shaking our heads and headed out for some lunch. Note on the pictures....The closeups and cemetaries were shot at full digital zoom with a Nikon Coolpix 630. The apple pic is meaningful to those studying Rosetta Stone Hebrew....Tapuah!

A Tale of Two Fulbrights (or what a difference 20 years makes)

Looking out over our neighborhood this morning, I was struck by the solar panels on the all the apartments. 20 years ago, I participated in a Fulbright teacher exchange. I taught for a year in Bad Bergzabern, Germany, about 80 km due north of Strasbourg, France. Just prior to leaving for Israel, I received an e-mail from a group of those Bergzabern students celebrating their 20 year school reunion. Google enabled them to re-establish a long-lost contact. My technology that year consisted of three types of equipment. The local bookstore had a teacher discount on photocopies, the school janitor knew the location of the "ditto" machine and would make copies of tests only, and I carried a Mac desktop and printer in their own custom designed cases. The cases were so sturdy, I still have them in an attic in Portland. I also carried plug adapters and power converters to make sure everything hummed. That little ImageWriter II printer certainly saw plenty of duty that year. Fast forward to this year. Pam, Noa, and I arrived in Israel with 4 laptops, 5 ipods, 2 digital still cameras, a Flip video camera, a digital voice recorder, 6 cell phones, and all of the cables, batteries, external mice, chargers, mics, etc to make this stuff work. All of this tech stuff weighed less than the two pieces I carried to Germany. We even carry our own power strip which accepts all types of plugs (I recommend this to all who travel!) Adapters are everywhere, both our B&B and Jerusalem apartment are loaded with them, but most devices only require adapters, no converters needed. The Gymnasium in Bad Bergzabern had a computer lab which consisted of small monitors, heavy equipment, and little software. The computer lab in Israel at Mofet consisted of state of the art desktops, flat screen monitors, ergonomically designed computer desks and task chairs, all seamlessly connected to the world. Every Israeli over the age of 10 carries a cell phone, most with data plans. Many Israelis are now carrying two phones, one for work, and one personal. The question running through my mind right now is it is easy to see how technology has changed from the last Fulbright to this one. Solar panels on the roofs are a testament to the idea that housing has changed. But, how has teaching changed in the intervening 20 years?

A Tale of Two Fulbrights (or what a difference 20 years makes)

Looking out over our neighborhood this morning, I was struck by the solar panels on the all the apartments. 20 years ago, I participated in a Fulbright teacher exchange. I taught for a year in Bad Bergzabern, Germany, about 80 km due north of Strasbourg, France. Just prior to leaving for Israel, I received an e-mail from a group of those Bergzabern students celebrating their 20 year school reunion. Google enabled them to re-establish a long-lost contact. My technology that year consisted of three types of equipment. The local bookstore had a teacher discount on photocopies, the school janitor knew the location of the "ditto" machine and would make copies of tests only, and I carried a Mac desktop and printer in their own custom designed cases. The cases were so sturdy, I still have them in an attic in Portland. I also carried plug adapters and power converters to make sure everything hummed. That little ImageWriter II printer certainly saw plenty of duty that year. Fast forward to this year. Pam, Noa, and I arrived in Israel with 4 laptops, 5 ipods, 2 digital still cameras, a Flip video camera, a digital voice recorder, 6 cell phones, and all of the cables, batteries, external mice, chargers, mics, etc to make this stuff work. All of this tech stuff weighed less than the two pieces I carried to Germany. We even carry our own power strip which accepts all types of plugs (I recommend this to all who travel!) Adapters are everywhere, both our B&B and Jerusalem apartment are loaded with them, but most devices only require adapters, no converters needed. The Gymnasium in Bad Bergzabern had a computer lab which consisted of small monitors, heavy equipment, and little software. The computer lab in Israel at Mofet consisted of state of the art desktops, flat screen monitors, ergonomically designed computer desks and task chairs, all seamlessly connected to the world. Every Israeli over the age of 10 carries a cell phone, most with data plans. Many Israelis are now carrying two phones, one for work, and one personal. The question running through my mind right now is it is easy to see how technology has changed from the last Fulbright to this one. Solar panels on the roofs are a testament to the idea that housing has changed. But, how has teaching changed in the intervening 20 years?

1st Fulbright Conference

I had the opportunity to hang out with Jay and his class at Mofet today. Click the clip to see what class was like. Listen carefully at the 16 sec. mark. Yep, that's how I feel! While here, I note Israeli teachers are as susceptible to forgetting cell phones as American teachers are. So far, 2 cell phones have rung! On another note, it seems Catlin Gabel is not the only school trying to maximize student hours in school by scheduling trips during vacation time. The Israel Ministry of Education recently decided that all Israeli schools would no longer be allowed to send delegations abroad. This article from Haaretz says it all. This is actually a test post to see how video embeds....but I thought it would be a great way to introduce everybody to what I am actually doing in sunny, 68 degree Tel Aviv.

1st Fulbright Conference

I had the opportunity to hang out with Jay and his class at Mofet today. Click the clip to see what class was like. Listen carefully at the 16 sec. mark. Yep, that's how I feel! While here, I note Israeli teachers are as susceptible to forgetting cell phones as American teachers are. So far, 2 cell phones have rung! On another note, it seems Catlin Gabel is not the only school trying to maximize student hours in school by scheduling trips during vacation time. The Israel Ministry of Education recently decided that all Israeli schools would no longer be allowed to send delegations abroad. This article from Haaretz says it all. This is actually a test post to see how video embeds....but I thought it would be a great way to introduce everybody to what I am actually doing in sunny, 68 degree Tel Aviv.