WHAT WE SAW AND LEARNED IN ISRAEL – Monday, November 11

After some exciting weeks of planning, reading and dreaming about Israel, packing and completing last minute jobs, Monday November 11, 1991 finally arrived.

It was a dull cool day. We had drizzle, mixed with wet snow and a North Easterly wind. The snow from the week before had almost disappeared. The lawns were still green and the trees were almost bare.

We left about 10:00 o’clock in the morning. While driving to St. Catharines, we noticed that there were still more leaves on the trees and shrubs than there were at our place. We had hardly passed St. Catharines, when we encountered snow. Everything in Fort Erie and Buffalo was white. We had no problems at the border and we arrived about noon at the airport.

Buffalo has a nice small airport. The plane left at 2:40 p.m. It was a small plane containing only about 60 seats and it was almost full. It was still snowing when the plane took off and we were almost immediately in the clouds, so we didn’t see much of the take-off. We flew for a long time in the clouds, and later we were sandwiched between two cloud layers which gave us the impression that we flew under a dark sky and over a rough snowy landscape.

Just before landing in New York at 4:00p.m., we saw through the clouds. The trees here had many more leaves left on them than in our area.

Soon after we arrived, we found some other members of our group who had landed before us. At home and in Buffalo, the temperature was just above freezing, but here in New York, It was 44F or 7Celsius. A special room was reserved for our group. It was quite nicely furnished and food and drinks were available. Slowly, more and more group members arrived. We were there for almost 3 hours, so we had ample time to get acquainted with one another.

At about 7:30 p.m., we boarded the plane and left at 8:15 p.m. It was a large Boeing 747 with some 500 seats and it was almost full. It was dark for a few hours already, so we didn’t see too much, but it seemed as if we were almost immediately over the ocean. After half an hour we saw lights deep down below, probably coming from the coast of Nova Scotia or some islands. I was happy to have a window seat.

We landed in Paris at 2:00 a.m., but it was 8:00 a.m., as there is a 6 hours time difference. It was just getting light when we reached the coast of France. It was a dull day; there were heavy clouds and it was very foggy, so we didn’t see much. It looked quite wet in France as there was mud and puddles beside the runways.

We all had to leave the plane with our hand baggage and wait in the airport buildings. As there was about a 3 hour wait, we went to the main terminal to do some window shopping to pass the time. Some of the people in the plane didn’t go further than Paris and others had to go to a different plane to continue their trip. I believe about 2/3 of the people waited with us and slowly other travellers for our plane came in. The main buildings in the Paris airport were large with many stores. There were several stores specializing in liquor and tobacco. I don’t think many things were bought. There was the problem of the language and the money, and most of our group was planning to buy their souvenirs in Israel.

The plane was supposed to leave Paris at 10:30 am. This was delayed because a group that was supposed to go on our plane, hadn’t arrived due to the bad weather. Soon after 11 a.m., we could board again and we left at 11:30. It was the same plane and it was almost full.

The weather was still dull and misty, so we saw almost nothing of France, a few trees, a few crows and plenty of wild rabbits. It was amazing how many there were all over the fields beside the runways. I never saw so many in my life. It seems there were enough to keep the grass short at the airport. Maybe they keep them there for this purpose, to save money cutting grass.

Over France there were heavy clouds, but when we flew over Switzerland, the sun came through when we reached the Alps. We flew close to Mount Blanc and it was clearly visible. We could see the sharp ridges. No snow was visible. After about 10 minutes, the clouds took our view away again.

When we came over the Mediterranean Sea, it became clear again. We flew close to Italy’s West Coast and followed the coast line. At first, we were almost too high to get a close view. Later, we could see mountain ridges and rivers. When we reached Naples, we got a clearer view. Soon after that, we flew above the clouds. Several times, we saw rocky islands and coastlines of Greece and the island Crete.

In New York, several Orthodox Jews had come onto our plane. In Paris, even more had entered. They could easily be recognized by their black suits with long tail coats, their big black hats, their beards, and earlocks. Most of these people do not have a regular job. Their occupation is studying and discussing the Bible. Normally they wear their small skull caps but when the discussion got serious they rushed back to their seats to pick up their large black hats. They were always talking in the pathways and were a constant hindrance to the people who had to go to the washrooms and to the stewardesses who were serving. They were so occupied in their discussions, that it seemed that it didn’t even occur to them that they were a hindrance to everyone.

At 3:45,p.m. Paris time, 4:45 p.m. Israeli time, we arrived in Israel. It was a sunny day in Israel, but when we arrived, the sun was just going down. It got dark quickly as twilight is very short over there. It was 70 F, warm for that time of year.

THE GROUP

Before I go any further to talk about our actual trip, I will first tell you a few things about our group. The trip was organized by Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.A. My brother-in-law, Dick Brouwer was told about this trip by Rev. Beeke, who had received a brochure as an ex-student and former teacher, and Dick brought it to our attention. Two couples went along as hosts, Dr. and Mrs. Logan, and Rev. and Mrs. Luthman. Dr Logan was the new president of Westminster Seminary. They had 2 sons, ages 22 and 16 years, so I guessed that they would be in their mid forty’s. The Luthmans were the parents of Mrs. Logan and were probably in their early seventy’s. Besides them, there were places for 44 participants and the first 44 who applied were accepted. There was also 1 baby (Calvin Beeke) but he was along as an extra.

Of the total 49 people, there were 8 ministers, some retired or semi-retired; 42 were Americans but they came from 18 different states. We were with 5 Canadians, all of Dutch descent; my brother-in-law, Dick Brouwer and his wife Tina, my sister-in-law, Jenny Bruinekool and my wife Trudy and myself. Furthermore, there was one person from New Zealand and one from Korea. The last two were both young ministers. Besides the five from Canada, there were 18 more participants who had a Dutch surname but who had lived in the United States for generations.

When I first saw the list of participants, I was a little worried. First of all, there were so many well-educated people in the group: ministers, professors, doctors, etc. I didn’t know if I would feel at home with them, being intimidated by their position. Secondly, there were so many older people in the group. Some were in their seventies, and few in their eighties. Wouldn’t they slow up the entire group too much? Thirdly, how could we take a 9 month old baby on a 2 week bus tour? Wouldn’t it get on everyone’s nerves, when he got overtired and began to cry? However, everything went wonderfully well. We felt quite at home with the whole group and intermingled freely. We felt closest to the Beeke’s, the Bazen’s and the Slootmaker’s. The older people did not slow down the group at all. It was amazing how they kept up. The baby was really easy–no crying. He was everyone’s friend and was an enjoyment instead of a hindrance. Many of us were happy to take turns caring for him so his parents could get some rest and have some freedom too. When we had to leave the bus, the driver loved to keep Calvin with him.

The entire group had the same desire: not just to have two weeks of fun, enjoyment and relaxation, but to see the land where Jesus walked. We wanted to see the land where the Israelites lived.

We were from several denominations. I believe that the largest group was Presbyterian, followed by Netherlands Reformed. The group and the whole trip was very well organized. Every place we visited was of value and no time was wasted. Even when changes in the program had to be made, it was done quickly without any waste of time. The group worked very well together. There was a good spirit and everybody showed up on time.

The guide was wonderful. He knew his Bible very well and he loved his Bible. He was a true believer. In every place we came to, he read a passage of Scripture about that place. He added much to the success of the tour. His name was Halver Ronning. He was Professor of Historical Geography at the Institute of Holy Land Studies in Jerusalem. He was born in Finland, but he had lived in Israel for many years already. He is probably one of the best guides. He was very knowledgeable and he loved it. The driver was also magnificent: always friendly and cooperative. This was a trip where nothing went wrong.

ARRIVALS – Tuesday, November 12

Our destination was Tel Aviv, Israel’s largest city. It lies on the Mediterranean Sea, (called the Great Sea in the Bible). Israel has approximately 250 kms of coastline on the Mediterranean Sea and Tel Aviv is about halfway along it. The Ben Gurion airport, however, is more inland, 16 km from Tel Aviv. It is near the area where the town Lydda had been, where Peter healed Aeneas the paralytic.

It was nice seeing Tel Aviv from the sky. The fields looked worked up and seeded already. From the sky, most of the fields looked quite narrow. We also saw nice orchards. The buildings seemed close together with flat roofs. Most buildings were light coloured: yellowish, beige or cream.

When we landed, it surprised us how large and busy this airport was. The planes did not go to the terminal, but stopped somewhere on the terrain. The travellers were brought to the terminal with buses. The area was quite flat. It was a passenger and freight airport combined with a military airport.

In Bible times this valley was called the Valley of Ono. We first read about it in 1 Chronicles 8 where it says that it was built by the Benjamites in whose territory it was laid. We also read about it in Ezra and Nehemiah. Sanballat and Geshorm invited Nehemiah to meet them in the valley of Ono. They wanted to get him away from Jerusalem to hurt him.

When we came to the terminal, we had to show our passports and landing pass. From there we could go to a large hall to collect our luggage. The tour guide was already present and he took control. In a very short time, he had the whole group together with our luggage. He asked us to follow him. We went through two doors and to our surprise, (we had expected a room full of security and custom personal), we stood outside in front of our bus with the bus driver ready to load our luggage in. In short order we were on our way to the hotel.

On one of the first crossroads, we saw a road sign “Ashdod”, which reminded us that in the older days this was Philistine territory.

Our hotel, the Dan Accadia Hotel was right on the Mediterranean Sea in Herzliya. Herzliya is named after Theodore Herzl, the founder of Zionism. He lived from 1860 to 1904. He was born in Budapest, but lived in Wenan. He was a Jew but he hardly knew what that meant.

His newspaper, for which he worked as a journalist, sent him to Paris to cover the story of the Dreyfus process in 1894. Dreyfus was condemned for treason. At first he was surprised at the hatred toward Dreyfus but not only against him, but against all the Jews. Later he came to the conclusion that Dreyfus was not guilty at all. But because he was a Jew, he became a scapegoat.

From then on, Herzl started to work to create a Jewish State. Originally he had no plans for Palestine, but he considered many different areas all over the world. The Orthodox Jews however, were firm that a Jewish State was only possible in Palestine and so Herzl concentrated on Palestine.

He worked so hard to organize this plan and to arouse interest for his plans amongst the Jews that he burned himself out. He died July 5th, 1904 at the young age of 44. Before he died, he said, “Maybe in 5 years, but at least within 50 years, there will be a Jewish State.” Fifty years after his death, his bones were brought to Jerusalem to the new Jewish State and reburied on the Holy Mountain. The Lord had used him in His plan, as He had foretold that the Jews should return to Israel.

In half an hour, we arrived at our hotel, right at the beach. Originally, Herzliya was built more inland, but a new Herzliya is developing now on the seashore with large hotels and apartment buildings. The hotel had a nice garden. The grass was nice and green and had many flowers including large cacti and tropical plants. Most of the plants however were also common in our area such as impatiens, geraniums, petunia, dusty miller, alissum, marigold, cosmos and more. Large hibiscus were blooming in the garden. Some were 6 to 8 feet high and there were other nice flowering shrubs, including beautiful bougainvillaeas. After unpacking, taking a good shower and enjoying a nice supper, we retired early after almost 2 days of travelling.

THE CLIMATE

When we awoke, the sun was up already and it was a nice mild day. We noticed the evening before that it got dark early and quite suddenly. The same thing happened in the morning–the sun rose early and suddenly.

Before breakfast, we looked around the lovely garden and had a stroll at the beach, bare-footed at the water line. There was a gentle westerly wind blowing so this walk was really relaxing. We enjoyed a luxurious breakfast and then we had some time to get settled in.

At 9 o’clock, we gathered in one of the main rooms to get a lecture about Israel from our tour guide.

First, our guide explained some facts about Israel’s weather, and the seasons here. Israel has a dry and warm season from April until October. In this dry season, it almost never rains. The winter which lasts from November till March is much milder and cooler. It rains quite often then, usually 2 to 3 days in a row, and then there is a dry week. In some winters, they get some snow. For the farmers, the time and duration of the early rains have always been very important.

The early rains are needed to soak the hard baked soil, so the farmer can plow and seed. The earlier these rains arrive, the longer the growing seasons will be and the longer the growing season, the larger the crop. The later rains in January and February are also important, as the grain is harvested in March and April.

Israel had just had 5 dry years in a row. The early rains were light and came late in December. Due to these dry years, the ground water level was low and the rivers and the Sea of Galilee were very low. More and more water is being used every year for irrigation and the fast growing population also uses more water.

This year the early rains came early, in October, making everything nice and green. These rains are often mentioned in the Bible. For instance in Deut. 11:14, we read, “I will give you the rain of your land in his due season, the first rain and the latter rain. That thou mayest gather in thy corn and thy wine and thine oil”.

The guide also explained the difference in rainfall over the different parts of the country. This difference was due to four reasons:

1. The closer to the Mediterranean Sea, the heavier the rains.
2. The further north, the heavier the rains.
3. The higher the area was above sea level, the heavier the rains.
4. The west side of a mountain or ridge gets more rain than the east side.

Mount Hermon, the highest mountain in Israel, gets an average of 60 inches of rain a year. Mount Carmel, about 40 inches, Joppa 20, Gaza 16, Jerusalem and Hebron 22, Be’ersheva 8, Jericho 5, Sodom 2 or less. In Jericho and the Dead Sea Coast, the rainfall is very low, because they are more inland. These places are in the South and are very low.

On the other side of the Dead Sea and the Jordan, they get much more rain, even though they are further inland. On the other side of the Dead Sea is Jordania. In Bible times we read of the mountains of Moab. The Reubenites lived in part of it. It gets 16 inches of rain in places. More to the north in Gilead, where Gad lived, the rainfall is also about 16 inches and even further in Bashan where the half tribe of Manasseh lived, still more.

During a typical year in Israel, a farmer plows his fields and seeds his grain crops after the early rains, which usually arrive between October and December. The crops grow from December until February in which 3/4 of the rain falls. The crops ripen in March and April in which times the rains are tapering off. The spring rains are also very important to get a bumper crop. In April, the harvest starts. First, the barley, then the wheat. Fruits ripen in summer. Grapes are harvested in August. Dates still later. Olives in November. Oranges, grapefruit and bananas from Nov. till March. Those crops can grow in the dry season because of their deep root system and the heavy dew. All areas that get more than 12 inches of rain a year, can grow grain crops without irrigation. But the areas of 12 inches or less quite often fail. We read of Isaac, who lived in Be’ersheba, which has an average rainfall of only 8 inches, that he, as well as his father before him, had to leave because of the famine. At the end of the 26th chapter of Genesis, we read, “then Isaac sowed in that land and received in the same year a hundred fold, and the Lord blessed him.” Even in the deep south he received a bumper crop. Be’ersheva is about the most southerly limit to grow grains. However, some Bedouins further south grow some grain to add to their food supply, but the crop usually is very meager and at times fails completely. When the crop ripens, it is usually still too thin to cut it. They just pull up the ears.

After the harvest, the fields lay empty until the fall. Sometimes they are used for grazing sheep. Summer days are usually cloudless. Israel is one of the sunniest countries of the world; Jerusalem having more than 300 sunny days a year.

On a typical summer day, the weather is as follows: Immediately after sunrise, the dew burns off and the temperature begins to rise quickly. Within a short time, a cooling sea breeze begins to blow in from the west. Its cooling effect prevents the temperature from rising significantly during the afternoon. For this reason, the coast area is cooler than inland, because it takes longer for the sea breeze to reach those areas. In Jerusalem, this breeze arrives about noon. The temperature is rising the entire morning.

The summer weather is very constant: warm days and cooler nights and it almost never rains. Usually there is a heavy dew during the night. Some places like Mount Carmel get more than 300 nights of dew in a year.

ISRAEL’S PAST HISTORY

After this lecture by our guide, we had a coffee break. This was followed by another lecture about Israel’s past history.

From the Bible, we know about Palestine, or what was then called Canaan, as far back as 2000 years B.C. That was the time that Abraham arrived from Haran. However, in Genesis, the Bible writes about the persons of the patriarchs, and not about the country itself. Only a dozen places are named west of the Jordan. No places above the Jezreel Valley are mentioned. Galilee is not mentioned at all either. The most northerly place mentioned in Genesis is Dothan, with one exception. Abraham travelled to Dan once and even into Syria, when he pursued those four kings to rescue his nephew Lot.

In the 450 years that Israel was in Egypt, the Bible says nothing about Canaan. So our knowledge of Canaan from the Bible before the time of Joshua is quite sketchy.

Our knowledge of the country has increased through archeology and the findings of clay tablets in Egypt, Chaldea and in some other countries. The archaeologists didn’t find signs of the patriarchs. This is not surprising. A tent dwelling people, as the Patriarchs were, would leave almost no long-lasting signs behind. Some Canaanite cities, Kings and wars are mentioned in literature found in Egypt, dating long before Abraham arrived. Archaeologists also found Canaanite cities from Abraham’s time and before.

When we think about Israel, we also think about Jerusalem, the capital. The first time we read about Jerusalem is when Abraham went to Mount Moriah to sacrifice his son Isaac. Later the city is called Salem. Its king, King Melchizedek came out to bless Abraham when he returned from the battle. Melchizedek was a priest of the most High God. The last 5 letters of his name, Zedek, mean Holy. About 600 years later, when Joshua came to Canaan, the King of Jebus was Adoni-zedek, who also had this suffix in his name. He seems to have been a heathen king. Joshua killed him. We don’t read that Joshua entered Jerusalem, as we read about him doing most of the other cities.

When the land was divided between the tribes of Israel, the city was given to Benjamin. It was then called Jebusi. We don’t read that they entered it. In David’s time, it was a Jebuzite city. David entered and conquered it, and destroyed the people but not completely. We read that, in the time that the angel of death went around, that some Jebuzites still lived in the city. They were likely on good terms with David. David strengthened the city and his son Solomon enlarged it. After Solomon’s death, it became the capital of the two tribes, Judah and Benjamin. It remained with that status for 350 years and received its greatest glory under King Hezekiah.

Our guide gave us a brief survey of the history of the land of Canaan and Jerusalem.

In 586 B.C., Canaan was captured by the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezar who destroyed Jerusalem. Later Jerusalem was rebuilt by Nehemiah and Ezra, but it remained under Persian rule. In 332 B.C., it came under Greek rule. After Alexander the Great’s early death, the land switched rulers often. It was also under Egyptian and Syrian rule. In 167 B.C., during the Maccabean revolt, it became a Jewish state again. In 63 B.C., it came under Roman rule.

In 70 A.D., in the Jewish revolt, Jerusalem was destroyed. It was completely destroyed again 60 years later in 130 A.D., in the second revolt by Bar Kochba. The city of Jerusalem was then completely levelled and a small pagan city was built there. The name was Aelia Capiltoline. Jews were forbidden to enter it or even to come near it. At this time, the name of the land was changed to Palestine.

In the fourth century, when Rome embraced Christianity, Jerusalem became a Christian city. In 614 A.D., it was conquered by the Persians.

• From 638 to 1099 A.D., it was under Arab Muslim Rule.
• From 1099 to 1187 A.D., it was ruled by the Crusaders.
• From 1250-1516 A.D. it was ruled by the Mamluk empire.
• From 1516-1917 A.D., it was part of the Turkish Ottoman Empire.
• From then until 1948, it was under English Mandate.
• In 1948, the new state of Israel was proclaimed.
• In 1967 during the 6 day war, it was enlarged. Jerusalem, the West Bank, Golan Heights and the Gaza strip were added.

GENERAL IMPRESSIONS OF ISRAEL’S NATURE AND AGRICULTURE

(This chapter was originally at the end of the document)

Our tour was very well organized. Our tour guide did a wonderful job explaining about Biblical events and archeological data. As for the subjects of nature and agriculture, he didn’t have much time and I believe, not much interest. He was vague about some of the questions asked on these subjects. For this reason I will give some impressions we ourselves received on the road.

1. Agriculture

a. Dairy: We saw quite a few dairy farms, but always from a distance. Besides the lack of time to get a closer look at one, we were told that tourists were not allowed on dairy farms for fear of bringing over diseases. F.I., the feared mouth and foot disease is still common in several countries. As far as we could observe, the cattle were all Holsteins and were kept in a small area, covered with a roof where they were fed. We didn’t see them in pasture.

b. Beef. We saw quite a few beef cattle of quite diverse qualities. The better the soil, the better the cattle. Really nice cattle were seen on the Golan Heights. In this rugged terrain, which gets a good amount of rain, they seem to do very well. This area in the Bible is called Bashan and the fat cows of Bashan are mentioned several times. Most of the cattle we saw were in the North of Israel, in areas that were too stony and rugged for agriculture and fruit. Most of the cattle were red in colour and looked more or less like the shorthorn type, but we didn’t see many purebreds. Most of the time, a few animals from other breeds or cross-breeds were mixed in. We saw one small herd of Charlais which looked purebred.

c. Sheep: We saw many sheep in Israel, especially in the desert. Usually there were small flocks with a shepherd. Most of the sheep were white, but not very large. In some areas they had the fat-tail sheep, which I do not find a nice-looking animal. In these animals, all the fat flows to the tail and not on the whole body as in other animals. This way they can take the heat better. Most of the sheep which we saw were in very poor soil where almost nothing grows and you wonder how they survive. It is no wonder that most sheep looked less than first-class.

d. Goats: Also many herds of goats were seen. Quite often flocks of goats and sheep were mixed. The goat is a nice-looking animal, smaller than most Canadian goats with shorter legs. Almost all are black with big hanging ears. They slightly resemble the Nubean goat in type and the Alpine goat in colour.

e. Other Farm Animals: The dromedary seems to have value now only as a tourist attraction, as far as we could observe. The camel is not there any more as far as I know. We saw several donkeys, grey and black and sometimes the Egyptian donkey which is much larger and light-coloured. From a distance, we saw some turkey, duck, geese and chicken farms. In the hotels we got the impression that turkey meat is often served and also Courtney Hen. Beside the fish from the Sea of Galilee and the Mediterranean Sea, there was quite a bit of fish from special fish ponds and farms.

f. Field Crops: It seems that wherever the land is flat enough for plowing, it is used for field crops or fruit. We were out of season to see field crops. In the north, most fields were seeded and in some places the grain had come up. In the south, most of the fields were plowed but not seeded yet. The fields were plowed and seeded very neatly, right till the very edges. No land that could be used was wasted. It looked like they were good farmers.

g. Vegetables: Quite a few greenhouses were seen, some with cucumbers. They had round frames with single or double plastic coverings. Some vegetable crops grew in plastic on the fields, but we didn’t come close enough to observe.

h. Fruit: Much fruit is grown in Israel and we saw some real nice orchards. There were many young orchards from one to five years old and that gave us the impression that the fruit industry is strongly expanding. I got the impression that, area-wise, the olives are most widely grown. In the north, they just started picking. The trees were often planted in rocky and hilly areas. The olive trees looked somewhat stunted and they had bluish silvery leaves, the shape of willow leaves. The trees were always planted far apart.

i. Oranges: I believe that the number two fruit crop in Israel is oranges. They were often planted very closely together. There were heavy crops on the trees with the earliest varieties just getting ripe. This crop will be picked until March. Orange orchards are nice, with their dark green glossy leaves. The fruit gets really orange on the trees, as I remembered we saw in Egypt when we passed through the Suez Canal, and not as in Indonesia where they got only yellowish-green on the trees.

ii. Grapefruit: This crop is quite similar to oranges. We saw only young orchards, some with ripe fruit.

iii. Bananas: Bananas are probably the third biggest fruit crop. They are also planted close together. The plants and leaves seemed smaller than the ones they had in Indonesia. The leaves grew upward. The fruit stems were covered with plastic bags to keep insects and spiders out.

iv. Grapes: Grapes were quite common. They had been picked in August and many leaves had fallen off or looked old. There was heavy wood on the vines.

v. We saw some pomegranate trees. It is really more of a shrub than a tree. The few fruits we saw were overripe fruit as the season was well passed.

vi. Several date palm orchards were seen, especially around Jericho and close to the Dead Sea. Most of the fruit was picked.

vii. Figs: We saw only a few fig trees. Most of them were without fruit and there were some with small fruit. These trees had large leaves; the branches started low and were very full. It would be easy to hide in those trees.

viii. Other Fruit: We saw some pear, plum, apple and almond orchards. No fruit was visible.

2. Birds: There was not much opportunity to observe birds. One beautiful bird we saw several times was the Hoopoe, a bird that somewhat resembled the Blue Jay, but was slightly larger and more colourful with a beautiful large crest on the head.

We saw quite a few crows. These were the Hooded Crows. They were the same size as our crows but they have a grey body with black heads, wings and tail. Twice we saw a flock of white Pelicans, easily recognizable. These large swan-size birds have enormous beaks.

Another bird I will always remember was a small bird, but it sang beautifully, almost like a nightingale. It was sitting in the tree above the minister while we had the service that Sunday morning in the Garden of the Tomb. It sang almost throughout the entire service.

3. Other animals: The only large wild animal we saw was the Ibex, resembling a large goat with enormous horns. We saw quite a few molehills, so the mole must be quite common in Israel. We also saw several beehives and we were told that besides bee honey, an artificial honey was made from dates. This product comes close to the natural product. In the cities we saw very few dogs, but many cats.

4. Insects: We got the impression that the country is almost free of insects. No fleas, flies or mosquitoes were noticed. Only at Qumram, at the Dead Sea, were we bothered by insects. Even at the large market in Be’ersheva and on the camel and donkey ride, we didn’t notice any insects. We stayed in three different first-class hotels, which were really neat and clean, but in each of them I saw a few cockroaches. So, I assume that they are common in Israel.

5. Trees: There were many more trees than I expected. The Israeli government works hard to reforest the country. All school-age children have to work a few days a year to help plant trees. Most of the common wild trees were two different kinds of Cedar: Beside the narrow pointed trees which we know, there was the spreading cedar with horizontal branches. Off the roadside we often saw Eucalyptus trees which somewhat resemble the willow. At the Jordan we saw willow and poplar trees. We also saw oak, plane and sycamore trees, a pine tree which was different from ours with a trunk that was much less straight. The very few trees we saw in the desert were acacia, shittum and the tamarack.

6. Flowers: We were out of the season for wild flowers. In the city there were several beautiful flowering shrubs, especially the bougainvilleas which were in beautiful purple, pink and lavender shades. The country was much nicer than we had expected. Even in areas that were almost completely rock, olive trees and other trees grew well. It was amazing how often, in older buildings and churches, we saw wild plants, even small shrubs growing in the cracks of the walls. The plant roots must be able to get enough nutrients out of those natural rocks to survive.

Many mountains are of a porous limestone that soaks in the rain, instead of letting it run off. This rain goes deep in underground water reservoirs and comes out in other places as wells. In other places the rock had a hard outer layer several feet deep and underneath this was chalk, so caves easily develop here.

With the language, there was no problem. Almost everywhere we came, they could help us in English. They have a different calendar than we do, but for tourists they use the normal calendar. Instead of B.C., they write B.C.E., which means Before Common Era, and instead of A.D. they write C.E., the Common Era.

There was not much opportunity to talk to common people, only a few times in the evening. My impressions about the Israelis’ way of thinking came from the different speakers and from paging through several newspapers.

My impressions are that there is a real change at present. After the wars of 1948 and 1967 with their tremendous successes, there was real feeling that they could do everything with military power. They felt superior over all Arabs. Then they had the war with Lebanon which had to be left off after several years. It cost many lives and much money and they had not accomplished what they had expected. It was a failure. At present they have continuous problems at the West Bank and the Gaza strip. For this reason, they have to keep up a large army which is way too costly for this young country. There is no relaxing. They always have to be on the alert, especially in areas where many Arabs live, and close to the borders. From an over-confident feeling for the first 25 years of Israel, there is now a much more uncertain or defeatist attitude that prevails. The idea that a Saviour is needed comes up, however they are still not looking for the Saviour that God gave. The holocaust was a subject that was not mentioned for many years. For the older people, it was too painful to bring up those terrible memories. The younger people didn’t want to talk about it. They felt ashamed that so many people were killed without fighting for their lives. In their euphoric mood they couldn’t understand how this was possible. Then the Eichman trial came. By that time the overconfident feeling was lessening. Then the people learned what really took place.

At the end of my writing, I realize this outline is very limited. We saw only part of the country, and every place we saw once and in a special season. If we had been there in April or August, several observations would have been different. Also, if I could read the observations of other tour members, there would be many differences. A minister and a builder or an archeologist would see different aspects. I saw these things through the eyes of a simple outdoors man who also loves history and especially Biblical history, and who loves the Lord who dealt with His people in such a wonderful way. Thank You.