Final fixes and tuning of the Marcussen organ with Bernd Lorenzen from Denmark.  Got permission to go to the Old City. It had been off limits to the Center for several days because of some unrest in the area, and the security department of the Center is very cautious.  We parked at Notre Dame de Jerusalem, found Father Cristobal, Jim played the organ; then a grand walking tour of the Old City:  St. Savior’s where we found Father Ferguson and got to play the Rieger; Holy Sepulcher; Coptic Christian; Little Western Wall; main Western Wall, many people in white at the wall; into the “library” for men by the Western Wall; Robinson’s Arch; Hurva Square; Cardo; Omar’s; and back to the car.  Drove to YMCA where Jim played the carillon for Bernd.  Drove to the Israel Museums, only to find they closed at 2:00 because of being a holiday.  They did see the outdoor model of Jerusalem and other outdoor sculptures, which was fine.  Then to Ein Kerem, explored the town, saw Church of St. John the Baptist, then Visitation Church.  Chatted with Brazilian tourists, and ran into Jon and Heather Farrell (our Branch President and wife) who had ridden their bikes there.  Dropped Bernd off at Dan Jerusalem hotel. Came home exhausted.

Jon and Heather Farrell with Bernd

The students did the olive crushing and pressing in three groups.  Very interesting to watch the big stone wheel crush over 200 kilos of olives.  Then the “mush” was put in thick burlap bags and into the screw press.  All of this will yield 1-2 liters of olive oil.  Eric Huntsman gave a spiritual thought concerning Gethsemane meaning the olive press, and related it to Christ’s atonement.  

Gathering

                               Crushing

Pressing

Olive oil!

In the evening we joined the students for an end of Sukkot and end of reading the Torah celebration at First Station (the Ottoman railway station built in 1892).  “Simchat torah HaQafot!” There was singing and dancing, a rock band, people waving around a fake Torah scroll holder, etc.  Very loud, very fun. 

Crazy, fun students

We and the Barkers joined the Seelys for a loop walk around Hebrew University and a tour of the British cemetery where many Commonwealth soldiers from WW1 are buried, including some German and Jewish dead. The epitaph inscriptions are heart-rending.  It’s a real oasis in the middle of East Jerusalem.  

Jim joined the students  on their field trip to a biblical nature preserve called Ne'ot Qedumim, which is between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.  Very interesting look at cisterns; the students had fun trying to herd sheep and goats.  They read Deuteronomy 8:8: (“A land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig trees, and pomegranates; a land of oil olive, and honey”—apparently they ripen in this order) and saw examples of each. Students crushed hyssop and sampled some tiny little apples—maybe this ancient species of tree was a tree of knowledge of good and evil?  The students made lentil stew ("a mess of pottage") and pitas over an open fire, and ended the tour with a demonstration by a Jewish man on how they write Torah scrolls. Jolani, one of the bus drivers, shared some of his homemade lunch with Jim—stuffed tomatoes, green olives just made a couple of days ago. 

Jim got home just in time to play the organ for a tour by the Voices of Faith choir from the US.  Dan Forrest is their composer in residence and was there.  It was nice to meet him.  They were giving a concert of Dan’s music at the Augusta Victoria church (Lutheran Church of the Ascension) in the evening, so Jim and the Barkers walked up there to hear them.  Dan played an electronic keyboard to accompany.   Then back to hear Jewish Forum speaker Yisca Harani discuss the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and the politics that go into dividing up the “real estate” between different Christian sects, etc.

Jim, Deanne, Patty Barker, Dan Forrest

August Victoria at night

We had interesting tours at the end of the week:  3 Israelis; a German Catholic priest who worked for a number of years in Uganda, now lives in Berlin; 4 Russians (2 of them from Canada).  Always interesting conversations. 20 people from a Church of God somewhere in NC, very fun group; 45 LDS members with Gary Gillespie, director; 2 Brazilians (Fabiano Gomes de Oliveira and his wife Juliane; he is a stake president in Curitiba); 2 nice Israelis (he is a skier, speaks German, his grandparents were from Stuttgart).

Fabiano and Juliane

The Concert Series continues with extraordinary musicians. So lucky to be involved with hosting them.

The Barkers having fun with the new scanner guns