Archives: Student blog

Saturday, July 12, 2014

Natalia Pochtaruk – The Dead Sea Scrolls and Qumran

The Dead Sea Scrolls and Qumran alternatively titled: “Josephus, you’re wrong” Seeing the Dead Sea Scrolls was one of the things that I was most looking forward to on this trip. On our first free day, a small group of us decided to revisit the Israel museum where I visited the Shrine of the... More

Saturday, July 12, 2014

Natalia Pochtaruk – A Foot on Masada

A Foot on Masada Upon our arrival at the Ein Gedi hostel and after we’d had dinner, our group promptly went to sleep as the alarms would sound at three in the morning so we could get on the bus to take us to the foot of Masada. We arrived at the site after... More

Saturday, July 12, 2014

Natalia Pochtaruk – St. George Monastery and the Inn of the Good Samaritan

St. George Monastery and the Inn of the Good Samaritan It took less than ten minutes once we had left Jerusalem for the scenery to change from the rich foliage to the unplanted desert. We had crossed over to the West Bank to begin our day in the Judean desert and take the winding... More

Saturday, July 12, 2014

Natalia Pochtaruk – Ancient Cities and Tunnel Israel

We visited the City of David and went through Hezekiah’s Tunnel. For the Christians, David is a direct descendent of Jesus, while for Jews he is the father of Israel. A young shepherd boy from the tribe of Judah who slays the giant Goliath from the enemy Philistine tribe, is then elevated to king... More

Saturday, July 12, 2014

Natalia Pochtaruk – Mea’Shearim

Modesty, Military, and Discomfort: an uncomfortable walk through Mea Shearim It was the afternoon before our first Shabbat in Jerusalem and we had gone through the Machane Yehuda market to experience the crowds and bargain with street vendors to prepare ourselves for the weekend ahead.  This was prior to our visit to Mea Shearim... More

Tuesday, July 1, 2014

Christina Pasqua – Representations of the Holocaust and its Memory in Israel: Yad Vashem and Lohamei Haghetaot

In Edward Rothstein’s New York Times article “Holocaust Museums in Israel Evolve,” he argues that Yad Vashem is a “stunning counterexample” of Holocaust museums in Israel that “attempt to seduce us into shock” because it “scrupulously avoids moralizing or posturing.” Based on my experience of Yad Vashem (with a guide who gave a... More

Saturday, June 28, 2014

Erin Drawson – The Ultra Orthodox and the IDF, our introduction to the issue in Mea Sherim.

Before we left for Israel, it seemed that one of our only modest days would be our visit to Mea Sherim, of course we had more modest days than days that we could wear shorts it seemed, but Mea Sherim was the most serious. In a meeting just before we left we went over... More

Saturday, June 28, 2014

Christina Pasqua – Women of the Wall: Transforming a Gendered History of Tradition through the Performance of Ritual in Public Space

Although the origins of Shabbat are tied to the seventh day of creation in Genesis, there are several other components that factor into its observance. Shabbat is about remembering two significant events: the first is the seventh day of creation, when god rested from his work and the second is the Exodus from Egypt,... More

Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Christina Pasqua – The World Within Mea Shearim: Modest Bodies and Political Cartoons

“And on the seventh day God finished the work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all the work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all the work that he had done in creation.” Genesis 2:2-3... More

Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Christina Pasqua – The Language of the Hebrew Man: The Bible and Israeli Popular Culture

Ehud Banai’s “Hebrew Man” was undoubtedly the theme song of our adventure in Israel. It’s catchy and had us dancing on the tour bus after many long days on the go, but the lyrics reveal something more interesting—the overwhelming and sometimes subtle presence of Biblical laws, narratives, and themes that are embedded in Israeli... More

Thursday, June 19, 2014

Christina Pasqua – Beit Hatfutsot: The Story of the Jewish People in Diaspora

“This is the story of a people which was scattered over all the world and yet remained a single family; a nation which time and again was doomed to destruction and yet, out of ruins, rose to new life.” —Abba Kovner On the final day of our tour, we visited The Museum of the... More

Thursday, June 19, 2014

Erin drawson – Menstruation in the Holy Land (The Laws of Niddah)

  Every hotel that we stayed at had two single beds, sometimes they would be pushed together to make one double bed and sometimes they were already apart when we entered the room. This was very convenient for us, as our roommates were not necessarily our bed mates. This is a very interesting cultural... More

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