It was with great anticipation and joy that I arrived back at Tel Hazor. This is the place where I first fell into the Bible. This was the place where I saw, as Mr. El-Heib put it, "my wall" again. Later that evening, Miriam and I went to the top of the Arbel Cliff and looked out over the Galilee. When the sun made its way below the earth's horizon, those who stood with us remained silent and in awe of such majesty.

An incredible few days. We--Miriam and I--have visited over 40 sites. Over 40. Yesterday we were in En Gedi, where David took refuge from crazy King Saul. Today we went to overlook the Valley of Elah, where David fought Goliath.

A few days ago, we took an armoured bus to Rachel's Tomb. I was, I believe, the only non-Jew/Tourist on board. Everyone else was Jewish, mostly Orthodox. I know Miriam and I were the only two women in jeans, or even in pants for that matter. Along the way, no one said much. They were, I suppose, quietly anticipating where they were going and what they would do once they got there.

Before we arrived at the tomb, we stopped at a checkpoint where an IDF soldier--wearing your typical Tuesday afternoon garb of a bullet proof vest and carrying an M-16--radioed ahead for clearance. We were cleared. He then got in the bus and we drove until we reached a security fence. There, the soldier got out of the bus, walked to the fence, and unlocked the gate. The bus went through, stopped, the gate was locked behind us, and the officer returned to the bus. We drove on, soon entering a road bordered on either side by 20 foot high cement walls.

I haven't been this safe since I was in my mother's womb.

We came to the tomb and the bus door opened. The security guard alighted from the bus, followed by the rest of us. We were met by several security guards who told us to move quickly to the inside. We did.

Just inside the door was a place for the Orthodox to wash their hands before praying. Then down a long hallway. The first door to the right was for the men to enter. The second was for the women. A small room held two or three bookshelves carved into the wall, holding an array of prayer books. A couple of wicker baskets were for the occasional shekel. Then, through another door, the velvet draped tomb of Rachel, Israel's Mother, Jacob's wife, dominated another small room. The women piled in, but not before lightly touching the mezzuzah at the door. They prayed. They wept. Mostly, they kept silent.

From the men's room the cantoring began. Occasionally the women would repeat the men's "amens." But mostly, they kept silent.

A few minutes later, it was over. We were wisked out of the room, back down the hallway, and into the bus. The officer got back on, but once outside the gate, he did not return.

On the way back to Jerusalem the men chatted. But mostly the women were silent.

In my journal I wrote: What price to pray....

Places Visited:

Ein Ayub, Mount of Beatitudes, Church of the Multiplcation of Loaves and Fishes, Church of the Primacy of Peter, Capernaum, Nazareth (Mary's Well, church of Annunciation), Tel Hazor, Banias, Nimrod's Fortress, Tel Dan, The Jesus Boat, Arbel Cliff,  The Jordan River, En Harod, Mt. Tabor, Nain, Mt. Carmel, Caesarea Maritima, The Western Wall, The Burnt House, Mount Zion (David's Tomb, the Upper Room, Dormitian Abbey, Via Dolorosa, Church of the Holy Sepulchur, The Garden Tomb), Mount of Olives Overlook, Garden of Gethsemane, Kidron Valley, Absolom's Tomb, Temple's Pinnacle, Rachel's Tomb, Ramat Rachel, Masada, En Gedi, The Dead Sea, Valley of Elah, Tel Be'er Sheva, En Avedat, and-finally--the mall. :)