Monday, May 3, 2010

T.L.C. Trivia Winner & Answers!

IMG_1518 Posted by Tally, Celine and Lillian and Mom

Thanks to all who sent us your answers. We enjoyed reading them and even learned some more about the items we chose to include in our Trivia Challenge. The winner of the challenge was Kathleen. Congratulations!

Before we give the answers we want to share with you a couple of things we have done lately.

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem!
May those who love her prosper! Ps. 122:6

Dome of the Rock

We finally were able to get in to Temple Mount to see the Dome of the Rock. In the 4 months we have been in Jerusalem, the Temple Mount has been closed a lot to visitors because of rocks being thrown at the visitors. Every time we planned to go, we would get there and find it closed.

To be clear, the Temple Mount is the entire grounds which the Dome of the Rock, along with rooms for scholars, sheikhs and religious court offices, and a museum sit. This walled area takes up 1/6 of Old City. It shares its south and east walls with Old City. Herod the Great enlarged, built retaining walls and built the Second Temple on the platform that exist today. Herod’s Temple was destroyed in 70AD. After which palaces, a Temple to Jupiter and a church were built. It wasn’t until 687-691AD that the last Temple ruins were completely destroyed and the The Dome of the Rock was constructed.

The Dome of the Rock was built to serve as a shrine for pilgrims. Adjacent to it stands the Al Aqsa Mosque that was built in 709AD. It has been destroyed and rebuilt because of earthquakes because it is sitting upon the “fill” from Herod’s retaining wall built around 19BC.

It was great to finally get in and see where the Temple once stood, firsthand. What is also important to remember is in 1967, the Jews made a decision not to destroy the Dome of the Rock as a gesture of peace to the Palestinians and allow control of the mount to stay in the hands of the Palestinians.

The Cotton Market is a souk within Old City that also serves as one of the entrances to the Temple Mount. However, only Muslims are allowed to enter through it. Non-Muslims, like us, are allowed to exit the Temple through the Cotton Market which is what we did. It is no different from any other souk except that it opens to the Temple Mount. I’ve included pics for my brother, Calvin. When he visited, the Temple Mount was closed most of the time because of riots.

IMG_1477 Dome of the Rock—notice the marble columns in front.
IMG_1474 Dome of the Rock—Muslim women sitting on side of shrine.
IMG_1453 West side of Al-Aqsa Mosque with a courtyard of old columns in the foreground.
IMG_1483 “Gate of the Cotton Merchants”
IMG_1484 Inscription to the right of Cotton Market gate.
IMG_1485 Tally at the entrance of the Cotton Market
IMG_1486 Muslim smoking his nargila or waterpipe. This is very popular among indigenous Palestinians and the Mizrahi (Middle East)Jews. It is common to see men gathered together smoking a single nargila.

 

Beit Shemesh and Ashkelon

Sunday, we spent the morning hiking through Beit Shemesh. We had a little rain but it was a great hike. Beit Shemesh was a Biblical city that was on the border of Judah and Dan Territories. It was one of the 13 cities the Israelites assigned to the priests descended from Aaron. It is also the city the Ark of the Covenant was led by the 2 cows after the Philistines had plagued by its presence. King Jehoash of Israel captured King Amaziah of Judah, son of Jehoash son of Ahaziah, in Beth Shemesh. There are springs there that definitely made it desirable. However, the the Babalonians sealed the springs which weren’t opened back up until 2004. The waterworks in Beit Shemesh were very advanced.

We then got back on the bus and rode to Ashkelon, a coastal city on the Mediterranean Sea. On the way, we drove through the Elah Valley, which lies in the Shepelah (Hill Country) just before you get to the coastal region. The Elah Valley is where the Philistines and Israelites were going to fight but little David, son of Jesse, killed the giant, Goliath, with just a sling-shot and stone. Goliath’s grave sight is thought to be at the park we ended our hike at in Beit Shemesh. It is certainly possible but not certain.

Ashkelon has a long history being occupied chronologically by Canaanite, Philistine, Phoenician, Iranian, Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, Islamic and Crusader. In 2000 BC, Ashkelon was a thriving city with the oldest city gate in the world—8 feet wide. It stands 2 stories high even in ruin.

The beach was beautiful, the weather was sunny with a cool breeze and great waves. Eric and I took a walk down the beach finding really cool ancient walls in ruin as well as many marble columns laying in the sand as the water would rush over them. I can’t figure how to fit them in my suitcase. Wouldn’t that be a great souvenir? To top it off, we had gone with the school which meant we didn’t have to drive or pack lunch. On the way home, Lillian got the treat of a lifetime, the guy leading the trip treated everyone to a McDonald’s ice cream cone—like he was reading her mind. 

For recognition of the Lord’s sovereign majesty will fill the earth just as the waters fill up the sea. Hab. 2:14

IMG_1500 Robishaws at Ashkelon on the Mediterranean Sea.
IMG_1494 Eric, Tally and Celine are in the water behind Lillian. She loves running from the waves. The students of JUC are in the background.
IMG_1497 Tally in the Mediterranean Sea.
IMG_1495 Celine and the start of her awesome pyramid (not shown).
IMG_1496 Lillian in the Mediterranean Sea.
IMG_1506 Mom and Celine at the Mediterranean Sea.
IMG_1498 Trying to get a picture of all the girls. Anyone who knows Lillian knows she is not going to stay put for long…
IMG_1504 Construction of an aqueduct to feed Celine’s hole she dug.

 

Trivia Challenge Answers

image 1.
What is this?
Menora
*Why do some have 7 and some have 9 holders?
7-used in the ancient Temple in Jerusalem, symbol of Judaism since ancient times and the emblem of the modern state of Israel. 9-Hanukah, one extra day and a helper (Shamash) candle.
IMG_0323_thumb[1] 2.
What is the man holding?
Shofars
image 3.
What mountain are we looking at?
Mt. Olive, just east of Old City.
image 4.
What is this?
matza
*On what holiday is this the staple?
Passover (Pesach)
image 5.
What is the green bin?
recycling bin
IMG_0231_thumb[1] 6.
Who is mom standing next to?
Israeli riot policeman
*Where are they standing?
Western Wall Plaza
image 7.
What is this? 
Yad (hand)Torah pointer
*Do you know what is it used for?
Used to point at scripture to keep from touching the sacred parchment.
image 8.
Who is this?
Israeli President Shimon Peres and he is our neighbor.
image 9.
What is this?
Bag of milk. My friend Karen remembers drinking from individual bags of chocolate milk as a child in Jerusalem.
IMG_0306_thumb 10.
What street are we climbing up?
Yemin Moshe
*Who are we with?
Collin and Ryan
image 11.
What is this man wearing?
Talith (prayer shawl)
image 12.
What is this symbol?
Star of David
image 13.
What are these called by the Jewish people?
Kippa (Hebrew)
*What do we call them in the US?
Yarmulke
100_9995_thumb[4] 14.
Who’s house are we looking at?
President’s home
*What is the name of the street?
Hanasi- taken from the gate to our home
image 15.
What is this?
Challah
*When is it used?
bread eaten on Shabbat (Sabbath)
image 16.
What do you call the strings hanging down from under the boys’ shirts?
Tzitzit (bundle of 8 strings)
image 17.
What is this structure called?
Dome of the Rock
*Where is it located in Jerusalem?
On the Temple Mount in Old City
image 18.
What is this furry thing?
Shtreimel worn by married Heredi Jewish men particularly Hasidic sects.
image 19.
What is the language?
Hebrew
*What is this document for?
the original parchment written by a rabbi containing Deut. 6:4-9 and 11: 13-21 that goes inside the mezuzah.
image_thumb[9] 20.
What is this?
Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV)
*Where did we see a similar one?
We have seen these fly over our home (really the President's home, but we live across the street)
image 21.
On what holiday do you see this?
Purim
*Who is it named for?
Hamantash—named for Haman (Booo!)
image  22.
What do you call the metal thing attached to this door frame?
Mezuzah
*Name some places you find them.
Front door of home, bedrooms, businesses, Old City gates
image 23.
What building is this?
The Knesset- the legislature of Israel
image 24.
What is this IDF soldier doing?
praying, This is not the Western Wall, but seeing soldiers pray there is common. 
image 25.
What is this?
Spices in the suk
image 26.
What neighborhood is this?
Mishkenot Sha'ananim (Yemin Moshe runs down the center)
*What is the name of the windmill?
Montefiore Windmill
image 27.
Where can you find these in abundance?
Jerusalem
*How many of these did we have before moving to Jerusalem?
3!
image 28.
What gate is this?
Jaffa Gate
*Where are you when you enter?
Old City
image 29.
Who is this?
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
image 30.
What is this?
An old olive tree
image 31.
What is this? (Hint: If you can read Hebrew, the word above the crest will help.)
Jerusalem Flag
The Israel flag is just like this except with a star of David in the center.
image 32.
What is the building in the top-center?
JUC, Eric’s School
*Name of the valley below?
Hinnom Valley (Gihinnom)
image 33.
What building is this?
Church of the Holy Sepulchre
image 34.
What is this?
Falafel
*What is it made of?
Garbonzo beans (chick peas)
image 35.
What is this?
scroll
image 36.
What does this say?
Hebrew letters Chai and Yod-read right to left, means "Life." You see this a lot on jewelry
image 37.
Who is this?
Eric
*In most of the stories he tells, what grade is he in?
Eric is usually in the 5th grade in the stories he tells.

Thanks for playing!

Shalom Ya’ll!

4 comments:

Carole L Robishaw said...

Didn't do to bad. I think I only missed one of the ones I filled in. But I left 3 blank, and I forgot to answer a couple of the * questions.

Oh well, it was fun, and I learned while searching.

midspoint said...

I only missed a couple, but I didn't find out about it until today...we were gone when the contest was posted and I forgot to catch up... :(

Our son got milk from bags in China! Now he's going to live in Spain for a year...
I want to go to Israel!! (stomps feet...pouts... knows it won't do any good!!! LOL
I loved Colleen's wanting to bring home ancient marble columns in her suitcases...I would, too! :)

What memories you all will have. If I were there and had to leave, I would probably hide in the airport and miss my flight home. "Oops!! Oh well, I'll just have to stay now and become a citizen..." Right? Of course, right!!
Shalom, beautiful family!!

Kathleen said...

Yee hee! I won :) I'm so sad though that I didn't get a chance to have the girls go through it and try too. I'm going to try at some point anyway just so they can learn all the stuff.

Do I keep repeating myself when I say "I am sooo jealous!!" LOL. How COOL to swim in the Mediterranean Sea!! I'm sure Tally and Celine will appreciate it and they look like they are having a really good time. I feel so sorry that Lillian might not remember most of it :(

Love you!

Nanny said...

Congratulations, Kathleen!!! I thought that was a really hard test. I was stressing out over it. So glad Kathleen won the contest so now I can sleep at night!!

What a wealth of knowledge you all have learned firsthand about these people who live on the other side of the world. I'm betting they will forever hold a special place in your heart!!!

Love, Mom