Har Bracha: The Mount of Blessing

This winter some of the men of our family went to Israel to help some farmers in Judea and Samaria.  I sent out weekly updates to friends and family and have been encouraged to turn them into a short blog series.  Many of us have not had the opportunity to travel to Israel and see the land, let alone be of service to the Israelis.  My hope is that with these entries, we can live vicariously through their experiences at least a little bit.  My hope is also that through these entries my friends can get a glimpse of the beauty the land and the people of Judea & Samaria.  These are the mountains of Israel, the hill country of Ephraim, the Biblical heartland!  And these are some of the devoted Lights to the Nations who live there.

Week 1

Upon their arrival the guys were picked up from the airport and brought to a beautiful winery in Judea. When my men got out of the van and entered the beautiful Psagot Winery building, they were welcomed with this scene as it was beginning to unfold :

Bleary eyed from their flight and overwhelmed by the realization that they were actually in the Land, the welcome message that Mr Huckabee gave to his entourage was a very fitting welcome for my guys as well.  I was excited to learn if this was going to be any indication as to how their entire experience would be.

An Introduction To Har Bracha

The Samaria Region, The Shomron

View from Har Bracha toward Jerusalem

The following day their team headed north to Mount Gerizim (the mount of blessing).  When Joshua led the children of Israel into the Promised Land and had half of the tribes stand on one mountain (the Mount of Blessing), the Levites in the valley in the center and ther other half of the tribes on the opposite mountain (the Mount of Cursing) while the terms of the covenant were affirmed in the land of Israel. On the map Har Bracha is near the center, almost at the top and this is where they would stay for the next two weeks.  Take a look at the photos here, it is a beautiful place.  Har Bracha is the fourth highest peak in Israel and the wind can whip through the hills in the area, and along with the incredible latter rains that came while my men were there, it was quite chilly.  The house they stayed in is on top of Har Bracha where to the west they saw the Mediterranean and to the east they clearly saw the country of Jordan.

Samaritan Priest, in line to be Samaritan High Priest

In the valley between Mt Gerizim (Har Bracha, Mount of Blessing) and Mt Ebal (Mount of Cursing) sits an Arab village.  Nablus (not on the map above) with it’s posted signs saying something along the lines of “Jews Keep Out.  We Will Kill You.”  Nablus is actually the Biblical city of Shechem where Joseph is buried but currently it is occupied by Muslim Arabs, and Jews are not permitted in the city to pray there.  Just up the valley from where my men were staying is one of the two remaining Samaritan communities.  There are only two Samaritan communities left, on in the Jewish territory and one in the Arab territory, with a total of just 750 remaining Samaritans.  This article is from November about archaeological finds of the Samaritan Temple on Mt Gerizim.

When the guys were out to the vineyard they were watched by a fully armed Israeli Defense Force (IDF) soldier.  Of course, Shalom thought this is the coolest thing ever!   Last year this time Arabs stormed a vineyard while some men were working and stoned the men, a few of the men were injured.  An IDF soldier was there then and was able to run the Arabs off.  Of course this year Shalom took his Search & Rescue team first aid kit with him just in case he might need it.  Thankfully the only time he needed to use his first aid kit was when a son one of the vineyard managers had a small cut and needed a band-aid.

Inside the house where my men were staying with about 20 other men, they had discovered a few “pets”.  One is a gecko that lived on the ceiling in the living room.  Shalom, being the youngest on this team, wanted to get it off the ceiling so he could hold it but it’s a smart little thing and I could hear them all laughing as he was trying to get it down when we spoke on Skype one evening.

Some of the men working in the vineyards

Aside from being cold, the harsh wind and wet from the incredible rain (which was a wonderful blessing for Israel!), they were adjusting to their new time zone and their environment in their first week.  DH and Shalom had “Kitchen Duty” on Friday and asked for their favorite pancake recipe for breakfast. The team of men would head back to Psagot before Sabbath to rest and study with the other teams of vineyard helpers.  They could use a good rest.  Shalom kept saying he was “in heaven!” and his hand hurt from pruning all day.  He sure had a strong grip when he came home!  As for DH, I think jet lag is easier when you’re 15 than when you’re all grown up.  He was

Vines needing to be pruned at Har Bracha

missing the creature comforts of home, too, like the ability to take more than a 60 second shower and his slippers (which I forgot to pack for him, they’re important for his injured foot).  They had been assured that it would warm up “in about two weeks”, which turned out to be right on target.  The sheer delight of being able to be in The Land and to work hard with other men was enough to warm their hearts and energize their spirits.  There were never any complaints!  That first week they worked hard in between the rain (and hail) squalls.  Boy they sure were looking forward to Sabbath – good food, heat, study and rest!

After they had cleaned up the house they were staying in and packed up to head south to join up with the other teams, they had time to go into Jerusalem and visit Ammunition Hill which is place of tremendous significance in the Six Day War of 1967.   We’ve had conversation with several friends who have said to us things like:  ”I know that G-d did great things for Israel in the Old Testament, but it’s not like He fights for them, or with them, today like He did back then.”  If you’ve ever had that thought yourself, I encourage you to look into  The War for

the famous trenches at Ammunition Hill

Independence (1948), The Six Day War (1967)and The Yom Kippur War (1973) and consider how on earth a tiny group of untrained and barely armed men could not only fight off the tremendous military might of the surrounding nations, but make tremendous gains in those battles.  The miracles are simply jaw-dropping! The stories these men have told are incredible and they prove that HaShem is faithful to His word and to His people.  What an amazing G-d we serve, a G-d Who keeps His promises and moves in ways we sometimes think are best reserved for “our wildest imaginations”!

Tired, joyfully content and ready for Shabbat!

After their visit to Ammunition Hill they went to the Kotel and had an opportunity to pray with the rest of their team.  How can you top that for your first week in Israel, serving the people there, hanging out with a bunch of neat guys and now getting ready for Shabbat?

Stay tuned for “Week 2:  Psagot“, coming soon…

resting in the wall

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