By Rabbi Leonard Rosenthal
JERUSALEM– During this final week of studies at the Shalom Hartman Institute students had two unique opportunities: tiyulim (tours) of areas of Israel and the West Bank which reflected the material we studied, and a VIP visit to the recently redesigned and refurbished Israel Museum.
I chose to participate in the tiyul entitled “Explorations in Biblical and Rabbinic Visions of Jewish Peoplehood” (yes, that’s quite a mouthful!). It was subtitled, “From Independent Tribes to a United Monarchy to Am Yisrael.” We began the day at Tel Bet Shemesh, Tel Azeka, and Tel Qayefah, all of which are believed to be associated with the Biblical stories of Samson, King Saul, King David, and their battle with the Philistines.
One of the major tensions in modern Biblical archeology is between the “minimalists” and “maximalists.” The minimalists believe that most of the Biblical accounts contain a kernel of historical truth, but that archeology has not substantiated most of the narrative. Maximalists, on the other hand, believe that the Biblical text is historically accurate to a much greater extent.
Our guide told us that the finds at Tel Azeka and Tel Qayefah (which is still an active dig), along with their surrounding geography, accurately reflect the Biblical account of Saul and David’s battle with the Philistines. Of particular note is the recent find at Tel Qayefah, believed to be the ancient Shaarayim (Joshua 15:36, I Samuel 17:52), described in the Bible. Shaarayim means “Two Gates.” This is exactly the number of city gates that archeologists recently found at Tel Qayefah, their number and placement making them unique among Israelite cities.
After lunch at the Elah Winery (a special treat!), we continued on and ended our day at Alon Haboded, the Lone Oak, in the Etzion settlement block. During the 1948 War of Independence four kibbutzim were destroyed and their inhabitants murdered by the advancing Arab armies. For years their descendants (who escaped) would look longingly over the 1948 border, where one lone oak tree still grew at the decimated site.
After the 1967 war they and their families, joined by others, moved back to the area and established new thriving communities. Alon Haboded is now surrounded by housing, schools, and synagogues, filled with thousands of Israelis. The Etzion settlement block is one of the areas that will surely remain in Israeli hands if the 1967 borders are adjusted as part of a final peace plan.
Judy and I visited the Israel Museum many times, but not during our last two trips to Israel when it was undergoing extensive renovation. We were blown away by what we found when the Hartman rabbis visited. After a short introduction by Dead Sea Scrolls curator Dr. Adolfo Roitman, we broke into small groups to tour various exhibits in the museum.
The museum has been completely redesigned and its exhibit space doubled without changing the existing footprint. The exhibit halls are now roomy, brightly lit, and flow more easily and logically one to the next. Counterintuitively, the number of pieces on display has been reduced in order to allow the opportunity to better appreciate those pieces still on display.The evening ended with a festive outdoor dinner in the new high end museum restaurant “Modern,” where we dined. The surrounding landscape glowed in golden hues as the sun set.
Museum Director, James Snyder, told us some of the details of the recent $800 million dollar renovation, and surprised us by informing us that the Israel Museum is the third largest museum in the world, preceded only by the Metropolitan Museum in New York and the Louvre in Paris. It is one of Israel’s gems.
While doing our own research on the museum, we noticed that there was a special event on Thursday night: Nekudat Maga, Contact Point. The museum gates opened at 8:00 p.m. and from 9:00 a.m. until 2:00 a.m. stationed all around the museum, inside and out, were special exhibits, performance art, and live music. Judy and I wandered through the museum and ended up outside, on Crown Plaza, with everyone else for a “Wii:Party.”
We had never seen one before. Instead of music blaring from loud speakers, everyone is given a wireless headset. You hear the music through the headset, but when you take it off you see people dancing wildly and hear silence. It was fun! A Wii:Party sounds like a great idea for a Bar or Bat Mitzvah celebration. The kids can turn the volume up as loud as they want while the adults have peace and quiet.
Party pooper that I am, we left at 1:45 a.m. Thankfully, we could both sleep late this morning before awakening to prepare for our last Shabbat in Jerusalem.
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Rabbi Rosenthal is spiritual leader of Tifereth Israel Synagogue in San Diego. He may be contacted at leonard.rosenthal@sdjewishworld.com