Andrea Likes The Sea of Galilee..

Shalom,

We have had a great time in Northern Israel. We love Israel. I loved the Sea of Galilee.
I was so excited on the way up to the Sea of Galilee (also known as the Yam Kinneret). Our house at the Sea of Galilee was great! We even got to see a movie of these two men walking on the shore and they found old old nails and so they kept digging and they found a boat that was 2000 years old...thats old! Maybe that was Peter's boat? Maybe Yeshua rode in that boat or one like it? The Sea of Galilee was soo much fun. I had a great time. We loved swimming in it!l

We had lots of fun!

Laila Tov,
Andrea Ginelle Upham

David's Tower

Hey Everybody,

Baruch Hashem, today has been great. We started off our day with a quick 15 minute walk to the Jaffa Gate. Upon arrival we decided to make a stop at David's Tower. David's Tower is a citadel/guard tower that was once connected to the outer wall along the City. It had several look outs were you could practically see all of Jerusalem. There were a few small indoor exhibits that sparked some interesting facts. But I think our favorite part was being outside and looking at the walls and towers. It's neat to see all the different sizes of rocks from different time periods that were used to rebuild after battles by different civilizations that have settled in Jerusalem throughout its history. I know we were all amazed realizing that part of the remaining walls date back to the Hasmonean / Herodian period of the Second Temple at that Yeshua most certainly passed through those same walls as he traveled in and out of Jerusalem. Clearly, David's Tower was a lot of fun! A must for all you history buffs.

After our visit to David's Tower, we took a stroll through the Christian Quarter of the Old City. We happened to run into the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. Crowds were going in and out of the church (mostly Chrisitian tour groups). My Dad decided to take us in because Benjamin, Andy and I had never been in an old cathedral before and he wanted us to see how paganism and sun worship and influenced much of Catholic / Greek Orthodox Christianity. The architecture was impressive. But the place had a strange vide about it. To see so many people stand in long lines to catch a glimpse of the alleged sepulcher is interesting. The statues, paintings and mosaics all present the poeple with the traditional catholic "halo" around the head. A carryover from the pagan sun worship roots. It was an interesting experience but I prefer a simple synagogue with a Torah scroll.

The markets of the Christian and Muslim Quarter feel like something right out of Alladin: the narrow alleys, bustling people, crowded little shops selling everything, the haggling, etc. I was expecting Abu (...the monkey for those who haven't seen the Disney movie) to come scrambling past trying excape some mischief. We picked up a few gifts and had a fun time bargaining with the store keepers. One store inparticular was a lot of fun. We were bargaining with this guy for several different items when he took us to the store next door and continued to show us differnent colors and sizes of items. My mom had just asked how much an item was, when finally he told us, "Oh this is not my store this is my cousins store." The cultural experience is unique but I think I like it.

Now we are all at the apartment preparing for another Shabbat!

Shalom, Peace!

Michaela and the little hobbits from Israel!

Shalom Mishpocha.

We had an ambitious agenda for our day today. We started our morning with a quick breakfast after morning prayers, and then with our cool iPhone GPS in hand set out for a 1 hour walk to the Israel Museum.  This stroll took us through the elegant Rechavia Neighborhood of Jerusalem. We found lots of hills to hike up and only got off course a couple of times.  Beware of locals who say "its just around the block and to the left"...oy vey!  It is sufficient to say that we did enjoy our comfy walking shoes on this expedition.

We found The Israel Museum to be both enchanting and enlightening.  The two main attractions are a 1/50 scale model of the city of Jerusalem during the Second Temple period, and the symbolic exhibit of the Shrine of the Book which houses the Dead Sea Scrolls and other ancient manuscripts.  We watched two documentary films both of which I found extremely interesting.  However, one tidbit that really stuck out to me was that the Dead Sea Scrolls were found the SAME day in November 1947 that the UN passed the resolution to form the modern State of Israel as a nation.

No one disputes that the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls is the most significant biblical archeological discovery in at least the last few hundred years (maybe longer).  Equally, for those of us who are tuned in to Hashem's plan of redemption and who study the Book, the rebirth of the modern State of Israel is the fulfillment of prophesy of epic proportions.  The fact that these two events occurred on the very same day in history is certainly no accident in my mind.That means that they were found two thousand years after they were written.  A similar reconfirming find of the revelation of the Living Word two thousand years later.

We had a fun taxi ride back to our side of town grabbed a bite to eat and were back at the apartment ready to receive Jonathan after work.  We went out for pizza on Ben Yehuda and had a great time.  It is really nice to know you can walk into almost any restaurant in Jerusalem and know that every thing is certified kosher.  What a nice change from America where we find it harder and harder to eat out.

Another cool and funny highlight from today happened this evening as we were out walking on King George Street.  Benjamin and Andy each had some shekels just burning some holes in their pockets.  We came up on a old beggar woman sitting by the street (unfortunately there are a lot of poor and homeless in Jerusalem).  The kids decided that rather than spend their money on candy and the like they would give tzedakah to the old woman.  Andy dropped her shekel in the lady's cup.  Then Benjamin reached over and dropped his shekel in her cup.  By now the lady's face lit up when she saw these little children and their acts of kindness.  Before Benjamin could retract his hand she grabbed it and kissed.  Benjamin was shocked!  We all chuckled.  But the kids were intrigued by the response.  Again, a bit later we came across a different woman begging and the kids were eager to repeat their mitzvah.  Who were we to refuse, so we gave them each some more shekels which they excitedly gave to the beggar with joy.  Benjamin came running back to us and said, "..at least she didn't kiss me this time."  It was funny and cute.  But also makes us think about how we as adults should have so much fun and joy blessing others

Jonathan is spending the night with us tonight to join us on our private tour of the Kotel tunnels, the Southern Wall of the Old City, the Jewish Quarter and the Hurva Synagoge tomorrow afternoon.  All that after a morning on the Mount of Olives.  Another action packed day tomorrow.  So, that's it for now...

Shalom,
Gabby and Clan

Shalom from Jerusalem...

Well....we made it. We landed safely in Tel Aviv at about 9:30am Sunday morning after a long and uneventful flight. All of us are a little beat and jet lagged. Ben and Andy did great on the flight.

Upon arrival, we made it through the long line at "Passport Control", picked up our bags, found an ATM to withdrawal some shekels, rented a cell phone, hopped on a shirut (i.e. shuttle), took a 45 min. drive up to Jerusalem and arrived at our apartment on 7 Hillel Street. All without a hitch. Thank you Spurlock family for all the good advice on phone rentals, money exchange, etc. It was immensely helpful and worked like a charm.

Katherine, our landlord/property manager, met us at the apartment to let us in and show us around. She is really nice. Originally from England, she and her Dutch husband made aliyah five years ago. According to her, "she would not live anywhere else but Jerusalem." They have two children ages 3 and 1. Katherine has been kind enough to provide us a sukkah large enough for 10-12 people: 6 of us and up to 6 ushpitzin (i.e. guests).

The apartment is nice and cozy. Three bedrooms plus a sleeper sofa, full kitchen, wireless Internet and a garden patio for the sukkah. Much smaller than what we are used to but cozy. Great location in the heart of Jerusalem. One block from the famous Ben Yehudah Street where there is lots of shops and restaurants. Twenty minute walk to the Shuk outdoor market. Fifteen minute walk to Jaffa Gate and the Old City. Thanks Joshua Spurlock for helping us select the best location.

Jonathan, Noach and Adrian came by this evening after they got off work. We were delighted to see them. They are both doing well. G-d is blessing them. Adrian is a new volunteer at The Joseph Storehouse. He is here from Romania. Really nice guy with a cool testimony of how Hashem led him to Israeal. He is multilingual with fluency in Romanian, French, Spanish, Italian, English and German with a working knowledge of Russian. Makes me feel like a dumb American.

For dinner Jonathan took us to a "shawarma" place on Ben Yehudah. It was great. Then it was off to the Shuk to pick up a few supplies for the week. Great experience. We had to explain to Benjamin that the people yelling are not upset but rather just trying to attract shoppers to their stand. So, the frig is stocked with the essentials: water, eggs, bread, soy milk (yes we found Rice Dream at the Shuk), fruit, veggies, nuts, dates and, of course, tortilla chips and salsa.

Hope to post some photos tomorrow.

Still hard to believe that I am in Israel with almost all of my family (...wish you were here Crysta and Alex). Also, if any of you have a prayer (..that you don't mind us reading) that you would like us to take to the Kotel and leave in the Wall please email it and we will print or write and take it with us on one of our many visits to the Kotel.

Shalom from Jerusalem,
Greg & the Upham Clan

Israel...here we come!!

Shalom Ya'll,

"And many nations shall say, Come, let us go up to the mountain of Adonai, to the house of the G-d of Jacob; and He will teach us His ways, and we shall walk in His paths. For the Torah shall go forth from Zion, and the word of Adonai from Jerusalem." Micah 4:2.

Well...this is it. We are going up! Tomorrow we board a Continental flight to New York and then on to Tel Aviv. Yes!! This trip has been a long time comin' and we are very excited and thankful that Hashem has allowed our family to make this trip at this point in His timeline and at this season of the year.

Baruch Hashem!

We made a last minute decision to throw up a blog and try and relay our time and experience to our friends and family through blogposts, pictures, etc. The goal is to post everyday. We shall see.... In addition, we will be sprucing up the blog page some next week as we have time.

Well...I can't talk long as we are in a mad dash to finish packing, etc. before Shabbat. Wish all of your were coming with us.

So, until the next post. Shabbat Shalom and, in case I forget later, L'shanah tovah (b'Yirushalayim). Hard to believe that simple little prayer becomes reality for us this year.

For Zion's Sake,
Greg, Gabby & the clan called Hupham