Tiyul to Tel Gezer

I have been in Israel for about five days, it is awesome. Today we went on our first tiyul (field trip). We visited Tel Gezer. This is an archeological excavation that uncovered an ancient Canaanite city. The main things in this tel(excavation) were two city gates, a water system, and a place for child sacrifice. The water system was a tunnel that went down into the ground to were water was beneath the ground. There wasn't much water down there but it was were the Canaanites in this city would have gotten their water. The gate was an example of how the Canaanites regulated access to their city. I could see the remains of the city wall, and then at the entrance the walls from each direction turned inwards to the city. Of course these walls were more rocky than smooth but it was cool to see the engineering ability of such an ancient people.

By far the most interesting part of this city was the saddest. There was a part of the city were there were erected pillars and an alter. These pillars would have served as representations of the gods that these people worshiped. The alter is thought to be were child sacrifice was done, based on the excavation of a big grave of children nearby. The understanding of Canaanite religious practice was a big part of coming to Tel Gezer. This was so that we could gain an understanding of what Abraham set himself apart from.

Before we left we saw the remains of a city gate built by the Israelites in the time of Solomon. We saw the city gate and how Israelites had developed from nomads to a strong civilization in about 1000 years. Here we reflected on Jewish education. A tablet possibly wrote by a young Israelite school boy was found here. His name was Avi. It was cool to think of how Jews lived and learned here 3000 years ago,and we were there also. We all sang a song called "Hinei Ma tov" and then hiked back to the bus.

As we walked back to the bus I thought of the importance of Israel. I find it interesting how we sometimes look back on history as only the story of the past. I'd rather think of the story as one that encompases all of time, and the past is just the beginning. We are also part of that story, and we need to live knowing that the future will look back on us. What can we do to make Israel not just a tour but our homeland just as it was for our ancestors? For one I feel that it is important to know that we can have experiences here just as those who stood here in the past had their experiences. Israel is not just the homeland of the Jewish past. I think that it is important for Jews to not only see this dirt as history but as their backyard and their future.