You Won't Believe Whats Next Door, Shema, and More!

So it was interesting to discover that our campus overlooks a certain valley referenced many times by Jesus in the New Testament. Which beautiful, scenic valley could this be? None other than hell. That's right. Every time Jesus talks about hell in the New Testament he uses the greek word Gehenna. The word Gehenna originally referred to a garbage dump in a valley right outside the walls of Jerusalem's Old City (in modern-day Israel) where fires were kept burning to consume the trash and help keep down the smell. It is also the location where bodies of executed criminals, or individuals denied a proper burial, would be dumped. This valley (also known as the Valley of the Sons of Hinnoam) is located directly below our campus. Don't worry though, it is no longer used for any of those pleasant things, and there is no stench anymore. It just looks like an empty valley.

Jesus uses the term Gehenna (in the original greek) in Matthew 23:33

"You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to Gehenna (hell)?

Just thought that was kind of an interesting tidbit. And don't worry, there are no little red men with pitchforks down in the valley. At least, I haven't seen any yet.

Onto more pleasant topics of conversation. Last night was pretty interesting. We went out to a restaurant/bar in the evening and they had Israeli (american) idol on TV. It was quite interesting, to say the least. Anyway, it was all in Hebrew and I didn't really understand anything, until the winning band took the stage. The lead singer then proceeded to shout out, "Shema Israel, Adonai Elohenu, Adonai Echad!" The whole crowd joined in with him, it was quite amazing. For those of you who aren't familiar with this phrase, it is one of the central Jewish prayers located in Deutoronomy 6. In Jesus day, this prayer was central to life. Many scholars believe that Jesus and his disciples would've recited these verses at least 4 times a day. The english means, literally, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul and all your might!" It was just cool to see the Shema being recited in that context, and the crowds overwhelming response. It was also cool to hear the only Hebrew I currently understand on TV.

In other news, I bumped into my Hebrew Professor in the Library today. What an awesome dude. He sat down and talked with me for about 30 minutes, and I had never met him. The humility of some of the instructors over here is completely...humbling. They all stress that they are still students (even though they all have Phds, and some are ordained rabbis), and learning is a lifelong process. It is amazing to be able to learn from them. Well, I'm off to the library...the homework is starting to pile up. Feel free to e-mail me at robkol2@gmail.com, I'd love to hear from you!

Blessings,

Rob Kol