Things I love about Jerusalem: People. And food. And people who cook good food!

 

I left some pretty amazing people behind in the States.  That has been tough.  Each time I come back, more of our kids have graduated and moved on to college and beyond.  

As hard as it is to be away from family and friends back home, it is satisfying to meet and get to know some wonderful people.  

When the students aren't here yet, our church congregation is small but full of sweet sisters and brothers who try to look out for each other!

Being away from family and home gives the Americans among us something in common! There are several local members here, too, but for most it is difficult to meet in person, which is a challenge, but so satisfying when we get to see them!

This is Sana, a good friend and amazing cook!  Her specialty is stuffed grape leaves, but she also makes meat-stuffed potatoes in tomato sauce that are out of this world!

Good times with Heather, Marvel, and Elna at HaMesila restaurant in First Station, where Elna knows everyone and ordered us Shakshuka with white sauce (eggs poached in savory cream).

There are youth for Emily to hang out with!   (the Marcous kids)

Friends from the past in the building:  (The amazing Properzi kids!)

Future friends in the district: (Tel Aviv, Beer Sheva, and Jerusalem youth near Absalom's tomb)

Young Women and Young Men Leaders (after a rockin' game of chair soccer--only one bloody nose and one black eye)

There are friends in the ward to explore with (Properzis and Ferrells at Haniya Spring)

And friends from school to invite over: (Eva, friend since kindergarten)

More people pictures:

We booked a tour called Mount of Olives: Herstory with Sara Yarden.  Sara is the ultimate collector of female friends, most of them deceased, because she loves keeping alive stories of influential women from the past.  It was outstanding how she made history more clear and connected the dots of different women in the history of the holy land.  She told us about queens of Jerusalem, a female rabbi who challenged the "Hebrew is for boys, Yiddish is for girls" barrier, wealthy women who built churches, and princesses who became nuns.  She gets really excited when she sees instances of inter-denominational worship, such as this site, which is venerated as the tomb of a Muslim Sufi poetess (Rabia Al Adawiyya), a Christian nun (Pelagia), and a Jewish prophetess (Hulda).  

Noemi Weinstein is a music afficionado and former head of the concert program at the Jerusalem Center.  Now she is retired but still enjoys the free concerts when she can!

The Properzis as well as some of our delightful service couples came over for cake and ice cream last month!

Eran Hayet, the director of the BYU Jerusalem center, welcomes Kent Jackson, former Associate Academic Director, here leading a group of alumni.

These two have put a lot of years of their life into the Jerusalem Center and could tell you a lot of crazy stories!  Jo Ann came here for the first time in the 80's with a young family, husband finishing his dissertation, and three weeks' notice!  Tawfic handles security, staffing, technology, and the biggest Christmas celebration on the Mount of Olives.

New friends!  We actually met Nili at the grocery store in French Hill, and we had a nice visit a few days later with her good friend.  

Jihan Khoury is teacher's aide at the Anglican School, a dear friend, and an amazing cook. 

Avital, Elaine, and Jo Ann are just a few of the amazing, organized women who make this program work!

Shulamit near is the talented woman who painted the panorama of Jerusalem that hangs in my living room at home and in my apartment here.  Frank always thinks it is funny to have a painting on the wall here that is so similar to the view from the window, but I love it!  

Raghad is the sweetest, kindest person I know, and I know a lot of amazingly kind people!  She works at a school for older children with special needs and is a college student as well.  This girl is going to go far!

Nahum was involved in the construction and maintenance of the center way back in the early days!

Chef Mervat cooks amazing meals for the BYU Jerusalem Center students.  Her specialty is a creme brule dessert which we ate at our simulated Seder meal, painstakingly and beautifully browned with a culinary blowtorch!

And you gotta love these students!  They bring the center to life!

The Seder flower committee

Helpers assembling school kits for the Humanitarian activity.

Field trippin' with Brother Judd!

My niece's companion's younger sister!  I love the small world connections!  

The neice of a former student when we were here in the past.

Great-neice of Janna Coombs, one of the service couples from a few years ago.

We are fasting and praying for a student who is experiencing kidney problems right now.  Health is fleeting, we are all in God's hands, and it's a miracle when all those organs and tissues do their jobs right without us even thinking about them!

We never know when might be the last chance to say something encouraging or visit someone or stop and listen.  Last time we were here, I had one friend pass away, another friend had a stroke, then covid shut down nearly everything.  I hope to do better this time to seize the day! 

My favorite people in the Holy Land!

Well, well, well

 All is well!

Well outside Tel Beersheva

This is the well outside the ancient city of Beersheva. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob dug wells. Rebekah and Rachel both secured marriage proposals at wells. These wells sometimes sparked boundary disputes which led to either conflict or reconciliation (Gen 21, 26). God spoke to the outcast Hagar at a well and renewed his covenant with her (Gen 21:18). Jesus spoke to the outcast Samaritan woman and promised her eternal life through the covenant he offered (John 4:14). I don't envy the women who carried brimming vessels back from the well every day, but I honor how they kept their families and communities alive with life-giving water.

We all have dry spells in our lives. It takes effort to reconnect with the source of our salvation and seek spiritual nourishment daily (John 4:14). I am grateful for General Conference this week that helps fill my soul!

Cistern and Water System at Tel Beersheva

Things I love about Jerusalem: Music

"Music eases every pain we don't know we carry."  (Olivia Hawkes, The Ragged Edge of Night)

 I love the emphasis on music here!  You can hear the call to prayer 5 times a day wafting in the windows.  You can hear clarinets and chanting near the western wall.  When we visit a synagogue or church service there is usually singing in ancient languages.  You can hear organs and carillon bells near many Christian churches.  There is  even modern Arabic music pulsing from car radios.  

Hoping to help Emily keep up with her own musical journey, I rented a used cello from a music store in Tel Aviv.  Tel Aviv is not hard to navigate by foot, but very congested if you are driving and looking for parking!  

After a lengthy ordeal of driving on narrow one-way streets, finding full parking lots, and finally walking for blocks, I rented an old-looking cello with an adequate sound.  As long as I was that close to the Mediterranean, I figured I had to go stick my feet in it.  I got strange looks walking on the edge of the beach with a cello on my back!  I was so happy when Emily first played this well-loved instrument--something about the  mellow vibrations resonating through our apartment just filled my soul.  

We have the privilege of hearing concerts in the BYU Jerusalem center auditorium usually every week.  One of the first concerts we watched was a brass quintet which played Piazzola, Pucchini, and Gershwin.  The next week was two piano soloists from Ramallah--one fiery and emotional, another powerful but controlled and nuanced.  Another week, we watched a piano and flute jazz duo.  You can hear past concerts on the BYU Jerusalem center facebook page.  

A few weeks ago we climbed the YMCA tower to join Jim Welch who is an accomplished carilloneur (click to hear).   He let me play the melody on a simple piece.  Click here to hear me playing Come Thou Fount.  

Here is Jim Welch at an organ keyboard.  I think he has a goal to play every organ in the country. 

Essie pumps the bellows at Augusta Victoria church demonstrating how organs were powered before electricity!  Better than a stairmaster!  Click here to watch the video version of students on the bellows.

Taking advantage of a day free from school because of Rosh Hashana, many of the youth of the Jerusalem District visited St. Anne's church by the Pool of Bethesda, and the Church of All Nations near Gethsemane.  Click here to hear their beautiful voices as they sang in St. Anne's Church, which commemorates Mary's parents Anna and Joachin.  This church reminds me of the blessing of righteous parents.  Nephi had goodly parents, and Mary must have had goodly parents, too!  

 

One of our youth activities was a music night where everyone brought instruments and we tried to make beautiful noises with them.  Menashe Bartlett, a counselor in the bishopric, had brought an accordion, a trumpet, a drum, and a tambourine.  We also had a flute, a cello, and a violin.  It was an evening of joyful noise!

More from The Ragged Edge of Night about the power of music:  "Humbly, conscious of his shortcomings, Anton begins to play.  The music fills the church first....A heartbeat later it fills him...it shakes his bones like a roar, like a peal of the sweetest thunder....The chords lift him higher, raising his spirit above the brass spires of the organ pipes into the peace of a still blue Heaven.  

"He doesn't realize he had sung aloud until he reaches the end.   As the last chord echoes in the nave... he falls silent and takes his hands reluctantly from the keys.   He waits on the bench, humble and still, but filled with a satisfying ecstasy, an unexpected nearness to God."

Things I love about Jerusalem: Faith

 

How do I love thee, O Jerusalem?  Let me count the Ways!

One thing I love about the Holy Land is the way so many of its communities venerate God in their own way.  While many people here are secular, there are a lot of visibly religious people here.  Even when the form of their worship is different that ours, Eric Huntsman likes to say, "Don't focus on the differences of others' worship, notice the intensity of their worship."   

Inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the devotion of saints over the centuries is visible and palpable.  The elaborately adorned Edicule behind us is incredibly sacred and usually thronged with pilgrims.  A priest usually stands outside to remind people to move quickly when others are waiting, and usually my time in the two tiny rooms is brief.  This time, there was almost no line, and I watched a priest pray, kiss the stone covering of the tomb, and wipe the moisture from the stone with his handkerchief, and then reverently backed out of the room, keeping his face toward the place that represents the presence of God.  It was a heartfelt ritual and clearly an oft-repeated one.  

St. Anne's church, Pool of Bethesda

The number of Christian churches here is astounding, most built and later rebuilt at great sacrifice.  They are usually dedicated to a biblical event and are situated as near as possible to the place where that event occurred.  Most of the churches are cared for by monks or nuns or dedicated volunteers.  The Church of the Holy Sepulchre is actually unlocked each morning by members of two Muslim families.  It was decided by Saladin in the 12th century that one Muslim family would safeguard the key, and the other family would have the privilege of using the key to open the door.  

We had a brief encounter with Matt and Paige Holland, friends from grad school days, and they were gracious as always despite jet lag and a busy schedule.

The Garden Tomb is one of my favorite places.  We had a beautiful tour guide from the Philippines who bore testimony of the divinity of Jesus Christ and the reality of his resurrection.

This wall art outside a home just south of the center shows that the resident has made the pilgrimage, or hajj, to Mecca.  This milestone is one of the five pillars of Islam and signifies that the one who has made the pilgrimage is a fully fledged, committed Muslim.  

This is a section of Jerusalem's old city wall where a mysterious rock formation hints at an ancient gate, sometimes call "the Hidden Gate."  The nearness of this gate to royal residences excavated within the walls leads many to think this could be the place where Pontius Pilate showed Jesus to the crowds before his crucifixion.  

At the BYU Jerusalem Center, we help the students experience the Passover Seder Program under the direction of Ophir Yarden.  He gave a lot of helpful explanations about the meaning of the Passover, including the importance of inspiring curiosity about the many symbols so kids will ask and learn about this important festival.

At the YMCA in West Jerusalem, murals depict Old Testament scenes.  This could be Jacob and Esau or some other scene of brotherly reconciliation.  The YMCA aims to bring goodwill among Christians and people of other faiths here in Jerusalem.

This mosaic at the YMCA shows an image from the Madaba map in Jordan.  The Madaba map was an ancient pilgrim's map to help Europeans navigate their way from one Christian holy site to the next.  It confirms the Byzantine layout of the city in a Roman style with a forum and colonnaded cardos, as well as shows the location of the previous Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the Nea church (no longer in existence)

Near The City View restaurant on Mt. Scopus by Hebrew U, this 2nd Temple Tomb shows niches used to bury the deceased. The tables in the center were places for preparing the body.  And now you can order a meal just 10 feet from this site, which is a little close.

Thoughts from 2021

[This was written June of 2021, but I chickened out and didn't post it at that time.]  

 In 1993, I was in the Marriott Center on the campus of BYU to hear Howard W. Hunter, a beloved apostle of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  While President Hunter stood at the podium, a man rushed onto the stand, held a black object to the head of the 85-year old apostle and demanded he read a piece of paper outlining his extreme religious views.  

The audience of over 15,000 people was stunned, security was advancing cautiously, and the man was barking orders while the apostle’s soft voice seemed to be trying to reason with the man.  Like many in the audience, I worried that the device was a detonator for a bomb.  I was gripped with fear and bowed my head to pray.  Several voices started singing, and the hymn quickly spread around the auditorium.  I can’t remember if I was singing or crying at that point.  Someone in the crowd had the presence of mind, not just to pray, but to start a song to invite the Spirit and invite us to choose faith over fear.  The song seemed to distract and agitate the man with the black object, and he was soon subdued by security and taken into custody.  President Hunter was attended to briefly by emergency personnel and then miraculously resumed his remarks, entitled, "An Anchor to the Souls of Men."

It turns out that the man was a member of the church named Cody Judy, but he had recently fallen on hard times and apparently didn’t know how to seek help through law abiding means.  In his confused and angry state he had lashed out, misled by his own delusions.  His note showed that he valued the church as an institution, but he had convinced himself that his target was not worthy of respectful treatment.   

The incident was years ago, but I think there are still things to learn.  I think it was a vivid depiction of the harmful effects of fear, isolation, anger, and misguided fanaticism, especially when combined with mental health issues.  Previous to the Marriott Center incident, Judy had spent 6 years in the mental health system and prison system, then emerged on parole.  How sad that this man could not find among friends, family, or professionals the kind of connection, strength, and honest reality checks that we all need as we move from a simple to a complex view of the world.  Maybe to his disordered mind, the real world seemed so complex and threatening that he retreated into a self-reinforcing delusion instead.   This delusion led him to assault an elderly man who was preaching about Jesus Christ.  Incidentally, Mr. Judy has since claimed that the Marriott Center incident was a constitutionally protected exercise of free-speech.  

I believe that most of the people who marched to the Capitol on January 6, 2021 were not intending to break in.  I heard from family members who are local to the area that the beginning and middle of this march were like many other rallies in the city, legally scheduled to begin at a park or plaza with motivational speeches, then continuing with a walk to either the Capitol, the White House, or the Supreme Court accompanied by the press coverage they hope will broadcast their message to the world.  This is the constitutionally guaranteed First Amendment rights part. 

But despite the routine nature of most rallies and marches, this time was different.  This time many people in the crowd had been fed on a diet of fear, isolationism, anger, and fanaticism.  They had been carefully groomed, taught to reject external media voices that disagreed with their singular point of view.  Many had been given false promises of assured victory and were primed to be angry at anything other than a landslide victory.  They had seen their leader verbally abuse his opponents, threaten his detractors --even those of his own political party and administration--, and encourage paramilitary groups with racist views.  So while some members of the crowd may have meant to make a peaceful First-Amendment-protected statement of solidarity at the Capitol, other members of the crowd heard the dog-whistle instructions of their leader and responded.  They physically and verbally assaulted security forces, trespassed and vandalized the building, and actively hunted for their political enemies with intent to harm.  We may never know if the leader's intentions that day were seditious or just careless, but I'm curious what made the difference between the activists who loudly but peacefully protested and the vigilantes who fought with security and hunted public servants.  What caused so many to justify crossing the line from partisan fervor to violence?  

Those of us who feel like bystanders have a choice.  We can let the negativity overwhelm us to inaction, or we can let anger control us, tapping into the same dark power that has been so damaging in others.  Or we can find some way to push positivity into the world and get back to work.  Maybe that means continuing with our own best plans without getting sucked into the vortex of emotions.  Maybe that means we tone down our personal use of polarizing trigger words as we try to tell the truth with civility. 

I am very concerned that there are millions of Americans feeling discouraged, fearful, enraged, or suspicious about their fellow citizens.  Too many people feel isolated from what should be trustworthy media sources.  Maybe some of my fellow Americans feel so estranged and fearful that a simple worldview based on all-or-nothing thinking seems safer than the real world of complexity where my views also have unintended consequences.  Maybe some people like the powerful feeling that "It's us vs. them," deciding that the other side is so bad that any efforts to stop them are justified.  In actuality, the other Americans who disagree with my political views are not literally brainwashed or murderers or terrorists, no matter how disgreeable their views may seem.  These are our family members, our neighbors, perhaps members of our congregations, fellow citizens of our nation (or fellow residents of our communities).  The people I agree with are not actually saviors or infallible heroes, no matter how heroic they may seem to me.  Healing the nation means helping disaffected communities feel safe again, so we can listen without planning our next retort, talk without shouting or name calling, disagree with each other civilly so we can actually sort out fact from fiction, and strengthen each other so we can face the complexities of the real world.  

Howard W. Hunter said, "Fear, which can come upon people in difficult days, is a principal weapon in the arsenal which Satan uses to make mankind unhappy. He who fears loses strength for the combat of life in the fight against evil. Therefore the power of the evil one always tries to generate fear in human hearts....Our task is to live fully and faithfully and not worry ourselves sick about the woes of the world or when it will end. Our task is to have the gospel in our lives and to be a bright light, a city set on the hill, which reflects the beauty of the gospel of Jesus Christ and the joy and happiness that will always come to every people in every age who keep the commandments."

Christmas Newsletter 2021

 

2021 Judd Christmas/New Year’s Newsletter 

It’s that time of year when we count our blessings!

We are grateful to be alive, to be able to worship face to face again, and to watch our kids working toward good goals.  We are grateful for blessings that make life safer, like vaccines and health care heroes and for blessings that make life rich and beautiful, like you!  And we are grateful for Jesus Christ and the hope he brings into this season!

We have had some fun family moments together this year, like a trip to Moab where we thought we saw a string of UFO’s (they were just satellites).  In St. George, we loved the petrified and unpetrified sand dunes.  At Bear Lake we shared a pair of waverunners with Fillmore cousins, and everyone survived.  Next year we look forward to taking Emily to Jerusalem if everything goes as planned.  

Megan is still a night shift scanner at Ancestry.com, and she handles the late hours and digitizing equipment like a pro.  She selects musical numbers for stake and ward worship services, and often plays organ or piano.  Her hobbies include institute classes, trying new restaurants with friends, and making healthy recipes with ingredients like quinoa or olive oil.  Megan likes buying “healthier” snacks online, and is grateful to have opportunities to go to the temple again. 

Carrie finally graduated with her masters of social work from BYU! Her graduation ceremony was held online due to covid so she had a small backyard graduation celebration in April, where she was hooded by Frank and walked across the back porch. After some well-deserved vacations to Idaho and southern Utah, Carrie moved to Salt Lake City with a college friend. A few months later, she started working for Encircle Therapy as a certified social worker (CSW). She also adopted a cat named Demi (Demeter) and started dating someone new.

Lisa is grateful for an upcoming tax internship with Grant Thornton in SLC.  She finished her first semester of Junior Core accounting classes at BYU. For almost a year, she has done accounting for BYU Dining Services and loves it.  She has served as a stake auditor, and in her spare time, she scopes out her favorite thrift stores, plays her electronic piano, or hangs out with friends.  

Amanda is enjoying fun classes like baking and pastries, photography, and floraculture.  She also has some tough classes like AP English and concurrent enrollment math.  She is deciding between USU and BYU for school next fall.  She worked at Macey’s until recently; in her spare time she plays music and creates polymer clay figurines for a future Etsy shop.

 

Emily the proud owner of a hamster named Chunky, like the peanut butter.  She volunteers at Petco once a week cleaning cages for rescue cats. Emily enjoys art, axolotls, 9th grade choir, coding, creative writing, composing, cello, piano, youtube, seminary, and making realistic drawings of fictional characters.

  

Frank rode his e-bike so much during covid--almost 4000 miles--that it needed new gears.  He is happy to be teaching face to face again!   He is grateful we were able to have the bathrooms renovated this year: Bye-bye brown toilet and yellow sinks!  

Jill renewed her teaching license, added on an ESL endorsement, and landed her dream job as the 95% Reading Intervention teacher at Orem Elementary school.  She is having a great time teaching phonics to small groups of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd graders!  And next year she gets to help plan young women camp for Emily and her friends!

Judd Family Funnies 2021 Edition:

Emily: “Ow!”  Lisa, “Oh, no, was that your toe?’  Emily: “No, it was my dignity!”

Emily: “I’m going to spiritually, physically, and mentally digest you!”

Lisa:  “I’ve got to stop looking on the internet because I keep finding things I want!”     

             Frank: “Yeah, that’s where you found your boyfriend!”

Amanda:  “Take my money! Strike me down, and your journey to capitalism will be 

            complete.”  

Lisa: “I am always willing to give my opinion.  Day or night.  Solicited or unsolicited.”

Carrie: “You know what’s funny: Dad has a better hairline than most of the people I’ve dated.”

Lisa:  “What is that bruise from?”  Amanda: “ I was late for my baking and pastries

      class.”  Lisa:  “So they beat you?!” 

Emily:  “Sometimes I need an hour and a half to collect myself.”

Amanda: “Are you a ‘mouth half-full’ or a ‘mouth half-empty’ kind of person? 

May your holidays be full of hope and joy!

                   We love you!