We’ve been getting settled in and learning about how our next two months are going to be.
It’s been an amazing week at Muss so far. We’ve been getting settled in and learning about how our next two months are going to be. After moving into our dorm and meeting my roomates, we had orientation. Later that day, we had our first Core class and got a tour of campus, seeing the dining hall, classrooms, nurse, offices and more. The next day, we had Core again and got a tour of Hod Hasharon. In my first week, I’ve already had amazing falafel and delicious ice cream. On Sunday I had my first smoothie from Moshiko, a Muss favorite who even has menu items named after madrichim. Almost everywhere you go in town people are so excited to see the Americans. I can tell that it’s going to be great being so independent and being a part of a great community at Muss and Hod Hasharon.
On Friday and Saturday, I spent my first Shabbat at Muss. We did a short Kabbalat Shabbat, then ate dinner together as a group. For most of the day we just relaxed and got to know each other, without worrying about our classes and our phones. The Israel and Muss atmosphere was just an incredible way to experience Shabbat.
Our first unit of Core is about Biblical Times. We began by learning about the Tanach and the stories in the Torah. We finished class this morning by talking about “how we know” the stories happened and a little bit about archaeology. However, for our first tiyul, we went to Tel Gezer and got to experience it for ourselves. Tel Gezer was about a 40 minute drive from Hod Hasharon, and it was good to get out of campus for the first time and sightsee. We saw some of the countryside of Israel and got to take in how big and small the country is at the same time.
A “tel” is a small mound that’s an archaeological site. Tel Gezer has been destroyed and rebuilt so many times the layers tell so much about the history of the land of Israel. When I’ve traditionally learned about the Torah, the stories have always seemed like distant narratives out of place. However, it was enlightening to see how rooted in history they are, and to see the remnants with our very own eyes.
We learned about Macalister, the first archaeologist to excavate Tel Gezer. We saw the trench he cut out of the hill and first learned about all the civilizations that lived there. I couldn’t believe that there were pottery shards just lying around for us to pick up and analyze. It made me think that if we could find important pieces so easily after decades of excavation, that there must have been some incredible finds discovered already.
When learning about Tel Gezer, we learned about the 4 “D’s” an ancient city needs to survive. First, drink. To find a water source, the people that lived there dug a cave underground with pools of water. When visiting it, you could hear the bats and see the ancient steps. The second “D” is dine. The land was incredibly fertile and was great for agriculture and thus, food. Next, drive. Tel Gezer is at the junction of major ancient roads and thus received lots of traffic. And lastly, defense. We saw the Case-mate wall and two main gates used for protecting the city, and how they fit into our historical narrative.
Overall, it was an incredible experience to see ancient Judaism brought to life at Tel Gezer, and experience the magic of Muss so far. I’m so excited for my next week at Muss (and all the falafel to come).