—The final story that I want to share with you takes place at a spot that tourists never visit. It’s not a tourist site. It could be if they built it up that way, but it’s near the Arab village of Beitin in the West Bank, the biblical city of Bethel. Thankfully, I’ve been able to go there on each of the trips that I’ve taken to Israel. There’s a hill between Bethel and Ai that the Bible describes in Genesis 15 where God gives Abraham a glimpse of the land, saying, “Look north, south, east, west. I will give this land to your descendants,” which comforts Abraham in a great way. This is the passage where Abraham believed in God, and it was credited to him as righteousness. This happens at a place between Bethel and Ai, and there’s only one hill between Bethel and Ai that could possibly be it. It’s marked today by the ancient ruins of a Byzantine church that Origen, a third-century, Christian scholar, refers to as the spot where this encounter with God happened. Later in Genesis 28, Jacob comes to the very same spot where he has his vision of a ladder with angels ascending and descending on it between heaven and earth.

—On one of my trips there, our group pulled up in a big tour bus. The people living there must have been wondering what was going on because this is not a tourist place. Our group leader had done some archaeological work there years earlier, and he wanted to take us there. But now we needed a bathroom break, so we stopped at a gas station in Beitin, a Palestinian gas station, and everybody unloads. They don’t have a restroom for the public, but there’s a rickety toilet in the back behind a curtain. The owners of that little convenience store were so kind to let us use it. I told our people to try to buy something to show our thanks to them and many did. 

—Then we headed over to the nearby Byzantine church that marks the spot. It’s not more than a mile away, and while we’re at the church, talking and discussing the site, a white van pulls up at the base of the hill. A few men hop out of the van and start walking up towards us. I know that all my fellow Minnesotans with me are getting very nervous because we are in the middle of nowhere where tourists do not go. They’re wondering what’s going to happen. They’ve heard all the horror stories about the violence in Israel.

—The men came closer and closer and closer to us. Then one of them reaches into his coat and pulls something out. It’s a box of fresh dates! He takes off the plastic wrapping, opens it up and passes them out to us as a gift.

—I recognized one of the men from the convenience store, so this was obviously their way of thanking us for giving them business. Hospitality is still an enormous deal in the Middle East. It’s a big part of their culture. It was very kind of them and they were by far the best dates I have ever had in my life. So, thank you, men of Beitin. Thank you very much!

—Adam Keim