Ancient and Modern, Holy and Profane: Impressions from my Sabbatical in Israel

Reid Simmons

Israel, and Jerusalem in particular, is an area of contrasts. Where else does one find 2000 year old buildings mere blocks away from modern high-rise apartments, shepherds tending flocks outside of high technology centers, and three major religions practicing ancient rituals in the midst of a modern society? In this talk, I will attempt to convey some of my impressions of life in Israel during my six-month Sabbatical there this past year. I'll describe how my family and I adopted to the cultural, religious and political differences there, the history and archaeology that we discovered literally underfoot and, yes, I'll even squeeze in a few observations about the state of computer science research in Israel.