Rapport d'activités 2022-2023

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January 4 was the occasion for an all-day outing to Gezer and to Maresha. Tel Gezer, where the
famous calendar tablet was discovered, features the hotly debated gates “of Solomon,”a spectacular
high place with massebot, and a recently-excavated Canaanite water system. Maresha gives a glimpse
into the culture of the area during the Hellenistic period. For nearly all of the participants, this was a
first-time visit, and the opportunity to see with our own eyes the famous places we had so often read
about was most welcome. The participants are specially thankful to fr. Yunus Demirci, OFMCap for
accompanying them and providing hisknowledgeable commentary on the sites.
January 5 saw morning, afternoon, and evening workshop sessions on Psalm 2. While some or
much of it may have seemed like review to those brothers whose area of expertise includes the Psalms,
it was a delightful learning opportunity for others, who were very thankful to be able to work through
the intricacies of a biblical text of no little linguistic complexity with scholars who know the ins and
outs of the sacred text.
In the years before the pandemic it may perhaps have been easy to take for granted the
spontaneous fraternal interaction during times such as common recreation each evening after work
was done, at meals together, and at tea and coffee breaks in between sessions. This year,however, it was
easy to notice and be thankful for all the sorts of conversations and interactions that only can happen
in in-person meetings.
Besides fr. Junus, who worked so hard to make the archaeological visit especially interesting and
edifying, this year’s participants are also grateful to the Director and Vice-Director of the École
biblique, fr. Jean-Jacques Pérennès, OP, and fr. Anthony Giambrone, OP, who both put in a great deal
of time and energy to help their brothers make sure the meeting would turn out to be a success. We are
looking forward to our next meeting in Jerusalem in January 2024.
fr. Leo Checkai, o.p..
Doctoral student at EBAF