Introducing: The Fearsome Foursome . . . the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse . . . Four Men and a Babe . . .

From left: Brian Andrew, Jim Rogers, First Century Babe at Caesarea Maritima (they had characters who dressed and acted the parts of first century residents of the city), Jim Appelbaum, and Bill Meyer. Photo courtesy of Irene Abrams.

For those still reading my blog, especially those who were evacuated mid-season, this entry will introduce you to the four guys who arrived on evacuation day and opted to stay until the end of the season.

Within five minutes of welcoming them to Kibbutz En Gev I recall saying, “I hope you bonded with each other while traveling here, because you’re all housed together.” They had and continued to deepen that bond for the next two weeks! Apparently, all four were reading Garrison Keillor while in Israel. Well, that’s not too odd for a group of four Lutherans of their generation.

At our last supper together at the En Gev famous Fish Restaurant, they revealed these self-designations approved by the Gang of Four themselves: James the Elder (Jim Appelbaum) and James the Less (Pastor Jim Rogers), two appellations derived from our marking the feast day of James the Elder on July 25, who Festivals and Commemorations states, “is not to be confused with St. James the Less (the younger), the son of Alphaeus,” another of Jesus’ twelve disciples. As one can guess, Jim Appelbaum is the older of our two Jims. Next is Peculiar Bill (Pastor Bill Meyer)—to know him is to understand this naming. Bill informed us at dinner that Jim Rogers had translated the Greek inscription discovered on the main drag of Hippos by the Haifa team on the final day; according to Bill, it reads “Right Turn Only.” Truly a peculiar sense of humor! Rounding out the foursome is Brian the Bold. At this final designation Irene corrected my napkin note taking during dinner, calling him Brian the Wienie, with which the other three all heartily agreed.


Clearly, these four had not only formed a bond among themselves; their constant banter with Irene, Goddess of Peace (as they warmly referred to her) on the dig site, during daily pottery cleaning, and at the last supper signaled this additional bond that had formed quickly. It was evident as soon as Darryl and I returned from our evacuation mission in Tel Aviv, and we were only gone three days!

At dinner we all learned what the four had done to avoid getting the dust of Hippos in their living quarters, the entrance of which was well shielded from the sidewalk by a thick hedge of six-foot flowering bushes: they undressed down to their skivvies outside their front door. While no one on the sidewalk could see them, apparently an elderly neighbor of the female persuasion had a grand view of them from her adjoining patio and made a daily ritual of watching them. The four were of mixed opinion whether she was getting voyeuristic pleasure or watching them with a frown of disapproval. Since they also called their semipublic disrobing an “anti-katyusha device,” it seems more likely her reaction was the latter of the two options. I can only say I’m jealous I didn’t have a privacy hedge; I had to sweep the dust of Hippos out of our room daily!

I have many regrets from our time in Israel: not taking enough time to sit on the beach and contemplate events of 2000 years ago, the evacuation of the students, only getting to the spa in Tiberias once for a massage, and last but not least, not making time to pop in on the Fearsome Foursome’s daily happy hour. I’m assured the conversation was scintillating and instructive. Perhaps another year!


We were grateful for the presence of each of them and their unique contributions to the group.