We started our day early today to try to get to the Temple
Mount—we were super modest & super not religiously affiliated. We waited for almost 2 hours (I
honestly didn’t check my watch—I just know our goal was to get there about 8am
& we left about 9:45am). The
security gates to get in close at 10 & at 9:45 we were still too far away
to make it in. We decided to leave
& try to beat the crowd (since they were all waiting for the Temple Mount)
to some other site in the Old City.
We cut through the western wall (the wailing wall) area—we
did have to go thru a security gate to get into that area, but since we were
ahead of the crowds instead of behind we had no wait! We’re coming back to the western wall in a couple days so we
didn’t stop, but walked through the Arab Quarter streets & shops and then
down the Via Dolerosa to the Pool of Bethesda where Jesus healed the paralytic
man in John 5. The pool is next to
St Anne’s Church—built in honor of Mary the mother of Jesus’ parents. Catholics believe that Mary was
immaculately conceived & so this beautiful church is built to honor her
mother. The church has amazing
acoustics! When we walked in there
was a group singing Amazing Grace. When they finished we sang the Doxology and as soon as we were finished
another group immediately started singing Fairest
Lord Jesus in German (I think it was German) and then said the Lord’s
Prayer in German. So cool to hear
the nations worshipping God together!
We then left the Old City and drove outside the city a bit
to Herodyon—the mountin Herod had moved to it’s current location. Seriously! This guy! The
vision he had to building—and all to honor himself! Imagine if he’d been a Christian, seeking to honor God! He had this mountain built & built
into it & on top a palace for himself that he planned to be his burial
site. From the top you can see
Bethlehem. We climbed into the
cisterns & tunnels built by Herod & then Jewish Zealots—holy cow I
can’t imagine building those! And
also holy cow was it COLD! We all
layered up like we were going skiing!
Seriously—I think the 3 jackets I wore were the same layers I wore the
last time I skied! The wind was
blowing so hard that flags were flying straight out—completely perpendicular to
the ground. Oh my word was it
cold!
Bethlehem behind us...you can't see it since we are wearing almost everything we own!
We drove from Herodyon to have lunch at a rich Kibbutz. A kibbutz is a like a Jewish commune—first
built when the Jewish people we able to come back into Israel—communal living
& sharing of all salaries, food, possessions, etc. Very few are still operated that way,
most are privatized now. This one
we had lunch on had built a hotel—a very nice one—with a cafeteria-style
restaurant. Mom & I both
had the salad bar—Israeli salad bars are so good! Hummus, olives, chick peas, tibule (??—like cous cous), lots
of veggies—so good!
From there we went to Yad VaShem, the Holocaust Museum. It’s hard to imagine evil like
that. There was a good quote at
the beginning from a German essayist (I need to look him up, I’d like to know
more about him), Kurt Tucholsky, “A country is not just what it does, it is also
what is tolerates.” As dark &
hard to see as it was, the entire museum is a long hallway with rooms of
pictures, videos & artifacts on either side—at the end of the hallway—you
can see it the whole time—is the light & when you walk out the doors at the
end you are almost overwhelmed with the contrast that the forest—trees, flowers
& the sun—are to the darkness you’ve seen inside. A good picture of hope and that God’s chosen people have
endured throughout the dark times they have suffered. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go to this site, but I’m glad I
did—it was the first time I’ve really seen as much about the people who helped
Jews during this time—whether one or thousands. It is a good reminder to be an advocate for those who cannot
speak for themselves. There was
another quote—I’m not going to get it exactly—that was from a German pastor
that said basically, “What was happening with the communists didn’t affect me
so I didn’t speak up, what was happening with the socialists didn’t affect me
so I didn’t speak up, what was happening with the Jews didn’t affect me so I
didn’t speak up. And when
something did affect me, there was no one left to speak up for me.” The end was a round room
with a very high ceiling & a low floor that housed hundreds of books of
records & pictures, documenting any information people will share about a
friend or family member who died in the Holocaust. It was powerful, that's all I can say.
We then raced through the Israel Museum & Shrine of the
Book where the Dead Sea Scrolls are kept. It was closing so we were in a super hurry! The room where the copy of Isaiah is
kept is shaped like a giant clay pot just like one the scrolls were found in. The scroll even had a huge handle in
the middle—you can’t take pictures inside. Google it. Outside
is a model of Jerusalem as it would have been in the time of Christ. It was neat to be able to see where
we’d been & walked & how it would have looked to Jesus. While we were looking at it a bird landed on the model....looks like a monster bird attacking the city!
Monster bird invasion.
I feel like we’ve been running all day! Goodness we’ve seen so much! Tomorrow it’s supposed to rain & be
colder—high 52! Ergo I probably
will not walk through Hezekiah’s Tunnel—with waist deep water, I don’t think
tomorrow is the day for that! Alright,
it’s time for dinner & then bed not too long after that! I think I’ve gained my weight in hummus
while I’ve been here. Oh my
goodness it’s so good!
Mazel! {we were moving so fast today I didn't get many pictures....sorry!}
1 comment:
Ahhh Monster Bird!
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