After leaving Galilee, we drove south along the Jordan River Valley and then turned West to ascend the hills into Jerusalem. We approached Jerusalem as the sun was setting, stopped for dinner on the hills outside the city and then went to our hotel for the night. The next three days we spent exploring Jerusalem, Bethlehem and the Dead Sea Region. Below are the highlights (in my own opinion) of those three days. The first day we walked the Old City of Jerusalem and I believed I gained more insight into not only Jesus' last days and ministry in Jerusalem, but also Jerusalem's history as a whole than I could've reading every book there is on Jerusalem. There's just something about experiencing it, walking it, that makes it all come alive. On our way back from Jordan as we were headed to Tel Aviv, we made one last stop over in Jerusalem for a few hours to visit the Hebrew Museum where we saw a model of Jerusalem during the Second Temple Era. Jerusalem came alive to me. It might still be a city full of sin with a strong religious spirit, but there's something special about those streets.
Part 2 - Jerusalem & the surrounding region
Abraham's Tent
Climbing the Judean hills, we stopped for dinner at Abraham's Tent; a unique experience where we got to partake in a Bedouin dinner with Bedouin hospitality. Much like how Abraham would have welcomed guests into his tent thousands of years ago. The food was amazing - hummus, baba ganoush, fresh vegetables, olives, bread, date chicken with honey, meatballs, rice, bread, Turkish coffee and more bread. We reclined on the floor and ate, and ate, and ate. It was chilly out, as we were on a hilltop with the wind slipping in between the tent flaps, but the atmosphere was warm and inviting. It was truly an unforgettable experience.
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| Sunset View from Abraham's Tent |
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| Bedouin Dinner at Abraham's Tent |
Mount of Olives
Our first stop in Jerusalem the next morning was the Mount of Olives. It is here that Jesus many times looked out over Jerusalem. It is picturesque - and we all took advantage of the amazing backdrop. I do wish we had spent more time here or maybe visited again after seeing Jerusalem more up close.
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| The famous photo op |
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| View of Jeruslame from the Mount of Olives, Jewish cemetery in the foreground |
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| This was not taken from the Mount of Olives, but actually from the Garden of Gethsemane. It is the gate that Jesus entered into Jerusalem through on a donkey. You can see that it is now covered up and blocked by Muslim graves. The Arabs did this knowing that this gate had to do with the prophesy of how the Jewish Messiah would enter Jerusalem. They believe by blocking and defiling it (making it unclean with dead bodies), that it will prevent the Messiah from entering Jerusalem...what do you think? |
Garden of Gethsemane
Another favorite. What is interesting about Jerusalem (more so than Galilee), is that every important site to Christians has a church built on it. So what I expected to experience (an open hill, a garden of olive trees, etc) didn't happen. Instead, everywhere we went there was a church or a holy site commemorating Christ built on top of it. Some places, it was done well and beautiful, other places it was over the top with gaudy decorations and incense galore. The Garden of Gethsemane was a beautiful church with not too much drawing away from the experience. Supposedly the church is built onthe very rock upon which Jesus wept as he prayed in the garden the night of his arrest (and you can see it under the altar, even touch it). How they know that...well, they don't really.
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| Inside the church at the Garden |
Old City
This part of the tour was really cool. We actually walked the stations of the cross, but since I'm not Catholic and I really don't believe the Church of the Holy Sepulcher is the actual site of Jesus' death on the cross and burial, it wasn't a "spiritual" journey for me. It was however, amazing to see the Old City streets and buildings all so close together. Cars honking their horns to pass through crowds with store booths on either side and houses leaning into the street above. There were many beautiful churches and the stations of the cross were clearly marked. We walked all the way down the Via Dolorosa to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, through the Muslim district where we had lunch, down into the Jewish quarter and out the Zion gate to the tomb of King David (and traditional site of the Upper Room) and then continued to the Davidson Center which is located near the excavation site of the Second Temple grounds. It was a long day of walking - but so amazing to see Jerusalem up close. We stopped at the Western Wall (the wailing wall) and had time to pray. And then made our way back to where we started via the Kotel tunnels. Tunnels under the Old City that run parallel to the Western Wall. I feel like I am leaving out so much information, but for the sake of your attention span I hope you understand.
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| Yes, cars use the same gates in and out of the Old City that the people do |
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| Zion gate bearing the marks of the Six Day War in 1967 when Israel recaptured the Old City and unified Jerusalem |
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| Walking the streets of the Old City |
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| Western Wall |
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| A celebration taking place at the Western Wall |
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| Tunnels under the Old City |
Church at the Pools of Bethesda
Just to the north of the Old City are the Pools of Bethesda, where Jesus healed a man born lame (John 5). The Pools were covered up when Jerusalem was completely destroyed by the Romans in 135AD and rebuilt as a Roman city. They have recently been rediscovered. Close by the pools is a Crusader church (built by the Crusaders) and is a gorgeous building. We got the opportunity to sing inside this church - it was an awesome experience.
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| Crusader Church |
Davidson Center
I didn't realize how much I would like this part of the tour, but learning more about what the Temple Mount looked like during the Second Temple Era (the time of Jesus) was fascinating to me. The Davidson Center is near the southwestern corner of the old Temple Mount and areas which they have begun excavating. Throughout the centuries since the Romans destroyed the city, Jerusalem has built upon again and again by other civilizations (Romans, Byzantines, Persians, Arabs, Crusaders, Ottomans). As the Jews returned after Israel was declared a nation in 1948 (and after they regained the Old City in 1967), they have started excavating areas in Jerusalem going back to the Second Temple Era. It was amazing to see the walls and walkways surrounding the Temple Mount dating back to Herod, the very roads Jesus walked on.
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| The remnants of the Temple Mount (southwest corner) |
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| Uncovered Ritual Bath |
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| Before the excavations, Robinson's Arch (to the right) was underground. The roadway below is from the time of Herod. To the left (where the people are standing) are booths or stores where pilgrims could buy provision for their Temple visit. |
Garden Tomb
Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum
Beautifully done, the
Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum was definitely a highlight. The symbolism of the building structure itself was so interesting and meaningful. Down the middle of the museum ran a main corridor that had "interruptions" or maybe better thought of as disruptions, major events during the War that impacted the Jewish community (such as railroad tracks, when they started shipping the Jews off to concentration camps). On each side of the corridor were rooms and you zig-zag through the rooms between the interruptions. Does that make sense? The corridor was lit by natural light from skylights above - symbolic of the fact that much of what happened was in clear view to the world. People knew what was happening in Europe to the Jews. It was a sobering experience, and I can't describe it, it's just one of those things you need to do yourself. In Israel I started reading Madeline Albright's memoir "Prague Winter" about her own family's plight and that of Czeckoslovakia during the War. I am still reading it, but between those two experiences - the Museum and the book - it has piqued my interest about World War II.
Masada
We took one day to head South from Jerusalem down to the Dead Sea Region. Our first stop, after shopping for Dead Sea beauty products, was Masada. A fortress built atop a large rock by Herod (another of his crazy creations). I think it is rather an odd place to build a fortress, but I'm not a crazy Politician with lots of power and people at my disposal. It is near Ein Gedi (a desert oasis where David hid from King Saul), providing fresh water nearby. After Herod built his two palaces and gardens and such, years later when Jerusalem fell under siege to the Romans, a group of 1,000 Jews fled to Masada. To their surprise they found the storehouses still full of food - preserved by the dry desert air. The Jews built a synagogue, ritual bath and lived at Masada for 7 years holding off the Roman soldiers. They had fresh water from an aqueduct system built by Herod and food to last them all. When the Romans (you can still see their camps around the base of the fortress today) finally built a dirt and rock ramp up to the wall, the Jews, facing defeat, committed mass suicide. Only a few survived (a few women and children). To Jews today, they see this story as one of courage and Jewish pride - the Jews, unwilling to become slaves, thought death better than slavery.
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| Inside the remnants of the synagogue at Masada |
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| At the top of Masada, looking down on one of Herod's palaces and looking out toward the Dead Sea |
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| Roman bath built by Herod |
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| The cable car off the mountain. Do you see the square just to the left & up from the cable car? That is a Roman camp. |
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| Ein Gedi |
Dead Sea
After Masada, we stopped at Ein Gedi and then onto Qum'ran where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered. Our last stop was a float in the Dead Sea - what a cool experience. I cannot explain it, but you really float. In fact, it is hard to swim because you float so much. I could literally float on my back, turn to my front and around to my back again without getting my hair wet. So weird. We helped ourselves to the abundance of squishy mud under our feet for mud baths. It was a very fun way to end the day.
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| Mud baths in the Dead Sea |
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