Jerusalem Part 2

More reflections from our trip to Israel in 2010. Jerusalem quickly became my favorite place to travel.  Here are some more memories from our time in the Holy City.

Monday was a free day for us to do whatever we desired.  We caught a couple of cabs and headed in to Jerusalem – we were there by 8 am.  The streets of the Old Town were being washed down by the merchants, and the streets were very abandoned.  We headed back to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and we are so glad that we did – there were few people in the church (even though it opens at 4:30 am), and we were able to take our time at the place of the cross and the place where Jesus was prepared for burial.  Again, who knows for sure where this might have taken place, but it is so moving to be able to take time to really focus on these events we will soon remember the next few days in our churches.  As our Catholic member of the group mentioned, the Stations of the Cross are so scripted on Good Friday, we methodically work our way through them, but here, we have time to focus and pray at each place.



We took time to admire the incredible artwork and mosaics in the church, then got in line to go in to the place of the tomb itself.  The line yesterday was some 3 hours long.  Today we stood in line less than a half hour.  The stone walls surrounding that spot limit the number who can fit, so it takes a while to get in – only three or four at a time.  It was so nice not to be rushed.  It was a very meaningful event for all of us.
We headed out of the church and around the corner to the Lutheran Church of Holy Redeemer.  The church is very nice – simply decorated, and lovely structure – built by Kaiser Wilhelm II in the 1800s.  We then journeyed up the spiral staircases (major climb of the day) to the top of the spire of the church.  From here we could see the city in all its splendor.  Because God blessed us with another cloudless day, we were able to get some incredible photos.



Once back down to the street level, we took our luck at bartering in the market place.  It was fun when Lisa was bartering for a dress, and in the process told the man that it was her birthday.  He offered her a blessing that he hoped she would live for 100 years.  In his broken English, Lisa thought he said that he thought she WAS 100 years old.  He almost lost the sale!



The other fun store was the man who was going out of business, so everything was on sale!  Tom and Bruce did very well with their bartering.  I spent time taking pictures (much safer for me!).  We all bought something, including some delicious honey-roasted nuts with sesame seeds on them.  They were great!  We also got some fresh squeezed orange juice at one shop that was wonderful.


We stopped at a few other stations of the cross, and worked our way down some streets, including the Muslim Quarter – we were the only Americans around… definitely a market place.  Spices, fresh produce, toy stores, shoe makers, you name it.  Lots of mothers and children out shopping.  We walked up one street and watched a couple of young men riding a cart downhill with fresh produce, hopefully stopping before the end of the street.
  


We had lunch at a small pizzeria in town, which wasn’t half bad.  We watched a couple of tour groups come and go as we ate our lunch.  After that, it was time to move on to the next stop of the day, the Yad VaShem Holocaust Museum.  This beautiful structure is free of charge, and an excellent historical site.  The museum is housed in a long, A-framed building, winding you back and forth from one leg of the A to the other.  It begins with the anti-Semitic acts and attitudes of the early 1900s, and carries you through the Ghettos, the Work Camps, the Concentration Camps and the Death Marches, and finally ends with the founding of the country of Israel.  The last room you enter is some 30 feet tall, maybe taller, a circular room with volumes of books on the shelves listing information about 3 million verified names (some say that the complete number is as many as 6 – 7 million) of people murdered in the Holocaust.  That was powerfully moving.


The exit of the museum leads you out to a breathtaking view of Israel – a reminder of the hope of the nation and the land.  We then walked through the Children’s Museum, given in honor of the son one couple lost in the Holocaust.  A garden surrounds a statue in honor of Gentiles who saved or helped hide or rescued survivors.   A final building is in honor of the children – you enter a dark hallway with lights flickering above – as you walk around the mirrored walls reflecting these points of light, names and ages of the murdered children are read.  It was a weighty experience, but so meaningful, and to walk through as young men and women in military school uniforms are there as well, and in the land of Israel – it made it all the more so powerful.

We ventured back to the hotel, then headed out tonight for Chinese – we walked 10 minutes to the Yo-Si Peking Diner – located above the grocery store down the street from our hotel.  We entered, and it was deserted.  The place had come highly recommended by a desk clerk at the hotel, but we started out fairly doubtful.  Even worse, the waitress didn’t speak much English.  So here we are, Americans in a Chinese restaurant not knowing a lick of Hebrew in Jerusalem.  BUT, things got much better fast!  We ordered drinks and meals, and the feast began – soup (corn, wanton, hot and sour), deliciously fresh egg rolls, then the main dish – orders of sweet and sour chicken, almond chicken, beef and peppers, Thai chicken, and rice and noodles.  Fantastic meal, and more than enough to eat!  The waitress understood us enough when we told her it Lisa’s birthday, so dessert came with sparklers on it.  Dessert included fried bananas and pineapples, leeche, watermelon and cantaloupe and sherbet.



Our last day of touring began with a trip to the Mount of Olives for an incredible view of Jerusalem.  Hundreds, maybe thousands of tour buses are there every day, and I was wondering if it would be difficult to get a shot.  Not a problem – the view is incredible.  We got a group shot with most of our tour group, a group shot of our 7 together with our tour guide and bus driver.



When done there, we drove to the Garden of Gethsemane, and were guided to a private part of the garden, where we were given time to pray among the old olive trees and flowers.  It was very moving to be in that place.   In the midst of the garden, Lisa found a turtle rustling in the leaves.  Of course, I got pictures of that as well.   On the grounds of the Garden is a beautiful church called the Church of All Nations or the Church of the Agony.  Inside are domes dedicated by different countries, including the United States.  In front of the altar is a rock  believed to be where Jesus prayed for the cup of suffering to pass from him, but not HIS will, but His Father’s will be done.  There are three paintings that adorn the front of the church, depicting the night of Jesus’ betrayal.



Out to the bus again to travel to the Archeological Park at the southwestern corner of the Temple in Jesus’ day.  The time spent walking on the ground around the Temple where Jesus and the disciples walked was very cool.  The museum had a video that depicted a pilgrim coming to the Temple, paying the taxes, buying the animal for sacrifice, washing in the purifying baths, and coming to worship at the Temple Mount.  I really enjoyed this visit at the Temple – at this point of the trip, all the pieces of the city came together for me.
A few things of note that I learned today (maybe I should have paid closer attention in Seminary):

• The ritual baths were located outside the walls of the city – a ritual cleansing/bath – you go down one side of the steps into the bath, and up the other side, so as to remain pure for worship in the Temple.
• The steps outside the Temple varied in depth, so some steps you had to take one step, others you had to take two steps – the reasoning behind this was to make sure you didn’t rush up the steps, but instead focused on the reverence of entering the holy place.
• To enter the Temple area, one gate would be for entering and another for exiting.  If you were mourning the loss of a loved one, you would go through the opposite gate, so that fellow worshipers would be mindful of you and bless you.

Throughout the trip, I was aware of the fact that excavation and discovery continue throughout the city of Jerusalem and across the country.  Some of the museums are very new, and some have expansion efforts going on.  I am sure that the next time we come, there will be even more to see.

We went to the Ramat Rachel Kibbutz for lunch (a kibbutz is a collective farm or settlement owned by its members in modern Israel.  There are schools and markets and centers for the people).  It was a beautiful setting, and we ate our final lunch outside enjoying the lovely weather.
After lunch, we drove by some of the government buildings, including the Israel version of the IRS – our guide said, “We call this the Wailing Wall!”  We drove on to the Israel Museum, away from the Old City, to see a scale model of the Second Temple as it looked before it was destroyed in 70 AD.  This model is on a scale being 50 times smaller than the actual city.  It is an incredible model, and helped us visualize so much of what the past 4 days have been all about.  We were even quizzed by our tour guide to see how much we caught (we passed!).  The Temple, the buildings, the gates, the spaces outside the Temple – all of it crafted with great detail.


Inside the museum is a fascinating display of the Dead Sea Scrolls.  The top of the building looks like the top of the jars in which the scrolls were found.  The hallway that leads to the main display includes findings of artifacts from the village of Qumran.  The scrolls found in the caves have writings of the Old Testament books, the Apocrypha and other writings for the spiritual life of the community.  Qumran was a very zealous community, focusing on worship, study of the Word, and the copying of these words on scrolls.  The findings were so complete and in good condition; it is an amazing discovery.  Found in 1947, these documents have been studied and written down.  It is amazing that these papers hold very close to the documents some 1000 years later used as documents as sources for the Bible today.


Back on the bus and once again toward the Old City to the Garden Tomb.  Here is a location that MIGHT be the place of Jesus’ burial.  One of the convincing arguments for that place is a rock face that looks like a skull, and Golgatha means “the place of the skull.”  The British own this garden, and have kept it very beautifully decorated, with places for worship and communion.   They have kept the place for this focus, and have been clear that a church will not be built on that property.  We got to see the rock face, then went to the Garden Tomb, that likely is NOT the grave, but is very similar to what it looked like.  We all got a chance to go inside.  The guide reminded us often that we do not worship a grave, but a Risen Lord.  I am glad that he made that clear.


We then divided up into church groups and had a worship and communion service in the garden.  We sang songs, prayed together, lifted up our families and church community in our prayers, and we shared the gift of Jesus’ body and blood, given and shed for us.  What a perfect way to end a great week.



IF you are interested in finding out more about the trip I will be leading in Fall 2014, I will be holding two identical information meetings in September.  Both of these will be held in the Conference Room at the Far Hills campus of Epiphany Lutheran Church - the dates are:
Wednesday, September 18 at 7 - 8:30 pm.
Sunday, September 22 at 12:30 - 2 pm.

Come and join us!


Peace,
Pastor Charlie