O Jerusalem!

Jerusalem was my favorite part of our trip to Israel.

Of all the places I've visited in the world (still many more to visit) I consider Jerusalem the most interesting and by far the most unique.    

The highlight of our two day stay was our first night there, the eve of the Jewish Shabbat. 

 We checked into our hotel in the late afternoon, and then decided to go explore the Old City, which is surrounded by an ancient wall.  As we neared the city, we noticed that most businesses and stores were closed.  But there was a lot of foot traffic.  A lot of people, dressed in their religious Jewish clothing, were walking at a brisk pace as if they were in a huge rush to get somewhere.  Ben told me that sunset on Friday night was the beginning of Shabbat (the Jewish sabbath)… and we just happened to be there right at that time.  Everyone was headed to the Western Wall to pray.  So, we just kind of followed the procession… we entered the walled city, but stayed close to the periphery where it was stroller friendly.  The sun was setting and the lighting on the city was just gorgeous.  As we were headed to the wall, we could hear the Islam "call to prayer" going on at the same time.  If you've never heard it (and Ben has heard it plenty in Iraq and Afghanistan) it's like this voice over a loud speaker chanting "Allah u Akbar" meaning "God is Great" over and over,  FIVE times a day, every day. That's what was so fascinating about this city… it's considered holy to Jews, Arabs, and Christians… and these three major world religions all converging in one place was just so awesome to behold.  The word that kept coming to my mind was "surreal."

Outside of the city wall at Jaffa Gate.  That is the Tower of David. The lighting was so pretty.  

Arriving at the Western Wall at sunset

It was packed.  There were people singing and praying and dancing and jumping up and down.  I kept saying, "Now this is culture!"

Not the best quality picture, but you can see the Jewish family… the man with his four sons

Observing the worshippers, Ben wasn't exactly dressed for the occasion

Yeah, that's his "Shake 'n Bake, that just happened" t-shirt.  So sophisticated

Other highlights of our two days there…

Our hotel:

Packing and repacking… did a lot of that on our trip

The girls trying to enjoy their breakfast on the hotel balcony but the sun was a little too bright

That morning we went to church at the BYU Jerusalem center on Mount Scopus.  It was a special treat.  I felt the spirit immediately as we entered the beautiful grounds.  It was like coming home. 

Afterwards we went and found where the Protestants, including Mormons, believe Jesus was crucified and resurrected, Golgotha and the garden tomb

Golgotha.  Can you see how it looks like a skull?  It seems strange to have a bus parking lot right at the foot of Golgotha, but it was for this reason that it was selected along a busy road, so passerbyers could be warned. 

Loved this place.  Can't help but think of my dad and how much the resurrection means to me

He is Risen is one of my favorite hymns

Where His body was laid to rest

After this, we did a guided tour of the Mount of Olives (yes, busy day!)

Mount of Olives Tour:

Our tour group

Jewish cemetery

Garden of Gethsemane

Tuckered out at the end of the tour… at the Tomb of Mary

The next morning we did the Holy City Tour:

Armenian Quarter.  Some dudes out for a morning stroll I suppose.  Just kidding.  I don't know what they were doing, but that guy carrying the cross looks awesome.  The city is divided up into the Armenian, Christian, Muslim, and Jewish quarters.

The following pictures are of the Dome of the Rock located at the Temple Mount.  We had to go through some tight security to enter this area… it is controlled by the Muslims.   This site is where the Jewish temple was twice built,  twice destroyed.  When the Muslims came and conquered Jerusalem in the 600s, they went ahead and built a mosque on top of the destroyed temple (the dome). It's a holy site for Muslims (where Muhammed ascended to heaven) and for the Jews (where the Messiah will rebuild his temple).  The Western Wall is all that remains of the temple, which is the holiest site for the Jews… and is just around the corner from the Dome of the Rock… two major world religions clashing for the same holy sites.  Basically Jerusalem Holy Sites 101, but yeah, this was all new to me. 

 

 It was quite the experience to visit the Dome, filled with Muslims who were there to worship, and then exit, come around the corner to the Western Wall and be surrounded by Jews doing the same thing.  

School kids doing some sort of song performance

Me and the girls at the wall… can you find us?  The women are separated on one side with the men on the other

Women praying at the wall, placing their written prayers into the cracks

And obnoxious tourists:  I thought these guys were so funny/obnoxious.  The women are standing on chairs taking pictures of the men praying at their wall, and the man is standing on a chair taking pictures of the women at their side of the wall

They had some Jewish scriptures at the wall.  Emily was enthralled with the Hebrew characters and the fact that you read it from the rear cover to the front.  

Eating lunch.  Can you find James?

We went to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, but I wasn't very impressed…. mostly because we had already been five hours on the supposedly four hour tour and my kids and myself were done.  

Catholics praying where they believe the Romans laid Jesus' body when they took Him down from the cross.

Supposedly a place where Jesus rested his hand along the Via Dolorosa (the route of pain) the route the Catholics believe Jesus, carrying his cross, took to Golgotha. 

Israel, as you can imagine, has very TIGHT security since some of their neighbors are kind of creeps.  EVERYONE, including women, are mandated to serve two to three years in the military.  We saw lots of soldiers.   Yeah, I had enough nerve to ask these guys to get my picture taken with them.
And yeah, it was kind of awkward.