Day 8 - Jerusalem

Today's pickup was 8a. You would't think 30 minutes wouldn't make that much difference but it seemed so much less rushed. Our group met here at our hotel, the Grand Court, and all got on our small 16 seater bus from here and headed to the Old City. 

Our touring today  begins at the Western Wall, the site of the Second Temple. We say the second Temple because this is not the temple of the time of Jesus. In 70 AD the temple was destroyed and again the temple was conquered by the Muslims in 691 AD.  The ONLY part of the temple of the time of Jesus is the Western Wall, or known as the Wailing Wall. This was originally the wall of the insignificant or poor. The people said at the time this wall remained because the Holy Spirit still lived here for these people. The Golden Mosque sits at the dome of the rock. This mosque is above the rock where Abraham was going to sacrifice Isaac. You (and I) might wonder why the Jewish people have not "reclaimed" this exact spot by removing the Golden Mosque and putting a Synagogue here or something else. There is Jewish law that forbids the Jews to enter this place of the mosque so that is why it remain a Muslim mosque here on the Dome of the Rock. So we see this Dome of the Rock. 

Dome of the Rock

We walk on from here to the Wailing Wall with a quick and fresh juice stop along the way. Pomegranate juice freshly squeezed is absolutely delicious!

John and Juice

Now at the Western Wall we separate men from women for this visit. You wash first (not mandatory but custom) and then go to the wall to pray, leave a petition, lament, or whatever is needed for you personally. I was able to take a photo of John walking to the wall.

The Western Wall - Men's Side

 My Petition placed in the wall

There are many shops besides juices as we walk. You can find spices, vegetables, prepared and unprepared foods, clothing, etc. along the way when walking though the outer part of the Temple. Even coffee shops! The Turkish coffee is delicious. 

Humor - True!

The Way of the Cross, the Via Dolorosa, and to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre is the next on our agenda. The stations of the cross were put in place in the 16th Century by the Christians. There are 14 stations. There is a booklet and a sign at every station. The last 4 stations are inside the church of the Sepulchre. There is a LONG wait, more than an hour, to see the final station where Jesus is laid in the tomb. All very symbolic and nice, but a man made situation that is nicely done. 

This is the Gate Jesus passed thought on his way to his crucifixion. Of course a church is built around it but it is the gate.

Walking on we see the tomb of King David and the Last Supper Room on Mount Zion. Of course there is no resemblance to Biblical times. David's tomb is far below the altar built above it. Again, my photo is of half because men and women cannot enter the same place. Some men leaving their side even lower their heads so they will not see women. I am not criticizing this culture, just noting the differences. 

David's Tomb

The Room of the Last Supper

Our entire morning was spent walking the Temple and surrounding area. Now we are back to the bus and sitting is a nice break! We travel to Ramat Rachel Kibbutz for lunch and a little shopping. I saw a lovely ring and questioned getting it and chose some less expensive earrings, John got both for me! The stone in this is Roman Glass that is 2000 years old; a beautiful aqua color! 

Back to the bus we now go the short distance to the Garden of Gethsemane on the Mount of Olives. More correctly stated, there are churches on the sites. There are a few very old few olive trees left on the mountain in the church yard. 

Mt. of Olives

We had a quick stop at the French National Domain of Eleona also on the Mount of Olives. It is also by the name of Church of the Pater Noster.  I am not sure if it was a scheduled stop be we are thrilled we stopped here. The rock wall in my photo is from the time of Christ and where he taught His disciples the Lord's Prayer. On walls around the church and its vaulted cloister, translations of the Lord’s Prayer in 140 languages are inscribed on colorful ceramic plaques. A long tradition holds that Jesus taught the Lord’s Prayer or Our Father in the cave that forms the grotto under the church. When the Crusaders built a church here in the 12th century, they called it Pater Noster (Latin for Our Father). Pilgrims of the time reported seeing the words of the prayer inscribed in Hebrew and Greek on marble plaques. Excavations have uncovered a Latin version.The Gospels suggest that Jesus taught the Lord’s Prayer at least twice. Matthew 6:5-15 has this teaching as part of the Sermon on the Mount in Galilee; Luke 11:1-4 has it while Jesus is on his way from Galilee to Jerusalem. The cave under the Pater Noster Church certainly existed in Jesus’ time. Near the summit of the mount, it would have been a secluded and sheltered place for a small group to gather.

Our last stop was just a view from our bus from Mount Scopus for a sweeping view of Jerusalem. We are tired and looking forward to a day off tomorrow before we head to our Egypt tour. Much of what we see is different than how we thought it would be. There is very little left from the times of Jesus. That, of course, makes sense. Our country looks nothing like it looked 2000 years ago either! It has been enjoyable seeing the mountains, lakes, and other ancient sites where Jesus, the Apostles, & others placed their feet.