Where: Jerusalem, Israel
When: September 13 - 16, 2012
With: Dave, Dad and coworkers
Jerusalem was nothing like what I expected it to be. Part Moorish castle, part Moroccan market, part motherland to three of the world's most popular religions. Mish-mash is the best word I could use to describe the architectural and cultural elements all cohabitating within this small piece of land.
The city itself is squished between a narrow strip of line framed by some major motorways. The historical part is easy to see from the giant wall that surrounds it.
On the side of the Mount of Olives are tons and tons of tombs. All these tombs face the gates of Jerusalem. The hope is that on Judgement Day, when the Messiah emerges from the doors of the Jerusalem, all the souls can rise right out of their tombs for a front row seat to his coming. It's eery, but you can almost picture it when you look over the mountain.
Walking down the Mount of Olives, we came to the olive grove where Jesus supposedly sat and cried just before he was arrested. A massive church has been built here that houses the rock he sat on (the scene is depicted in the mosaic behind the altar). The original flooring of the church was lost in an earthquake, but they have attempted to restore it to its original - the glass panels in the floor let you know how they are doing.
At this point, we continued to make our way down the side of the mountain, along the same path they believe Jesus would have taken after he was arrested.
From a meaningful Christian experience, we moved on to a meaningful Jewish experience. First, we ventured into the City of David, which you can read about here. Then we headed towards the most holy site in Judaism, the Western Wall.
This was a pretty powerful place. It was once part of an ancient wall that surrounded the Temple Mount, one of the most sacred sites in Judaism. The wall is split by a long divider so that men and women worship in two different areas. Being the only girl in our group, this was where I had to leave my group and go off on my own.
After making your prayer, you must walk away from the wall backwards, not turning your back until you exit.
Then suddenly we heard shouting outdoors, and our tour guide's usually placid face grew concerned. He got up to poke his head out the door and came back saying "well this isn't good". Turns out that a mob of people leaving the mosque had decided to march to the US Embassy in protest of the American film trailer that had just come out that defaced Muhammad. The mob was chanting lovely things like "Death to Israel" and "Free Palestine with blood and fire". I honestly nearly wretched up all this delicious food (it was the only thing that could make me stop eating) particularly when a group of people in the restaurant started clapping and chanting along with the group outside.
Just as suddenly as it had started, it stopped. When we felt safe enough to venture outside, the streets were clear and everyone was going about their business as usual...until we saw the six Israeli troops carrying riot shields standing just around the corner. At that moment, I couldn't have been happier to see their M16s.
Attempting to move along as though that didn't happen, we moved right onto our next series of religious sites: the Stations of the Cross. We started at the place where Jesus was supposedly given his crown of thorns and his cross, and followed his path all the way through the city.
As we turned onto the appropriately named Via Dolorosa, we came upon a spot where Jesus stumbled carrying his cross. The place on the wall where he touched when he fell has been marked, and now, ancient legend has it that if you have your photo taken touching it, you will return to Jerusalem. Seriously? Eh, we all had to do it.
At the end of the stations, we reached the hilltop where Jesus was crucified. Now there is a giant church built on the site, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
Also inside the church is the disputed burial place of Jesus. This large wooden structure houses a chapel that contains the rock used to close his tomb and supposedly sits on top of the tomb itself. The line to get in here, and the fervor of the tourists attempting to get in, was insane.
Perhaps this is why our tour guide took us to a quiet section of the church that had a small cave, barely fitting 3 people at a time. Within that cave were two long skinny holes dug into the walls, big enough for one person laying down in each. Our guide believes (or believes for the sake of avoiding the line outside) that this is actually where Jesus was buried as it matches Biblical descriptions more accurately. If that is the case, then whoa.
Our last stop on our tour through historic Jerusalem was another reminder that three religions regard this area as holy and attempt to coexist peacefully in doing so. This three story building holds the tomb of King David on the bottom floor, the room where they believe the Last Supper was held on the second floor, and a mosque on the third floor. It doesn't get more cozy than that.
When: September 13 - 16, 2012
With: Dave, Dad and coworkers
Jerusalem was nothing like what I expected it to be. Part Moorish castle, part Moroccan market, part motherland to three of the world's most popular religions. Mish-mash is the best word I could use to describe the architectural and cultural elements all cohabitating within this small piece of land.
The city itself is squished between a narrow strip of line framed by some major motorways. The historical part is easy to see from the giant wall that surrounds it.
Inside the walls of the city is a tangle of ancient alleyways, shops and merchants. Everything from chickens to wraps to spices were sold. My favorite shop was a one-stop for fans of religion: get your menorahs, rosaries and prayer rugs all in one place.
The people walking around were just as diverse. A group of nuns in their habits passed by some young Jewish boys with their curls as a lady in a burqa walked her child home. Additionally, all this covered-up-ness made little old me feel like a charlatan walking around in my sundress. The abundance of religious wares around me didn't help that feeling.
On our first morning in the city, our tour guide picked us up from our hotel and took us right to the top of the Mount of Olives so that we could have a glimpse down on the whole of Jerusalem. The site was magnificent. It's crazy to think just how many people would be willing to die for this one little strip of land.
As we stood over looking the city, our guide explained why Jerusalem is significant to Christians, Jews and Muslims alike. When he told the story for each religion, he was able to point to the places where stories took place, which made it all the more real and incomprehensible. The Dome of the Rock alone perfectly exemplifies this: the Jews believe it houses the Foundation Stone, from which all life was created; the Muslims believe the Foundation Stone is where Muhammad rode into heaven on his white winged horse; and Christians believe it is where Constantine's mother built one of her churches.
On the side of the Mount of Olives are tons and tons of tombs. All these tombs face the gates of Jerusalem. The hope is that on Judgement Day, when the Messiah emerges from the doors of the Jerusalem, all the souls can rise right out of their tombs for a front row seat to his coming. It's eery, but you can almost picture it when you look over the mountain.
Walking down the Mount of Olives, we came to the olive grove where Jesus supposedly sat and cried just before he was arrested. A massive church has been built here that houses the rock he sat on (the scene is depicted in the mosaic behind the altar). The original flooring of the church was lost in an earthquake, but they have attempted to restore it to its original - the glass panels in the floor let you know how they are doing.
Dad at the rock.
At this point, we continued to make our way down the side of the mountain, along the same path they believe Jesus would have taken after he was arrested.
From a meaningful Christian experience, we moved on to a meaningful Jewish experience. First, we ventured into the City of David, which you can read about here. Then we headed towards the most holy site in Judaism, the Western Wall.
This was a pretty powerful place. It was once part of an ancient wall that surrounded the Temple Mount, one of the most sacred sites in Judaism. The wall is split by a long divider so that men and women worship in two different areas. Being the only girl in our group, this was where I had to leave my group and go off on my own.
At the wall itself, people pray and more notably, write their prayers and wishes onto a piece of paper that is then shoved into the cracks of the wall. By doing so, these prayers will then be blessed.
After making your prayer, you must walk away from the wall backwards, not turning your back until you exit.
A look back on Jerusalem from the Wall.
The next part of our day was definitely the scariest and most memorable. It started out so innocent - our tour guide asked if we wanted to have the best hummus in Jerusalem. So obviously, we said yes. The shop was located in the Arab Quarter of Jerusalem. As we made our way to the restaurant, an armed Israeli guard stopped us and told us we could go no further. Our tour guide chatted with him in Hebrew for awhile, and finally, the guard let us pass with raised eyebrows, as if to say, "don't say I didn't warn you".
We were immediately jostled by the elbow-to-elbow throngs of people walking down the narrow alleyways. It turns out that Friday prayers had just let out at the mosques, so everyone was out on the streets making their way home. While it was crowded, we made our way to the restaurant with no incidents and sat down for our meal.
The meal was incredible. Several types of hummus, tzatziki, baba ganoush, and warm fresh pita bread. I couldn't stop eating, it was all so wonderful and delicious.
Then suddenly we heard shouting outdoors, and our tour guide's usually placid face grew concerned. He got up to poke his head out the door and came back saying "well this isn't good". Turns out that a mob of people leaving the mosque had decided to march to the US Embassy in protest of the American film trailer that had just come out that defaced Muhammad. The mob was chanting lovely things like "Death to Israel" and "Free Palestine with blood and fire". I honestly nearly wretched up all this delicious food (it was the only thing that could make me stop eating) particularly when a group of people in the restaurant started clapping and chanting along with the group outside.
Just as suddenly as it had started, it stopped. When we felt safe enough to venture outside, the streets were clear and everyone was going about their business as usual...until we saw the six Israeli troops carrying riot shields standing just around the corner. At that moment, I couldn't have been happier to see their M16s.
At one point along our way, the road switched from being new and cobblestoned to old and rocky. The old part is thought to be 2,000 years old, so possibly the same stones Jesus walked. Crazy.
As we turned onto the appropriately named Via Dolorosa, we came upon a spot where Jesus stumbled carrying his cross. The place on the wall where he touched when he fell has been marked, and now, ancient legend has it that if you have your photo taken touching it, you will return to Jerusalem. Seriously? Eh, we all had to do it.
The icing on the tourist-cheesecake of the magical picture spot was the neon Jesus and his cross.
At the end of the stations, we reached the hilltop where Jesus was crucified. Now there is a giant church built on the site, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
The church was interesting because it's owned and operated by 6 different sects of the Christian church: Roman Catholic, Armenian, Russian Orthodox, Eastern Orthodox, Greek Orthodox, and Ethiopians. As a result, each section of the church is decorated in a distinctly different way.
The number of important religious sites held in this church alone was crazy. This rock was supposedly where Jesus was laid down after he died to be prepared for burial. Any object to touch this rock is considered blessed (note the merchant on the left who was about to dump all his goods on the rock and rub them around for a future premium).
Also inside the church is the disputed burial place of Jesus. This large wooden structure houses a chapel that contains the rock used to close his tomb and supposedly sits on top of the tomb itself. The line to get in here, and the fervor of the tourists attempting to get in, was insane.
Perhaps this is why our tour guide took us to a quiet section of the church that had a small cave, barely fitting 3 people at a time. Within that cave were two long skinny holes dug into the walls, big enough for one person laying down in each. Our guide believes (or believes for the sake of avoiding the line outside) that this is actually where Jesus was buried as it matches Biblical descriptions more accurately. If that is the case, then whoa.
As we walked back through the city, we had our first real reminder that once upon a time, this small city was also a major Roman site. The two pictures below show what the main market area of the old Roman city would have looked like, while the last picture shows what they have been able to unearth of it. They can't excavate any further or else they'd end up excavating all of Jerusalem - an interesting dilemma to have.
Our last stop on our tour through historic Jerusalem was another reminder that three religions regard this area as holy and attempt to coexist peacefully in doing so. This three story building holds the tomb of King David on the bottom floor, the room where they believe the Last Supper was held on the second floor, and a mosque on the third floor. It doesn't get more cozy than that.
Jerusalem was mind-blowing. I am just now starting to grasp all the amazing things I saw that have played such an integral part of our world history and religions that are still so prevalent today. No matter what you believe in, you can't ignore the wonder that surrounds this place.
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