Home sweet Israel day 2

Home Sweet Israel 2

We were supposed to port in Haifa for one day then move south and port in Ashdod.  Well Ashdod is precariously close to Egypt and it is Israel’s biggest port so it is a major target so the ship stayed in Haifa.  They continued all the tours people had signed up for in Ashdod but instead of a 45 min drive to Jerusalem, it was over 2 hours.  It is always lovely to see the Israeli countryside though.  We took road 1 down the coast of the Mediterranean Sea and then turned inland near Tel Aviv.  We drove through Ein Kerem – the village where John the Baptist was born – before we arrived in Jerusalem.

We took a short tour of the newer part of Jerusalem.  We drove by the Knesset, Israel’s Parliament, the Shrine of the Book, and the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum.  I went to the museum last year.  It is a place that is hard to be in but interesting and powerful. 

We went to the Church of Gethsemane or the Church of Agony – also called the Church of All Nations.  It is one of my favorite churches.  12 nations participated in the building of it – nice that people got along!  The windows aren’t glass – they are made from a transparent purple rock.  It gives the church a mood of darkness and gloom. 

There is a slab of rock at the front that is supposedly the rock He wept on.  Gethsemane translates into something like olive factory.  It was a place to process olive oil.  There are ancient olive trees there – ones they know for a fact are over 1500 years old and could reasonably be the ones that Jesus actually walked among and touched.  Many people visit this church and it is a famous sight that commemorates the Garden of Gethsemane.  When you view the church from the hill by the old city walls you can see the largest Jewish cemetery – over a third of a million people are buried there – all facing the Temple Mount.  The Jews believe that when the Messiah comes to the temple they will be raised from the dead – body and all. 

There are so many places that could be the actual spot where something happened.  They do a lot of research and find places that are reasonable, but there is always a doubt as to whether that is THE place.  The same is true for Gethsemane. There is a place nearby that I went to last year that is run by Protestants and they have not built a huge church.  They say there aren’t going to fight about where the garden actually was and they feel the Church of Agony is a great way to honor the event, but they have created a place that feels more like it would have back then.  Quiet, peaceful gardens and a cave nearby that looks like a skull – definitely could be Golgatha.

We arrived at Mount Scopus to take pictures of the city and the Temple Mount.  Seeing the view of Jerusalem with the Dome of the Rock.. it really does take your breath away.  We did not get to go to the temple mount this time.  There is only one gate that non Muslims can enter through.  Security takes forever – you cannot be wearing a cross or have a Bible on you etc.  They screen for weapons and bombs – it is one of the most contested pieces of land in the world.   There is a foot bridge that goes to that gate and it is in desperate need of repair and everyone wants it to be repaired but no one will let anyone repair it!  The Muslims feel if the Jews or Christians fix the bridge then they control it.  The bridge goes right over the Western Wall (or Wailing wall) – the Jews already control that.  The Jews don’t want the Muslims fixing it because then they’d control part of their Wailing Wall territory.  Throw the Christian in there arguing about the same thing and you have a mess!  I went to the Temple Mount last year.  It is amazing.  There is a Mosque there that is the third holiest site for the Muslims.  The Dome of the Rock is not a mosque.  It is a Dome… over a Rock.  Said to be the rock that Abraham laid Issac on to slaughter.  Also it is where Mohammed ascended ( I think) and it has something to do with Adam.  Very popular rock!

We went through Zion gate and visited the room of the Last Supper.  It is built over what they think is the original building.  There are carvings of a falcon feeding it’s young with its own flesh – symbolically representing the body and blood of Christ at the Last Supper.  The tomb of King David is nearby but she said we couldn’t go in because of security and not being Jewish etc.  but Last year we saw it and walked right in.  It is weird how things change here.  We weren’t allowed to take pictures of the Wailing Wall either.  They said we could really far away but not near religious people – they are all religious people there!  I managed to get a few in then was scolded by a man.  But when I got up really close to the wall people were taking pictures and no one said anything.  Last year I took a ton of pictures.  I don’t know if it was because it was near sunset on Friday which is the start of their Sabbath or what.   It was disappointing.  I did get up close enough to touch it and put my piece of paper with a prayer on it in a crack. There are all these different sects of Jews.  Some have coats to their knees, some to their ankles.  Some have fur hats, some regular.  Some tall hats, some short, some just have the beanies (I don’t know the word for it – yumaka?) Some have really long curls in front of their ears, some short.  Etc. etc.  the guide said each thing meant something.  People that are not Hasidic Jews barely notice these differences, but each detail means something to them. 

Last year I got to go through the entire Via Deloraosa and see every station of the cross.  I got to put my hand in the handprint that they say is where Jesus braced himself when He stumbled.  I didn’t get to see any of that this year L  We did get to go through Old Jerusalem through the Jewish Quarter, Muslim Quarter and Christian Quarter.  The Armenian Quarter is not open to the public – there is a church that is open an hour or so a day.  Old City Jerusalem is much like it was then.  Many narrow corridors with shops and stalls on the sides.  It is crowded and loud and easy to get lost. 

We did get to see the Holy Sepulcher.  It is a magnificent church built over the crucifixion site.  I always think of the cross being mounted in dirt, but Israel is a very rocky place.  There is a rectangular hole in the rock where you can put your hand in – it is supposedly the hole that Jesus’s cross stood in.   It is highly decorated – a beautiful chapel.  The church is built on a hill – the hole is in the upper floor of the church (top of the hill) and on the ground floor there is a rock slab that is said to be where they laid His body when they took Him off the cross.  It makes sense because it is a little ways down the hill.  Then a little ways further is the grave – the cave they say His body was laid in when He rose.  It is covered in a chapel and people wait hours to go inside.  I went inside last year.  It is really hard to experience peace and religious feelings when there are thousands of people all trying to touch the same thing for a few seconds.  The church has several sections – Catholic, Greek orthodox, Armenian etc.  It is divided up and no one can touch anything that is in another section.  It is so sad.  All these churches are there because they want to honor Christ’s death etc. but all they do is fight over who has control over what.  What a way to honor the fact that Jesus came to save us ALL.  No one wants to allow anyone else to open the church up every day or close it.  Guess who has the keys to the church and has the responsibility/power to open it every day????  A MUSLIM family.  For hundreds of years this family has been responsible for that task.  We saw a ladder under a window that has been there for 130 years.  (I don’t know which belonged to which so I’m just going to give an example of who did what)  An Armenian used a ladder that belonged to the Catholics to go fix a window on a balcony on the orthodox side.  He came back in and forgot the ladder.  He was not allowed to get it back.  The orthodox won’t let the Catholics get the ladder and theyOrthodox won’t bring the ladder in because it belongs to the Catholics.  RIDICULOUS.  There are many other churches touching the Holy Sepulcher – several Ethiopian churches – they built a small African village next to the church.  They fast 270 days of the year. 

Our guide had this thing she called a whisper system.  It allowed her to talk softly into a microphone and it projected into our headsets.  So we could wander around and take pictures and still hear her.  Fabulous.  It started to get chilly as the sun set.  We ended the day at the Wailing Wall.  She told us to meet her at the exit sign when we were done.  I am a great person on a tour – I do what I’m told, I follow directions, I’m on time.  But for once I was one of THOSE people.  I got lost!!  I went to the wall and went to the bathroom and went to the sign like she said.  My group wasn’t there.  I found other tour guides and asked them to call her – I had her number.  She never answered.  Occasionally I could hear her on the whisper system.  It was like playing “hot and cold”  If I couldn’t hear her voice I knew I was getting farther away from her.  I’m wandering around the Western wall trying to figure out where she was.  It was getting dark and I knew I was holding up the whole bus and was hoping she would leave me there!!  Another guide told me this was the only way out so she would have to go through there.  Well I’d been standing there the whole time so I thought maybe she was waiting OUTSIDE the gate.  I walked out and saw three of my bus mates beam with excitement when they saw me!  I make it a point to introduce myself to a few people so they notice I’m missing when I travel by myself.  It was this cute Asian family from Toronto and they said “We kept telling her the teacher is missing!”  ha!  I felt terrible but the many of the others said they didn’t understand we were supposed to go out of the gate.  We drove back to Haifa on road 6 through the country since it was dark. 

It was amazing to go back to Israel but there were so many places that I didn’t get to go back to – that I got to see last year but have no pictures.  Masada, Bethlehem, the place where Armageddon is supposed to happen, the dead sea, all the stations of the cross, etc. 

As we drive up to the ship, Israeli security gets on the bus and looks us over.  They ask us if anyone gave us anything, if we watched all our purchases be packed in front of us.  She said it only takes a few minutes usually but if someone makes a joke, it could take hours.  People are idiots.  We are in Israel!  Don’t make jokes.  I saw a guy walking around all day with an Egypt shirt on.  Are you kidding me?!?  I am very careful with what I wear in foreign places.  I don’t wear anything with America on it unless I’m in Ireland or Israel or somewhere that I know it won’t cause problems.  I saw some beautiful purses and bags but won’t buy anything with the words Israel or Jerusalem on it (unless it is just for my house like magnets or coasters or Christmas ornaments)  - it could be a safety issue in some countries that I go to.

Security let us through and they took my passport for when we go to Greece.

Today is Dec 29^th and we are at sea on our way to Crete.  We have been at a port for 4 days in a row so it was nice to sleep in, get caught up on blogs and labeling pictures etc.