Elisa and I were a little naughty today. We weren’t going to go visit the West Bank because we wanted to be extra safe this trip. But since we’ve been through the West Bank twice already without even meaning to, we thought it would be OK. (Turns out you have to travel through the West Bank to go between Jerusalem and most of the rest of the country). A half-day guided tour to Bethlehem was just too tempting. It was an awesome tour too. There were only 5 of us and the guide was funny.
There is a cave that is famous as the site where Mary nursed Jesus. How they decided on this particular cave, I couldn’t tell you. It was thought that it was where Mary and Joseph hid during their flight from Herod’s decree to kill all the children. As the tradition goes, Mary’s breast milk turned the rocks white, and now is the source of fertility for women that touch it. It’s a very interesting and obviously Catholic tradition.
Outside of Bethlehem were the prettiest views in the area where the shepherds would have received the angel’s good tidings about Jesus’ birth. Not only was the site significant for that reason, but it also overlooked a valley where Ruth and Naomi lived and gathered from the fields. Elisa and I have appreciated the outdoor peaceful sites on all our tours.
Around another cave is a church that marks Jesus’ birth. The Church of Nativity has markings showing exactly where they believe Christ was born and where the manger was that he was laid in. One of the best parts about the church were the low doors. They were meant to keep out riding soldiers. But the interesting thing is their reminder for patrons to be humble.
Back from Bethlehem, we walked through the old city Jerusalem again. It wasn’t crowded today. Today is Easter Sunday so we were expecting chaos. We took a cab up Mount Scopus to try to see the BYU Jerusalem Center, but that was closed. Instead, we took some pictures overlooking Jerusalem and walked back to our hotel through the old city.
This is the last full day of our trip. We are trying to keep our schedule pretty open so that we can arrive back home rested and relaxed. Chad decided to top his Israeli experience off by trying a local delicacy. Ewww. As in, ewe. Our appetizer was stuffed lamb’s spleen. Elisa tried some too. 🙂 Elisa’s meal was tastier though. Oddly enough I had just been talking to him about how wrong it is to eat organs.
We signed up for a city tour in Jerusalem, but we probably shouldn’t have. Large tour groups always make us feel like we’re being herded around. We must have had high expectations of the guide too. Everything he said about the city was something we had learned in Sunday school years ago. I would recommend that the best way to see Jerusalem’s old city is just to do a self-guided walking tour.
Our tour started with a trip to the Holocaust Museum. It’s tasteful (and not overly graphic). Several rooms were dedicated to the rise of Nazism. I didn’t usually think of those political movements as the beginning of the Holocaust, but now I believe they were. Also, it made me think about how dangerous it is that personal freedoms are being limited in the U.S. these days.
We got to go visit the Western Wall. It’s got separate segregated sections for males and females. I went and touched the wall and a Rabbi there gave a blessing to my family. The way he did it actually reminded me of the temple ceremony. We had really wanted to take pictures but even though the Western Wall, which is the closest wall to where the temple was, doesn’t hold the same spiritual significance for us, you could see how sacred and important it was to the other people.
Walking through Jerusalem’s old city was like riding a wave of chaos through a madhouse. We couldn’t get any peace from the crowds and noise and smells. It didn’t help that our guided tour included a stop at a tiny overpriced souvenir shop. The last part of the tour traced Christ’s last steps and ended at the Church of the Sepulcher commemorating the crucifixion. The church covering the site is enormous. I guess I expected it to be a quite place on a hill. But none of the secluded or provincial suburbs of Jerusalem have been preserved that way. Now almost everything is covered with asphalt or high gilded domes.
As soon as we tore ourselves away from the tour, Elisa and I walked a few blocks to the Garden Tomb. The Garden Tomb is held by Protestants (and Mormons) to be the likely site of the crucifixion, as opposed to the Church of the Sepulcher endorsed by Catholics. The crucifixion and the tomb are almost right next to each other at either site. It surprised me how compact everything is in Jerusalem–it didn’t take much walking to get from one New Testament site to the next. The Garden Tomb is just outside the old city walls. Since we were there on Good Friday afternoon, it coincided with the time that Christ would have been on the cross. It was such a contrast to the hustle and bustle of the old city. We spent a lot of time just relaxing and thinking about what really happened.
As it started to get dark we wandered to some gardens at the ancient site of Gethsemane. Right as we approached the doors they closed up for the day. Elisa did some sweet talking and got us inside anyway. Walking through a real olive grove was nice because Elisa has always liked olive trees. Olive trees fascinate me, not only for the spiritual reminder, but because they can grow so old. And they look really cool. 🙂 It made my day to be able to go in.
On the recommendation of a cabbie we went to a little Lebanese restaurant near the hotel. They treated us like family. We might have sampled every dish they have.
We took a shuttle to Masada this morning. Elisa did some mad haggling to get us there for 25 shekels. I love watching her put up a fight. 🙂 Really we just got lucky with transportation. We were able to go in on a taxi with a group of people and magically caught a bus that comes only every hour on the way back. Masada is a historic Jewish site from just after the days of Christ when the Romans destroyed Jerusalem. The last Jewish rebels dug in at the top of the natural rock formation of Masada. The story of the siege is sad. There was a video presentation before we went to the top. It celebrated the mass suicide of the Jews under siege. Chad and I spent what little time we had on top discussing how appropriate that was. The sun was so hot today that we didn’t walk around the site for very long. The view was terrific though. We used a cable car to get to the top and we braved the walk down by the Snake Path.
Our next stop was the Dead Sea. This is something we recommend for anyone visiting Israel or Jordan. You just go have fun floating around on your back with your whole body out of the water. It is really quite a different experience. Your body starts to sting in patches, especially getting in and out. And don’t ever get it in your eyes or mouth. 😥 But it’s supposed to be very healthy. We wanted to cake ourselves with Dead Sea mud. But it lost its allure when we discovered we had to buy a bottle at the store and spread it down at the beach. Lame! It was really relaxing and felt much warmer than the Red Sea.
On our bus ride up to Jerusalem we passed by some cool places. We passed Qumran where the Dead Sea scrolls were found, and went through En Gedi where David hid from Saul, and we passed the turn-off to Jericho.
