Jerusalem -- The Conflicted and Complicated City

Today we begin our visit to Jerusalem, perhaps the most conflicted and complicated city in the world.  It is considered the heart of three religions – Christianity, Judaism, and Islam.  For the Christians this is the place where Jesus was crucified, buried and arose again.  For Judaism, Mount Moriah (the Temple Mount) is the place where God asked Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac.  And for the Muslims, this is the place Prophet Muhammed ascended into heaven after his Night Journey.  It has seen its share of wars and conquering empires – Canaanites, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Crusaders, and Arabs.  From 1947 (the War of Independence) until the war of 1967, Jerusalem was divided into two parts – the west city controlled by Israel and the east city controlled by Jordan.  The Jews were forbidden to enter the east city and therefore could not pray at the Western Wall, the holiest site in Judaism.  In the war of 1967, Israel united the city under their control; they can now go to the Western Wall (closest spot to the Second Temple), but they cannot pray on the Temple Mount) which covers Mount Moriah.  This frustrates the Jews because they also consider Mount Moriah has a holy spot – the spot where King Solomon built the first temple and where King Herold built the Second Temple.  They also believe that this is the spot where the Third Temple will be built announcing the return of the Messiah.  Even though they won Jerusalem back from Jordan, they realize that the Dome of the Rock has been under Islamic control since 700 AD and to force the Muslims out would create much greater problems than exist today.

Jerusalem is also the capital of Israel; however, only one other country (Micronesia) recognizes it as the capital.  All the embassies are in Tel Aviv; only consulates are found in Jerusalem.  Today the old city (about one square mile) is divided into four sections – Muslim, Jewish, Christian, and Armenian.

With this backdrop of tension and discontent, we prepared to enter the Dung Gate (one of eight gates into the Old City).  The gate received its name because starting in the 2nd century, refuse was hauled out of the city through this gate.  This gate is also closest to the Western Wall.  As we left the bus, there were a lot of people beating on drums and blowing on a shofar (ram’s horn).  Lior told us that Thursday was a very popular day for Bar Mitzvahs and this was one that the people were getting ready to celebrate.  The drums announce the arrival of the young boy.  As we walked through the gate, we passed another Bar Mitzvah that was already taking place.  Like all our celebrations there was plenty of picture taking.

Our first stop was a short one to see the Western Wall – where Jewish people come to pray because it is the closest point to the Second Temple. Already this morning there were many people at the wall praying.  We then went into the Tunnels that run along the side of the Western Wall and under the Muslim quarter.  These were built by excavators after the War of 1967.  Only 200’of the 1591-foot Western Wall is visible from the Old City.  But the tunnel runs the full length of the wall.  As we walked along the tunnel, Lior pointed the biggest stone in the Western Wall, often called the Western Stone which is one of the heaviest objects ever lifted by human beings without powered machinery. The stone is 45’ long and 15’ wide and weighs about 520 metric tons.  (King Herold’s builders used a pulley system and rolling logs to move the stone into position.  We also saw remnants of the cisterns and aqueducts that were built by the early Muslims.  As we exited the tunnels, we walked to the Via Dolorosa (Way of the Cross) – the path that Jesus took as he walked to his crucifixion.  The 14 stations are: (1)Jesus is Condemned to Death; (2) Jesus Receives is Cross; (3) Jesus Falls the First Time under His Cross; (4) Jesus Meets Mary his Mother; (5) Simon Helps Jesus Carry his Cross; (6) Veronica Wipes Jesus’ Face; (7) Jesus Falls the Second Time; (8) Jesus Meets the Women of Jerusalem; (9) Jesus Falls the Third Time; (10) Jesus is Stripped of His Garments; (11) Jesus is Nailed to the Cross; (12) Jesus Dies on the Cross; (13) Jesus is Taken Down from the Cross; (14) Jesus is Laid in the Tomb.

We started at Stage I, now a school but in 33 AD it was the residence of Pontius Pilate.  From there we walked to the other remaining 13 stages, ending up at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, where Jesus’ body was taken from the cross and buried.  At about Stage III, we stopped at the Austrian Hospice (hostel) where we went to the rooftop for a fabulous view of Jerusalem. We then had coffee and apple strudel in their small garden. Such a lovely break!

After visiting the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, we had lunch at an Armenian restaurant.  The food was good, but we are getting tired of the little dishes of salad dishes that we have at every meal – hummus, cucumbers in yogurt, red cabbage, and a cold corn dish. Lunch was rice with a chicken and vegetable or meatball topping.

After lunch, Lior took us to the supposed place of the Last Supper.  It was a very plain room, but the view from the top of the house was spectacular.  Our last stop was the tomb of King David. We had not received any specific instructions about viewing the tomb, so we just walked in toward the room where the tomb was.  Suddenly an orthodox Jewish man came up to me and started talking about David and asked if I liked him.  I answered yes and then he proceeded to direct me to the area behind a partition.  It said “Women” and I thought he was showing me the Ladies Room.  He was actually pointing out that women had their own separate viewing area. I’ll blame it on a frizzled brain as the temperature that day had been in the high 90’s. Finally we were on the air-conditioned bus for the trip to the hotel for Happy Hour and some much needed rest.  As dinner was on our own tonight, most of us just ate the snacks and drank the wine that was provided by the hotel.

Friday morning we were supposed to visit the City of David.  However, there have been some protests ongoing since Rosh Hashanah and the road to the City was closed.  The City of David is located in an Arab section of town, but two Jewish settlers have bought houses there so there is a great deal of tension.  On Rosh Hashanah, someone threw a stone at a Jewish motorist and he was killed.  And the Knesset (Israeli parliament) just enacted some new security measures that have further enflamed the Muslims.  As a result, Israel deployed 1000 additional troops to the Old City and West Bank areas. 

So instead of the City of David, Lior took us to Ein Karem, a small town on the outskirts of Jerusalem.  It was the home of John the Baptist.  Our first stop was to the Church of the Visitation, the summer home of Elizabeth and Zechariah, John’s parents.  Elizabeth was also the cousin of Mary and it was to Ein Karem that she went when she found out that she was going to have a baby.  Elizabeth was also pregnant with John at the time.  This church is dedicated to Mary with a beautiful 2^nd floor that celebrated the lives of Mary and the other women of the Bible. 

After that we walked across the little town to the second church, the Church of St. John the Baptist, the winter home of Elizabeth, Zechariah, and John.  It is here that John is buried.  As we walked back to the bus, we stopped for a dish of very delicious and refreshing ice cream.

Our next stop was to the Israeli Museum where we saw a large model of Jerusalem as it would have been in the time of the Second Temple and the Dead Sea Scrolls.  The Dead Sea Scrolls were found in the Quran Caves in 1946 by a Bedouin sheepherder.  One of his sheep disappeared into a cave on the mountain and the sheepherder throw a stone down a top hole into the cave hoping to chase the sheep out.  Instead he heard the sound of a jar breaking. When he went into the cave, he found 3 scrolls that had been hidden in the jar.  Not knowing what he had found, he took them to Jerusalem where he sold them to a dealer.  The dealer then resold them in pieces to other people – since they were written on leather, some turned them into sandals.  They even made their way to New York City where the WSJ published an ad advertising them for sale as the perfect gift for an educated person.  When Israel realized what was happening, they came and bought as many as they could.  Today they have found more than 981 scrolls and they are housed in the Israeli Museum.  On our drive to the Dead Sea we will visit the Qumran caves where they were found.

After the museum, the bus dropped the Stevens and us off at the Old City so we could do a little shopping.  We did not notice any increased security and spent about 1 ½ hours in the Muslim marketplace inside the city.  At the shop where we bought some things we talked at some length to the owner, an Arab Muslin, about the political situation.  Then we exited the Damascus Gate and took the Light Rail home to our hotel.  A kind gentlemen noticed we were having troubling trying to decipher the Light Rail sign so he told us which train to take and what stop to get off.  As Lior said, we had another little discovery in Jerusalem.

Tonight Lior took us to a local restaurant, Focaccia Bar, for dinner.  Since it was the beginning of the Jewish Sabbath, not many places were open.  This restaurant was Italian – we started out with delicious focaccia, followed by Greek salad and pasta. It was very good and also very crowded.  When we left there were about 60 people waiting for tables.  The Israelis eat late (about 9 PM) and since this was one of the few restaurants open, they had little choice but to wait.

Our first event on Saturday was a talk by a Palestinian man (he was actually a tour guide that works for OAT).  He gave us his perspective on the Israeli-Palestine conflict.  He is not bitter, but he is frustrated that he is treated as a second class citizen.  He, along with most Palestinians, want to be able to own property, work, and live in a secure environment.  He has no objections to allowing the Jewish people to pray at Temple Mount and his preferred solution would be a one-state solution as long as everybody (Jews and Palestinians) were treated equally.  However he does not see any changes to the status quo for about 150 years.  Most Palestinians living in Israel are not radical, like the Hamas in the Gaza Strip.  Yes, there are protests that break out periodically between the two nationalities, but for the most part, many have lived together as neighbors.  Many Palestinians living in Israel have Israeli passports and are considered Israeli citizens.

Following his talk and a question and answer period, we visited The Church of All Nations, also known as the Church or Basilica of the Agony. It is a Roman Catholic Church located on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem, next to the Garden of Gethsemane and enshrines a section of bedrock where Jesus is said to have prayed before his arrest.  In the garden of Gethsemane where Jesus prayed and his disciples slept is the oldest olive tree grove in Israel - almost 2,000 years old.  Also found on the Mount of Olives is a church in the shape of a tear-drop.  This commemorates the place where Jesus first looked down upon the Second Temple.  The oldest Jewish Cemetery, with graves dating back to the 1^st Temple time, is also located on the Mount of Olives.

We then left on an optional tour to Bethlehem, a city now controlled by the Palestinians.  Bethlehem in Hebrew means House of Bread while in Arabic it means House of Meat.  After we crossed through the security checkpoint, we picked up our Palestian guide who took us first to the Shepherd’s fields in Beit Sohour.  We had no problem passing through the security checkpoints.  First, we are on a tour bus and our driver, Ally, is a Druze, and when the guards asked who we were, and Ally replied “Americans” he just waved us through.

At the Shepard’s Fields, we first viewed the caves that the shepherds lived in.  Next we went to an observation deck to see the fields where the shepherds were tending their sheep when the angel of the Lord came to them to tell them a King had been born in Bethlehem.  Today, there are not a lot of fields left – most of the land is now covered with homes and buildings.

We ate lunch at a small restaurant near the fields where you could have a falafel (pita bread with chickpeas) or a gyro with chicken and vegetables.  We had the gyro which was quite good.

After lunch our tour continued to the Church of the Nativity.  The Church was built over a grotto where Mary is believed to have given birth to Jesus.  It was built in 327 AD by Helena, mother of Constantine.  As we approached the church, the bells started to ring.  Hopefully, a good omen.  We were able to go down into the grotto area and view the believed site of the birth as well as where the manger was.  Today there are three churches located within the Church of the Nativity – an Armenian Church, a Greek Orthodox, and a Roman Catholic Church.  Manger Square is the paved area outside the church where people gather to celebrate Christmas Eve.

As we were leaving Bethlehem, Lior told us about a new museum, Friends of Zion, which had just opened near our hotel.  It told the story of the many non-Jews (the Righteous Among the Nations) who risked their lives during the Holocaust to save Jews from extermination by the Nazis. It is a very high-tech museum with a lot of interaction with the viewers.  We all really enjoyed it and hope that OAT will include it in their tour curriculum. 

Tonight was another night on our own and Bill was really hungry (almost paranoid) about having a hamburger.  One of the couples had been to a restaurant right across the street from the hotel called Zuni.  So 9 of us went there.  It was not a kosher restaurant so we were able to order a bacon cheeseburger (a kosher restaurant does not mix beef with dairy nor do they serve pork). It was a very good meal – just like in the States.

Sunday was our last day in Jerusalem and by far the most heart-wrenching.  We visited the Yad Vashem or Holocaust Museum.  Established in 1953, Yad Vashem is located on the western slope of Mount Herzl on the Mount of Remembrance in Jerusalem.  The Museum honors those individuals recognized by Israel as Righteous Among the Nations by planting carob trees in their names in the Garden of the Righteous Among the Nations.  The Carob Tree was chosen because it takes 7 years to bear fruit – it is not designed for this generation but for future generations to remember.  It was very sad reading the individual stories of the victims and survivors.  But the saddest part was the children’s museum.  It was totally dark (you had to hold on to a railing as you walked through).  There were thousands of points of lights (only three candles but many mirrors that reflected the points of lights) and a voice that continuously read the names of all the children (that have been identified) that had been killed – 1,500,000!

After the viewing the museum we went into a classroom where we were introduced to a woman who had survived the holocaust by being taken in by a Christian woman in France.  The woman had lived with her parents in Lyon France before WWII, but when it became apparent that Hitler was going to invade France, her parents sent her to live (with a fraudulent Christian baptismal certificate) with a Christian woman who lived on a farm in the mountains of France.  She lived with this family for three years until France was liberated.  She said that she has always maintained a close relationship with this family.  Once France was liberated, she returned to her parents who had both survived the holocaust.  The woman who took her in is included in the list of people called “the Righteous Among the Nations” and our speaker said she was honored to take part in a ceremony honoring these non-Jews.  After graduating from high school, this woman married an Israeli and traveled to Israel where she has raised her family and today (at 83) works as a volunteer at the Yad Vashem Museum.

After the Yad Vashem, we were finally able to visit the City of David.  The protests had died down and the road was once again open.  Today there are only ruins of a small part of the city that are currently under excavation.  We were able to view what archaeologists think was the King David’s palace.

In the evening we had a home-hosted dinner at an Ultra-Orthodox Jewish home.  While we were eating, one man spoke about what it meant to be an Ultra-Orthodox Jew.  Many of the men spend their days studying the Torah and the Talmud while the wives work.  (The Oral Law (Talmud) is a legal commentary on the Torah, explaining how its commandments are to be carried out. Common sense suggests that some sort of oral tradition was always needed to accompany the Written Law, because the Torah alone, even with its 613 commandments, is an insufficient guide to Jewish life.) The Ultra-Orthodox Jews also strictly observe the laws of the Sabbath – they do not do anything that is work.  This includes not turning on a light switch, driving a car, using any electronic gadgets, or cooking – the day is spent relaxing with their families. The women prepare the meals for the Sabbath several days before and put them on an electric hot plate before the Sabbath so that they will cook.  Any light that they think they will need, they turn on before the Sabbath.  The couple whose house we visited talked to us about raising the family.  Children are separated by sexes at age 3, and except for family gatherings the children do not have contact with the opposite sex.  Marriages are arranged by a match-maker who receives about $1,000 for a successful match (shades of Fiddler on the Roof).  The husband and wife seem happy with their lives.  Both work outside the home – he is a lawyer and she is a nurse.  They have 3 daughters, 5, 3, and a new-born.  It was a very enlightening and enjoyable evening.

Our time in Jerusalem was very interesting.  As I said earlier it is a very complicated city (a word our guide Lior used many times when talking about Jerusalem).  There are no easy solutions to their problems – one state vs two states.  It is going to take a lot of compromise on both sides and it probably will not happen for several generations to come.  The thing that we found amazing (and hopeful) was that most of the average Jewish and Muslim people do get along, and both want the same things – security, the right to own land, and to live peacefully.  Unfortunately, we only hear about the radicals, the 1-2% of the population that want nothing but to disrupt the peace and security.