Thursday - Temple Mount, Wailing Wall, Via Dolorosa, Shrine of the Book, Celebrating Communion

In yesterday's blog posting, I failed to mention that I saw my first machine gun yesterday. We had lunch in Bethlehem, which is Palestinian territory. Leaving Israeli territory and going into Palestinian territory isn't a problem but coming back into Israel creates serious scrutiny by the Israelis. Two machine-gun-toting Israeli soldiers came on our bus. One was a young woman - rather attractive. Someone asked her if she spoke English. She said "Of course. I grew up in Colorado and my brother lives in Dallas."

Today is Thursday, October 28 and was the highlight of our pilgrimage so far. One thing we've learned is you have to be flexible. Our guide, Dr. Saleem Ateek, is a psychotherapist from Dallas who grew up in Israel and who has well-connected family still here. He arranges all our tours, hotels, restaurants for meals, and so on. Today was a busy day since several of our plans had to be rescheduled.

First up was a walk from our hotel through the Jewish Quarter, the Muslim Quarter, and the Christian Quarter of the Old City. We went to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre where the events commemorated in the Twelve Stations of the Cross occurred. Most scholars believe that the church is built on the site of the actual crucifixion and the site of Jesus' tomb. We got to touch the rock believed to be the site of the crucifixion.

We saw Mount Zion (Jewish Quarter) where the elite lived in Herod's time. In fact, he built his rich friends their own bridge to get from their homes into the Temple. There is a 24-foot wide section of the original wall left. Very impressive.

We saw the Wailing Wall (or as the Jews call it, the Western Wall). I put the prayers my Trinity members had written into the wall as we stood alongside the various sects of Jewish men.

Then we entered the Temple Mount. This has the familiar golden dome Moslem building (the Dome of the Rock)  and the entire Mount is the source of conflict between Israelis and Moslems. Moslems believe that Abraham was told to sacrifice his son, Ishmael, on the site of the Dome of the Rock. Jews (and we Christians) believe that it's the site where God told Abraham to sacrifice his son, Isaac. Can you understand why there might be some controversy here? In any event, the second Temple was destroyed by the Romans paving the way for the Moslems to build the Al Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock on what is considered Jewish holy ground.

We Christians weren't allowed to go into the Dome of the Rock or the mosque. In fact, we were warned not to carry our Bible onto the Temple Mount and certainly not to hug or hold hands. The Moslems do not allow it around their facilities.

At this point, our guide, who is an Arab Christian, said that we in the United States are lied to by our media (no surprise there!). He said we should only take about 1 percent of the reports of violence seriously in the Temple Mount area.

From there, we went to the Pool of Bethesda where Jesus healed a man crippled from birth. Only problem was, it was on a Saturday (the Sabbath) and the healing sorta got Jesus in some hot water with the religious authorities. The pool was formed when King Solomon quarried the site for rocks to build the Temple. It's some 40-feet deep and its waters were thought to have healing properties.

Then on to the Crusader Church (also known as St. Anne's) where it's believed that Mary was born - in a cave under the church. Caves were where many were born in those days because you could keep wild animals out.

The Antonia Fortress, named for Herod's best friend, Mark Anthony, was a huge structure from where Herod could keep an eye on much of the Old City including the Temple area. He needed to keep his eye on things because he suffered from, among other things, paranoia. This is where Jesus was tried and flogged before being taken to Caiphas, the High Priest.

Then the Via Dolorosa which, very frankly, was very disappointing. Its path is through 12-foot-wide strip surrounded by shops the whole way - some covered and underground. It was believed to be the same way two thousand years ago when Jesus carried His cross along its path leading outside the city walls to Golgotha.

Our next-to-last stop was the famous Israel Museum - the Shrine of the Book. It features the original text of Isaiah  (the Isaiah Scroll) - although it's hidden away for security. The center of the famous building is a round copy of an accurate reproduction as well as original pieces of some of the documents found in the caves in Qumran. Goat herders found (in the late 1940s) the documents well-preserved in clay jars in caves. All the Old Testament books But only the book of Isaiah is totally intact and complete.

Last, we went to the house of Caiphas where a church has been built over it - St. Peter Gallicante (the Rooster). This is where I celebrated Communion. Beautiful church built over a series of caves where prisoners were kept - including Jesus after his meeting with Pontius Pilate and before he was led away to His crucifixion. In fact, we walked on the original roadway Jesus would have walked. It's a Roman road built connecting the City of David with Mount Zion, where Caiphas' house is and where Jesus met with the disciples in the upper room and celebrated the Last Supper.

Tomorrow we're off to the Dead Sea and then to Masada where 960 Jews committed suicide in lieu of allowing the Romans to capture, torture, and then kill them. Masada is a flat plateau on top of a mountain. It's a story reminiscent of the Alamo story. In fact, all Israeli soldiers learn a phrase - "Never another Masada." Very inspiring.

Sorry, I can't get my photos to upload to the blog. I'll try again tomorrow (Friday).