Day 4: Old Jerusalem Christian Quarter...

We stopped for a lunch of chicken and veggies on pita bread in the Christian Quarter.

This is actually just outside the gate that we used to exit Old Jerusalem. I thought the No Tractor signs were pretty funny; we didn’t see any tractors, so perhaps the signs worked. Even funnier was a sign for a Money Changer that also did Tattoos (unfortunately, I failed to capture that).

Day 4: Old Jerusalem Muslim Quarter...

Just past the Western Wall is a passageway to the Muslim Quarter of Old Jerusalem. This quarter was very lively and colorful with shops selling everything from stuffed toys of American cartoon characters to belly dancing outfits to hookah pipes.

This quarter has the largest population with approximately 22,000 inhabitants. It was especially interesting to see the mix of religions; here you see a Jewish family in the foreground with a minaret of a mosque in the background. The Via Dolorosa, the path that Jesus walked carrying the cross to his crucifixion, starts in this quarter.

While the rest of the group stopped for a coffee, Linda and I did a little shopping. I was happy to find a reasonably priced silver pendant with Roman glass found in Israel; there is such an abundance of Roman glass shards that they have little value to archaeologists, but are lovely in jewelry.

Day 4: The Western Wall...

The most holy site in Judaism is the Temple Mount, the site of the First and Second Temple (destroyed in 586 BC and 70 AD, respectively). All that remains of the Temple Mount is this wall, known as the Western Wall or Wailing Wall. This plaza serves as an open-air synagogue. Men and women are separated while worshipping. Ironically, this sacred site stands directly in the shadow of one of Islam’s most holy sites.

To enter next to the plaza, we encountered our first security check since leaving Holland; surprisingly, it didn’t even seem like the machines were turned on. It is a popular practice to place prayer notes in the cracks of the Wall; over one million notes are placed each year and twice a year they are removed and buried in the cemetery on the Mount of Olives. I opted not to leave a note in the Wall as it would have seemed too contrived, but Linda did (she was raised Protestant, but converted to Judiasm several years after marrying Al).

Day 4: Old Jerusalem Jewish Quarter...

The Hurva Synagogue from 1864 was reduced to rubble in 1948.
The renovated synagogue opened in 2010.

Benny dropped us off near the Zion Gate, which is pockmarked from bullet holes. Built in 1540, it is one of the seven open gates to Old Jerusalem. We first passed through the small Armenian Quarter;  other than a few pottery shops, it is closed to tourists. Then we entered the Jewish Quarter, where everything was closed due to the Sabbath. This area was completely devastated when taken over by Jordan in 1948 with all but 1 of the 53 houses of worship destroyed. It  was completely rebuilt after Israel regained control in 1967 and now houses around 2,300 people. Interestingly, while some mosques were destroyed, there are still several within this quarter as you can see in the photo above.

Day 4: Mount of Olives...

The Mount of Olives was named for the olive groves that once covered the slopes of this mountain range of three peaks (the tallest at 2,683 feet). For over 2,500 years, this area has been used as a Jewish cemetery with the belief that when the Messiah comes, the resurrection of the dead will begin here. Today there is an estimated 150,000 graves. Orthodox Jews are never cremated; here they are still buried without a coffin in a cement tomb covered by a shroud. Rather than flowers, small stones are placed on the gravestone to show that someone has visited the grave.

We walked down the dramatic hill to the Church of All Nations where we saw 1,500-year-old olive trees. The modern church, built on the foundation of two earlier churches, includes a section of rock where Jesus is said to have prayed before his arrest. After our visit, Batya called Benny to pick us up; he did one of his famous moves by whipping the mini-bus past the crowds, throwing open the door and whisking us off like rock stars.

Israel Day 4: First Views of Jerusalem...

Our first stop after breakfast was at an overlook for our first glimpse of Jerusalem, Israel’s capital (although not internationally recognized as such) with a population of 780,000. Until 1860, the city did not extend beyond the city walls shown in the center of this photo. The sun was nice to come out for a few minutes to make the Dome of the Rock’s (marking where Mohammed ascended to heaven) gold top shine. 

East Jerusalem, which is 57% Muslim and 43% Jewish

Mount of Olives

Day 3: The Haunted Elevator...

We arrived at our hotel in Jerusalem just as the Sabbath was starting on Friday at sunset. We learned that it is common for some Jewish families to spend the Sabbath at a hotel so it is easy for them to relax and not do any work. Both hotels served only kosher meals: dairy and eggs at breakfast with no meat other than herring, and meat with no dairy at dinner. I was impressed with the large selection of vegetables and salads each day except Saturday, which had a limited menu during the Sabbath. 

Little did I know that the timing of our arrival would impact us in a funny way. When Al, Andrea and I got into the elevator, I pushed for the 4th floor, but nothing happened. Then I pushed the close doors button and we went down to the basement. I pushed the 4th floor again and we went to the 6th floor. Al then confessed he was claustrophobic; he wanted to get out, but we convinced him to stay. Linda, Marijke and Batya were waiting and laughing when we finally arrived at the 4th floor. We thought the elevator was haunted, but turns out we’d gotten into the “Sabbath Elevator” and it had been pre-programmed to stop at every floor so passengers could ride it without having to do the work of pushing buttons.