February 21st, Saturday Chapel, The Western Wall, Qumran, The Dead Sea, Monastery 3rd Rainbow

Saturday February 21st: Kailo's 2nd Birthday and my Mother's Birthday (1920-2003)

The clouds are rolling in.

After another breakfast buffet, we met in the Chapel for Morning Prayer. We sat at the front this time so that I could hear. After the service, I sat quietly and the  floodgates were opened as I brought my disappointment to God. Chantal read a scripture and I felt it was for me.

A very pretty chapel at Notre Dame.

After chapel we decided to go into Old Jerusalem with Prof. Glen Taylor and Veronica. Others were going to the shopping mall close by. We again entered the Jaffa Gate. Our first stop was at the Tower of David, but there was an entrance fee and our time was short so we decided not to visit the museum there.

Veronica had not been to the Western Wall, so that was our goal. We went via the Armenian Quarter.

Entering the Armenian Quarter.

We went through Zion Gate. Note the bricks on the roadway. They are slanted so that cart wheels do not get stuck in the grooves. We actually watched a car go through this gate. One must make a 90 degree turn to exit.

Parking in Jerusalem is interesting! The worst was in Nazareth where they were parked on cross walks and our bus had to get around them.

This view shows the dome of the El-Aqsa Mosque on the upper left the Triple and Double Gates below and the Mount of Olives with the Jewish cemetery in the distance.

Back at the Western Wall for the third time. The snow is almost gone.

We made our way back to our hotel and had a lovely lunch with Sarah, Kristin, Joey and Kayi. They make great pizza. Thankfully the bus was late because of all the people coming into Jerusalem to see the snow. That gave us time to eat! On the bus by 1:15 and on our way. Partly cloudy out.

It was a lovely drive out into the countryside. I still cannot get over all the rocks! After I got home I read an article that said that when God was creating the earth He had all the rocks in a bag and the bag sprang a lead over Israel. :)

And then the country side becomes more desolate.

In summer these hills would be totally brown. We passed several flocks of sheep, but I was too slow with my camera.

Finally we are back to Qumran, which we would have seen on the Tuesday if our bus had not broken down. Our guide Dr. Stephen Notley explains the community life of the Essenes which inhabited this site from 150 B.C. to 68 A.D. They did not use community dishes, each person had their own, hence many bowls etc. were found.

The Essene's were very concerned with ritual purity and bathed often daily in these ritual baths; before eating, before copying scrolls and after working.

This next picture is cave number 4. There are eleven caves that have been discovered which contained many manuscripts. A shepherd boy found the scrolls which were stored in clay containers or jars when he threw a stone into a cave and heard the jar break. That was in 1947. More caves and scrolls were discovered up until 1956. Among the scrolls are 19 copies of the Book of Isaiah, 25 copies of Deuteronomy and 30 copies of the Psalms.

Now on to the Dead Sea! It is 3:30pm. I am not too sure about this, but have decided that it is something that I must do at least once in my life.

It was quite the experience. Very mucky and slippery, but the water was surprisingly warm. The flip flops were useless, better to have bare feet.

 I float all too well so I was not overly impressed and all the cautions about not getting water in your mouth or eyes took some of the fun away. Give me Lake Simcoe any time!

Paul entering the water.

Paul floating left of centre with his shoes on.

The others seemed to have a great time. Cold showers to rinse the muck off and then back to the change rooms to shower.

From here we went on a very winding trip to view St. George's Monastery in the Judean desert. From this location we also saw our third rainbow of the trip! Look on the right hand side of the picture to see the left hand part.

This may be the cleft where Elijah hid and was fed by ravens. There is a cave inside the monastery. This is on the old road from Jerusalem to Jericho.

We were approached by Bedouin children with their father selling bracelets. "One dollar, one dollar!" 

Back to our hotel in Jerusalem. Another great dinner.

Prof. Marion Taylor gave a presentation about women pilgrims.

The book is in Google books and I hope to read it. I think it is called A Journey to Jerusalem.

Back to the fourth floor for wine and drinks for Paul. I think this was the evening that I decided I needed to blog and sleep! Not sure that was the better choice!

Sunday Feb 22 The Temple Mount, St. George's and the Israel Museum

Blogging again at 5 am. Just posting a few highlights of Sunday February 22, 2015.
We had options. After the Temple Mount which was finally open as we had tried twice before, people could choose Yad Vashem the Holocaust museum or a church service at St. George's. We did the latter.

Another morning view from our room. It looks like a beautiful day. Cool but clear.

After breakfast we gather at 7:50am to walk to the Temple Mount. We enter the Damascus Gate and follow the Damascus Gate Road. This is a shot of the gate. Note the ramp on the road with a vehicle coming.

We encounter another garbage truck. Amazing how they get around the city. People, trucks and cars in such tight quarters.

On our walk Steve points out a secondary use of a sarcophagus, part of a water fountain.

To go on the Temple Mount or to the Western Wall you must first pass through security.

We waited in line for quite a while to go up the ramp. There were police at various locations.

We entered through the Morocco Gate.

More security at the gate.

 I was surprised to see trees on the Temple Mount. I was expecting a barren expanse.

This picture shows them cleaning up after damage caused by the snow storm. Most of the snow is gone today. 

And cats! There are stray cats all over Jerusalem. 

 

We talked about the Eastern Gate which has been sealed. It is the gate that the Messiah is supposed to enter when he comes again. There is also a Muslim cemetery on the opposite side. To an Orthodox Jew a cemetery would be unclean. One wonders at the ambiguity of keeping someone out that you don't believe in.

 

The Dome of the Rock.

 

After the Temple Mount some of us made our way to St. George's Anglican Church.

 

The service was in both Arabic and English. It was a little hard to follow and at times both languages were being spoken in the liturgy. The priest gave his Lenten sermon on fasting, first in English and then in Arabic.

 

It was a very pretty church with a baptismal pool.

 

 

After the service we hoped to see the Garden Tomb, but it was closed on Sundays.

 

After another nice lunch at our hotel, I tried the humus and Paul had onion soup and French fries with our usual Israeli beer, several of us boarded the bus and Shimshon drove us to the Israel Museum. I enjoyed the model of Jerusalem in the Second Temple Period, 66 A.D. It covers nearly one acre on a scale of 1:50.

 

 

One other highlight of the museum was the Shrine of the Book, home to the Dead Sea Scrolls and other ancient manuscripts of the Hebrew Bible. We could have spent many more hours at the museum, but it closed at 4pm.

 

Paul and I were hoping to get some shopping done in old Jerusalem before dinner. We wound our way through the city. One destination was closed, but we were able to get to Zak's and Ali Baba's for souvenirs for the family.

 

This was our last day with those on tour with us. Tomorrow they would depart for home and we would be on our way to Tel Aviv.

 

After dinner we gathered in the meeting room and everyone was given an opportunity to share highlights of their journey. "Notley" and "Slacker" had a memorable exchange! :)

So sad to see this group disperse and yet so thankful for the blessing of sharing our trip with them.

February 19 Mount of Olives, Via Dolorosa and Bethlehem

I've gotten out of sinc with my blog. So I will try to recall our journey of the 19th this Sunday morning at my usual 5am blog time.

The day began with the sun shining and clouds rolling in. It would continue throughout the day alternating sunshine and rain.

We boarded the bus and Shimshon our driver took us to the Mount of Olives. 

It is very windy and cool, but our spirits are high and the adventure continues.

We heard a reading from Genesis chapter 9 where God made a covenant with Noah and his descendants to never send another flood and set a rainbow in the sky as a sign of the covenant. As we looked over Jerusalem there was a rainbow in the sky.

We visited  a small chapel in the shape of a teardrop signifying Jesus weeping over Jerusalem because they would not listen.

I thought Erika would like this sign. The Croatians donated this garden of olive trees. 

Some of these trees are 1500 years old.

This garden is located next to the Basilica of the Agony. It was beautiful inside. The windows are made of alabaster so it is quite dark.

Luke 19:41-42 As Jesus came near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, 'If you, even you, had only recognized the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.'

We were also reminded of Psalm 22 The agony of Jesus and God's command to pray for the peace of Jerusalem. 

We continued our walk down the route of Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem. I will never picture it the same after walking here.

I lit a candle for our family, the one on the far left.

This is in St. Anne's Church. Anne, the mother of Mary. The acoustics were lovely and again we were able to sing. Another group did also.

The Tomb with a long line up.

One of the chapels.

We entered the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. This church was built on the location of Golgotha where Jesus was crucified and Joseph of Arimathea's tomb where Jesus was buried. According to our guide this location is very probably the true location.

We went from there to lunch at the Fountain Restaurant. 46 of us in two little upstairs rooms. We had swarma and coffee. It was fun.

Shawarma!

The little window by the Coke sign is where we were sitting.

Next a bus ride to Bethlehem. 

We toured the Church of the Nativity with our Palestinian guide. She did a great job and preached a 

good sermon about reading God's Word and following Christ in our lives.

The Catholic section. 

We had the lovely experience of singing O Come All Ye Faithful  in the cave where Jesus was said to have been born.

We stopped at a store to purchase souvenirs. The owner gave his testimony.

A run to the bus in the rain and back to the hotel for dinner. Shimshon bought us a treat for dessert, some baklava. Very yummy.