Mt of Olives
Today was a day spent seeing the sites in Jerusalem. We have more to do tomorrow but today was very special as we went to so many places we have read about and envisioned all our lives. I have to say, some places are hard to envision because of the modern day things that have been built, but Hillel is doing a great job of helping us to see the way it would have looked when Jesus was here. We started off by going up to the Mt of Olives and having our devotional there, overlooking Jerusalem. It was actually chilly when we sat there. The entire day was sunny and hot except that there was a cool breeze blowing that made it wonderful when we were in the shade or could take advantage of it. Up on the Mt of Olives, there was the tourist camel to ride for those who had not had that fabulous experience before. Since we had done it so elequently in Egypt, we passed on that one. From the Mt of Olives, we walked down into the Jewish cemetary and overlooked the old city. We walked on down to the Garden of Gethsemane and I think for me, this was the place that I could really picture Jesus there. The way we walked down from the Mt of Olives was the way that Jesus would have come in from Bethany. The garden of Gethsemane was beautiful and the olive trees so craggy and unique. We went from there over to the Upper Room. We had our devotional for that and our communion, which had been consecrated by Brother Charles before we left home, in one of the shady spots right outside the upper room since the crowds were so big today. They are working on restoring the Upper Room so it had workers in there and I actually felt like the room off the Upper Room was more like I would have envisioned it to be. This is one of those places that we can only envision if this is the place-but it makes it more real and makes my limited mind be able to wrap around it. We visited King David's tomb which is next to the Upper room and in the Jewish tradition, the women had to go on one side of a wall to see it and the men on the other.
Next we went to lunch and a shopping jaunt. This place seemed very high to me compared to the others we had been to. The lunches are preset, but we pay for them as the breakfast and the dinner are included. Today we just ate some peanut butter crackers we had brought. Much of the food has had garlic or onion so it has made it more difficult for me. There are not the choices to get a sandwich or order off a menu. But for large groups, it is fast and easy and makes perfect sense.
After lunch, we headed to the Western Wall or wailing wall. We all had our prayers written before we got there. Again, there was the lady's side and the men's side. The men's side is much bigger than the lady's side and we had to wait our turn and wedge in to get a chance to place our prayers and pray. But it was a special feeling to visit there and be able to take part in this tradition. From there, we went to the South Wall where extensive renovation and archeological digging has taken place. We were able to see so much of how the town was built on level upon level. Hillel has told us that so many places we can only guess at exactly where Jesus did certain things but this place held places that he said you could be sure Jesus and his disciples had walked upon these stones. We went and sat on the teaching steps and Jesus would for sure have been there too. So these were very special to visit. Such history is everywhere here. If you dig in a parking garage or a backyard or a flower bed, you would unearth some treasure or some evidence of the centuries of life here. What a treat to experience this.
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