A big day, Thursday

Another early start in a futile attempt to avoid the crowds.  We drove to Ein Kerem, a small town to the west of Jerusalem to the Church of Visitation.  It was here that Mary visited Elizabeth, soon to be, in old age, the mother of John the Baptist. The story is recounted in Luke, Chapter 1. 

Church of the Visitation

Mary's Well in the Church

Statue of Mary and Elizabeth

From Ein Kerem, we went to the Israel Museum where there is a very large and magnificent 1:50 scale model of Jerusalem in the late Second Temple period.  Our guide gave us a very interesting talk pointing out relevant areas on the model.  This proved invaluable in our visit to the Old City.

Model of the Old City

 While there, we also visited the Shrine of the Book where many elements and segments of the Dead Sea Scrolls are kept.  The shrine is beautifully developed and tells the story of the discovery of the scrolls at Qumran which we are scheduled to visit on Saturday. The Shrine of the Book is built to symbolize the scroll of the War of the Sons of Light Against the Sons of Darkness - The shrine is built as a white dome symbolizing the Sons of Light, and a black basalt wall - symbolizing the Sons of Darkness.

Shrine of the Book

As if all this was not sufficient for the day, if not for a week, time did not allow us that luxury and we moved on to Yad Vashem. As the Jewish people’s living memorial to the Holocaust, Yad Vashem safeguards the memory of the past and imparts its meaning for future generations. Established in 1953, as the world centre for documentation, research, education and commemoration of the Holocaust, Yad Vashem is today a dynamic and vital place of intergenerational and international encounter.

Holocaust Martyrs

 It is a place that is both uplifting and depressing.  The rooms which tell the story of the Holocaust often leave people in tears.  There is a shrine in which the names of the identified Holocaust victims are memorialised.  At the moment, more than 4,000,000 have been identified and Yad Vashem hopes to add another million before closing the project.

Hall of Names

We found the garden dedicated to the "Righteous among Nations," non-Jews who put their lives at risk to help rescue Jews during those terrible years, one of the most inspiring places there.

After a quiet and reflective lunch following such an emotional experience we headed to the West Bank and Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus. Bethlehem's main "business" appears to be tourism.  If you are not involved in tourism, you might well be one of the thousands who every day cross over into Israel to work.  It is an interesting anomaly that Palestinians can cross into Israel, but Israelis cannot cross into the Palestinian Territory.  Our guide could not accompany us as the local government does not allow Israelis into this "delicate" territory.  This was emphasized today since Abbas was about to address the United Nations and Israel generally is on high alert.  In the words of our guide, Aharon, "these are interesting times."

We were not allowed to take pictures of the check-point where delays can be long and difficult.  Being Jewish, I have to say I found the whole process of entering the territories left me somewhat uneasy.  However, our guide had made arrangements for us to be met by a local guide, a devout Christian which, as far as we were concerned, was the better option! There is one word to describe Bethlehem, "tacky."  It is certainly not the image portrayed on your traditional Christmas Card.

Jerusalem Cross

Towering over the Church of the Nativity is the Jerusalem Cross.  The big cross is Jerusalem and the 4 small crosses represent Germany, Italy, Spain and England (this makes it the "Crusaders" cross).  Alternatively the large cross is Jesus and the smaller crosses represent the four gospels.

By the way, if you are searching for really tacky postcards, Virginia found one with a picture of the Nativity Grotto superimposed with a Santa and his reindeer.  Beat that, if you can.  Manger Square and the Church of the Nativity are beautiful but money seems to change hands in order to get down into the actual grotto of the Nativity.

Low entrance to the Church of the Nativity

 Of course the guide had his own agenda which was to take us to his souvenir shop, which he runs partly to help the Christian community.  Virginia was happy to spend a few shekels here since the restrooms were exceptionally clean and we were immediately given a bottle of iced water (very welcome with the temperature in the high 30s) and we were then offered soft drink, mint tea and or wine.  This is salesmanship in anyone's language.  And it worked!  Numerous purchases of local jewellery as well as souvenirs were made.

Back through the gate where we were delayed for about thirty minutes and I think we all heaved a sigh of relief once we were back in the minibus.

After returning to the hotel and having dinner,  a group of us went on a guided walk of the Old City of Jerusalem. 

The Walls of the Old City at Night

The high point was a visit to the Western Wall of the Temple known colloquially as the "Wailing Wall." Located at the foot of the western side of the Temple Mount, it is a remnant of the ancient wall that surrounded the Jewish Temple's courtyard, and is one of the most sacred sites in Judaism outside of the Temple Mount itself.

At the Temple Wall

Orthodox Jews praying at the Wall

This was a big day! And tomorrow promises to be even bigger.