As we all know, good things must come to an end – even if you are in Jerusalem!
Once again, we started early and headed to Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial and Museum (Yad Vashem means “a place and a name”). We spent almost two hours here, and it was not near enough. This museum tells the story of the Holocaust from start to finish. As a museum, Yad Vashem has lots of items on display from this horrible era which are very interesting. However, what was most interesting to me were the stories of the Holocaust survivors. As we walked through the museum, kiosks were set up along the way with videos playing of interviews from actual survivors. They described in detail and through tears the atrocities that the Nazis had committed on them and their families. It was extremely moving and very difficult to watch. That being said, I think that everyone should go through this museum or watch a documentary on the Holocaust at least once a year – in order to remember what happened and to never let such things happen ever again!
From Yad Vashem, we went to Hezekiah’s Tunnel. Hezekiah’s Tunnel is a tunnel that was dug underneath the City of David (located just South of the Southern Wall of the Old City)before 701B.C. during the reign of Hezekiah. The tunnel is mentioned in 2Kings 20:20 in the Bible. The Bible also tells us that King Hezekiah prepared Jerusalem for an impending siege by the Assyrians, by “blocking the source of the waters of the upper Gihon, and leading them straight down on the west to the City of David” ( 2 Chronicles 32). The tunnel has been dated both by the written inscription found on its wall (Siloam Inscription), and by dating organic matter contained in the original plastering. It is one of the few intact, 8th century BC structures in the world that the public can not only visit, but enter and walk through. The tunnel, leading from the Gihon Spring to the Pool Siloam was designed as an aqueduct to provide Jerusalem with water during an impending siege by the Assyriams. The curving tunnel is 533 meters long, and by using a 30 cm (0.6‰) gradient altitude difference between each end, conveyed water along its length from the spring to the pool.
Believe it or not, many of us walked through Hezekiah’s Tunnel, including me. I found out a few things while I was walking through the still functioning aqueduct: 1) The people who chiseled this tunnel were very smart – According to the Siloam inscription, the tunnel was excavated by two teams, one starting at each end of the tunnel and then meeting in the middle – later, I found out that the difficult feat of making two teams digging from opposite ends meet far underground was accomplished by directing the two teams from above using sounds generated by hammering on the solid stone through which the tunnelers were digging; 2) The water was clean, clear, and cold; and 3) Jewish men of that day were very short – I left some skin and blood from the top of my head in Hezekiah’s Tunnel! This was one of those experiences that everyone should do once in their lifetime (and for me, once is enough!).
Next, we went through the Jaffa gate of the Old City (in the Christian quarter) and climbed stairs to the top of the Old City wall. We walked along the wall and came to a place where we stopped and individually prayed over the city of Jerusalem. It was an awesome and solemn time for me to pray for the city and its people.
Then, we went to Ben Yehuda Street which is a modern area of Jerusalem for some shopping and lunch.
We walked from Ben Yehuda Street for a few blocks to what is known as the Garden Tomb. The Garden Tomb is located just outside the Old City walls and close to the Damascus Gate, and is a rock-cut tomb considered by some to be the actual site of the burial and resurrection of Jesus, in contradistinction to the traditional site – the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre has its tomb just a few yards away from its Golgotha, corresponding with the account of John the Evangalist: “Now in the place where he was crucified there was a … new tomb” (John 19:41). However, in 1869 a number of tombs had been found near the Garden Tomb which is adjacent to a solid rock structure that resembled (a still resembles) a skull, which is the meaning of the word Golgotha, and it was concluded that one of the tombs discovered must have been the tomb of Jesus. John also specifies that Jesus’ tomb was located in a garden; consequently, an ancient wine press and cistern have been cited as evidence that the area had once been a garden, and the somewhat isolated tomb adjacent to the cistern has become identified as the Garden Tomb of Jesus. This particular tomb also has a stone groove running along the ground outside it, which could have been a slot that once housed a stone, corresponding to the Biblical account of a stone being rolled over the tomb entrance to close it.
In addition, the Garden Tomb has a different arrangement than other Jewish tombs found from the period – normally, Jewish tombs were long, not wide, with the body’s location at the end of the long tomb. The Garden Tomb is wide not long, the only tomb found from the period like this, with the location for the body to the right (once you walk in the tomb). And in the Gospel of Mark (16:5-6), it is written, “And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting at the right, wearing a white robe; and they were amazed. And he said to them, ‘Do not be amazed; you are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who has been crucified. He is risen; He is not here; behold, here is the place where they laid Him.'” Obviously, there is debate about the true location of the burial and resurrection of Jesus, but we concluded that the true location is really unimportant – the important thing is that Jesus died for us, was buried, and did rise again! With this in mind, we had a time of worship and communion in the garden of the Garden Tomb! It was a very meaningful and moving experience!
We returned to our hotel, where we cleaned up and had dinner before leaving for the airport.
At the airport, my family and I were talking about our experience in Israel. All of us agreed that the best part of our trip had been the kids’ camp – it was something that we did that had eternal significance! Then, the question was raised, “how did the trip to Israel compare to other family vacations?” Amanda, my oldest daughter, immediately said, “I think this was the best family vacation that we have ever had”! Considering that we have taken at least one vacation per year for most of her life and that she has been to some pretty phenomenal places in her life (including Tahiti, Paris, London, and Scotland to name a few), this was a bold and significant statement. The rest of my family agreed with Amanda!
After more than 24 hours, we are back in Abilene. My bed and my pillow felt awesome last night! I am glad to me home, and I am grateful that God allowed me to take my family to Israel – it was an experience of a lifetime! I am also grateful that I have an excellent team that has taken care of our business while I was gone – without them, there is no way I could have gone on a 15 day trip. To them, I say, “Toda raba!” (Thank you very much!)
Shalom and blessings to all of you!