I apologize for not blogging for the past couple of days – the internet service at our hotel in Jerusalem was terrible. Isn’t it ironic that I would have better internet service at a kibbutz in the Galilee area than I did in Jerusalem?
Anyway, I have two more blog posts for you – for Wednesday and Thursday in Jerusalem (we traveled all day on Friday). Here is the blog for Wednesday:
We started the day early – leaving the hotel at 8:30 a.m. Our first stop was in the Muslim quarter of the Old City, where we saw the ruins of the Pools of Bethesda. Here, according to tradition, many of the sick in Jerusalem waited near the pools so that they could be healed. The sick would wait until the pools would be “stirred” by means of a periodic angelic visitation (Scholars are uncertain as to whether this stirring was done by angels of God or angels of satan). Jesus performed a documented miracle here when He healed a man who had been lame for 38 years – John 5:1-16. Jesus performed this miracle on the Sabbath, which led to controversy with certain Jewish leaders of the time. Interestingly, there is a church at this site, and we had the chance to go in and sing a few songs – the acoustics were incredible, making us sound really good! It was a highlight for sure.
Next, we walked through the Muslim quarter on the Via Dolorosa, which means “way of sorrow”. This is a path that Jesus took from Pontius Pilate’s place of judgment to the place of Jesus’ Crucifixion. You would think that this would be a somber area where visitors could take their time and really soak in the experience of what we as Christians consider the most important part of our faith. Well, if this is what you think, you are utterly wrong! Since the Via Dolorosa is in the Muslim quarter, the path is filled with Arab shops, and the shops have extremely pushy and irreverent sales people. In addition, the path is crowded with people from all walks of life. The feeling is far from serene – it is irritating, frustrating, disconcerting, uneasy, unsettling, and other adjectives that I will not share with you. Honestly, the Muslim quarter has a heaviness about it – I really felt a spirit of darkness here.
Regardless, we made our way through all of the “stations” – locations along the path where Theologians believe specific things happened while Jesus carried the Cross to Golgotha. The path ends at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. The site is venerated as Golgatha (the Hill of Calvary), where Jesus was crucified and is said to also contain the place where Jesus was buried (the sepulcher). The church has been an important Christian destination since at least the 4th century, as the purported site of the resurrection of Jesus. Control of the church, itself, is shared between several Christian churches and secular entities in complicated arrangements essentially unchanged for centuries. The church is home to Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, and Roman Catholicism.
After lunch, we walked through the Jewish quarter to the Western Wall. Almost instantly when we walked into the Jewish quarter, I felt more calm and the unsettled feeling of the Muslim quarter went away – very interesting! We spent some time praying at the Wall, and then we went through the Rabbi’s Tunnel – underneath the surface of the Western Wall is the incredible Western retaining wall of the Herodian Temple which was completed in about 517B.C. (Herod rebuilt Solomon’s Temple – Solomon’s Temple was built around 957 B.C. and was destroyed around 587 B.C.).
Unfortunately, we were unable to go to the Temple Mount due to August being the month of Ramadan for the Muslim faith (who control the Temple Mount). Here is what I learned about Ramadan – More than a billion Muslims around the world abstain from eating, drinking, smoking, and sex from dawn to sunset during the month of Ramadan. Fasting is one of the Five Pillars of the religion of Islam and one of the highest forms of Islamic worship. Abstinence from earthly pleasures and curbing evil intentions and desires is regarded as an act of obedience and submission to Allah as well as an atonement for sins, errors, and mistakes. Called Ramadan (or Ramazan), Muslims fast during this month from the moment when it first starts to get light until sunset. Just after breaking the fast, and before dinner, Muslims offer the fourth of the five daily prayers, which is called the Maghrib prayer. After dinner, Muslims go to their Mosques (which I will discuss in the next paragraph) to offer the Isha prayer, which is the last of the five daily prayers. The day ends with a special voluntary prayer, the Taraweeh, offered by the congregation reciting the Qur’an, the holy book of Islam.
After dinner (around 8:00 p.m.), a subset of our group, desiring a little adventure, decided to go to the Western Wall again, at night. So, we walked from our hotel toward the Damascus Gate of the Old City (our hotel was located just a few blocks from the Damascus Gate). The quickest way to the Western Wall was through the Damascus Gate which caused us to walk through the Muslim quarter (not my favorite place to begin with, and now we had to walk through it at night – during Ramadan!). Not that we would stand out – but as we walked through, I felt like the only fire hydrant at a dog show (if you know what I mean!). I was extremely relieved to make it to the Jewish quarter with Melinda, Amanda, and Shannon stuck to me like glue. Again, I felt relief immediately as we entered the Jewish quarter near the Western Wall. After spending time in prayer at the Wall, we decided to head back to our hotel. As we headed back toward the Damascus Gate, literally a flood of Muslims began to come at us through the narrow streets of the Muslim quarter of the Old City! We did not know it, but we had left the Western Wall at the exact time that the Muslims were going to their Mosque on the Temple Mount (as I discussed in the last paragraph, “to offer the Isha prayer, which is the last of the five daily prayers” during Ramadan). To say that we were nervous would be the understatement of the year! We walked for 15 minutes in single file through this flood of thousands of Muslims – talk about uncomfortable (I just thought that I was uncomfortable in the Muslim Quarter before this!). By the grace of God, we made it out of the Damascus Gate and back to our hotel without incident – what a relief! It took me about two hours to wind down!
Thus ended another eventful day in Israel!