The day started with a visit to an area of Jerusalem that would have been near what we know as the ‘upper room’ where Jesus and his disciples met for the last supper. No one knows where it was for sure, but the room we visit has some beautiful architecture so I like to hope it was there!
(There is also a cool little area outside of the Israel Museum that houses a 'model city'. It's a 1/50th, to scale model of what the city would have looked like around 100 AD. We oriented ourselves and then popped in for a look at the Dead Sea Scrolls.)
Israel wouldn’t be Israel without a memorial to the holocaust. Yad Vashem is a sobering and reverent museum dedicated to just that. It houses items that belonged to holocaust victims and survivors; piles of shoes, suitcases, prayer shawls, toys, furniture, etc. One building dedicated to just the children is dark with mirrored walls and little lights that look like endless stars. As you walk through it a woman’s voice reads name after name of those who were killed. The museum also displays a copy of ‘Schindler’s List’ - the names of Jews that Oscar Schindler was instrumental in saving.
We were close to Ben Yahuda at lunchtime so we forced ourselves to have another falafel. (Which doesn’t bother me but I think some people in our group are ready for a different menu.) We strolled around and found a pizza joint that was all too familiar from when we were students. Its amazing that its still there!
There is one thing that is new… There is a horrible, ugly, massive scar that cuts the hills outside of Jerusalem. There is now a 25-foot wall that is a physical symbol of the inability to share this land. The debate whether it belongs to Palestinian or Jew just cannot be rectified. We saw it as we drove south to Bethlehem along with Ramat Rachel (our student quarters) and I gasped. The rolling hills between Jerusalem and Bethlehem are no longer open either - a Jewish settlement has strategically sprung up which caused a massive flare-up in Bethlehem some years ago. It’s like they are playing a giant game of ‘RISK’.
Just for those of you reading this blog that were also BYU Jerusalem students, here is a photo of the new and improved Ramat Rachel. Our group in 1986 was the last group to stay in the kibbutz. After us, all students stayed at the new center on the top of the Mount of Olives. Ramat Rachel was not even recognizable.
We stopped for a family photo op on the hills outside Jerusalem. We call them ‘The Shepherds Fields’ because it is likely that shepherds were watching their flocks by night under the stars when angels appeared with glad tidings. Kind of a Christmas in July.
Finally, there is nothing like a Friday night at the Western Wall as the sun goes down. Hundreds and hundreds of Jews rush to the temple wall to usher in the Sabbath. There is singing, dancing, praying and crying. I managed to snap a photo of the boys before I got into trouble. They are right in the center with their kippas in place; Clark Anderson (in the yellow) Scott, Daniel, Drew, Rhett Anderson (who's current status makes this a particularly special photo) and Nick.
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