Shaffer Family Travels

October 24- Nov 2, 2009

This mid-term break saw our family travel to Israel. We had been looking forward to it for many months. But when we finally arrived it was really hard to put our brains around the reality that we were walking where Jesus walked. We were looking at the same hills, and occupying the same space on the earth where Abraham, Isaac, King David, Herod the Great, Jesus, the apostles, and many other people mentioned in the Bible lived, walked and witnessed history unfold. The heart of all history is in Israel... and we were there.

Now, even as we traveled Jeanne realized that blogging about our travels was going to be so difficult. Scholars of the various major religions have vigorously debated the accuracy of locations and even events for seemingly thousands of years and prevailing opinions change often. So as you read our family's experiences with tidbits of explanations please take what is said with a grain of salt and feel free to comment corrections or email. The volume of information and sights that we took in was absolutely incredible but was also truly overwhelming. This will be by far the longest blog we have published (it also was our longest trip!), but its length does represent this trips significance on all of us.

Upon our arrival in Tel Aviv we successfully navigated through the dark, bumpy roads. Our destination was a cabin in a settlement outside of Tiberias. Thankfully we had a sat-nav (that arrived just in time) because the signs in Israel aren't the best.

In the dark we could see that the topography of the area was much different than we first supposed. The sea of Galilee was WAY WAY down! Rolling hills plummeted down to the distant shores of the sea that are actually located far below sea level!

Nazareth -Sunday

We had a great porch and yard outside the cabin where we prayed and read bible verses relating to what we were going to see for the day.

The inside of the cabin was rustic but very functional for what we needed.

Today was our first day and we drove through Cana, where Jesus' first miracle took place turning the water into wine. Again, the topography of the region surprised us. All of these sights seemed to be on the sides of steep hills or mountains! When the bible stories of Jesus traveling from Nazareth to Cana are read we always assumed that it was a somewhat level journey. That is far from the reality. Our rent-a-car struggled to go up and down and up and down these steep modern roads... what would it have been like to walk or ride donkeys?

Basilica of the Annunciation

Next, we drove into Nazareth and to the Basilica of the Annunciation believed to be where Mary was told by the angel that she was to have a son and name him Jesus. And here we had another perception adjustment which was just how iconicized these biblical sights are. And this basilica was just the beginning...

Inside the basilica was the cave or grotto where this event was thought to have taken place. And the cave structure was actually easily identified. A tourist church group was having a service singing down by the grotto. It was beautiful.

Mt. Precipice

Not far away from Nazareth is the mountain associated with the attempt of the locals to kill Jesus. Mt. Precipice takes it's name from when angry men from the synagogue wanted to kill Jesus for heresy (Luke 4: 16-30) so as their custom dictated, they tried to throw him from a nearby mountain. We drove to the top and got out to enjoy the view.

On our way home we also drove by Mt. Tabor which is believed to be mentioned in Matthew 17 where Jesus was surrounded by a bright cloud and transfigured. The voice of God surrounded Jesus saying "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!".

The girls made up another funny song on the way home.

After a quick stop at a BIG grocery store and while Jeanne cooked dinner, the girls enjoyed a dip in the pool.

The Sea of Galilee and Nazareth Village -Monday

The day began warm and sunny. We had a lot of places to visit this day, so we tried to start early.

Jesus Boat

First stop was the Kibbutz Ginosaur to see the "Jesus boat". This was interesting because it was found just a few years ago during a drought when parts of the boat were exposed in the sand. Some of the members of the Kibbutz found the wood and worked with various historical archaeologists and conservationists to preserve this fishing boat that was believed to have come from the first century (i.e. Jesus' time).

Much like the ancient VASA ship in Stockholm, it had to be soaked in special chemical bath for 7 years before it could be stable enough to display. Even so, the boat still had to have metal supporting posts that almost looked like it used orthodontic technology in order to hold it together.

Some interesting tidbits about the boat were that the hull and planks were assembled first and THEN the supporting ribs were place seemingly half-hazardly inside the bottom of the boat which is opposite of current ship building techniques.

Primacy of Peter

Next stop was the church of the Primacy of Peter. As we entered the area Bryce spotted an unusual sign... (hmmm... one of these things are not like the other)

The small chapel was located on top of a rock thought to be where John 21 occurred. In that passage Jesus appeared to some of the disciples for the third time after his resurrection and told them to throw their net to the other side of the boat where they

caught a net full.

It also is where Jesus affirmed Peter as the head of the church (Catholic tradition).

We walked out to the shore of the sea of Galilee. One of the interesting things about this area is that there are very few places where they allow you to actually walk up to the sea of Galilee. Most places are fenced. And all beaches (very few) are private lands dedicated to hotels or kibbutz guests. So the girls enjoyed playing on the shores of the sea of Galilee even though swimming was not permitted.

Next to it was the church of the feeding of the 5,000. Somehow we missed that chapel unfortunately. The signage in Israel is not adequate and even with a SAT-NAV, it wasn't a perfect system.

Capernaum

From there we headed to Capernaum where the house of Simon Peter was located.

A most unusual church is located OVER the house of Peter. The center of the church is like a bowl with a glass bottom where you can look down onto Peter's house. It is supported by massive cement spider-like legs so that it doesn't touch any of the stone foundations below.

The synagogue was located right next to the church and again left us speechless that we were walking where most certainly Jesus walked.

Back door of the synagogue

Jordan River

We then drove up the mountain to the Mount of the Beatitudes. It was closed for lunchtime but still we enjoyed the views over the sea of Galilee AND we enjoyed lunch. The kids fell in love with their felafel bread sandwiches which is I think we call Pita Bread in the US. But the flavor and texture of the bread was wonderful. We sat in the shade enjoying lunch and read Matthew 5.

Here is a video fromTiberias overlooking the sea of Galilee to give a slight idea of the topography (though it doesn't do it justice).

Nazareth Village

After lunch we then hurried off to Nazareth Village. It had been closed on the previous day so we hurried back to catch their 2pm tour. But the traffic was terrible and we made the tour with 3 minutes to spare. WHEW!

The Nazareth Village was an interesting business / ministry. Our guide was a messianic Jew who preached and taught. He was WONDERFUL.

We began in the building with an overview of the farming traditions and culture at the time of Jesus. The actual property was situated on a virgin piece of farmland that they believed functioned as a central hub for family gathering of water and making of wine.

Nazareth at the time only encompassed 500 people so everyone would have known everyone. (Hence the men of Nazareth couldn't believe Jesus' claim that scripture was fulfilled and wanted to throw him from Mt. Precipice). Happily, the village of Nazareth is now about 40% Christian.

carpenters workbench with tools that would have been used back in Jesus' time.

The tour walked through olive groves where we first noticed the unusual bark and leaves. It happened to be olive harvesting season and some of the trees still had olives on them.

We saw a shepherd and what a first century cistern would look like. And then we headed up to the home areas where the central area was NOT covered from the sun. Interestingly, only the small sleeping rooms and storage rooms were covered.

They demonstrated the steps for making olive oil by first having a donkey pull a millstone around crushing the olives into a mash.

The girls really liked the donkey

Those crushed olives were then places in special woven circles that were stacked. The first press produces extra virgin oil, the second press powered by pulleys and weights produced the virgin oil while the third press continues it's intensity and produced the lowest quality oil call just olive oil. The baskets actually begins to disintegrate at that point which adds to it's low

quality.

A carpenter helped show the girls how to drill

and a woman showed Christina how to make yarn or string from wool. Being the only children in a tour group can have it's advantages!

But the example of what a first century synagogue would look like was the most meaningful. Women were not allowed in during the Sabbath service and had to stand outside on the side roof and peek in the holes in the upper story section. But during the week, the synagogue would have been used for schooling for the boys of the village.

At the end of the tour the guide gave each of us a replica ceramic oil lamp just like they would have used. He reminded us that we are to be the light of the world...

This was our last night in the cabin at Arbel Holiday homes and the girls were determined to have one last swim in the pool!

Megiddo (Armageddon) and Akko -Tuesday

In the morning the girls had a farewell swing and we were off!

Megiddo (Armageddon)

Megiddo is nearby Nazareth and worth the stop to see the hilltop views.

As we entered Christina found a praying mantis. She loves them!

It once was a MASSIVE fortress that housed more horses than people almost! The stables were enormous. But so were the fortifications.

They had a large granary and a creative tunnel shaft that led to a hidden spring at the base of the mountain. They let us walk through the shaft down and out... FUN!

Unfortunately, a speck of dirt was blown into my camera and made large black dots on some of the pictures. Jeanne was quite upset as she had left the new camera at home while Bryce gloated an "I told you so" moment. Fortunately, with walking and swinging the camera the dirt speck moved down and almost vanished by the end of the day. Hurrah!

Akko

The next stop was Akko. It is located just north of Haifa and is famous for the Arab / Crusader influence. The main attraction was the Crusader halls and tunnels.

Christina trying to get a drink from a hyperactive water fountain... funny!

But to get to the tunnel aqueduct we had to walk and walk following signs that were SOMETIMES there. We were lost several times in the bustle of the market streets.

When we found it we were surprised that it actually still had water in it! And portions of the tunnels were exceedingly short! No problem for Christina- but for the rest of us we had to nearly crawl through!

We emerged at the end to the city walls and lighthouse. The seas were beautiful and we enjoyed the scenic walk

back to the car.

As we drove on to our apartment in Jerusalem we again were thankful for the SAT-NAV. It was dark and we were tired so when we finally arrived it was a wonderful surprise to find a large spacious 2 bedroom apartment for all. YEA! (Thanks Chevi at at-home-in-Israel!)

Western Wall Tunnels tour, some of the Via Dolorosa, and the archaeological dig -Wednesday

Western Wall Tunnels Tour

We had to plan long ahead to obtain tickets for this fantastic tour. We had to be there by 10:10 am so we supposed that getting there would not be a problem. Alas, Jerusalem old city is not like other cities, and the directions that we received were to the WRONG side of Jerusalem.

We rode a taxi to the nearest gate (the Lions gate or St. Stephens gate). We had to half-jog uphill and through the narrow crowded streets asking directions to finally find the entrance. We just barely slipped in at the end of the line. WHEW!

The tour was definitely worth it.

During the tour we were able to see the largest stone in the foundation of the wailing wall. It was so enormous! The guide positioned Madison at one side and Christina at the other end of the stone. The pictures demonstrate the enormity of the stone!

The walls were destroyed and rebuilt several times throughout history. The stones that have a smooth edge around the stone is from time of King Herod rebuilding the temple...and we touched them!

Next we walked all along a small passage way along the base of the wall. We stopped at the position that was closest to what once was the Holy of Holies. Although walking is permitted on the temple mount that is currently under Palestinian control, however, Jewish law only allows rabbi's to enter and does not allow other Jews to enter the Holy of Holies even though the structure is no longer there.

This once was street level and these columns represent what would have been a market.

The tour ended in a pool that was discovered by an explorer archaeologist who broke through into this area and startled a convent of nuns in their private area. Thus the 100 year old bricked up wall at the end.

We had a few hours that were free and as the exit of the tunnels tour emptied us onto the Via Dolorosa we began that pilgrimage route.

We took photo- graphs of some of the stops along the way. However, since it took us two separate days to walk the Via Dolorosa (or the path that Jesus took from Pontius Pilate's palace to Calvary), the blog will combine them with the photographs and descriptions from the day that we completed the journey (Saturday).

Archaeological dig

We then caught another taxi to Emek Tzurim for an interesting true archaeological dig. This is actually a rescue operation where they are trying to recover ancient treasures that were discarded as rubble from illegal digging on the Muslim controlled temple mount. The large underground mosque needed an "emergency exit" and without permission dug down and removed 40 truck fulls of rock and rubble during a 2 night blitz. This destroyed many of the artifacts that were there and in the archaeological world is a shocking criminal action.

When we visited the temple mount (on Sunday) we were able to take photo- graphs of both the exit that they built, and the remaining rubble heaps whose removal was eventually legally halted. As you can see, the "exit" was actually intended to be a grand entrance. The courts did rule that as punishment that the entrance could only be used in emergencies. Interesting...

Another interesting, but sad thing that those in control of the temple mount are doing, is that they are reportedly not careful with the underlying structure holding up their buildings and walls. The entire Southern wall area is actually supported by arches that were built by Herod the Great. It has been feared that careless construction and damage to the supports below has caused the arches to weaken and almost collapse. We were told that several engineering groups from other countries have been brought in for emergency measures to shore up the supports. As this is an earthquake zone- one wonders how long this "holy site" of Muslims will stand... This obviously is from a Jewish perspective, but also seemed to be backed up by evidence from other sources. Well, enough of politics...

The archaeologists do look at this as both a travesty and an opportunity. They have been given the chance to sift through material that they otherwise would never had without it's removal (since digging on the temple mount is strictly forbidden by law). But the knowledge that could have been gained by documenting where the pieces were found is lost forever.

After a history lesson and instructions, the kids were allowed to sift through one bucket of precious rubble at a time.

They squirted the material to clean off and sorted out tiles, pottery, glass, metals, plaster, special stones, etc.

It took careful looking

and careful sorting.

One of the other people participating even found a coin!

The highlight of our hunting was a glass finial that Christina found. It was from the bottom of a ceiling light. The archaeologist said it was a very nice piece... Christina was so proud!

It was a very fun activity for both the kids and parents! The kids even got official certificates! TOO COOL!

Masada, the Dead Sea and the Qumran caves -Thursday

Masada

Evidently the dead sea area is hot year round. It apparently has it's own atmospheric blanket that retains the strong sunlight of the region and it rarely rains. The area (Ein Gedi on the shores of the Dead Sea) has been used as a health spa area even back to King Saul and King Herod's time. Another interesting tidbit is that Bromine, well-known for its calming effect, is found in air around the Dead Sea in concentrations 20 times greater than anywhere else on earth. It was interesting how Jeanne did feel a little bit light headed when we were down at the level of the Dead Sea (which is 1312 feet below sea level).

But first we had to get to the top of Masada before the day got too hot. We opted for the cable car ride up and a walk down.

The views from the top were amazing!

The story of the Roman encampment that surrounded the last holdout of Jews on top of Masada is well known (the outline of which you can see in the above photo). Although we didn't get to watch the mini-series before we left there was an excellent movie at the base of the mountain that explained the history and its tragic ending.

The archaeologists found clay pieces with names written on them.

It is thought that on the last night of freedom that they drew lots to decide which of the male leaders would kill each other.

We were able to walk down the staircase to the Palace of King Herod.

The outlook of the palace was amazing! We were able to see the mountain-side palace that one tour guide referred to as King Herod's magnificent tree-house.

This is the remains of the a first century synagogue (not many of them exist!)

Another Palace on the top of Masada has great mosaics in the bath house.

But we had to get down and out of the blazing sun. And the snake path is what we had chosen to take.

And it was quite a hike! Thankfully we had water! The kids quickly outpaced us adults and Jeanne lagged far behind. But that's what photographers do, right?

It appeared that our hike down was nearly over...happy!

Then, the kids told Jeanne that we were only half-way...sad!

The Dead Sea

We quickly ate our lunch in the underground parking lot and off to float in the Dead Sea! The kids have been so looking forward to this activity!

Take one: We talked and talked about the procedure especially with Christina, but with their excitement Christina and Madison got in before we had them don their goggles and be supported by an adult. In no time at all, Christina discovered that salt hurts tender areas of skin. She came wailing and crying out and Scott had to take her up to the freshwater showers.

Take two: Christina again leaped in without her goggles only to splash her eyes. Two seconds after arriving down Scott had to walk back up again...

Scott then determined that Christina needed to sit along the shore for awhile.

She was okay with that after her two painful experiences. Jeanne then had Christina take pictures of the family... and video. This actually ended up being a true delight for her. She hysterically narrated the video she was taking. But the video was so crackingly funny we put it on the bloopers blog (so check it out!)

Look Mom... NO HANDS!

and NO hands and NO FEET!

Salt layers crusting a rock on the shore.

The water is EXTREMELY salty!

YUCK!

(she was just pretending)

Take three: Finally at the end of our fantastic floating, Christina decided to give it one more try. Here is a short video of what happened.

Even though it sounds from these descriptions that she had a bad experience, it actually ended up being the kids favorite stop of the entire trip. Bryce loved the floating, Madison loved the salt crystals and Christina loved being the photographer!

Qumran Caves

Our last stop of the evening took us to the Qumran Caves where in 1947 some jars were found containing ancient writings. It took several years before their true age and content was determined.

The scrolls are now thought to come from a strict group of Essenes. The exciting thing about this discovery is that these copied writings have validated the reliability of today's bible!

It was something that Jeanne was really looking forward to, but ended up being a bit of a disappointment because the trail was closed and they don't allow people to enter the caves.

But it was just as well as the kids were tired, the weather was changing and the sun was setting. Still... it was a GREAT day!

Jerusalem tour -Friday (Shabbat)

Rampart Walk

We met our tour guide Madeleine Levine at the Jaffa Gate and proceeded to do a tour of the ramparts. It was fascinating to walk along the walls (up and down, and up and down). It was a great bird-eye perspective of old city Jerusalem. We walked along the Armenian quarter and then were able to look into the Mount Zion area.

It is amazing that what once were "mounts" now blend into the city landscape. So much building over the centuries has made it all smooth out (at least from the perspective of the wall). The Mount Zion area is where Jesus is thought to have had his last supper. We then went down the gate and were amazed how vehicles drive in an out of the gates (when there is NO room).

Southern and Western Walls of the Temple Mount

an artists rendering of what the temple mount would have looked like after King Herod completed the construction

Sitting on the stairs that once led to the temple entrance for people in Jesus' time.

Here there once was a grand staircase (Robinson's arch) that went up to the commerce area of the temple. People would exhange their funds and purchase their sacrificial animals. It is thought that is where Jesus would have thrown over the moneychangers table.

But before entering, ritual cleansing was of the utmost importance. To clean oneself, they would walk down the right side (unclean side), fully submerge themselves and walk up the clean side.

We then went to the Western Wall or wailing wall as it has become known. There we wrote our notes and inserted them into the cracks in the wall. Men and women have separate sides so Jeanne was unable to get photographs of Scott or Bryce...

Just as we finished... it began to rain... hard!

So we hid under a covered portion of the city street and watched the water flow down.

And then something amazing happened... something that our tour guide had never seen... Just ahead a torrent of water came rushing down a side street. It truly was a massive amount of water that rushed and continued to rush down.

Christina was the first brave one to try to walk around the river. (the lens protector didn't quite open because of the moisture- thus the strange view)

And then Bryce quickly followed

We were all squishy-footed by the time we got by, but it was an incredible experience (and one of Bryce's favorites!)

We went to the Jewish Cardio area where stores line an enclosed vaulted shopping area. It is more spacious than other shopping streets. The tour ended and so we got out our pita bread sandwiches. Jeanne was surprised when a passer-by asked where we had purchased the sandwiches because they looked good (smile).

Mt. Zion

We took a stop at the Dormition which we mistakingly understood to be Mary's tomb. We later found out that the Catholic church believes that Mary was taken up to heaven at the end of her life both body and soul. This church is where they believe that took place. But we understood it to be Mary's tomb (doesn't it look like one?)

Anyway, more on that misunderstanding in the next days writing...

Around the corner we finally found the room of the last supper. The room itself is certainly not the same room where Jesus and the disciples ate their last meal. But it is believed to be OVER the area in which they ate.

Garden Tomb

This was one of the highlights of the trip. While many of the shrines, altars and ritualistic symbols (incense, priests chanting etc) surround the sacred sites of Jerusalem the Garden of Gethsemane was a breath of fresh air. The setting was peaceful and beautiful. The guide was excellent and spent extra time with our family which was appreciated. He explained that in reality, everywhere that is celebrated to be the "spot where..." is really just conjecture. It was nice to hear a humble dose of reality.

They surmised that the cross would NOT have been on a hilltop as we have seen in countless movie portrayals. Romans crucified by roads and the main road ran around the wall of Jerusalem.

But they also know that Jesus was crucified on Friday and died in the afternoon. Which means that burial had to take place quickly as all "work" must be completed by sunset according to Jewish religious observances. The tomb had to be very

nearby.

Another reason that supports this tomb to be the sight of Jesus' burial is that the tomb was only used by one person. As was the custom, they carved a head place and "fit" the burial slab to the person being buried. This tomb had two spaces and only one was used (a rarity).

Outside there is a track where a stone would have been rolled to seal the entrance.

Irregardless, the tomb is empty!

And that is the most important thing for us!

Our family participated in communion in a peaceful corner of the garden. As we sat in prayer we heard the shabbat tone ring out at the same time the muslim minuret loudspeakers were blaring their song prayers. In the distance you could also hear the church bells ring from a distant mountaintop. Interesting...

Celebration at the Wailing wall

As the sun set, we climbed to a viewpoint overlooking the western wall. It was a very moving experience. Below we could see masses of people dancing, singing and praying. It truly was a celebration of the Jews. (these images were taken from Jeanne's cell phone because the camera batteries were dead... sigh)

Shabbat dinner

We were so fortunate to secure places at the Shabbat dinner that is held at Christ church. It is a historically significant Anglican church whose 200 year old mission is to reach the Jews of Israel. We learned that upwards of 1,000 Jews come in to ask questions of the staff about Christianity... EACH MONTH!

The dinner was wonderful. Not only did Jeanne have a break from cooking, she got to light the family candle for Shabbat. It was a wonderful meaningful service.

We heard traditional Jewish Shabbat songs being sung and watched wonderful blessings given to the children of the family and to the wife/mother of the family.

Sometimes traditions can be very beautiful...

Mount of Olives, Via Dolorosa and Bethlehem -Saturday

Mount of Olives

We began with a morning taxi ride up to the Mount of Olives. Again we were surprised at the steepness of the hill.

The mountain is virtually COVERED in cement burial coffins. It is the largest continually used cemetery in the world. It also is the most costly.

It is customary to place a rock on top of the cement lid each time someone visits in remembrance. That means those with the most rocks were the most loved? Also, after one year the box is opened to light a candle of remembrance.

Walking down the path that is almost certainly a route that would have been used during Jesus' time we approached the Dominus Flevit Church. Here this newer church was built to remember when Jesus wept for Jerusalem as found in Luke 19:41-44.

⁴¹As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it ⁴²and said, "If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. ⁴³The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. ⁴⁴They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God's coming to you."

Vases to symbolically hold the tears of Jesus were placed on the corners of the church.

A fantastic view of the temple mount through the window of the chapel.

Next, we walked down to the Garden of Gesthemane. It was definitely smaller and not as garden-like as we had expected... but it was full of olive trees!

Here is a tree that is thought to be 500 years old! Apparently olive trees are difficult to kill and it is possible that these trees roots were the same ones from Jesus' time.

Next to it is the church of All Nations. It is called this because "all nations" helped pay to build the church.

We walked up the street and down some stairs to the tomb of Mary. This immediately confused us all, as we had assumed that we had already been to the tomb of Mary. We then found out that this is where Mary was entombed, where the other was where she ascended to heaven. This is a perfect example of how various religious organizations over the years have over-sanctified various plots of land because BOTH can't be true.

But we did go down and into the tomb which was full of strong incense and hanging lanterns.

Here you can see the exit from Mary's tomb...

a little short for Scott!

Then up out of Mary's tomb and up up through the Lions Gate again. The weather in Jerusalem was a bit un- predictable and at that time it was HOT. Good thing we packed lots of water every day!

Via Dolorosa

This is where we started the Via Dolorosa again. This time we had our guide! And she was SO helpful for this!

We stopped at St. Anne's where the pools of Bethesda and the sheep pools were located. The chapel was unusual in that it was a Norman chapel that has great accoustics. It was amazing to hear the worship song reverberate off the ancient stone walls.

They have done archaeological digging to show the sheep pools and we could see where they think Jesus performed the miracle of healing the lame man. (John 5:6-9)

⁶When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, "Do you want to get well?"

⁷"Sir," the invalid replied, "I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me."

⁸Then Jesus said to him, "Get up! Pick up your mat and walk." ⁹At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.
The day on which this took place was a Sabbath,

Some of the stations of the cross are not even biblical but have passed down from traditions. Some are backed up by archaeology and scripture but the exact locations are highly debated.

Regardless, the "pilgrimage" that many visitors take along the Via Dolorosa is a thought provoking and somber experience.

Below are the "stations":

Jesus is condemned to death
Jesus is given his cross
Jesus falls the first time*
Jesus meets His Mother*
Simon of Cyrene carries the cross
Veronica wipes the face of Jesus*
Jesus falls the second time*
Jesus meets the daughters of Jerusalem
Jesus falls the third time*
Jesus is stripped of His garments
Crucifixion: Jesus is nailed to the cross
Jesus dies on the cross
Jesus' body is removed from the cross
Jesus is laid in the tomb and covered in incense.

We went into a highly incensed building where several floors down we found an area that held prisoners... perhaps Jesus was held here?

Original Roman road stones from King Herod's time.

Just before we entered the Ethiopian Monastery area we found two crosses that the Franciscans carry on a weekly remembrance walk up the Via Dolorosa.

So we all tried this small version. It was heavy enough (well not for Bryce apparently).

The Church of the Holy Sepulcher

This church is an enormous complex. Ever since this location was decided to have been the place of the cross and tomb it has become a bizarre place of shared holy sites. Each of the prevailing Christian religions has a corner or worship space that they control. But control over the key of the church could NOT be settled between the various churches... so what did they do? ...

They chose a Muslim family to be caretaker of the key. (Sounds like a dysfunctional family argument...) But for 900 years they have faithfully locked and unlocked the doors to the Holy Sepulcher. It is wonderful that this solution has worked so well, but it is sad that the various sects couldn't agree and be as one...

Anyway, to reach the church we first walked through the Ethiopian monastery.

Our guide Madeleine was giving us the history when an Ethiopian monk who was sitting up on a shaded wall spoke up and told our guide that she was doing an excellent job with the history... the best he had ever heard. It was a humorous exchange that was fun to watch. Then we walked through the chapels and into the church courtyard.

Things were quite crowded. Upon entering we turned immediately right and went up some INCREDIBLY steep stairs. There a HUGE line faced us. It was to go to the foot of the cross... though by the ornate lamps and gold and lanterns and drapes you wouldn't be able to tell that there is rock underneath. Thankfully, for us who can't imagine the crucifixions taking place in such elaborate surroundings they put glass windows on either side of the altar where you can see the bedrock.

When it was our turn one at a time we knelt down and crawled under a table. From there we could reach down a dark hole to feel the place where the cross was placed.

Then down some steep stairs and to the left we passed where Jesus' body was laid out on a stone. It was there that some of the most visibly remorseful worshipers prostrated themselves, wept, wiped the stone with cloths and prayed.

The next domed room that we entered was quite dark. The line wrapped around the back side of the mausoleum that was centered in the dome. This was the tomb of Jesus.

Again, masses of people surrounded the tomb, waited in line and above the conversations of many we could hear the services of one of the religious chapels singing.

When it was finally our turn to enter the tomb, one of the caretakers scolded Christina for standing on the wrong side of the door. And then another one of them popped their head in while we were waiting to enter and scolded Bryce for having his thumb in his pocket. "Show some respect!" was his demand. YIKES!

Inside the tomb of the Holy Sepulcher

Continuing around the corner and down some stairs and another flight of stairs we came to a room where the mother of Constantine found a cross engraved in the cement. It was one of the signs that she used to make the determination that this was indeed the sight of Jesus' crucifixion.

Needless to say, this experience was not the moving, heart-touching experience of coming to sorrowfully consider Jesus' sacrifice for us that we had expected. But Scott later astutely analyzed that it seems that those in charge of the Holy Sepulcher were focused on the rituals and rules whereas the focus of the Garden tomb was on the people.

Bethlehem

We were escorted to the border where we parked and walked across the heavily guarded border into the Palestinian controlled territory.

We had no idea that the Berlin-like wall (actually much taller) had been built. It very much felt like we were walking into a prison!

Bryce thought it was fascinating and cool.

Shepherds Field

We were met and driven to the store which served as the central hub of our tour. Our tour guide began with the Shepherds field.

Overlooking the fields of Ruth and Boaz, we sat peacefully thinking of the shepherds startled by the angels. Unfortunately those peaceful thoughts were shocked into reality as the tall cement border barrier ran through the middle of the valley. A better understanding of Psalm 122:6-7
⁶ Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
"May those who love you be secure.

⁷ May there be peace within your walls
and security within your citadels."

Next we adventured through some tunnels (our family's favorite activity it seems) that were recently found on the archaeological diggings they were doing there.

We didn't have flashlights, but used camera lcd screen light and ipod screen light to navigate our way. It was exciting!

Church of the Nativity

What was completely interesting about this church is that it was built by Emperor Constantine's mother Helena. What we hadn't realized was that she also built the famous Hagia Sophia in Constantinople. But this building was then rebuilt in 530 AD by Emperor Justinian.

This church was saved by pictures depicting the wisemen who resembled turkish nobility. The Persians mistakingly thought that it couldn't be a church and therefore never razed the structure. Later, friendships between the Muslims and Christians also helped keep the structure standing.

It was a beautiful building whose ancient roots were amazing.

Doors in the floor revealed the ancient floor mosaics... so cool!

The crowds were quite heavy to see the grotto.

The star is supposed to signify the exact spot of Jesus' birthplace.

The stone manger is just across from the star.

Out the side entrance we found another more modern church. This one also had an incredible history. Below were the caves where the very first Bible translation work was done by Jerome. He produced a Bible known as the Vulgate Bible.

When we exited we then were able to enjoy the entrance to the Church of the Nativity all by ourselves! (without masses of people).

It originally had a massive opening which was shrunk once during Crusader times and then made very small during the Ottoman empire to prevent looting carts from entering the church. They now call it the door of humility because everyone must bow and humbly enter the church.

Another interesting tidbit is that the Christians of Bethlehem (which there is a larger percentage) place a symbol of their faith by a displaying a portrait of St. George killing a dragon. We ended our tour back at the central store where of course we were given a tour of their stock of merchandise. And after passing hundreds of stores in Jerusalem... we were finally tempted.

Our splurge of the trip was that we got a beautiful nativity set!

It just seems a fitting place to buy a nativity set- don't you think?

By the way... do you notice that it's a cave instead of a barn (as most scholars think!)

As we left Bryce found some graffiti that he found interesting

Dome of the Rock, Christ Church and the CITY OF DAVID! - Sunday

Dome of the Rock

We started the morning early waiting to go to the Dome of the Rock. The ramp took us just to the right of the Wailing Wall where we were able to take a great photograph.

After passing through security we found the wooden "temporary" structure full of riot shields. We didn't know it at the time, but just one week earlier they had been put to use when rocks were being thrown from the temple mount down onto the western wall area.

Bryce thought it was cool...

The courtyard was large with trees, but not quite as beautifully kept as we had imagined. We thought that it would have been in pristine condition since it is considered such a holy site... but dirt, leaves and even trash was to found all around.

We found a tour guide who didn't speak the best English unfortunately. But he did provide us with some information.

Where we began the tour was the working mosque whose main halls are below ground. Friday is their day of worship and it is filled with 15,000 worshipers... wow! At the time we didn't understand why our guide kept pointing us to the Al-Aqsa Mosque (as in comparison it is a fairly basic building) and not the Dome of the Rock. But we now understand that the MOSQUE is more revered than the Dome of the Rock. That is because the Mosque is where Muhammad was thought to have brought by his pegasus horse that delivered him from Mecca. The horse was given to him by the archangel Gabriel. At that point it was hard not to laugh at the guide flapping his arms and describing this story (we didn't).

We then walked up to the dome. And the outside was beautiful.

Inside is the exposed rock of the top of Mt. Moriah (where Abraham almost sacrificed his son).

Unfortunately, the Muslims do not allow non-Muslims into the dome of the Rock any more, but we were able to peek in a crack in the door.

But the garbage and dirt was definitely surprising. Signs were posted all over on the trees saying to keep the area clean... but obviously the signs weren't working.

Here is the Golden Gate where Jesus will one day re-enter the city. But right now it has been sealed up by the Muslims long ago. The building portion of the gate they actually hold dinners inside...

On the north side a Muslim school actually opens onto the large courtyard of the temple mount. It was surprising.

After leaving this sight, we then hurried to the church of the Holy Sepulchre (descriptions and photos already given on Saturday's log). We did this because we had to bypass some of the lines because of the tremendous crowds. We had hoped to get there early enough on Sunday to be able to avoid the crowds... and it worked!

Christ Church

This church has such an interesting history. We had come here for the Shabbat dinner on Friday and planned to come here for Sunday church service. It was the first Anglican church we have ever attended (funny, since we ARE living in England right now).

And the service was beautiful. We loved the singing in both English and Hebrew. The most amazing feeling came over us when we sang about Jesus dying on the cross (the praise song titled Once again by Matt Redman). It was a very unusual feeling to sing this familiar song but then realize that it happened just outside the window of the church... literally!

We then participated in group communion which also was a new experience... no individual cups here!

We said goodbye to our friends that we had met at the Shabbat dinner (Christina really hit it off with two of their children).

And then off across Jerusalem again! We should be in shape with all the walking we did this vacation... but it still was a hard walk. Past the Wailing wall for the last time and then out the Dung gate (what a name!). We were stopped by some Rabbi's who wanted to "give" us a blessing. They tied a red piece of yarn around our wrists and once they blessed us they asked us for a donation for the support of the Rabbi's... tricky! But we

did.

City of David

Then off to the City of David. It actually was just down the hill. (Jeanne likes it when it's down!) We arrived and had to get into our swimming suits and water shoes.

Why? Because we had a special tour scheduled! It was a tour through the archaeological digging site of the ancient city of David... yes- THE David. Here he had his palace, and here he overlooked the city and saw Bathsheba, and here he wrote many parts of the Psalms. It was exciting!

But further down as we toured we entered the water tunnels dug by King Hezekiah. The water from the spring of Gihon still flows through these narrow tunnels.

It was quite exciting! Christina first wanted to back out and go the dry straight tunnel, but the really nice guide held her hand (she was in front) and even lifted her through the deep portions of the tunnel.

Actually the deep spots were just in the beginning and end, the rest of it was mid-shin level. The tunnels themselves were quite narrow and often times very short. Even Madison had to walk bent over for a lot of the way.

The walk was 1750 ft long, which isn't that long except you're walking bent over through these narrow passages with only a small flashlight to provide light. Sound a big claustrophobic?

Perhaps for some, but truthfully our entire family LOVED the experience. It was a lot of fun to walk through such a historic tunnel and see the chisel marks where the workers chiseled a security tunnel for the sake of water for the city as described in 2 Kings 20:20 and 2 Chronicles 32:30

²⁰ As for the other events of Hezekiah's reign, all his achievements and how he made the pool and the tunnel by which he brought water into the city, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah?

³⁰ It was Hezekiah who blocked the upper outlet of the Gihon spring and channeled the water down to the west side of the City of David. He succeeded in everything he undertook.

We emerged near the pool of Siloam (where Jesus healed the blind man in John 9).

¹As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. ²His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who

sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?"

³"Neither this man nor his parents sinned," said Jesus, "but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life

⁴ As long a it is day,

we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. ⁵While I am in the world, I am the light of the world."

⁶Having said this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man's eyes. ⁷"Go," he told him, "wash in the Pool of Siloam" (this word means Sent). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing.

Israel Museum, Caesarea and our eventful return flight- Monday

Israel Museum

We packed up and said farewell to our wonderful apartment on Rachel Imenu and headed off to the Israel Museum. Our main purpose for visiting the museum was that it actually contains some of the dead sea scrolls. And after our visit to Qumran we really wanted to see some of them.

We were surprised, however, when we walked up some stairs outside and saw an enormous scale model of Jerusalem (back in Jesus' time before the temple was destroyed). We had audio guides where we were able to listen and learn much

But we were in a time crunch because we still wanted to get to Caesarea! On our travel down to Jerusalem we ran out of time to stop there and wanted to try to squeeze it in. And we did... but unfortunately, the weather didn't cooperate.

Caesarea

It was extremely windy, and the sea waves were certainly intimi- dating!

But we tried to see all that we could including the port ruins, the circus, the theater (still in good condition)

and finally the aqueduct that ran along the beach. Interestingly the port and city was built by King Herod. This actually was his favorite palace!

But we were dodging scary thunderstorms and decided to leave earlier than we otherwise would have.

Return Journey

Leaving early ended up being a VERY good thing as we should have been able to arrive at the airport 4 hours early, but we ended up barely making the plane! (traffic, forgetting to put gas in the car, shuttle bus delays, baggage security delays, check in lines, another security bag check, passport control, yet ANOTHER shuttle bus, and finally a long walk through the terminal). We arrived 5 minutes before the plane was scheduled to depart... WOW!

But that wasn't the end of the excitement! This was the inaugural flight of Easy Jet from Tel Aviv and there was a camera crew on board. The plane was full of mostly Orthodox Jewish families who kept popping out of their seats to get things out of their bags. We have never seen anything like it! This popping up and walking around lasted for 35 minutes!

When we finally became airborne the cabin crew had to keep instructing people to stay seated until the seat belt sign has been turned off. And the instant the ding was heard it was like the entire plane burst out of their seats. The aisles were full of people waiting for the restroom, getting their bags, forgetting where they put their bags, children running up and down the aisles and prayer circles in the back crew area. It was obvious that this was culturally something very different than we had experienced before.

The bags kept going up and down into the compartments and the camera crew kept filming and bumping to get a better camera angle. Needless to say, sleep was hard to get if you sat in the aisle... but it was definitely an unusual experience!

When we landed and parked, the cabin steward said "...wait for it... wait for it..." DING, "now you may get up!" And everyone erupted again out of their seats (even faster than usual on planes). It was a hoot!

We arrived home at 2 am to rainy weather and a van that was still un-repaired (grrrrr...). But still it was... the MOST UNFORGETTABLE TRIP OF OUR LIVES.