Holy Land | From the Observation Deck

July 26, 2014

A day in His presence around the Mt. of Olives.

Posted by Grendel's Mother under God, Israel, travel | Tags: dominus flevit, dung gate, garden of gethsemane, golden gate, Holy Land, Jerusalem, jewish cemetary, kidron valley, lion gate, mt. of olives, old city |
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A view of the Old City from the Mt. of Olives.

Our tour of Jerusalem continues with more walking of course! After our visit to the Western Wall, our guide hailed a taxi to take us out through the Dung Gate and up the Mt. of Olives. When I say up I mean a seriously steep climb up a one-lane windy path. Meeting another car along the way had me worried we would not have the horse power to keep going forward if we had to stop. But, after a number of well-timed horn blasts we were at the top, staring out over the ancient Jewish cemetery where the tombs sit up off the ground and covered with a number of rocks from visitors.

The Golden Gate.

We took in the view of the Old City and the Temple Mount and could see the stretch of the Eastern wall of the city beyond the Kidron Valley where the Golden Gate (also referred to as the Gate of Mercy) is located. It was sealed by an Ottoman Sultan in the 1500s. Some say that was done because that is the gate Jesus passed through on Palm Sunday and where he will return again, and the Sultan wanted to prevent that from happening. Um, Mr. Sultan, I think if God wants to come through that gate, it won’t matter if you seal it.

Once again I thought of the hikes that Jesus took up and around some rough country in pretty hot weather. We could imagine Jesus praying and teaching as they looked across the ancient and holy countryside and sat among olive trees.

Dominus Flevit–the view through its beautiful window.

It was a cool 108 degrees outside and our slow walk down the slope took us by many security cameras (Israel is known for its security measures) and then in to the Dominus Flevit, a church built to commemorate the Lord’s weeping over Jerusalem. It features a beautiful view of the city and the Dome of the Rock through its chapel window. We saw a number of ossuaries (carved boxes that held the bones of people—collected after a year or so of burial). In the garden of the church area were a few olive trees left from days when they grew over the mountainside.

Garden of Gethsemane

The Garden of Gethsemane.

Our final stop at the bottom was the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus spent his last night on earth praying with his disciples. This is where he was arrested and taken to trial. It was interesting and a bit strange to hear our Jewish guide tell us the story with a new twist—it was the Romans who arrested him and according to her “there may have been some involvement with the Jewish leaders” but she was doubtful.

My mom and I had some interesting discussions about that later. We have nothing against Jewish people and would never judge the ancient Jews for their part in Jesus’ arrest and conviction. As Christians we believe Jesus took all of our sins upon himself—both people who were there and people who live now—so it may well have been us there mocking him and putting him on trial. Having said that, as a Christian hearing these new testament stories from someone who is reading from a book that does not necessarily follow our beliefs did take something away from the experience. I would recommend to other Christians to visit Israel with a church group or be guided by Christian guides if they feel that would be important to their Holy Land experience. We think it would have enhanced our spiritual experience if we had been led by a believer who shared our faith.

A mosaic in the Church of the Ascension in the Garden of Gethsemane.

From the Garden we continued our trek up a long steep path (this time walking and drinking about three bottles of water) through the Lion’s Gate which leads to the famous Via Dolorosa, the street that took Jesus from his torture to his death on the cross. I’ll cover our travels there and the rest of the holy sites in the next post.

Garden of Gethsemane

A view from Dominus Flevit of the Eastern Wall and the Dome of the Rock.

Steep walk down the hill.

Tombs in the ancient Jewish cemetery on the Mt. of Olives.

The view of the Mt. of Olives from the road outside the Dung Gate.

A closer look at the Dome of the Rock. A ladder there shows someone working on some of the golden tiles.

July 14, 2014

You say Shawarma, I say yum!

Posted by Grendel's Mother under adventure, Israel, travel, Uncategorized | Tags: avissar house, Holy Land, Israel, jaffa, shawarma, yemin moshe |
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This post is the second installment in the Holy Land series of our 2014 trip. Fresh off the plane, we got out of the airport with very little fanfare. An interesting tidbit about passport stamps in Israel—they gave us a small slip of paper that had our photo on it—a visa stamp that was not a permanent stamp in the passport. I’m thinking that’s to avoid complications for travelers who want to visit countries not so pro-Israel. Upon exiting the concourse, I saw a huge mezuzah adorning the wall. (A mezuzah is a blessing that is wrapped in a case—something you’ll see on the doors of Jewish homes and businesses.) Anyhoo, we were met by our guide and whisked off to stretch our legs in the ancient city of Jaffa.

First Stop: Jaffa

Jaffa is a 4,000 year old town on the outskirts of Tel Aviv, which is only about 100 years old. In Israel, our guide says that in order to be considered old, a building, ruin, or relic must be about 1,000 years old or more. Several hundred years is considered new.

Andromeda’s rocks in Jaffa.

We walked to the top of a Tel, a man-made hill, and saw layers of excavation revealing the remnants of cultures from thousands of years ago. Before the modern age where we demolish and remove structures, people established towns by building on top of the ruins of previous inhabitants. This created layers of history that we now explore and learn from.

Jaffe is on the coast of the beautiful Mediterranean Sea. As we looked out over a marina, our guide told us the story of Andromeda and Perseus—the rocks Andromeda was placed on as a sacrifice (and that represent her) are said to be located off the shore near this little marina.

The Adventure of the Israeli Meal

After walking through a lovely artistic area, we sat down for our first meal. The owner placed a number of small bowls of various items on our table. Evidently in Israel, traditionally you are given a salad which is comprised of a number of bowls filled with delicious treats such as carrots, potatoes, eggplant, corn, humus, and baba ganush (among other dishes). The baba ganush was yummy and so were the flatbread pitas they brought us. We ordered some falafel and enjoyed the outside café with our new feline friends who came by for handouts. LOTS of cats run around wild in Israel. People feed them scraps and they earn their keep by keeping the rodents away.

Shwarma in the Old City.

Throughout our stay we tried a number of dishes we weren’t quite sure about that turned out to be delicious. A staple over there is a sandwich called a Shawarma—turkey that is cooked in lamb’s fat or oil, salad items, and humus wrapped in a big pita. YUM! On our first night, mom and I went exploring and sat down for a meal where the language barrier was a challenge. So we tried some soup called Kubu which turned out to be a delicious stew. We identified some meat and beets and decided it deserved two thumbs up.

Home Away from Home

The Avissar House in Yemin Moshe.

Our home in Jerusalem for the next few days was an apartment, the Avissar House, located just a few minutes walk from the Jaffa Gate. It had a little terrace on the roof where I spent several wonderful nights under the stars looking across the road at the walls of the Old City and listening to the sounds of the night—a concert, some young people laughing, dogs, and the breezes through the pines around the neighborhood. Our landlord Yoseph was a kind gentlemen and we loved our accommodations nestled in a very cute pedestrian cobble-stoned street below the Montefiore Windmill in Yemin Moshe. Once we got settled and had a nice walk through the neighborhood to explore, we prepared for the day ahead, and with that we’ll explore the Old City of Jerusalem in the next post.

The Yemin Moshe neighborhood–our apartment was below the windmill. This is a view from the Jaffa Gate.

The view from Avissar House. The building across the road is David’s tomb and the “location” of the last supper.

View from our terrace. The Jaffa Gate and walls of the Old City in Jerusalem.

The Italians could take a lesson from the Jews. This is a typical meal–all the little “salad” bowls go with all the meals.

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The street sign in the artistic area displayed zodiac signs on pretty tiles.

July 12, 2014

A trek through the Holy Land.

Posted by Grendel's Mother under adventure, Family, God, Israel, travel | Tags: Holy Land, Israel, Jesus |
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Visiting the Holy Land is a dream for many people throughout the world. Jews, Christians, and Muslims all consider this land to be the center of our religious and historical past. But visiting this place has its risks. Growing up I never really thought it would be possible with all the fighting, but over the past few years, as more people I know went there, my parents and I thought it would be a good time to go.

And go we did, just last week. Our timing was fortuitous. Throughout our visit, our Jewish guide kept asking us if we felt safe and asking us to be ambassadors back home, “You can tell everyone that it’s safe—we all get along and the news outlets exaggerate.” At first we agreed. But we did a little minor eye rolling when on our last day she said it again and we silently wondered if she had watched the news the night before. The latest battles between Hamas and Israel were heating up with several deaths of boys on both sides. In the week that we’ve been home, the news outlets are reporting that tanks are rolling and missiles are being launched.

Although that seems scary and may keep people from traveling there, the sad fact is, there were dozens of people (at least) killed by gunfire on the streets in our own backyards just over the weekend. So, perspective is in order. We live in a fallen world and you have to make choices whether or not to get out and see the world the way it is.

Overall, the trip was great. There were some instances where it was next to impossible to envision the way the landscape was 2,000 or more years ago. But I think in general what I took away was the reality of the hard terrain that Jesus and his disciples (and the ancient people of the land) traversed. Lots of hills, vast deserts, and hard rocks added some serious damage to my already bad knees. But we had it easy with our air conditioned rooms, cars, restaurants with plenty to eat, and time to leisurely enjoy the days. When I think of Jesus walking up the steep slopes with his friends in 114 degree heat, I can only thank Him once again for his sacrifice and His love for us.

The land has played host to different cultures for many thousands of years. Its history can be seen in deep layers of tells (man-made hills) across the country. Much of it has yet to be unearthed but so much has been discovered already that we can now see how our ancestors lived. But more on that later.

I will be writing about the details of our trip, starting in Jaffa, a 4,000 year old city, then on to Jerusalem’s old city, to the desert heat at Masada and the Dead Sea, up to the gorgeous Sea of Galilee, and ending in Tel Aviv with a nice swim in the Mediterranean. For now, a few pictures to get started.

Genesis 13:17

“Arise, walk about the land through its length and breadth; for I will give it to you.”