Day Four--First Day Of Formal Touring

We again went back to the Old Jerusalem and through the Dung Gate.  We revisted the Church of the Holy Sephulchre and this time learned much more about it and saw a larger variety of people worshipping there as it was a Sunday--the traditional Sabbath for Christians.

Because it was the Sunday between the Sabbath day and another Holy Day (holiday) on Monday, it made the day a bit of a holiday as well so some things were closed that were normally open for tourists.  We had to enter through the Jaffa gate into the city after a bit of a walk around the outside wall.

More doors inside the market streets--

More inside the Church of the Holy Sephulchre.  Different religions worship here and have added rooms and floors to allow their worshippers to gather.  It makes the building an interesting combination of sites and sounds and it continues to be under construction even now.

Scenes from the market

This is a painting on a wall in the Old City to represent what the market would have looked like 2000 years ago.

Some of these stones are over 1000 years old.

It is hard to see but up on the pathway around the top
of the dome was filled with men going to say prayers

A pause in our tour of the Old Jerusalem as we listened to a story from Elder Rona about an event that happened in this area of the city.  Each of our tour group wore headphones so that we could hear Elder Rona talk.  We had little chairs so that we could sit along the way as well.

Notice Gary with his earphones in--
he also carried an extra set of everything
during most of the trip which is what is around his neck.
The benefit of being Elder Rona's zone leader.

We went to the Western Wall, also known as the Wailing Wall.  This is just one of those places on the earth that I have heard about so long and saw in so many news shows during my life--that it was a bit surreal to actually be in this place.  It actually was smaller than I imagined.

Before touching the wall, the men and women--separate and on different sides of a wall--first wash their hands.  The water needs to be "free flowing" so water is first poured from a tap into these copper cups and then that water is poured over your hands.

A phrase Elder Rona and others used often during the trip was to "Look for the Echoes of Truth."  Here at the Wailing Wall is one example.

After washing, they approach the wall to touch it and offer prayers to God in behalf of their loved ones and others in need.

Within the cracks between the stones are placed pieces of papers with names of people that they are praying for.

Jena and I touching the wall

Gary's photo:  You can see that the men in the top
section are dressed in a variety of religion garments.
The women in the bottom section are in more traditional dress.
Many of the women were reading scriptures and praying 
in the chairs in front of the wall.

I grabbed this description of the Western Wall from the internet:  The Western Wall's holiness in Judaism is a result of its proximity to the Temple Mount. Because of the Temple Mount entry restrictions, the Wall is the holiest place where Jews are permitted to pray, though the site of the Holy of Holies, the most sacred site in the Jewish faith, lies behind it. The original, natural, and irregular-shaped Temple Mount was gradually extended to allow for an ever-larger Temple compound to be built at its top. This process was finalized by Herod, who enclosed the Mount with an almost rectangular set of retaining walls, made to support the Temple platform and using extensive substructures and earth fills to give the natural hill a geometrically regular shape. On top of this box-like structure, Herod built a vast paved platform that surrounded the Temple. Of the four retaining walls, the western one is considered closest to the former Holy of Holies, which makes it the most sacred site recognized by Judaism outside the previous Temple Mount platform.

Although "owned" by the Muslims, the Jews are allowed to worship here due to some longstanding legal arrangements.

We drove a bit around the outside of the walls near the area called the city of David.

Below is an area that is being explored and excavated by researchers now--below the current walls of the Old Jerusalem the stones and artifacts are thought to be first century BC.  Jerusalem has been built and destroyed so many times that there are layers upon layers of generations underneath the current city. 

The city outside of the Old Jerusalem--literally the houses are almost all the same color and they often have flat roofs---

Ever once in a while some green and flowers can be seen.

We then headed out to a hillside which overlooked the city of Bethlehem.  It was there that we reviewed the story of the birth of Christ and talked about the shepherds keeping watch over the sheep by night.

We also had umbrellas to provide shape.

The olive grove on the bottom of this hill had
trees of all ages.  You can tell by the trunk--well,
I can't but experts can.  Some of the trees are a 1000 years old.

Here we are learning about olive trees and
some of the scriptures related to them in the Old and New Testament.

The countryside outside of Bethlehem
It looks like Arizona or southern Utah

We opted not to make the climb up to the top of the hill because one part was filled with gravel and steep and not the best footing for Jena.  We could still hear the Christmas story and the beautiful music being played over our headphones.

A close up of an olive tree truck...

While waiting, a little goat came by (no sheep).  He was not afraid of us and came pretty close before he headed up the path.  About 5 minutes later, the goatherder came by and called out for the goat.  The goat came running back, stopped about 10 feet away and when the goatherder reached out for him, the goat turned and ran up the hill.  The man threw down his bag and took up after it.  15 minutes later, another tour member said they were still on the hill running around.  The way the goat could jump up the hill, I can't imagine that you could ever catch it unless it wanted to be caught.  Goats are not sheep!

According to our phones, we walked about 4 1/2 miles today--the most walking we did the entire trip in one day and we were very tired when we got back to the hotel.