Jerusalem 1

Wednesday, 27 May
The alarm went off at 5:45am for our 7am departure.  We had a bit of excitement as our room key didn't work after breakfast, so we missed our bus.  The tour had an appointment first thing at the Temple Mount so they couldn't wait.  It was a sick feeling to see the buses pull away without us.  After motel security got us into our room, thankfully one of the olive wood dealers, Jimmy (super nice and I still feel bad we never visited his shop) was at the motel and drove us in his car to meet the tour.
Another security check (Arab, as the Mount is administered by Jordan) to be admitted and they were adamant about women being dressed modestly.  I wore my black nylon long pants and had my almost constantly-worn blue long sleeved shirt (it was a sun block).  Most of the other women had on dresses or long pants and covered shoulders but our tour leaders still got complaints about long sleeves to the wrists. Lesson learned for FFLT.
Beautiful and peaceful on the Temple Mount.  Too bad we couldn't go inside, since about 5 years ago.

This is Dome of the Rock, built in 691 CE,  an 8 sided sacred shrine to both Jews and Muslims.  The Jews pray in the direction of the Dome, in the belief it was the location of the Holy of Holies in the Temple.  To the Muslims, it is thought to be the place where Muhammad traveled in the Night Journey.
  I loved the beautiful tile all over the entire top half of this amazing building.  The dome is copper but King Hussain of Jordan paid to have the gold leaf added in 1993.

Roy was very excited to see a new bird for his life list there of all places.

Syrian woodpecker 

From there we walked through the Lions Gate (one of seven gates into Jerusalem's Old City)

to the Antonia Fortress - now a Catholic Church - where Jesus was tried and scourged (39 times) in the basement.
Michael taught that here Pilate had his chance to show courage and he failed. When moral courage is needed, compromise is not enough.  Whenever one says, "but", which then leads to a compromise, however small, is your downfall.

On to the beautiful St. Anne's Church, (tradition says Anne was Mary's mother).

 We enjoyed a cool rest stop in the Chapel where acoustics are wonderful and we sang How Great Thou Art and I know My Redeemer Lives.  Very touching.

We continue our walk following Jesus's last hours, walking the Via Dolorosa Street (latin for Way of Grief,  Way of Suffering, Way of Sorrow), the path Jesus is said to have walked carrying the cross to Golgotha.  It is narrow street and we had a few tense moments when a car backed up and almost smooched several of us.

That is Jill in our tour and obviously I am right behind her.  See the few inches between the van and the wall?  Thankfully we squeezed into a small alcove where I am standing.  The tires were two inches from my toes!








We are headed to the Western Wall, which is the last remaining outer wall of Herod's Temple.  Passed through another security check (this time Jewish).
The Jews continue to mourn the loss of their Temple and go there to pray and get as close to it as they can.  The wall is separated into Men's and Women's sections - men must cover their heads (skull caps provided if needed), and women must be modestly dressed.  There weren't too many people but it is still a challenge to get close enough to touch the wall as one can pull a chair to pray or a desk to study scriptures.  Small slips with written prayers are stuffed into the wall cracks.

the men's section was much bigger than the women's side 

Around the corner from the Western wall, we were able to see some steps Jesus might have used to access the Temple.

There used to be a gate at the top of the stairs 

Out of the Old City through the Dung Gate

Our next stop on this long, albeit, wonderful day was the beautiful BYU Jerusalem Center or "Mormon University" as the Jews call it.

the view from the chapel overlooking the Old City

olive press

We enjoyed a mini organ recital and brief tour of the chapel and beautiful gardens.
I believe there are about 170 students here as part of the BYU Study Abroad Program.  We didn't see a one.
The fact the Church has a 99 year lease on this property is a God given miracle.  Without a doubt.





The Israeli Museum was our last stop.  We were all tired and it was very hot to be outside looking at an incredible 25% scale model of Jerusalem at the time of Christ.

Herod's Temple

Inside the Museum, we were able to see a few of the Dead Sea Scrolls, or close copies because the invaluable originals are downstairs in a big vault.  The writing was tiny!   Almost a complete Bible minus a couple of books but has a few ones not in our King James version. A splinter group, the Essenes, buried them out in the desert in 100BC, not far from Masada.  Sadly,  no photos allowed.