October 3- Old City

Dave and Molly finally arrived at the hotel at 4AM just in time to hear the the 1^st call to prayer for the devout Moslems from the minarets around the city. They met us for breakfast at 9 and at 9:30 we met our tour guide, Jonathan, and our driver, Kobi (not Kobi Bryant). We wasted no time in starting our adventure-off to the old city via the Jaffa Gate. The Jaffa Gate and the main walls that are still standing were built by Sulliman the Great in the 1700’s. This area is on Mt Moriah, the spot where Abraham brought Isaac to sacrifice him and was stopped by the hand of the archangel. The area is sacred to all three major religions. In addition to the story of Abraham and Isaac, this is where Jesus was crucified, buried, and was resurrected; also where Mohammed road Al Burak, a flying beast with the body of a horse and the face of a woman from Mecca to Jerusalem and then up to heaven to meet Moses and Jesus. Jonathan took us through the back alleys of the Armenian Quarter to the Jewish Quarter and the Western Wall. Recently, excavations under the Moslem Quarter revealed more extensive areas of the western wall of the temple mount of the 2^nd Temple built in 540 B.C.E. We were fortunate enough to have tickets for the tour of the excavations. Underground, we were able to see up close and personal the enormous blocks of limestone that were used as the base of the wall of the temple mount. These stones weighed in excess of 600 metric tons, and these were moved, lifted and carved without the aid of anything other than human labor and sweat.

After a light lunch in the Moslem Quarter (great hummus and chickpeas with pita), we walked back through the Arab market to the Western Wall. Standing so close to the centuries old heart of Jerusalem and the Jewish people was truly inspiring. I said Kaddish, the Jewish prayer for dead loved ones, for both my mother and my mother-in-law. As per religious Jewish custom, men and women are not allowed to pray together, so Molly and Jeri had to go to the women’s side of the Wall. Jeri had to borrow a long sleeve shirt from Dave (did I mention it was in the hi 90’s) because her arms had to be covered to below the elbows (for modesty). While we were there, there were a few hundred recruits graduating from their basic training and receiving their berets of their designated units. All men serve 3 years in the military after high school, and are reservists until age 40. Women serve 2 years. The mission of the young military personnel is to delay any attack toward Israel for 48 hours until the reservists are mobilized.

Our final stop today was a trip through the Tunnels of Hezekiah, in the City of David, just south of the Temple Mount. In 701 B.C.E., the Assyrians were getting ready to lay siege to Jerusalem, and King Hezekiah, at the urging of the prophet Isaiah, built an underground tunnel from the walled city to the city’s water source, the Gihon Spring, which was outside the city walls. Workers dug from each end feverishly to complete the project before the Assyrians arrived, and amazingly , the two tunnels met requiring only about a 5 foot jog to connect. With this secret water supply, the Jews were able to withstand the siege and Jerusalem was saved.

Before returning to our hotel, I asked Jonathan if we could drive up to the top of the Mount of Olives which is the hill just east of the Old City and the Kidron Valley, so that we could get some sunset photos of the Dome of the Rock. It required a lot of steep uphill hiking through the large graveyard on the Mount of Olives, and a walk through a Greek Orthodox cemetery to a decent vantage point. Unfortunately, the sunlight was obscured and the photos were not what I’d hoped for. Have to try another time. Also here was the Church of the Ascension, which is both a Christian and Moslem sanctuary where both religions share the same real estate (in peace!)

Then, back to the hotel and dinner at a nearby dairy restaurant called Lavan (“White”), and now, exhausted to bed (after I review my lecture for Tuesday morning.