October 6- Via Dolorosa and Judean Hills

This morning we spent walking through the Old City recreating the steps of Jesus along the Via Dolorosa. We stopped at several Stations of the Cross and Jonathan gave us a Jew’s historical view on each of the stops. We all found it very interesting and educational. It was also fascinating to see the variety of pilgrims that come to these sites from India, Armenia, Egypt (Coptic Christians), Russia, and on and on…. and the variety of customs they have. The Church of the Holy Sepulcher is the assumed site of Jesus’ burial, and resurrection and the Church has been disputed territory between the Roman Catholic, Armenian Orthodox, Syrian Orthodox, Greek Orthodox, Egyptian Coptic, and Ethiopian Churches. Protestants believe Jesus’ burial was somewhere else in the Old City so they are not involved. Next door to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher is the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer which was built by Kaiser Wilhelm II in 1898. The church’s tower has 200 steps up steep circular stairs to a lookout high above the Old City affording us a bird’s eye view of the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock and Al Aqsa Mosque, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, and the Hurva Synagogue. The Hurva Synagogue was originally built in the 17^th Century with permission of the Ottoman Turks. It was rebuilt in the 1850’s, and then destroyed by Jordanian forces during the War for Independence in 1948. The synagogue was again rebuilt to its present grandeur after the 1967 War, just being completed in the past couple of years. On our way down the tower, the bells that Jonathan assured us would not peal until 2PM started at 12 noon just as we past the belfry. It did make us move faster!

The central market in Jerusalem was our next stop. The sights, smells and sounds of the market are indescribable. We stopped at the “Halvah King” (halvah is a sesame candy that is sold in large bricks) who had about a dozen different types of halvah; date, poppyseed, wine, walnut, coffee, and others. I wanted a very small piece, and the owner refused to cut it “like yellow cheese” and shoed us away. I’m swearing off halvah. We did grab a falafel lunch at ate it in a garden in a neighborhood near the market. This area had been the oldest Jewish settled area outside the Old City, and many of the old houses are still there, in fact the first president of Israel was born in one of these tiny houses.

We then returned to the Old City to walk the city ramparts. The ramparts are accessible everywhere except over the Temple Mount. Only Moslems are allowed on the Temple Mount, except at very limited times in only certain areas. Neither the Dome of the Rock not the Al Aqsa Mosque can be accessed by non-Moslems at any time. The rampart walk does offer great views of the Old City, East Jerusalem, Mount of Olives, and the City of David. We made one more photo stop at the Western Wall before we left for our hotel.

Dinner tonight was at the Eucalyptus, whose chef, Moshe Basson, is considered a food archeologist who reconstructs home-style dishes of Jerusalem’s many cultures with many tracing their roots to biblical times. Figs stuffed with chicken and tamarind sauce, ma’alubeh, traditional baked chicken and rice, and charbroiled eggplant with tehini were among our favorites. We invited Jonathan (and Kobi who declined in favor of dinner with his children) to join us, and we all had a great time. The chef came to our table and explained to us where his red lentil soup, as well as the name of the restaurant came from. I missed half of the explanation due to where I was sitting, and the other half because of his accent, so I can’t tell you the answers.

Tomorrow Qumran, En Gedi, and the Dead Sea.