Day 14 – Thursday, March 21: Jerusalem, Yad Vashem, Israel Museum, Mt. of Olives, Old City: Pools of Bethesda, Holy Sepulcher, Old City
Today was our first full day in Jerusalem. The day included two museums and a wonderful view of the Old City from the Mt. of Olives. We also entered the Old City in the afternoon. The weather was perfect, with sunny skies and highs in the mid 60s.
Yad Vashem
Our first stop in the morning required us to drive to West Jerusalem. Here we visited the Israel’s Holocaust Museum & Memorial. It is called Yad Vashem, named after a verse in Isaiah 56:5 that mentions the “memorial and a name.” We first visited the Valley of the Communities. Here we heard the personal story from Shlomo about his family during this tragic event. He lost 12 family members in Vilna, Poland (pictured). We then walked through the Children’s Memorial and the museum itself. It was a somber experience recalling the horrors of the Holocaust and the loss of six million Jews.
Israel Museum
Just a short distance away (still in Western Jerusalem) is the Israel Museum. First, we saw 1:50 scale model of 2nd Temple Jerusalem. Because the Shrine of the Book (where some of the Dead Sea Scrolls are displayed) was closed, we walked directly to the archaeological wing of the museum to see some of the “highlight artifacts” related to the Bible.
Mt. of Olives/Gethsemane
In the afternoon we drove to the Mt. of Olives. Cresting the Mt. of Olives we drove to a spectacular view across the Kidron Valley of the Old City and Temple Mount below. From here we walked down to Dominus Flavet, a small chapel where we enjoyed singing a chorus together. Here we remembered Luke 19 (Palm Sunday), Luke 22 (Jesus’ Passion), Acts 1 (Christ’s ascension), and Zechariah 14 (about the return of Christ). Continuing down the slope towards the Church of All Nations (the traditional Garden of Gethsemane), we walked up to to Old City.
“We enjoyed our first day here in Jerusalem. The uniqueness and specialness of this city is beyond words. It was a wonderful day of once again engaging in the culture of the Bible. The time spent at Yad Vashem, Israel’s Holocaust Museum, was emotionally moving as well!”
St. Anne’s / Pool of Bethesda
We entered the Old City of Jerusalem through the St. Stephen’s Gate (also called the Lion’s and Jericho Gate) and went to the St. Anne’s Church. This is a Crusader Church that is known for it’s 7-8 second echo. We had the entire church to ourselves where we enjoyed singing a number of songs together. How incredible our worship was! On the same grounds is the Pool of Bethesda. We read John 5 while overlooking the steps of this double-pool.
Holy Sepulcher Church
From here we walked to the Holy Sepulcher Church. Built in 325 AD, this is the traditional location for the death and burial place of Jesus. The archaeological and historical records favor this site. We saw the Edicule that has enclosed the suggested tomb of Christ for now nearly 1600 years. The church was so empty that we all went inside the suggested tomb of Jesus. Other parts of the church were being renovated and excavated.
We walked back to our hotel for dinner and an optional walk to the King David’s Hotel and Herod’s Family Tomb. It was a great first full day here!
Day 15 – Friday, March 22: City of David, Hezekiah’s Tunnel, Pool of Siloam, Western Wall, Southern Excavations, Herodium, Bethlehem
