Day 14 – Friday, February 28: Jerusalem: Yad Vashem, Israel Museum, Mt. of Olives, Old City
Today was our first full day here in Jerusalem. We were greeted to full sun, with a cool start to the day but temps in the mid 50s by afternoon. We started the day with a solemn visit to Israel’s Holocaust Museum, and ended the day on the Mt. of Olives and a walk into the Old City. We read from Psalm 137 as we left the hotel at 7:30.
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 entered and walked through the start of the Avenue of the Righteous. Over 20,000 righteous Gentiles are recognized as saving the lives of Jews. We saw trees dedicated to Oscar Schindler and Corrie ten Boom. We even found the tree dedicated to Connie’s grandfather (Sijke Gorter) from the Netherlands who is honored here as well! We also 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. On our own, we ended our visit by walking through the museum. 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. We saw such artifacts such as the Dan Inscription, the silver amulet inscribed with the earliest name of “Yahweh,” The Pilate Inscription, Herod’s coffin, and the famous 1900 year-old “pie plate.” “HA
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 celebrated Christ’s kingship as 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 Old City.
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.
“Our first full day here in Jerusalem was a great one. We visited Yad Vashem, Israel’s Holocaust Museum & Memorial, the Israel Museum, the Mt. of Olives, and the Old City. It was a full and exciting day!”
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. A service was taking place in the tomb itself, not allowing us to enter. Other parts of the church were being renovated and excavated.
We walked back to the Jaffa Gate where David was scheduled to pick us up to take us back to the hotel. However, we couldn’t get out of the parking lot because of parked cars. So most of us walked back to the hotel. We saw Herod’s Family Tomb and the Ketef Hinnom tomb on the way! Back at the hotel, we enjoyed a marvelous Shabbat dinner and an optional walk to the Promenade, a quiet traffic-free path to get us a unique view of the Old City from the south. It was a great first full day here!
Day 15 – Saturday, March 1: Garden Tomb, Rampart Walk, Herodium, Shepherds’ Fields, Bethlehem
