Day 12 – Sunday, September 14: Yad Vashem, Western Wall & Tunnels, Jewish Quarter, Herodian Mansion, Shorashim
Today was the second-last day of the trip and it was another sunny and bright day, with comfortable highs in the low 80s again. The day began in a solemn way with a visit to the Holocaust Museum. In the afternoon we returned to the Old City. We read from Psalm 137 as we left the hotel at 7:35.
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 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.
Western Wall & Tunnels
Following our time at Yad Vashem, we drove back to the Old City. First, we entered the Western Wall Tunnels. Here, we saw very interesting things, including the continuation of this western retaining wall to the north and its massive stones (the “Master Course” weights over 500 tons!), a small theater, and ritual bath (miqveh) and a fountain. Coming out of the tunnels, we planned to go to the Western Wall to pray, however because of Mark Rubio visiting this area, it was closed all afternoon. This also canceled our plans to visit the Temple Mount as well.
“Today was the second last day of the trip. We spent the entire day in Jerusalem, a city that has so much to offer! The historical and archaeological sites continue to impress so many people. From visiting Yad Vashem to the Western Wall, to the Herodian Mansion, we encountered so much!”
Jewish Quarter: Herodian Mansion, Shorashim
Because of the change of plans, from here we walked up into the heart of the Jewish Quarter where we first visited the Herodian Mansion. This was a very large house dwelling from the time of Jesus. Some suggest it may have been the house of the High Priest (i.e. Annas, Caiaphas). This newly-renovated site was outstanding!
Near the Hurva Synagogue we also enjoyed an interesting conversation with an Orthodox Jew named Moshe at Shorashim. Hearing about his Jewish faith was interesting. His store has many items with biblical connections.
We left the Old City by walking out of the Zion’s Gate where David picked us up to take us back to the hotel. Because of the back-up of traffic, we didn’t get back to the hotel until around 6 pm. A great dinner awaited us at 6:30 once again. It was another great day here in Jerusalem!
Day 13 – Monday, September 15: Eastern Gate, St. Anne’s Church, Pools of Bethesda, Shiloh, the “Shephelah” (Lowlands) of Judah: Gezer, Beth Shemesh, Socoh
