Crossing it Off the List (Part 2)

Well, I am able to check another goal off my list!

(Part 1)

I have seen the Holy  Land!

L.s.R

Day 8

May 6, 2010

…still flying to JFK…

For our last day in Israel we started by going to the Old City and seeing some of the ruins that have been and still being excavated from David’s palace. We walked for a while beneath the city in the tunnels, which is how David conquered Jerusalem.

The rest of the day we saw the Upper-Room, walked through the Jerusalem, and saw the Holocaust Memorial. The Memorial was very simple and moving. The opening of the exhibit is a lane of trees, and each tree is dedicated to a person who assisted the Jews during the Holocaust. The first tree we saw was Schindler’s and the second one was Corrie Ten Boom’s which was dedicated to her, her father and sister. The Ten Boom’s original tree died within the same week that Corrie died, so they had to replant it. Being led through the Memorial by Hezzie, a Jew who was a little boy when the Holocaust happened was a very neat experience. At times he got very emotional as he spoke about his people. We didn’t go into the actual museum, since you have to have a reservation and we did our tour last minute, but we were able to go the tomb for the unknown dead and the children’s memorial.

The last thing we saw in Israel was the Garden Tomb. It was the only way to end a trip to the Holy Land. It was especially uplifting after seeing the Holocaust Memorial. The Garden Tomb is owned by a non-denominational Christian organization in the Arab quarter of Jerusalem. The tomb sits a little ways from Golgotha where Christ was crucified. Unfortunately, the site of the crucifixion is owned by the Arabs who have a bus stop on top of it. The Christians have tried endlessly to buy the site from the Arabs, but they won’t sell the area. There were flowers everywhere in the Garden. There were little paths that lead to alcoves were people were praying or doing communion together or separately. This was the perfect way to end this trip for me. Before we took communion, Pastor spoke to us and was able bring the entire trip into perspective for me. I feel so blessed to have been able to go on this trip, to stand where Jesus stood, to see with my own eyes what His people are like.

One of many this that this trip taught me was to start praying continually for the peace of Israel, that they would know and believe that Jesus Christ is their Messiah and Savior. That they would realize Jesus is the One they have been seeking to release not only their political oppression, but a refuge for their souls and endless joy in their hearts.

L.s.R

Day 7

May 6, 2010

…on the plan to JFK…

I have been so busy that I haven’t had time to journal. My penmanship and spelling has been awful throughout this trip and I am so sorry!

On the 7th day we did not rest! We visited Masada, which is near the Dead Sea. Masada is an amazing place! The story behind it is inspiring. The ruins of the city are on top of a large desert mountain that is shaped liked a boat. The city was built by Great King Herod, the murderer of the innocent, and once his reign was over it was taken by the Romans. A small garrison was being housed there when about 1,000 Jewish rebels claimed the city, trying to escape the Roman reign in Jerusalem after the Temple was destroyed. With the Romans in hot pursuit of the Jews, God’s people had no choice but to barricade themselves in Masada. They held the Romans off for three years. When capture was inevitable, the Jews decided it would be better to die than to be taken by the Romans and made into slaves and worship Caesar. The burnt everything except the ten-year supply of food, to show that they had chosen death purposefully. Each man was given the duty of killing their own families, and then the men drew lots to decide which man would kill the rest of the living men and then himself. All died, except for three woman and two children, who had hid themselves in a cisterean and were captured by the Romans and eventually told their story to the historian Josephus.

Eleazar ben Yair, the leader of the Jews, made this famous speech that lead everyone to agree to taking their own lives, “Consequently, let us beware of dishonoring ourselves by submitting to the cruelest servitude that can be imagined and that awaits us if we fall into the hands of the Romans alive, we who were the first to shake off their yoke and the last to still display the courage to hold out against them. We would not become unworthy of the grace that God grants us to be able to die willingly and gloriously as free men, a happiness that those who cherished the hope of being invincible have never known. The enemy desires nothing more than to hang us alive. As great as our resistance will be, we will not be able to avoid an onslaught. Nevertheless, the Romans cannot prevent us from denying them our lives by giving ourselves a noble death, ending our days together with the people who are the dearest to us...Let our wives die before they are abused, and our children before they have tasted slavery, and after we have slain them, let us bestow that glorious benefit upon one another mutually…. for [the food] will be a testimonial when we are dead that we were not subdued for want of necessities; but that, according to our original resolution, we have preferred death before slavery."

In the end, the Romans were defeated and humiliated. They returned to Rome with nothing to show for their three year campaign in the desert against a rag-tag band of Jewish rebels. It is on top of Masada in the ruins of the garrison that every Israeli soldier takes their final oath to defend Israel, vowing that Masada will never fall again. It gives me goosebumps!

After Masada, we took a little detour and drove amongst the caves where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered. We then went to the Dead Sea. It was a fun experience! We changed in the locker rooms and then walked down to the Sea. You have to back up into the water and then sit yourself down so you will float right. There are mud pits all over the place, and you scoop up the mud and rub it all over yourself. The Dead Sea is big business; the climate and minerals in the water make it a popular place for people with various ailments to come too.

The last stop we made was Jericho. Jericho was so depressing. It is another Palestinian territory and people weren’t very nice. We stopped by the Sycamore tree that Zacchaeus supposedly climbed to see Jesus better. We then went to a shop that was known for its blown glass. The glass was beautiful and practically unbreakable.

L.s.R

Day 6

May 4, 2010

…In the lobby of the Crown Plaza Hotel, Jerusalem…

Today was our first full day in Jerusalem. We started by going to the Garden of Gethsemane. This is one place in Israel that was everything I imagined it would be. We were the only ones in the Garden. It was peaceful and there was a beautiful, fall crispness in the air. I went off by myself and prayed under an olive tree. It was the first place I could say without any doubt that my feet touched the same places that Jesus’ did.

We went to an overlook that gave us the entire view of Old Jerusalem. There were selling camel rides nearby. The poor camel looked so gross and tired. Hezzie knew the Old City like the back of his hand. From our view, he pointed out everything of importance and told us the history behind it all.

Old Jerusalem was amazing. We had to go through security and walk up an enclosed ramp past the Western Wall. They were having Bar Mitzvahs all over the place. We passed one processional and it was hard not to join in with the dancing and singing. For a male Jew it is the highest honor to be able to have his Bar Mitzvah at the Western Wall; rich Jews will travel from all over the world to celebrate their sons’ thirteen birthdays here.

While we toured the Old City we saw the Dome of the Rock, where Christ started carrying the cross, and the fourteen different stations of the Cross (which is a Catholic tradition) but it was still interesting to see. The Via Delarosa was a simple, little ally way, with no other acknowledgement besides the small street sign next to it.

In the evening we went to the Western Wall. The Wall is about 300 feet long with a divider placed in the center. The left is the women’s side and the right is the men. Men must have their heads covered. I filed down with at least 100 other women. When I walked up to the Wall, there were three rows of standing women spanning the length. We all waited patiently until it was our turn to touch the Wall and pray. There were notes wedged everywhere in the nooks and crannies of the Wall. The quiet murmured prayers from the women and the men made it so solemn. It was one of the most special places for me so far on this trip. It touched my heart to be able to pray against the Wall that for thousands of years people have come to pray to cry out to God with their desires and hopes. But it also saddens me to think that the majority of people who come to the Wall do not know that their Messiah has already come.

In the square in front of the Wall, the Israeli military where practicing for their swearing in ceremony, their shouts in Hebrew rang throughout the large courtyard. Next, we went to the Western Wall Museum which took us below the City, gave us the complete history of the Wall and answered the question of why people pray at the Western Wall. The Wall extends a couple hundred feet below the part that we can see, when the Romans destroyed the Temple they built on top of the rubble hiding a good majority of the Wall. Jews have come to pray at the Western Wall for generations because it is the closest area to the vicinity of where the Holy of Holies is/was. The Dome of the Rock is on top of the original Temple site, and the Muslims will not let the Jews excavate underneath the Rock. The girl that led our tour was a Israeli Jew that had grown up in New York and had recently moved to Jerusalem to be with the rest of her family. Her great-grandfather and great-aunt died in Auschwitz during War World II.

After dinner Cherie and I took a taxi cab and went shopping at the local mall. We had to go through security to get into the mall, but they had great shopping. Hurray for Israeli H&M!!