Jerusalem Day 1
The Perfect Day
Sunday was the day we worked through jet lag from our trip over 10 time zones. Lynn and I tried homeopathic jet lag supplement and it has worked well for her; the jury is still out for me—I only got about three fitful hours of sleep before getting up at 4:30am. I at least was able to get my first post out.
Breakfast here at Christ Church Guest House was what I expected and more: eggs, fresh veggies, olives, hummus, baba ganoush, fresh yoghurt, great bread, and some truly amazing chocolate filled croissants (and plenty of coffee).
After breakfast, we walked a few steps to Christ Church. Christ Church is the oldest Protestant church in Jerusalem and has long had a focus on a mission to Jews. As I mentioned yesterday, I have been to quite a few services and this one was similar to the rest with an Anglican liturgy (for the first Sunday after Easter), a wonderful worship time with songs in English and Hebrew, an amazing sermon on John 20 and Jesus’s appearances in the upper room, and a joyful time of fellowship. The international flavor of the congregation, both residents and guests, makes it delightfully different from most US congregations, besides the fact that WE ARE WORSHIPPING IN JERUSALEM! I very much doubt there will be another opportunity to attend a church, so this was a true treat
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Despite the jet lag, our time here is limited, so we pressed to begin our exploration of Jerusalem. The first thing we did was walk across the street from Christ Church to the Tower of David complex. The Tower of David, located just south of Jaffa Gate, is a citadel, currently with medieval walls from the Muslim period, that has foundations back to Herod the Great and the Hasmoneans before him. There are some amazing models of what Jerusalem looked like in various time periods.
After going through the museum, we took the rampart walk along the walls of Jerusalem to the south. The great thing about this walk is the view out to new Jerusalem and the ability to look down and across the Old City from a high vantage point. The current walls were build by the Muslim ruler Saladin in the 16th century, but they are built upon foundations going back as far as the 3rd c. AD and some portions on the west side to the 2nd c. BC.
We came out just near the Western Wall then walked back up through the Jewish Quarter to Christ Church for a bite to eat. I had misread the reservation for our next activity so we made a quick turnaround and made our way back down to the Western Wall. The activity was an underground tour of the “Great Bridge.” That bridge was an aqueduct that went all the way back to around 200BC and was used until the 1930’s to bring water to the Temple Mount. Only recently have excavations taken place under ground to figure out the entire structure. Charles Warren had first explored this area 150 years ago. Our guide did a fantastic job and I saw something totally new.
Afterwards the three of us guys went into the study area adjacent to the Western Wall. We watched as two giant Torah scrolls were returned to their cabinet. Scores of Orthodox Jewish men dressed in black and some with Shma boxes on their foreheads were praying and studying there. Quite the site.
But that did not even compare with what was to come. After leaving the Jewish area, I led the group toward Damascus Gate to the north. Little did I know that a sea of Muslims would be headed the other way to the Temple Mount for Ramadan services (I think). We now know what salmon feel like. Though it may sound scary, we felt totally safe the entire time.
After finally leaving that road, I bought some ground Turkish coffee with cardamom to fix before breakfast, then we made our way back to Jaffa Gate and Christ Church.
Dinner was had outdoors at an Armenian restaurant near New Gate. Good food, good friends, and some amazing Palestinian wine ended the day on a wonderful note.
Our first full day was as close to a perfect day that I could ever think of or imagine. Thank you, Lord.
An Invitation
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