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Published: September 9th 2009
Jerusalem, The Holy City. This was the second daytrip I did with the Ulpan. They had three different options:
1. The Jewsih tour
2. The Christian tour
3. Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum
I chose the Christian tour. I went with my new friend Kelsy from California. It was hot like always, but I did get to see a lot of nice things.
The bus dropped us at the City of David on Mount Zion. David is burried here. That's David from the 'David and Goliat' story. The Last Meal Court was also located here. After having a toiletbreak (after 1.5hours in the bus) we went down to the Catholic Cemetery. I didn't quite know what we were doing there, but then I realised that the famous Oskar Schindler was burried here. Remember the last part of the movie Schindler's List where the survivors put a stone on his grave? Well I was there and I put a stone aswell. It was the most beautiful grave I have ever seen, I was standing next to it and starring at it for ages. I actually became a little emotional. It was just beautiful!
Afterwards we climbed down Mount Zion towards the
Old City and the Western Wall. Last time I was there (in December, on New years eve to be exact) I didn't go close to the wall. This time I decided to enter the womens section, but it was so crowded that i didn't even get the chance to touch the wall. I guess I'll have to do that the next time. But a funny thing i realised was that as I walked towards the wall everyone was walking backwards away from the wall. I realised that they don't turn their back on the wall. On the mens side there were probably about 4 different bar mitzvahs going on. It was nice to see. I was standing there looking over the wall to the mens side and all of a sudden men started singing 'Avenu Shalom Melagem'. This is the song my little sister always sang to me.
Did you know that:
* Jewish women cover their hair. Usually they wear a scarf, but some also wear wigs.
* the orthodox jews wear black because they are morning for the destruction of the temple many years ago.
* women and men are separated in synagogues and also at the
Kelsy
What a lovely!western wall.
* it is only a certain friday each month where Jews are aloud to do their bar mitzvah at the western wall.
* the most extreme orthodox jews don't speak hebrew because it is a holy language. They speak jiddish and only use hebrew when praying or reading in the bible.
After an hour spent at the Western wall we started the Via Dolorosa tour. It is the road where Jesus carried his cross. Via Dolorosa has 14 stops. The stops were the places where something significant happend during the carrying of the cross. The stops were for example places where people either kissed Jesus's feet, gave him water, dried his sweat or treated his wounds. It's a pretty long way through narrow streets and up small stairs. At the end of the Via Dolorosa is the Sepulcher church, inside this church is where Jesus was crucified and burried. The Holy Sepulcher is big and dark. It goes very deep in the ground and the ony light you have is from oillamps. As most catholic churches the Holy Sepulcher is a gold grave.
After a long and very hot tour through Jerusalem we stopped by the
Jewish market in the new city. It was right before shabbat (starting friday evening around 18:30) so everything was super cheap! People were rushing back and forth to get the final necesserary foods, vegetables and fruits before the weekends. The vibe was excellent.
Jerusalem is a very strange city to walk around in. Religion is so strong, I feel a tension through the entire city. I really think it is difficult seeing people kiss a rock or treating a wall as the most important thing in the world. Close to the Western wall is the arab market, the vibe in there is so different than 100 metres further down the streets. And walk a little further you come to the sepulcher church where munks and nuns walk around. The whole city is filled with religious tension and makes me feel pretty uncomfortable. The thing I like the least is seeing how people dedicate their lives to something I find unexplainable.
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