DAY  4

After Mass in the Garden of Gethsemane, we walked through the Kidron Valley, passing Absolom's tomb, and climbing the steps along the eastern wall to the Old City.  This section of the city wall is built around Mount Moriah, called the Mount of Temptation because it is traditionally believed to be the site where the devil led Jesus to tempt Him with all the kingdoms of the world.

Sunday, 10 January

We drove back to our hotel for lunch and then headed out again, this time to the Western Wall, often referred to as the Wailing Wall.  As we approached, we could see that it was partitioned-- one side for men and the other for women.  Men and women lined the wall, bent over prayer books, rocking forward and back.  Some left their petitions written on scraps of paper in the cracks between the stones.  As people finished with their prayers and signs of reverence they backed away from the wall slowly while still facing it, as turning their backs would be considered disrespectful.

After breakfast we drove to the Mount of Olives.  Climbing down an impossibly steep and crowded (with objects and rubble-- not people) road, we reached a place where we could see the Dome of the Rock.  We continued down the slope to a Jewish cemetary, passing along the way an old Arab man leaning on a wooden staff, bent and silent, his face as implaccable as the stones.

In the cemetary the tombs are covered with stones and pebbles.  Jews buried near the holy city will be the first to rise from the dead when the Messiah comes, they believe.  To make it easier for the newly resurrected bodies to find their way to Jerusalem, they are buried with their feet towards the city, so that when the Messiah comes, all that remains for them is to stand up and walk straight ahead.

The ground on which we stood is rich with historical and religious significance.  Jews believe that after the Temple was destroyed, the Spirit of God left and dwelt on the Mount of Olives for three years.  In times past, Jews were allowed once a year to look from the Mount at the holy site where the Temple once stood, and told that they could enter only if they converted.  It was also from the Mount of Olives that, on Palm Sunday, Jesus walked, making His triumphal entry into Jerusalem from the south.

The walls of the Old City are accessible by seven gates.  The eigth gate, called the Golden Gate, is blocked.  It seems that the Muslims were extremely fearful of the (re)appearance of either the Christian or Jewish Messiah, and have taken precautions against the advent of either one.  It is said that when the Jewish Messiah comes, he will arrive in the city by way of the Golden Gate, so they surrounded the gate with a cemetary.  The Messiah, who will come from a priestly family, will thus be unable to walk through the cemetary to the city.  To thwart the return of the Christian Messiah, the adherants of Islam have filled the Golden Gate with concrete, which I'm guessing is meant to be impenatrable by God.  In this manner, they've covered all of their bases.

From the Mount of Olives we descended to the Church of Dominus Flevit, Latin for "the Lord wept".  Pious tradition holds that when Jesus returns, He will come from the east, the direction from which the sun rises and brings light to the world each new morning.  Consequently, Catholic churches are traditionally built facing that direction, so that on that brightest and most glorious morning, He will find us awaiting His arrival.  Dominus Flevit, however, is built facing the west, because that is the direction Jesus faced when He wept over Jerusalem.  Constructed in the shape of a tear, the church is small and manned by a few pleasant Franciscans.  Inside, a semi-circle of glass overlooks the city; the mosaic on the front of the altar is of a rooster with wings spread protectively about its chicks, and bears the Latin inscription "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, quoties volui congregare filios tuos, quemadmodum gallina congregat pullos suos sub alas et noluisti"-- "Jerulsalem, Jerusalem, how I have longed to gather your children as a mother hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you would not."

The Western Wall

Our last excursion for the day was to the Holyland Hotel, owned by a man whose son was killed in the War of Independance.  As a memorial to his son, this gentleman built on his hotel's property a scale model of Jerusalem during the second Temple period.  When I was told that we would be seeing a model of Jerusalem, I was not overly enthusiastic, anticipating some amateurish recreation set up on a little card table.  The actual model, however, was breathtaking.  Built on a scale of 1:50 (2 cm = 1 m), it provided a magnificent overview of the history we'd been getting in bits and pieces throughout the trip.  Most impressive of all was the model of the Temple, which I had never imagined to be so vast and majestic.

The Church of Dominus Flevit

Scale model of the Temple

Before leaving, we shopped a little, and I was amused to hear from one of the members of our group who had previously been to Israel that the sign above the souvenir shop used to bear the refreshingly medieval inscription "We sell anything holy."

Back at the hotel we had time before our evening lecture, so a few of us availed ourselves of the Turkish bath.  The experience began with a soak in an indoor jacuzzi, after which we proceeded to the bath, descending a short flight of steps into a heated pool from which steam rose. The walls were white with turquoise and blue mosaics, and sloped to a gradual point so that the steam rising would not drip from the ceiling but rather would roll down the sides.  Little alcoves provided space to sit and rest with friends and a cool drink.

Inside the Church of Dominus Flevit, the window behind the altar faces west, overlooking Jerusalem

After this supremely relaxing experience, we had dinner and then a talk with Jack Driscoll, a retired Christian Brother and scholar in residence at Hebrew University.

Walking further, we reached Gethsemane, which means "Olive Press".  In the time of Jesus, Jews believed that to fulfill all of the commands involved in sacrificing at the Temple (as was required at Passover), one had to stay in the city of Jerusalem overnight.  Gethsemane had the advantage of being the furthest point one could stay while remaining within city limits.  The Church of the Agony is built above the place where Jesus wept and prayed before His betrayal by Judas.  Inside, dark hues are meant to convey a sense of sadness, and the stars scattered across the dome the feeling of the dimly lit night sky.  Behind the altar the floor of the Church gives way to the original rock of the garden, surrounded by an iron gate twisted like a crown of thorns.

Entrance to the Church of the Agony in Gethsemane; the Latin inscription above the door reads "Sustinete hic et vigilate mecum"-- "Stay here and keep watch with me."

The mosaic above the entrance to the Church of the Agony

Near the church is a garden filled with olive trees, some of them quite ancient.  Pious tradition holds that the Cross of Jesus was made from olive wood, as olive trees possess the unique property of appearing completely lifeless for years, yet, upon sensing water, quickly "coming to life again".

The Garden of Gethsemane

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