July 5th Already—Bethlehem and beyond!
I cannot believe it’s Saturday and it’s done already. We have been busy like crazy, and today was no different! I don’t know how long this is going to take my pics to upload. I think I took 200 of them….but I don’t want to forget any of what I saw today.
Several of us wanted to go on the optional side trip to Bethlehem. There was a lot of discussion and safety concern. I of course had no idea that these areas are all arab and/or muslim-resident areas, so was clueless of the issues concerning going. However, we were apprised and our guide Amos kept in constant touch with situations which would make our going difficult and/or impossible. He and our driver DanyMor (the greatest tour driver EVER) eventually made arrangements for us. Because of where it was, our tour company, Keshet, would not/could not take us or take responsibility for us. This did concern me a little inside, but Amos assured that if he had serious concerns he would not allow us to go PERIOD. So we had a van drivinger they contracted with to pick us up and take us there. Once I got in the van, I did begin to feel our vulnerability. We were all happy about going and I’m not sure how anyone else felt, but with this strange man whisking us away, I sudden realized how “on our own” we were. I, as usual, attempted to chat with him. I’m sure he was pleasant enough, but he did not speak much either. Then, as we were getting nearer, he did tell us our Guide lived in Bethlehem. But, a considerable distance outside of Bethlehem, he suddenly pulled off the side of the road and stopped. I’m sure my eyes lit up. He then said that he was picking up our guide here. Literally in the middle of NO WHERE!!! It was odd. And so a car came up and our guide joined us. The person who drove our guide to us, came to our driver’s window and spoke Arabic to him and they shook hands. Our guide introduced himself and we began moving forward.
We did not go directly to Bethlehem. He wanted to take us to a Palestinian Town called Bet Sahour, a town just outside of Bethlehem. It is here that the cave where Jesus was said to have laid/been born is. He informed us that our vision of a wood barn, stable, manger just wouldn’t have been true or possible but that it was more likely a cave. He was really an good guide and taking us here was very meaningful. We went into the cave area where we could see how they were worked on to create spaces for people to live, births to take place, etc. and this cave was also turned in to a place of worship. Just outside of this cave was archeological excavation of a prior monastery that had been there. The excavation uncovered where the monks made olive oil and we could see the stones used as the olive presses.
The other thing that was here was the Shepherd’s Field Church, built to look like a Shepherd’s Tent and is relatively modern, built in 1954. This site is owned/operated/controlled (not sure which word is the appropriate one) by the Franciscan’s. We did not go, but not terribly far from here is a similar site by the Greek Orthodox. This is very common. Different denominations claiming different/but very close proximity sites.
Our guide pointed out to us the views of “occupied territories” in the distance. The fine lines of where Jews reside vs. non-Jews is daunting.
We left Bet Sahour and took a short drive to Bethlehem to a “car park” garage and then walked to the Church of the Nativity. I’m very glad we went to Bet Sahour first. The walk form the garage to the Church was rife with tourish trappings and I did end up taking pictures of some of our walking to/from the Church just to get you to see the way the church is tucked inside of very residential and commercial space.
Unfortunately, most of the Church of the Nativity was covered in scaffolding. I hope it will be to restore very nicely. It is in need of repair/restoration.
During a crusaders period restoration, the entry door was lowered to only 3 feet tall to prevent horse riding crusaders from riding through desecrating. We crawled in and I hoped/expected to be “wowed”….well, I was not wow’d, even though I was still very happy to be there. Our guide got us to line-jump to go down below to a very sacred nativity setting that the Greek Orthodox control (I think!); I went down and as long as I paid a donation, I was allowed to take a picture and see inside a miniature shrine that many literally were falling into and praying. Many more just sort of came in and came out. It was packed with bodies down there and anyone with claustrophobia need not be down there long! You’ll see in my pictures, the priest’s arm preventing my picture taking until he was sure I had given him a donation! Once he realized I had, he moved him arm and the next 2 pics of reddish lanterns, etc. are what I took. Then I looked up and took a pick of the cave-like structure we were actually in! Then I got out of there. While waiting for everyone else to get down and up, I did find tucked in some corners or by putting my camera through some caging, some lovely pics and frescoes, but, I must say they were not readily apparent due to all the scaffolding, etc.
Artistically speaking, what I enjoyed most were floor mosiacs which many years earlier had been completely covered up as they built atop them; they have many “lift up doors” installed into the floor and they flip them open for viewing. They were really cool. Upward looking shots of the solid wood beam ceilings left uninterrupted along one side show what they hope to restore the other side of the church to.
A small outside couryard added some niceness to the facade thankfully! So it was with mixed emotions that I walked away from teh Church of the Nativity. I can’t describe it adequately in words. I feel so fortunate to have gone and would not wish for anything else, but it was not “all that” once I’ve been there. It’s one of many similar messages I’m getting along with fabulous interfaith tour.
Once we all met back up at the hotel for lunch, we quickly left afterward off to hiking through the Muslim Quarter of Jerusalem.
The views are incredible, but the unrest is also a bit more visible to me; I’m a bit more aware of exactly what seems to be going on. Many of our group wanted to go to the Mt. of Olives. That became “completely out of the question” I believe due to the unrest, but I preferred to think it was a time thing. In retrospect, I’m fairly certain it was due to safety. We weren’t very far away from ther when we went to Gethsemane. Some of the olive trees here are among the oldest known to all science and have been carbon-dated as being true to that claim. I am glad we went to Gethsemane (although I’m not sure I was all that glad as we hiked up there in the heat!). I wanted to see the Church of All Nations and, lo and behold, there it was. And it was beautiful. It is also called the Church of Jesus’ Agony. It is right off the garden of Gethsemane so we had to go almost no steps at all to be there. It is lovely inside with more mosaics that I tried to capture.
Just outside, and through the gardens–these gardens are said to be where Jesus went often to pray which is why he was so easy to find when Judas went to get him — is the Tomb of the Virgin Mary. and just off of that is the Grotto of Gethsemane which I think we spent more time in than Amos expected. Here is an internet description of it:
Grotto of Gethsemane
The cave commonly known as the Grotto of Gethsemane (which in Aramaic means the place of the olive oil press) is located to the right of the Tomb of the Virgin, with its entrance at the end of a corridor. Since the fourth century, tradition has placed here the betrayal of Judas. After his agony in the Garden of Olives, Jesus came to meet the Apostles who were resting in the cave, where Judas arrived with the guards.
The Franciscans took possession of the cave in 1361 and, in contrast to the Tomb of the Virgin, have continued to be its owners to the present day. Following a flood in 1955, the Custody of the Holy Land carried out excavations directed by Father Virgilio Corbo that permitted the investigation of the structure and led to a number of interesting discoveries.
The cave, measuring approximately 19 x 10meters and 3.5 meters high, has continued to maintain a “natural” appearance despite the various transformations it has undergone. Initially it would have been used for agricultural purposes, with cisterns and drainage ditches for water and perhaps an olive press; beginning in the fourth century it became a rock church used for funerary purposes; in the Crusader period the vault of the cave was decorated with paintings of stars and scenes from the Gospels. http://www.gethsemane-en.custodia.org/default.asp?id=5652
When we were finished here, we then began a really long walk down and then Up Up Up Up to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. I took a lot of pictures as we went through these arab communities. Beautiful gardens with covered parked cars in them, a mish-mosh of beautiful ancient architecture and filth is another descriptions I could have. It sounds sad, and it was. I was a little more frightened here. I kept my head and heart clear with the fact that they counted on tourism enough to probably leave us along and also in the fact that Amos didn’t seem scared at all!
We walked as quickly as we could, which was not nearly quickly enough for Amos, through the Muslim Quarter. He is post-heart-attack and stil unfettered by the heat and steps we were enduring! My knees held out, I’m SHOCKED, and thrilled. There were a few times I was a bit overcome by heat, but for the most part, I did fine. Whenever I could I grabbed a stone or a rock or any sort of seat or shade. Not even because I needed it at that moment but because I never knew how long we were oging to be out in all this stuff! It was getting later in the day and it was also Ramedon…not that I know what that means to what people actually do during it. But I know Amos wanted us to move more quickly! We were trying to get to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre before what we hoped was a 5pm English mass so he could show us around! I wanted pictures of the 4 remaining Stations of the Cross!
And so we entered the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. I’m glad we went there. But it was PACKED! I took pictures of that which I could. But I can say that in those sorts of crowds it was difficult to get a good picture of some of the opulence.
We had wrong information on the English mass; but we were able to witness a Procession, Benediction of the Host, and Mass all in Italian! I secretly LOVED every minute of it. I understood so little of it, but, for my friend Donna I felt I was sitting there with her! The services were short, the singing voices were beautiful and I am so happy we went. A Nun sat next to Enid and me and kept sharing her song book with us in a sweet insistant manner; of course we couldn’t sing along, we didn’t know the language or the tunes, but she was wonderful. And another nun who sat behind me had the most beautiful voice ever! I just loved it!
And when I walked out from there, Station 14 of the Cross (Jesus is laid in the tomb) was right outside so I was able to get a decent picture. It is the last station.
We went back to the hotel, some of us by cab, some by walk. It had cooled down nicely and so those who walked really enjoyed it (I went in the cab!–not knowing what the next day would hold for my knees I decided to give them whatever break I could)! When I went to pay the cab driver, he refused to accept one of my 50 Shekkel bills. I had purchased 1200 shekkels (about $300) from the bank machine just outside of Machane Yehuda Market a day and a half before, and was apparently given a fake bill! My tourist loss for the trip.
We all went up to our rooms and got our purchase from the market the day earlier and brought it down to the patio of the hotel. We had snack together and then a most lovely Havdalah service led by Rabbi Enid. Havdalah is my favorite service and sweet and lovely way of saying goodbye to Shabbat/Sabbath. And a beautiful way to end our long long day! We cleaned up the patio and I went to my room and to bed (well I loaded my pics to the blog first because I wanted everything remembered so I could come back as I have now to add back to it!).
9457 steps
our Havadalah Service, saying goodbye to Shabbat (Sabbath)
our Havdalah service
Havdalah service
Church of Holy Sepulchre;
Station 14, the Last Station of the Cross
Bethlehem, Church of the Nativity: The Mary Shrine I lit candles for Donna and me!
Bethleham, Church of the Nativity: I lit these 2 candles for Donna and Me; I always light us candles whenever I get to a church or cathedral…and by the Mary shrine (from one Jewish Mother to another
The Shepherd’s Field just outside of Bethlehem
The Shepherd’s Field just outside of Bethlehem
Church of Holy Sepulchre; attending Mass in Italian!
Church of Holy Sepulchre;
Church of Holy Sepulchre;
Church of Holy Sepulchre;
Church of Holy Sepulchre;
Church of Holy Sepulchre; Station 14
Church of Holy Sepulchre; attending Mass in Italian!
Church of Holy Sepulchre; attending Mass in Italian!
Church of Holy Sepulchre; attending Mass in Italian!
Church of Holy Sepulchre; attending Mass in Italian!
Church of Holy Sepulchre; attending Mass in Italian!
Church of Holy Sepulchre; attending Mass in Italian!
Church of Holy Sepulchre; attending Mass in Italian!
Church of Holy Sepulchre; attending Mass in Italian!
Church of Holy Sepulchre; attending Mass in Italian!
Church of Holy Sepulchre; stone where Jesus lay for cleansing preparation for burial
Church of Holy Sepulchre; stone where Jesus lay for cleansing preparation for burial
Church of Holy Sepulchre; stone where Jesus lay for cleansing preparation for burial
Church of Holy Sepulchre; stone where Jesus lay for cleansing preparation for burial
Church of Holy Sepulchre
Church of Holy Sepulchre
Church of Holy Sepulchre
Church of Holy Sepulchre
Church of Holy Sepulchre
Church of Holy Sepulchre
Church of Holy Sepulchre
Church of Holy Sepulchre
14th Station of the Cross – The Aedicule
Church of Holy Sepulchre
Church of Holy Sepulchre
Church of Holy Sepulchre
Mosaics, Church of Holy Sepulchre
Station XI Crucifixion: Jesus is nailed to the cross (Roman Catholic side altar)
Entering Church of Holy Sepulchre
Entering Church of Holy Sepulchre
Entering Church of Holy Sepulchre
Entering Church of Holy Sepulchre
Entering Church of Holy Sepulchre
Entering Church of Holy Sepulchre
Entering Church of Holy Sepulchre
Entering Church of Holy Sepulchre
Entering Church of Holy Sepulchre
Entering Church of Holy Sepulchre
Walking in Muslim Quarter of East Jerusalem
Walking in Muslim Quarter of East Jerusalem
Walking in Muslim Quarter of East Jerusalem
Walking in Muslim Quarter of East Jerusalem
Walking in Muslim Quarter of East Jerusalem
Walking in Muslim Quarter of East Jerusalem
Walking in Muslim Quarter of East Jerusalem
Walking in Muslim Quarter of East Jerusalem
Walking in Muslim Quarter of East Jerusalem
Walking in Muslim Quarter of East Jerusalem
Walking in Muslim Quarter of East Jerusalem
The multiple colorings is typical of Mamluk architecture!
Walking in Muslim Quarter of East Jerusalem
Walking in Muslim Quarter of East Jerusalem
Walking in Muslim Quarter of East Jerusalem
Walking in Muslim Quarter of East Jerusalem
Walking in Muslim Quarter of East Jerusalem; each church sort has its own claim of where Jesus and Mary had experiences….
The Pool of Bethesda is a pool of water in the Muslim Quarter of Jerusalem, on the path of the Beth Zeta Valley as discussed in Gospel of John
traffic and views while walking through East Jerusalem
traffic and views while walking through East Jerusalem
as we’re starting our long walk UP through East Jerusalem to go to Church of Holy Sepulchre, I saw this car sitting in the middle of the garden
walking away from Tomb of the Virgin and Grotto of Gethsemane
Grotto of Gethsemane
Grotto of Gethsemane
Grotto of Gethsemane
Grotto of Gethsemane
Grotto of Gethsemane
Grotto of Gethsemane
Grotto of Gethsemane
Grotto of Gethsemane
Grotto of Gethsemane
Grotto of Gethsemane
Grotto of Gethsemane
Grotto of Gethsemane
Tomb of Virgin Mary
Tomb of Virgin Mary
Tomb of Virgin Mary
Hebrew on the back of a car?!
Gardens at Gethsemane
Church of All Nations also called Church of Jesus’ Agony
Church of All Nations also called Church of Jesus’ Agony
Church of All Nations also called Church of Jesus’ Agony
Church of All Nations also called Church of Jesus’ Agony
Church of All Nations also called Church of Jesus’ Agony
Church of All Nations also called Church of Jesus’ Agony
Church of All Nations also called Church of Jesus’ Agony
Church of All Nations also called Church of Jesus’ Agony
Church of All Nations also called Church of Jesus’ Agony
Church of All Nations also called Church of Jesus’ Agony
Church of All Nations also called Church of Jesus’ Agony
Church of All Nations also called Church of Jesus’ Agony
Church of All Nations also called Church of Jesus’ Agony
Church of All Nations
Views wile walking to Gethsemane in Muslim Quarter of Jerusalem
Views wile walking to Gethsemane in Muslim Quarter of Jerusalem
Views wile walking to Gethsemane in Muslim Quarter of Jerusalem
Views wile walking to Gethsemane in Muslim Quarter of Jerusalem
Bethlehem Church of the Nativity and to and from!
Bethlehem Church of the Nativity and to and from!
Bethlehem Church of the Nativity and to and from!
Bethlehem Church of the Nativity and to and from!
Bethlehem Church of the Nativity and to and from!
Bethlehem Church of the Nativity and to and from!
Bethlehem Church of the Nativity and to and from!
Bethlehem Church of the Nativity
Bethlehem Church of the Nativity
Bethlehem Church of the Nativity
Bethlehem Church of the Nativity
Bethlehem Church of the Nativity
Bethlehem Church of the Nativity
Bethlehem Church of the Nativity
Bethlehem Church of the Nativity
Bethlehem Church of the Nativity
Bethlehem Church of the Nativity
Bethlehem Church of the Nativity
Bethlehem Church of the Nativity
Bethlehem Church of the Nativity
Bethlehem Church of the Nativity
Bethlehem Church of the Nativity and to and from!
Bethlehem Church of the Nativity and to and from!
Bethlehem; Church of the Nativity
Bethlehem; Church of the Nativity
Bethlehem; Church of the Nativity
Bethlehem; Church of the Nativity
Bethlehem; Church of the Nativity
Bethlehem; Church of the Nativity
Bethlehem; Church of the Nativity
Bethlehem; Church of the Nativity
Bethlehem; Church of the Nativity – mosaics
Bethlehem; Church of the Nativity-mosaics
Bethlehem; Church of the Nativity – mosaics
Bethlehem; Church of the Nativity
Bethlehem; Church of the Nativity
Bethlehem; Church of the Nativity
Bethlehem; Church of the Nativity
Bethlehem; Church of the Nativity
Bethlehem; Church of the Nativity
Bethlehem; Church of the Nativity
Bethlehem; Church of the Nativity
Bethlehem; Church of the Nativity
Bethlehem; Church of the Nativity
Bethlehem; Church of the Nativity
Bethlehem; Church of the Nativity
Bethlehem; Church of the Nativity
Bethlehem; Church of the Nativity
Bethlehem; Church of the Nativity
Bethlehem;Church of the Nativity; the door was only 3 feet high; supposedly lowered to prevent crusaders from riding through on horses
Bethlehem; walking to Church of the Nativity
Bethlehem; walking to Church of the Nativity
Bethlehem; walking to Church of the Nativity
Bethlehem; walking to Church of the Nativity
Bethlehem walking to Church of the Nativity
Bethlehem walking to Church of the Nativity
Bethlehem walking to Church of the Nativity
Bethlehem walking to Church of the Nativity
Bethlehem walking to Church of the Nativity
Bethlehem, Church of the Nativity
Bethlehem
Bethlehem, Church of the Nativity
Bethlehem, Church of the Nativity
Bethlehem, Church of the Nativity
Bethlehem, Church of the Nativity
Bethlehem, Church of the Nativity
Bethlehem, Church of the Nativity
Bethlehem, Church of the Nativity
Bethlehem, Church of the Nativity
Bet Sahour, just outside of Bethlehem: Shepherd’s Fields
Bet Sahour, just outside of Bethlehem: Shepherd’s Fields–excavation of prior monastery..where they pressed olives into olive oil
Bet Sahour, just outside of Bethlehem: Shepherd’s Fields–excavation of prior monastery..where they pressed olives into olive oil
Bet Sahour, just outside of Bethlehem: Shepherd’s Fields–excavation of prior monastery..where they pressed olives into olive oil
Bet Sahour, just outside of Bethlehem: Shepherd’s Fields–excavation of prior monastery..where they pressed olives into olive oil
Bet Sahour, just outside of Bethlehem: Shepherd’s Fields–the cave, supposedly where Jesus lay
Bet Sahour, just outside of Bethlehem: Shepherd’s Fields–the cave, supposedly where Jesus lay
Bet Sahour, just outside of Bethlehem: Shepherd’s Fields–the cave, supposedly where Jesus lay
Bet Sahour, just outside of Bethlehem: Shepherd’s Fields-the cave supposedly where Jesus lay
Bet Sahour, just outside of Bethlehem: Shepherd’s Fields; the Monestary
Bet Sahour, just outside of Bethlehem: Shepherd’s Fields
Bet Sahour, just outside of Bethlehem: Shepherd’s Fields
Bet Sahour, just outside of Bethlehem: Shepherd’s Fields
Bethlehem, Church of the Nativity candles I lit for Donna and Me!
Bethlehem, Church of the Nativity
Bethlehem, Church of the Nativity
Bethlehem; Church of the Nativity – it’s obviously being restored; I tried to take some pics and hope the stuff shows through the scaffolding!
Havdalah
My Shabbat Candles before dinner….
lilatov 