Jerusalem, spring 2022

After a pleasant stay in Cyprus, we were looking for our next location. Although our “clock” for the Schengen zone had been reset since we had spent 3 months outside the zone, we decided that Israel would be the best place for us to visit next. Although travel had started to pick up for mainland Europe, our experience was that “out of the way” areas still had minimal tourists. And since both of us had gotten our covid boosters, we were met the qualifications to spend the spring in Israel. 

We chose a location about 1km South-west of the old city of Jerusalem, which put us reasonably near grocery stores, with good access to walking trails and parks. And we were still centrally located enough to make it easy to wander the old city. 

One of the most memorable locations we saw was Dome of the Rock, where three major religions of the world intersect. From Wikipedia:

“Dome of the Rock, a World Heritage Site, has been called “Jerusalem’s most recognizable landmark” along with two nearby Old City structures: the Western Wall and Church of the Holy Sepulcher. The city of Jerusalem is sacred to many religious traditions, including Judaism, Christianity and Islam which consider it a holy city.
Some of the most sacred places for each of these religions are found in the Temple Mount area,”  according to wikipedia. The significance stems from the religious beliefs regarding the rock under the Dome of the Rock.

Dome of the Rock in the Temple Mount area, past security gates

This area of the world – Jordan, Israel, and Jerusalem, was fascinating to us due to being raised in the Christian faith and hearing stories about these areas nearly every Sunday. We were amazed to visit places like Tiberias and the Sea of Galilee where the oldest evidence of early humans in the territory (1.5 million years ago) were found. We recognized the names heard so often: such as Canaan, King Herod and the Romans, the Great Crusades, Mount Olivet, and the Garden of Gethsemane. We learned about Jewish religious laws and the Muslim Al-Aqsa Mosque as we listened and read of its history. 

But what struck me most was how recently Christianity began, just 2000+ years ago at the Second Temple Judaism Period.  Islam is even newer, around 1400 years ago and Judaism closer to 4000 years ago. Hinduism is one of the oldest at around 17,000 years ago!   The fact that three religions claim the Temple Mount to be significant made me wonder how this place has any peace at all!  Yet, we were able to visit for nearly three months thankfully.

Jerusalem is where we spent most of our time. Our apartment (below) was situated near to the Old City and we could walk there in 20 minutes.

We had two bedrooms and were quite comfortable in spite of a leaky ceiling in one of the bathrooms when it rained. Thank goodness Jerusalem is on the northern edge of the Negev desert, as it rarely rains in the summer. This is an expensive city at nearly three to four times the cost of living, but one place that I am SO glad we got to experience.

Here are some sights from the outside of the Old City.

Zacharius’s tomb (above) on the Mount of Olives and massive cemetery plots surround the Old City, divided into religious sections.

Looking east over the south side of the Old City you can see the Al-Asqa Mosque dome. On this side you will find Mount Zion gate, City of David, the Pools of Siloam, Mount Zion and below and above the tour buses, many, many graves.

The Western wall men’s section on the far side, with the women’s section nearer.

As we walked up to the Dome of the Rock we see the men and women praying, each at their section of the wall. While Israel has overall control of the area of the holy site, the day-to-day administration and organization of visiting and worshiping within the Temple Mount has historically been the responsibility of the Jordanian government. Therefore, Christians and Jews are only allowed into the Temple Mount area, behind these praying walls and the Old City, at certain times of the day. The Muslim, Al-Asqa temple is right next to the Dome of the Rock. It is typical to see guards with rifles as you walk most anywhere in Israel or Jordan. One day in the Old City we encountered some Muslim guards who spoke some English and when we told them we were from Minnesota, one of them mimed smoking a cigarette and said, “cheap cigarettes, good deal!” We left smiling.

Western wall

Fountain to wash hands before praying.

 
View from the front of Al-Asqa Mosque

Dome of the Rock behind us

Dome of the Rock. Entry not allowed for non-Muslims.

Dome of the Rock through the arches

the amazing tile details of the Dome

Dome of the Rock cupola

View from Mary Magdalene Church

Mary Magdalene Church, a Russian Orthodox church and convent, is still run by the nuns. It is located on the Mount of Olives, directly across the Kidron Valley from the Temple Mount and near the Garden of Gethsemane in Jerusalem.  It took us about three tries to gain entrance as the nuns are not always at the gate. We are glad we kept trying as it is a beautiful church.

 

Two more western wall photos.  We were fortunate to learn about the many Jewish traditional laws that are still followed, many of them to the letter.  They are a beautiful people in their traditional dress and adherence to their faith.

One Saturday I was out for a walk and noticed this family on their way to synagogue. You can see mom and dad, with one more little one, off to the left of the photo.

Church of the Holy Sepulcher in the Christian section of the Old City. This is where it is told that Jesus was crucified and buried. Outside of the church their is a street called “Via Dolorosa” meaning sorrowful way or the road Jesus may have taken while carrying His cross.

Holy Sepulcher interior

Tomb of Jesus inside Holy Sepulcher church

Via Dolorosa Way

We had an amazing time in Israel, including a couple of shorter trips in Northern Israel and Jordan. Lots more to come, we think we will have a couple more posts on Israel and one on Jordan coming up later.