Wednesday: The Wailing Wall

Early morning, we drove to the Wailing Wall and the Temple Mount. The Wailing Wall was such a powerful experience. Dozens of Christians and Jews were praying and crying by the temple. Because the Jews are not allowed onto the Temple Mount, this is the closest they are able to get to the wall. I also said a prayer by the wall, and was completely blown away by how powerful the Spirit was there.

 We then headed to the Temple Mount. Ezra, our tour guide was very bitter about the state of the Temple Mount (He is a non-religious Zionist Jew, whatever that means) and so I’m sure the information he shared with us was more biased that most. Still, it is very tragic that the Muslims built their Temple right over where Solomon’s Temple was buried, and will not let the Jews excavate, even though it may be very likely that the Ark of the Covenant is buried underneath. The Dome of the Rock was beautiful, nonetheless.

Then we walked along the Via Dolorosa, stopping at all of the stations. Most of the road is now overridden with shops, but you can still see the stations marked along the way with little churches and altars marking the significance of the site. We ended at the Holy Sepulchre, where both the cross was raised, and where the tomb of Jesus was believed to be (there is so much debate on that topic, and now people are saying it is unlikely that is the tomb of Jesus).

 Ezra also showed us a little chamber where Queen Helena discovered what she claims to be the cross on which Jesus was hung. That cross is now cut into tiny pieces and transported to different churches across the world.

We walked over the ruins of Cardo, the main street in Jerusalem during Jesus’ time, and went to the Dormition Abbey, where Mary’s tomb is.

We then visited the site of the Last Supper, which coincidentally is right over King David’s tomb. This site is the only site that is important to all three major religions: Christians, Jews, and Muslims, and they actually agree to share.

We then walked over the Mount of Olives (where Jesus ascended) and through the Garden of Gethsemane. There was a church next to the garden and we sat in on some of the most beautiful singing I’ve heard.

Finally, we hopped back on the bus to En Karam, where Elizabeth and Mary met while they were pregnant with John the Baptist and Jesus. Here, my camera ran out of batteries, but I did capture of a wall of prayers written in different languages.

E, A, and I asked to be dropped off at the Old City where we grabbed dinner (hummus and falafel, of course!) We then sat at the Wailing Wall, praying and reading scripture (reading Solomon's dedication for the temple in 1 Kings while sitting in front of the wall was an amazing experience!) until after the sun set. It was an amazing last evening in Jerusalem!