King David's City, Israel Museum, Yad Vashem 12.21.17

Who would have guessed that King David's tower was actually built by Herod the Great?  Or that the "Room of the Last Supper" was a room actually built by the Crusaders in the 12th Century?  Or that even a gentile like me would be allowed to pray at the Wailing Wall?

Today started early, with another walk through the Old City, especially the Jewish quarter.  Rebuilt after the 1967 War, the ancient Jewish quarter was almost completely destroyed and had to be rebuilt.  Our walk ended up near the "Church of the Dormition."  We didn't go into it.  Instead, we turned left into a tower.  An interior room was determined by the Crusaders to be the site of the Last Supper.  (So the Crusaders turned it into a simple church.  Unfortunately, they were wrong. Since the Old City was almost completely destroyed by the Romans in 70 and 134 AD, the Last Supper room had long since disappeared).  When the Muslims retook Jerusalem in the 13th Century, the Muslims found the room and turned it into a mosque.  Now, it's a shared space.

After hiking around the Jewish quarter some more, we headed to the Western Wall.  Rols and I separated to the men's and women's sections and had some prayer time.  Apparently, the Jews believe that when Herod's Temple was destroyed in 134 AD, the "sheikh" moved to the western wall.  I didn't sense any shekinah, but it was cool to pray there.  I left a note with my prayers for Rols' healing.

We did a walking tour of "David's City," which included the water system.  How did tunnelers 2000 years ago manage to chisel a tunnel 500 meters long through solid rock? Moti explained it, but I'm  still a bit flummoxed.  Then we walked down to see the ruins of the Pool of Siloam.

After the morning's work, we were eager for lunch.  We went to the Israel Museum to eat and to see the model of the Old City as it appeared during the 2nd Temple period.  We were enthralled.  Moti spent a long time pointing out aspects about the temple, the gates, the stairs, and the area outside the temple.  Over and over again, he pointed out inaccurate aspects of the model.  Still, it gave me such a feeling of the Jerusalem Jesus knew. 

We ended the day caught up in a protest movement.

Really -- I swear!  It consisted of people in wheelchairs locking down an intersections in order to bring attention to a disability law making it through the Kinneset.

After that excitement, we spent time in the Yad Vashem.   Very, very sobering time, reviewing the Holocaust. 

I'm beat.  In all ways one can be tired, I'm tired tonight.

Bless you.  Mary