Day 10-Dubai to Venice-JERUSALEM and BETHLEHEM, Port of Ashdod, ISRAEL

Up at 6AM to have breakfast before leaving on our all day excursion to visit Jerusalem and Bethlehem. It is very exciting to finally visit The Holy Land.  

We board Bus 3 of Patra Tours after going through Customs, face-to-face Israeli immigration process in terminal outside the ship. Nola is our guide, Moses, our bus driver. 

The following card can be used if separated from our group. In the back of my mind are words from a neighbor about her recent trip to Jerusalem and how her bus people were afraid to do the whole tour and go into parts of old Jerusalem and Bethlehem.  I feel no fear but will evaluate along the way.

Ashdod is Israel's largest port and a gateway to visit Jerusalem, the very heart of the Holy Land. People come to walk in the footsteps of Jesus Christ, but Jerusalem holds many treasures sacred also to Jews and Muslims. 

Exciting, yes, but more than that, seemingly surreal, to be driving and walking in all these biblically significant locations particularly thinking of Jesus having lived and walked in these same areas. It is a spiritual experience. 

Soon we are on our way and Nola is telling us how unusual to have rain in spring on the coastal plain. She calls it a touch of winter rain in spring and continues that there is no rain in summer. She said Jews always pray for rain because of summer drought. There are citrus groves and vineyards along the way. 

She gives us a bit of history as we travel. Abraham was about ready to sacrifice Isaac. Muslims believe it was Ishmael. Herod the Great kills all babies under 3. Herod builds platform with temple in middle. Destroyed year 17. Synagogue became a place of worship at this point like a temple. We are going up to Jerusalem as she speaks. We will ascend the Mt. of Olives, visit the Church of All Nations, the Wailing Wall (called Western Wall by local Jews) then walk the Via Dolorosa through the Christian Quarter then on to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

Soon we arrive on the Mount of Olives. We check out all the views before going to the Church of All Nations. 

[The Mount of Olives is frequently mentioned in the New Testament (Matthew 21:1. 26:30, etc.) as the route from Jerusalem to Bethany and the place where Jesus stood when he wept over Jerusalem. Jesus is said to have spent time on the mount, teaching and prophesying to his disciples (Matthew 24–25), including the Olivet discourse,  returning after each day to rest (Luke 21:37), and also coming there on the night of his betrayal (Matthew 26:39). At the foot of the Mount of Olives lies the Garden of Gethsemane. The New Testament tells how Jesus and his friends sang together – "When they had sung the hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives" Gospel of Matthew 26:30. Jesus ascended to heaven from the Mt of Olives as recorded in the book of Acts 1:9–12.]

Next, The Church of All Nations (Basilica of Agony) stands near the foot of the Mount of Olives and is built over the rock on which Jesus is believed to have prayed in agony the night before He died. (The Agony in the Garden.) This church and the adjacent Garden of Gethsemane is a favorite spot for Christian meditation. It is called the Chuch of All Nations because many countries including the United States contributed to the construction cost. 

On the facade of the church is a colorful mosaic depicting Christ as the mediator between God and mankind and giving His heart which is received by an Angel. 

To the right with gold domes is the Russian Orthodox Church of Mary Magdalene. 

  Note the four gospel writers on pedestals over columns.

Next stop: 

The Wailing Wall/Western Wall

The Divine Presence never moves from the Western Wall.

 Owen and Ray had to separate from Sue and me to pray at the Wailing Wall. Men go to one area, women another. Men must wear yamikas. There were disposable ones.

     Sue before putting prayer into wall.

     Putting my prayers in the Wall.

Amazing the age of these stones-standing on the platform of the Temple Herrod built. Some of the large stones at bottom of wall date back to Herrod. Each time the Temple was destroyed, some stones were intact.

Our guide told us to call it The Western Wall; local Jews want to lose the image of Jews wailing at the wall over the destruction of The Temple. 

    Across from the entrance to the Wall.

The Via Dolorosa

Way of the Cross

Along the way finally reaching The Church of the Holy Sepulchre where the final stations of the cross reside.

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre contains, according to traditions dating back at least to the fourth century, the two holiest sites in Christendom: the site where Jesus of Nazareth was crucified known as Calvary in Latin and Golgotha in Greek, and the empty tomb of Jesus, where he is said to have been buried and resurrected.  Within the church proper are the last four (or, by some definitions, five) Stations of the Via Dolorosa  representing the final episodes of The Passion of Jesus. The church has been a major Christian pilgrimage destination since its creation in the fourth century, as the traditional site of the Resurrection of Christ, thus its original Greek name, Church of the Anastasis.

Politics of Custody of this Church

The primary custodians are the Greek Orthodox, Armenian Apostolic, and Roman Catholic Churches, with the Greek Orthodox Church having the lion's share. In the 19th century, the Coptic Orthodox, the Ethiopian Orthodox and the Syriac Orthodox acquired lesser responsibilities, which include shrines and other structures within and around the building. Times and places of worship for each community are strictly regulated in common areas. The Greek Orthodox act through the Greek Orthidox Patriarchate as well as through the Brotherhood of the Holy Sepulchre. The Roman Catholics act through the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land.

The Sultan's firman (decree) of 1853, known as the status quo, pinned down the now permanent statutes of property and the regulations concerning the roles of the different denominations and other custodians.

Under the status quo, no part of what is designated as common territory may be so much as rearranged without consent from all communities. This often leads to the neglect of badly needed repairs when the communities cannot come to an agreement among themselves about the final shape of a project. Just such a disagreement has delayed the renovation of the edicule, where the need is now dire, but also where any change in the structure might result in a change to the status quo, disagreeable to one or more of the communities.

A less grave sign of this state of affairs is located on a window ledge over the church's entrance. A wooden ladder was placed there at some time before 1852, when the status quo defined both the doors and the window ledges as common ground. This ladder, the immovable ladder, remains to this day, in almost exactly the same position it occupied in century-old photographs and engravings. An engraving by  in 1839 also shows the same ladder in the same position.

The establishment of the 1853 status quo did not halt the violence, which continues to break out every so often even in modern times. On a hot summer day in 2002, a Coptic Monk moved his chair from its agreed spot into the shade. This was interpreted as a hostile move by the Ethiopians, and eleven were hospitalized after the resulting fracas. Even today we observed a dispute between two clergy members.

If this is not confusing enough, the custody of the door key to the main entrance  by a Muslim family makes it complete. Since 1192 when Saladin assigned door keeping to this Muslim family, the arrangement has persisted into modern times.

Inside the entrance is the anointing stone revered and believed to be the stone used to hold the body of Jesus when it was prepared for burial.

Mosaic on wall behind the anointing stone.

Ray coming downstairs from Calvary site.

Other interior pictures:

It would take a book to continue with pictures and explanations of what we saw in this church, altars everywhere, chapels. It was a beautiful experience touring this old, magnificent structure.

Time to go to lunch at the Kibbutz. We left the old city by the famed Jaffa gate. We walked out and found our bus waiting.

Lunch now at a Kibbutz (a feast with wine) then to Bethlehem. 

BETHLEHEM

[Bethlehem is in the Palestinian Authority. A local guide joins the bus at the check point. Israelis are not permitted to enter Bethlehem. Our guide became a member of our group. The Church of the Nativity  in Bethlehem is being restored and there is scaffolding in the main hall.]

Highlight of our trip to Bethlehem is visiting the CHURCH OF THE NATIVITY reportedly the spot where Jesus of Nazareth was born. The Church is built over a cave in which it is believed the Virgin Mother Mary gave birth to Jesus. The Church has been a site of pilgrimage since the second century. 

A 14 point star marks the spot where Mary gave birth. Entry to the spot in the Nativity Grotto is down steps to the right of the carved screen standing in front of the main altar. At a slightly lower level is the Grotto of the Manger, a rock shelf now covered in marble but the original rock may be seen around the manger of dimensions matching those of feeding troughs cut into rock by Bedouins.

The fortress-like Church seen below was built by the emperor Justinian in the 6th Century. It replaced the original church of Constantine the Great dedicated in 339 AD.

You have to bend over to enter the low door and small opening in the fortress-like wall. It is a wonderful display of humility as you approach the area where Jesus was born. Door seen above right portion to left of man. Door closeup shown below.

Trapdoors with glass in the floors of the Church's main hall now  being restored allow you to see parts of the original  mosaic floor of Constantine's Church. The present Church/Basilica is wholly a Greek Orthodox place of worship and celebrates Christmas on January 7. The televised Christmas Eve service on December 24, Midnight Mass, comes from the adjoining Roman Catholic Church of St. Catherine of Alexandria. 

Located outside Saint Catherine's Basilica is the Cloister of St. Jerome (Hieronymus). St. Jerome is best known for translating the Bible into Latin. His translation is called the Vulgate. In the fourth century he started a monastery in Bethlehem and lived there. (It was our official bible until Vatican II).

Our bus journey back to the port ended our ten hour excursion to Jerusalem and Bethlehem. It was rated strenuous so I worried about my knees but wanted to experience as much of the Holy Land as possible. I am so glad I did. 

We made it back in time for dinner and although tired, we went to the Theater Show, Simon and Garfunkel Story. Right to bed after to get ready for another busy day of touring in Israel.

  (Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Armenian)