Up to Jerusalem—Day Seven

We made the trip "up to Jerusalem", singing as we entered the city.

Restore our fortunes, Lord,
    like streams in the Negev.
Those who sow with tears
    will reap with songs of joy.
Those who go out weeping,
    carrying seed to sow,
will return with songs of joy,
    carrying sheaves with them.
— from Psalm 126, A song of ascents

Northbound on the coast road from the Dead Sea up to Jerusalem our guide told us that pilgrims would sing songs of ascent, like Psalm 126. We started this new day by reading this psalm while looking at the effects of "streams in the Negev." One such stream had washed out the road a couple of days before, but those streams give life and any water is welcome water.

The Psalm is a poignant reminder that all Israel longed for their restoration in the Land, and ached to "...return with songs of joy..." At one point one of our guides reflected on her connection to the Land and this ancient, disputed city. With a Boston accent the envy of any Red Sox fan, she told of her father's love for the Land and how he had passed that on to her. He was a prominent Boston attorney and a leader in the Zionist movement of the mid 20th Century. Our guide had never seen Israel until the family moved there when she was 16, making Aliyah—he immigration of Jews from the diaspora to the Land of Israel. She commented that her experience was common among Jews, whether from Ethiopia, Sweden, Eastern Europe, or the U.S. It's an ancient and deeply rooted connection.

We felt like we shared a bit of that connection as our bus pulled hard up the last hill and the city swung into view to our left.

The wall of the Old City and the Eastern Gate viewed from Gethsemane

Our first stop? Gethsemane, literally "oil press", a small area at the foot of the Mount of Olives opposite across the Kidron Valley from the Eastern Gate of the Old City. It was somewhere near this place that Jesus prayed before his arrest. The current site is owned and operated by a Franciscan community who were gifted with the property in 1681. The oldest trees on the site are dated to about 1100 A.D., but olive trees are known to sprout from old rootstock so some speculate that they are related to the trees among which Jesus prayed.

Some olive trees in the current garden are said to be 900 years old.

Our visit wasn't all pics and dates though. Pastor Randy led a service for all after which we were given time to pray in the garden. What a rare privilege to pray where Jesus had, among the ancient olive trees. There's a tradition at the Western Wall where people write their prayers on small slips of paper and nestle them in small voids between the huge foundation stones. It was surprising to see a similar practice at Gethsemane. The heartwood of the oldest trees has long since rotted away and in its place, people have filled these crevices with their prayers, written on slips of paper.

The oldest trees have gnarled trunks that bear witness to their age.

Nearby Church of the Nations was built in the early 20th Century on the site of 14th Century Crusader and 4th Century Byzantine churches erected on the traditional site of Jesus' prayer vigil at Gethsemane.

After praying, we left the Garden area and made our way to the summit of the Mount of Olives. From our vantage point, the entire Old City spread before us, and our guides gave us a brief "aerial" tour of the place we would visit over the next few days. Some of our group even availed themselves of a local camel ride. It may have been only a handful of yards, but we enjoyed it nonetheless. ;-)

Camel rides, only $5!

Rather than ride down the mount in our busses, we walked a route that took us around a large Jewish cemetery on the flanks of Olivet, the most ancient and most important cemetery in Jerusalem. It contains anywhere between 70,000 and 2 or 300,000 tombs from various periods beginning 3000 years ago. Notable figures like former Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and many chief rabbis are interred there. Oscar Schindler is actually buried on Mount Zion, across the Kidron Valley.

Stones on the graves are placed by loved ones, friends, and well-wishers and symbolize the permanence of memory.

After a brief visit to Jerusalem, we left Israeli territory to visit Bethlehem in an area controlled by the Palestinian Authority, passing through military checkpoints along the way. Our destination was the Church of the Nativity, originally commissioned by Constantine the Great and his mother Helena in 327 on the site that was traditionally located over the cave marking the birthplace of Jesus. In 135, Hadrian is said to have had the Christian site above the Grotto converted into a worship place for Adonis, the Greek god of beauty and desire. Destroyed in the 5th Century, it was rebuilt in homage to its original style by the Byzantine Emperor Justinian. 

The exterior of the Church of the Nativity.

A small door is all that remains of several arched entries used over the centuries.

The ornate altar features silverwork by some of Russia's finest artisans.

Ancient Byzantine mosaics have recently been restored, to the delight of our guides who had seen them
marred by centuries of grime only a few weeks before. Kudos to Matt Curfman for the pic.

The small grotto thought to be the site of Jesus' birth is still accessible by narrow stairs that
take pilgrims deep into the bowels of the church. Credit Matt Curfman for this image too.

A courtyard statue commemorates Church Father Jerome who moved to Bethlehem in 382 to learn Hebrew that he might translate the Old Testament into Latin from the original languages, rather than the Greek Septuagint.

Following an afternoon touring the church, we departed for a local merchant, the Tabash family's shop featuring some of the finest olive wood carvings in the region. It was a pleasant diversion back into the modern economy after we had spent so many hours lingering in times past.