Tours, tours and more tours

Today’s tour number 1 was at the Garden Tomb. Most Christians think that Emperor’s Constantine’s mother Helene got it right when she researched the site of Jesus’ crucifixion and burial, and her son built the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. But in the 19^th century some protestant Christians (including Horatio Spafford – author of ‘It is well with my soul’ – living in Jerusalem at the time) suggested an alternative site. Why? Because i) the hill resembled the shape of a skull, ii) the location fitted the description, and iii) the site contained a garden and a tomb. They raised some money, purchased the site and have been excavating and improving the site ever since. 

Whether it is the right site or not, we were delighted with the beautiful garden that they have developed (more flowers than we have seen in our first 5 days put together); but more importantly by seeing what the tomb would have looked like. It certainly helped make it real. And I always get a buzz out of meeting God’s people from other nations – our free private guide was from Sweden, and he was overjoyed with telling us the good news that when Jesus died he cried ‘it is finished’ (not ‘I’ve done my part, now it is up to you to do your part’). And he openly admitted that it didn’t really matter whether this is really the right tomb or not – what matters is that the tomb is empty – Jesus is risen.

Tour number 2 was the free tour around the Old City offered on Saturdays by the council – this Saturday the theme was the Crusaders. The Crusaders were the European Catholics who traveled to the Middle East inspired by the Pope’s call to liberate the ‘Holy Land’ and the local Christians from the Muslims. In reality the local Christians weren’t being attacked by the Muslims, and as with most wars there were a whole lot of social and political reasons for the carnage that they wreaked upon the region. Our guide used to live in Melbourne and certainly knew her stuff. She helped us to understand how the Armenians came to have their own quarter in the city, and the sorts of fights that went on about various locations, like the supposed location for the last supper. 

A short break for lunch then …

Tour number 3 was another free tour (can you pick up a theme here? though this one expected a tip) – an introduction to the Old City. Our guide this time was a friendly unorthodox Jew whose father used to read the prayers his son wrote to put into the Western Wall, and then would surreptitiously give him what he had asked God for. Presumably the father’s goal was good – to encourage him to keep praying - but his son kept on wanting to go to the wall a little too often, and he eventually wised up to what was going on. 

As well as sharing his personal testimony, he helped us to understand the symbolism of the clothes and hair of the Orthodox Jews, as well as explaining their courting habits: 2 meetings (or 3 at the most) sitting on a bench alongside each other in a particular square in the Jewish Quarter – then it’s time to get engaged.    

     

Believe it or not our next stop was not a tour. In the 19^th century the Ottomans and the German Kaiser became friends, and the Ottomans gave the Lutherans the right to build a church on the site of a Crusader church that had been a pile of rubble for nearly 700 years. We had read that the bell tower had the best view of the city, and we weren’t disappointed.

But as well as that, the simplicity of the church itself was a welcome contrast to the others we’ve visited.

Below the church we loved the archaeological excavations to various levels spanning 2000 years, with a fabulous computer animation to explain it all.

I have to admit that the bell tower and excavation site wasn’t free, but $5 each wasn’t too bad.

Tour number 4 – the church of the Holy Sepulchre. Our guide? Our constant companion, the Lonely Planet Guide, which I did buy but is now free to use. We had gone through the church in the dark last night when it was relatively empty. When we passed it in the middle of the day the tours from the Cruise Ships were in town and there were people everywhere. By this time there were still a lot of people – most of them pilgrims from all over the world come to express their devotion and receive a blessing. People cried as they kneeled down to wipe their hands or handkerchiefs or necklaces on this stone – on the supposed site of Jesus preparation for burial, but this particular stone was put there 200 years ago – presumably to replace the previous one which had worn away.

Elsewhere people lined up to touch various objects at the particular locations for Jesus death and preparation for burial. At the room which houses the tomb, hundreds lined up for a few moments inside; priests were on hand to manage the throng and move people along. 

I was quite moved to witness people’s devotion, but also reminded of how good it is to have access to God through Jesus, and not through stones and relics and buildings.

Conveniently located just nearby there are plenty of places to buy religious supplies …

2 interesting facts about the church:

1) The church is operated by 7 different denominations, but when the Muslim ruler of Jerusalem gave them permission to use it, he couldn’t decide whether to give it to the Catholics or the Orthodox church, so instead he gave the keys to a particular Muslim family. Hundreds of years later, they still turn up every morning to open up and every night to lock up!

2) Similarly, when another Muslim ruler of the city got sick of the arguments over changing who could use different parts of the building, he declared the status quo would remain forever more, and a ladder was placed on the outside to let everyone know. 150 years later the ‘unmoving ladder’ is still here! Why a ladder you ask – I’ve no idea.

  

Tour number 5 – the Night Spectacular at the Tower of David. An incredible walk through 3000 years of the history of Jerusalem projected onto the walls of a castle which is part of that history itself.

Finally – not a tour but our conversation over dinner produced an interesting conundrum. People sometimes talk about a city or society as being a melting pot – many different groups mixed in together. From what we have seen Jerusalem is full of so many different sorts of people – so many more than we are used to – and who take their differences very seriously and express them openly. But is it a melting pot? No – they aren’t mixing together but rather living side by side, so much so that there are 4 quarters to the city; it’s not illegal to live in someone else’s quarter, but no one does. Before I came I had heard it said that Israel is not a melting pot but a mosaic – different tiles that sit side by side and go together. I appreciate that better now. We decided they are not so much living in harmony – singing different parts to the one song, but instead singing different songs which at least at the moment are sounding okay together. Is this okay? Is it viable? Is there something better? What would this be like in our country?

Sorry - it must be late – just thought I’d share some thoughts rather than just a travelogue. It’s the sort of place that makes you think.