1 shape, 3 colours

Tower of David

Tower from the Upper Room rooftop

From a distance we see it: the Tower of David, noble symbol of the city of Jerusalem for the Jews. It protrudes from an unlikely spot: the roof of the Upper Room, held sacred by Christians. To top it all off is the fact that the tower is a Muslim minaret! In a bizarre twist, we learn that because St. Peter, in Acts 2:29, told the people that "King David's tomb is with us" Jews, reading this, thought he meant in that building; so they claimed the site as King David's tomb. This led to fighting between Jews and Christians over who had prior claim to the spot, so the Muslims, who honour both David and Jesus, came in and took over, building a mosque there!

Cantor sings, wailing, at the tomb

Women pray on their side of the tomb

Nowadays the minaret remains. The ground floor is "the Tomb;" (really, though, King David would have been buried in the City of David that we saw yesterday, near Hezekiah's Tunnel and his Throne city.) Upstairs the Christians claim the Upper Room, which looks remarkably like a mosque! ... All that, just in case you forgot that we're in Israel! This is a reminder of how tumbled together it really is!

Pope's flag flies in welcome!

Connie reads the Last Supper Scripture

We can't enter the Upper Room; we can only go onto the flat roof above. The interior is getting a frantic scrubbing and repair, with broken water systems being fixed. Pope Francis is due to arrive in 2 weeks - his yellow and white flag heralds his coming from the heights. So the room is closed to the public, but up here on the rooftop we can spend less time pausing in that one moment, and more time connecting the dots of his final journey.

From the upper room here, Jesus went to the Garden of Gethsemane, off to the east in our vision. Normally he might have gone on to Bethany and the home of Mary, Martha and Lazarus, but it was the preparation for Passover, and by Jewish law he couldn't travel from one city to the next, so he spent the night in the garden. What a night. Under the darkening moon he revealed his soul to God, as his forefather King David had, when a mere shepherd. The great Shepherd, facing worse than bears and lions, also fought hard that night, and won.

Down we go and find ourselves in a quiet street with little traffic and no shops. This is the Armenian quarter; tucked away near the Zion Gate, and deliberately in hiding because Israel (along with Canada and many other countries) does not recognise the Armenian genocide carried out by the Turks between 1915-1923. So they stay out of sight to protect themselves from what they fear may be a sudden uprising. However, they have a long, established Christian history in this city and have contributed and received much through centuries here.

The Carda - old time main street

We walk a little in the sunshine, under palms and jacarandas, and come to an  opening in the wall with a clear view. Below us is the Carda, the central road of the 2000 year old Roman city, with pillars upright and enormous stones in view. Yes, we pinch ourselves; undoubtedly Jesus walked here! But our eyes are drawn up and out, where we have a clear view of 3 domes.

Church of Holy Sepulchre

Behind us is an enormous grey double dome with a cross on top of it. Beneath that dome are the crucifixion hill of Golgotha and the place of Jesus' burial, plus 42 accumulated chapels, serving at least 6 denominations. This is the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

The Hurva Synagogue

Beside us is a white dome, encircled today with white and blue fabric, like a designer wedding cake. The fabric has the star of Israel on it; this is the Hurva synagogue, main meeting place for the Jews. It looks young and fresh compared to the Holy Sepulchre church, but in reality its history is long and complicated, fraught with battles between Jews and Arabs, and including severe targeted damage in WWII that required complete rebuilding. It only recently opened for full services. This is in the Jewish quarter, where we stand.

Flips and a rock pommel horse!
Outdoor gym.

Dome of the Rock

Ahead of us is a golden dome. This is, of course, the Dome of the Rock, the most visible landmark in Jerusalem. It is in the Muslim quarter, but Temple Mount itself (including the Dome of the Rock and Wailing Wall) are officially not any one religion's territory, but are managed by the State of Israel. There in the Muslim quarter, which we visit, children play on rooftops for gyms.

All around, on every rooftop, are TV satellite dishes. At one time, the Israeli government wanted to expand the city to another, upper level, creating a rooftop promenade for visitors and locals. There's certainly room for it, and the view would be great. The government offered to build the promenade, installing hidden TV cables instead of the satellite dishes. The Muslims prudently refused. Though it would be neater, and useful to have the promenade, their access to international information, through those installed cables, would be in the hands of Jewish leadership, and could be cut off at any time. So the proliferation of satellite dishes continues, along with news of the Arab world.

Three domes, so similar. Three shades of colour representing three viewpoints, three faith systems, three followings. All three claim one God.  All reside within the Holy City, Jerusalem. Good thing it's called "City of Peace." As Yossi later says, it's a tough thing to be responsible for this peace, as the Israeli government is. It would be easier for the UN to be responsible, but no-one outside wants to touch it. So it remains, and it's a wonder that somehow...so far...to some extent...it's working!

Mural showing how the Cardo looked in 1st Century

From the Cardo below, where there once was a large, bustling street market, and where the golden age of Christianity thrived in the 4th & 5th centuries, we travel upwards a mere 5 metres and move through 1500 years!

Happy hatted students

Surfacing, we find ourselves in small, jumbled lanes. We cram into a tiny back room belonging to a Yeshiva; a Jewish school. Here boys sit all day, rocking and reciting Torah. On their heads the leaders wear phyllactories, containing Scriptures that they must bind to their minds, according to Deuteronomy 6. The level of their leadership is indicated by the kind and size of headcovering they wear! Bigger for brainier! Yossi has no time for this. "They are burdened, like the Pharisees Jesus talked about," he says.

Yeshiva - School of Rock and Rules

Yossi and Rabbi - with phyllactory 

on head and Scripture tied to hand

A station on the Via Dolorosa

Stone from original Via Dolorosa

On to the Via Dolorosa we go. Of course, most of this "road of suffering" is not original road. That was several feet below this level of archaeology. Many stations of the cross now are geared around the shops nearby; however, they do provide points of recognition for pilgrims. We don't walk the whole Via, but stand on some of the original rocks, each weighing 3-4 tons, that were more recently brought from the road below to the surface. These rocks date back to Jesus' time and come from King Solomon's Quarry here in the city, reddish and warm.

Soldier guards Via Dolorosa

Nearby, as they did 2000 years ago, stand soldiers. These are young thugs from villages who would rather fight with their fists than shoot guns. They're in the right place; shooting with guns in these narrow streets would start a war. A fist-fight, if needed, would only start a brawl.

Returning from Friday prayers

Because they're there, neither is called for, even though the clash of religions is never more obvious than on a Friday when people rush to prayer in the Mosque while others get ready for Shabbat, and still others stroll the streets, thinking it's two days till church! Others, of course, are there strictly for business, but "business" is often religious sales, and so it goes. Land and faith, mixed everywhere.

A cross gates the African village

"Shalom, Abuna!" calls Yossi at the little arched gateway on the roof of the Holy Sepulchre. We're in the African village up there! There's no answer. "Amheric has connections with Hebrew" he says. In fact, there's a tradition of great interconnectedness between Hebrews and Africans.

Washed hats dry below bells

Zipporah, Moses' wife, is said to have been an African woman. Abraham's second wife (not Hagar the concubine) was Keturah, whom tradition says was very black, and with whom he had six sons. One of those provided Abraham with a grandson called Sheba. From his line came the Queen of Sheba, believed to be from Ethiopia or Yemen, who visited King Solomon all those years later. "There is a rich tradition of the exquisite beauty of black women in Biblical heritage," says Yossi. "Thank goodness for that!" responds Connie with a smile!

Stair tower of Holy Sepulchre

The Ethiopian African village is on the roof of the Holy Sepulchre church; down a few steps and through a chapel, and we're in the courtyard outside the enormous church. We see the infamous ladder above, that cannot be moved due to the status quo rule of squabbling amongst church leaders. We see the enormous doors that can only be unlocked by a Muslim family, due again to the in-fighting. "The great division is in the church of the Holy Sepulchre" says Yossi; "much worse than Temple Mount!" Perhaps, but probably less publically volatile! The Israeli government has nothing to do with the church; it's private, so the Christians must work it out. Recent urgency, as the dilapidated building collapses, has resulted in some progress. ... But it could take a long time!

Golgotha; kneel at the cross

Into the church we go, up past Golgotha. We view it from afar, choosing not to stand in line, but we still get a fairly close view of the the altar beneath which pilgrims kneel. We don't kneel, but we pray silently; we're in a holy place - this is the real site of Jesus' crucifixion, a process that took 6 hours and was cruel death by asphyxiation. Down some stairs we see a side view of the hill of Golgotha. Yossi says it's half the height it used to be, because from the time of Crusaders, people have wanted souveniers from the holy land. Before there were souvenier shops, they took stones, especially from Golgotha. Now it's sealed off with glass to prevent that!

Dome of the Tomb inside outer dome

We walk past the dome within the dome. Under this small interior building, two churches (Catholic and Greek) claim access to the tomb of Jesus. We bypass both, though that is likely the very place of his tomb. But we go, instead, into a smaller space, another 1st century tomb, hewn out of rock, that would have been very like the one in which Jesus lay. It's popularly known as The Tomb of Joseph of Arimathea, and is a family tomb. One by one we enter; it's dark, but for the light of a small candle. We can imagine him being laid silently there. You don't speak in such narrow quarters.

Small, low cave-like opening. See link:
http://www.christusrex.org/www1/jhs/
TSspquar.html

A guest from another group follows me in, glances around. "What is this place?" he asks, loudly, turning to leave! This is how it is here - and in life! You follow a crowd and hope to find something holy within! I explain it to him, he thanks me, and we are both the better for it.

Shwarma & Falafel for lunch!

Outside, we eat lunch: shwarma and falafel, with Arabic coffee to wash it down! Delicious!
We visit the blue-eyed Arab, a fabric merchant, who gathers and weaves specialty cloth for locals to purchase.

"This is what Abraham wore," he says, pointing to his own black and white striped tunic. "And this is what we weave for churches - it's real gold and silver - $300 a metre and up!" For several reasons, it's probably not for our church! Sharon the seamstress loves every minute; she later returns to buy a scarf and capture the experience!

Yossi takes us to an antiquarian, purveyor of treasures from bygone eras. "Here is a Roman tear bottle, to catch the tears of a wife who misses her travelling husband!" says the collector/owner. It had better be full when he gets home! "Here is an oil lamp from the time of Jesus - in the first century."

Faces of the past face us

Roman tear bottle and intact oil lamp

It's a marvellous place, one of a kind. Faces of clay statues look at us through history, silently telling tales of the life that was, connecting it to what is now. We take the tales into ourselves, and go out into the world with them in our own, equally fragile and even more precious forms of being.

Pool at the foot of old walls

Our last spot within the holy city for the day is the pool of Bethesda, located beside St. Anne's church. Anna was Mary's mother; Jesus' grandmother. We see the pool, at the foot of "her garden". Springs of water have always been here.

Water still comes up from this spring

The Bible tells of one man among many people waiting near this pool for the angel to move waters and heal them. "But this man lived in the shoving Mediterranean mentality" says Yossi, "he could never elbow his way in there!"
Beth-esda means "house-of grace." "Anna" means grace. Here so near to his gracious grandmother's home, Jesus healed the man on the rule-filled sabbath. Grace, inborn and inherited, expressed freely in him.
Grace has coloured our group too. I see Vincent again reach out to touch his mother Jackie's hand, coming back to the present through that connection. It is always there for him, grace-lit with a smile.

Inside the church, Italian designed, the acoustics are outstanding. We sing Amazing Grace, and our small efforts are multiplied, angelically filling the space! That's the sound of grace! "Tomorrow," Yossi says, "you'll find out about sabbath rules. In your hotel the elevator will be set to stop on every single floor because it's Shabbat; no-one should push a button - that is work!" It's going to take a lot of grace to stay patient!

Welcome to Spafford House!

"It is well with my soul"

We drive to one of the few Evangelical sites in the city, the American Colony. Here we are welcomed with good Southern Baptist hospitality, and enter for a short service based around the words "It is well with my soul," the hymn written by Horatio Spafford, who founded the Colony in 1881 as a Christian utopia in Jerusalem. The name and welcome continues, with a more specific vision to be "A house of prayer for all nations." All may come, and do. After singing, with Yossi accompanying on the flute, we go to an upstairs room for quiet prayer. It's beautiful, with various stations where we can engage with God. We walk back out the gate refreshed  in spirit, ready for our final stop of the day, the Garden Tomb.

Face of a Skull in the rock

Here we see the skull face in the rock, which General Gordon observed and around which was built this alternative Tomb of Jesus. A volunteer preaches the message of resurrection in enthusiastic British cockney; we take our turns to enter the tomb and see the sign "He is Risen!"

Leaving the empty tomb!

No special effects involved!

It's not the original tomb, but it's a chance to reflect, and then to share communion together, which we do, under the shade of a blue awning.

Body and blood, given for us

His life, formed from the dust of this land and given for us on the cross, we take figuratively in the bread of this land, matza, and in the fruit of this land, grape juice. His life becomes ours through faith. And just as Jesus never returned to dust, he gives us eternal life that will never perish.

King David Hotel - for rich and famous!

Bar Mitzvah Candles

Not a hint of steam!

In the evening, sure enough, the sabbath elevator stops on every floor! Grrrr! We go out for coffee at the King David Hotel and encounter the lovely large room filled with ultra orthodox guests, waiting to go to a Bar Mitzvah party inside. It's fascinating watching them! - Gives us something to do while we try to drink our tepid tea and coffee - after all, it would be work to flip a switch on a kettle, so all the water is boiled early in the day, and you take what you get! We get beautifully served, lukewarm, instant coffee and tea (of course a cappuccino machine would be heavy labour!) - and we pay $9 each for the experience!! ... It is undoubtedly worth it!

 (Just wondering if these guys were there on the Sabbath, and if so, received cold coffee! I imagine they would - sabbath trumps all! - The King David Hotel has taken the signatures of famous people who checked in there, and reproduced them in central marble floor tiles! These are just a couple I liked!)