Monday morning 7:15 AM, down to breakfast and join some of our gang—this morning: Phyllis and Howard. Breakfasts have been great—all kinds of fish, cheese, egg, cereals, fruits, breads, rolls, salads, sweets, etc.! They have not scrimped on anything!
Another beautiful day! It’s hard to imagine that it’s mid-November in the mountains:
On the bus and on our way by 8:30—Walter leading us. We drove past East Jerusalem, into the Arab area, past the Damascus Gate to the South Wall Excavation. It is officially called Jerusalem Archaeological Park - Davidson Center. We explored and discussed the Temple Mount Excavations. We saw Robinson’s Arch. (Mark “pointed it out”)
Photo by David Savitzky
In the year 638 the Muslims conquered the city. They built 3 palaces and our group stood in them. In the 1960s the British excavated the area. After 1967 Israel continued excavations. The stairway to the Temple Mt. was found. Now you can walk where it was 2,000 years ago. The Umayyad Palace was erected around the Temple Mt. by Umayyad rulers of Jerusalem in the 7th -8th centuries CE. They reused the stone materials from the Second Temple and Byzantine Periods.
As we traveled on our way, Walter passed around a picture of how Jersualem looked prior to 1867. The difference between what was hidden and has been uncovered/revealed is amazing.
A wall is being built approximately near the West Bank “boundaries”. Some of us went out and took pictures.
It is not a pretty sight—walling in the Jewish people again.
We drove through former “occupied territory”. It is now the “Jerusalem expanded after 1967”.
The New City has high rise “monstrosities” Walter said as we passed by them. There is also a mall, a football stadium and more modern buildings—built beginning in the 1970s. There are also supermarkets and other chain stores… lots of new construction.
Yad means “hand” and Shem “eternal”. Together it suggests “Keep The Memories” and it is a memorial for Holocaust martyrs and fighters.
Aside from the main exhibition room which ends rising and opening to a beautiful vista
(Al Morrison at the end of the the exhibition hall at Yad VaShem)
(June Feldman with the end of the exhibition hall in the background)
A Hall of Remembrance with a mosaic floor with 6 million pieces of black tile. Above that are the names of the twenty-two largest death and concentration camps. Ashes from the victims are kept in an underground vault. There’s a flame that gets re-lit every day. In this Hall some of our group shared their memories of family members who were survivors. There were few dry eyes.
In the Children’s Memorial are mirrors creating a point of light for each of the one and a half million children who were killed. The Avenue of the Righteous Gentiles has rows of trees planted to honor the Gentiles who risked their lives saving Jews.
We had lunch in the cafeteria, informally
Today’s group photo:
On our way back into town we went to the Israel Museum which is the largest museum in Israel. There is a model of Jerusalem at its size, just before the outbreak of the revolt against the Romans. There were 60,000 people living in Jerusalem then.
We saw the Dead Sea Scrolls, the oldest surviving Biblical texts. The Shrine of the Book (where they are exhibited) is a white dome, shaped to resemble the shape of the jars in which the scrolls were found.
Back to the hotel by 4:40. We made our evening plans.
Thirteen of us met at about 6:00 PM to go into the Muslim quarter through the Jaffa Gate. Irvin and Sheila led the way as Phyllis and Howard, Fran and Bob, David and Debbie Al, Sid (who had arrived a short time earlier (Welcome Sid!)), Judy, June and Leslie followed. It was no small feat keeping together while we shopped, but we managed to stay together—losing only Sheila and Irvin. The eleven of us then had dinner in a a nice felafel place, talked to two young Yeshiva students here from the New York/New Jersey area. Everyone bought something—dinner was good and the company… the best. I’d call that one great day!
I look forward to tomorrow and the new adventures we’ll have! The camaraderie is so special I am enjoying getting to know each and everyone on this trip. I’m so glad I’m here.