We began our day at the Mount of Olives. Ironically, there are hardly any olive trees in this location at all, due to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD. There is, however, a Muslim cemetery that is built over the location where the gate to the Temple is thought to be located. This gate is referenced in scripture re: where Elijah will enter the city and where Christ will make will make His triumphant return. According to Ruti, the cemetery was built by the Muslims in this exact location for a very specific reason…so Christ is unable to come back. This is another reason for turmoil in Jerusalem. Ruti is light-hearted about it though. She thinks Israel should excavate anyway. Just up from the Muslim cemetery is a Jewish cemetery. FYI: it costs $5,000 to be buried in this place because these will be the first to resurrect upon Christ’s return. Not bad we thought…
We visited a small church called Dominos Flavia that is on the top of Mt. Olives. It was built in 1957, shaped like an upside down tear drop. Looking down on this sad site and all the turmoil that goes on in this land, it’s easy to see why Jesus wept.
We followed the path that Jesus took during His triumphal entry into Jerusalem (Luke 9) down Palm Road into the Garden of Gethsemane. Pastor Dave shared yet another amazing devotional. He asked if we had ever suffered. Being humans, we all shook our heads in agreement. He told us of a righteous Man he knew that once suffered in this very spot. He retold the story of how Jesus had prayed without ceasing for the Lord to answer His prayer. He encouraged us to always do the same. We found a quiet corner in the garden and shared our hearts. It was another moment we will always remember.
Our next stop was nearby at the Pool of Bethesda. Ruti was in the middle of reminding us that Jesus healed a lame man here (John 5) when, of course, her cell phone rang. The powerful moment of stepping back in time was quickly ruined when she began cursing someone out in Hebrew. We can only assume it was the person/relative/co-worker/smoking buddy/shop keep who was supposed to provide lunch, because she was MAD! But more on lunch after this…
LINCEE: Now that the moment was gone at the Pool, we were herded into St. Anne’s Church. Known for its amazing acoustics, Ruti promised to lead our group in song. What she didn’t know was that Pastor Dave had asked Nancy Jane to sing “Ave Maria.” I, the proud roomie, positioned myself on the front row, ready with the camera. Not only did she sing the entire thing in Italian, but she moved most of the audience to tears with her voice. Afterwards, Ruti led us in her “special” rendition of “How Great Thou Art.” We all felt extremely inadequate following NJ. Filing out of the church, I put on my PR hat and refused to let people get near MY ROOMIE and made all autograph requests come through me first.
Ruti scared Nancy Jane’s admirers away because we had to drive across town to eat lunch. It was a holy day, Shabbat, and typically, shops are not open. LUCKILY, Ruti was able to “pull a few strings” and have a friend of hers open up his store and treat us to lunch. Which is literally what happened. We went to a gift shop and were served falafel sandwiches that we’re pretty positive were either leftovers from this guy’s business meeting the day before or he had make all 20 from ingredients scrounged up from the kitchenette in the back of the store. Because anything can be called falafel and everything can be stuffed into a pita pocket in this country. Nice.
Fortunately, we were able to do our best shopping here. A lady from the other church (HI KITTY) bought us both a “Shalom Y’all” sign for our kitchens. While everyone else was stocking up on more camels carved out of olive wood, Nancy Jane scored a sweet deal on a wall hanging of St. George. Lincee bought a cross necklace and the disappointment of YET ANOTHER FALAFEL was quickly forgotten. Between our two purchases, we paid for the next three groups’ lunches. But who cares, right? Lincee is loving her cross and NJ is loving her saint.
Our next stop was the Israeli National Museum which houses the Dead Sea scrolls. Being that it was an emotional day, coupled with the fact that neither of us are museum lovers, we gave ourselves permission to mentally check out. We had an awesome conversation about conies while Ruti talked for 30 minutes in the blistering heat as she pointed out historical sites on a large scale model of Jerusalem. Believe us when we say that we were just as enriched with our conversation as we would have been with Ruti’s!
Our final destination was a two-in-one stop on Mt. Moriah. Our guide showed us Golgotha, a cliff in the shape of a skull, which is the location of where Christ was crucified on the cross. We are 90 percent sure on this one, due to the fact that a tomb in a garden is within walking distance. The Bible tells us that Joseph of Arimathaea offered his burial tomb for Jesus’ body. When you enter the tomb, the slab for the owner has been extended into the rock, making one assume that whomever was buried there was not the original owner. A sign, “HE IS RISEN” adorns the wall as you exit this tiny cave and head to the sitting area. Pastor Dave led us in communion and we sang “In the Garden” before prayer. I think the Kleenex count is up to four for day 10. Absolutely precious time.
Feeling as if it was midnight, we headed back to the hotel for dinner. Unfortunately, since it was Shabbat, we were unable to have anything cooked in a machine or warmed up. It was a Mustgo dinner. You know…everything and anything “must go” from the refrigerator. They didn’t even have pita! Just cucumber, tongue (what?) and kosher green apples. Luckily, Bonnie also has the appetite of a fourth grader and we ate Pop Tarts in her room before going down to Israeli Dance Party 2008. A missionary couple who is friends with one of the ladies at the other church, came to our hotel to teach us how to sing and dance Israeli style. Lincee turned a lot of circles and “whoo hoo’d” a bunch while NJO had drinks in the hotel bar…she says she just couldn’t handle the dancing and shouting. An hour later, we were drained from learning an Israeli line dance, teaching our new friends the Electric Slide, and discovering all the many uses of Ouzo #7. We both left knowing that we had done Shabbat up right!
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