Jerusalem Day 3 The Jewish Quarter

On our way to the old city today we passed through what is now a modern shopping mall built on a street between some very ancient buildings. In fact we discovered that all over the city buildings were being deconstructed and then put back together as facades or facings for new structures. They do it by numbers! each brick or stone is numbered and then taken from the old structure. It is then put back in its exact place in the new location.

We set out this morning to discover the Jewish Quarter of the old city, to pray at the Western Wall, and to walk among the Jewish pilgims who have come to visit the central point of their heritage. It is hard to describe the feeling as you roam these ancient streets and put your feet along the same pathways where for thousands of years other pilgrims have trod. There is at once a sense of excitement and a aura of holiness about the place. Even those who live here seem to understand the immensity of their privilege they have to be in the place of their ancestors. I have begun to understand why they have fought with such tenacity to maintain their place here.

There is a Cardo (main street) excavated and rebuilt one level under the present street level. Today it is lined with high end shops and galleries. Interspersed along the walkway are observation ports which look down many feet to the underground excavations of streets where people walked 2-3000 years ago. There is one spot where they believe they have uncovered the foundation of the first temple, on top of which was build the walls of the Hasmonean palace. The picture above is of those building stones.

The highlight of our day was the great privilege we had to be able to pray at the Western Wall, and to leave a list of our parish and family in a crack with thousands of other prayers deposited by pilgrims. It was an amazing experience to even approach the wall. I began to weap and pray in tongues even before I touched it. I was almost over come by the presence of the Holy Spirit and could hardly stand. As I leaned my head against the wall, I knew that I was in the holiest of places. i am not usually one who reacts well to relics and touchy feely things that are supposed to be holy. But I can tell you with all certainty, that I met the Lord in this place this afternoon. I am weeping even as I type this. Mary also had such a sense of the presence of God. She could appreciate how difficult it must have been for the Jewish people at those times when it wasn't accessible to them.

And there, just on the other side of the Western Wall, was the Dome of the Rock...the holiest place in Jerusalem for the Moslem believers. It is visable from all over. In fact, even as I looked down into the excavations in front of the plaza and to the Wall, the Dome of the rock was there. We will visit the Moslem Quarter another day.

As we climbed up from the Western wall and back into the sector with schools, synagogues and homes, we came upon a ruined German Crusader chapel which unfortunately is presently being used to store chairs and tables. These windows look out onto the Western Wall and the Mount of Olives behind.

The last picture is of Christ Church sanctuary, which I didn't take pictures during worship yesterday. This was one of the rare occasions when the church was unoccupied. Like many of the churches that were built in that era, it has great acoustics, and groups come there to sing, record and pray while on their pilgrimage. When we came the first day there was a large crowd singing. Today, however, I had it all to myself, and was able to sing to my heart's content and take a couple of great pictures.

Thank you Jesus for a great day...thank you for your powerful presence in every place we went. Thank you for showing us the wonders of your creation, and your people of faith. Amen