Jerusalem Seminar Journal

On Saturday morning, after having a communion service on the Sea of Galilee beach, we headed south. We saw one of the traditional sites of Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan River (and stuck our feet in). We paid 2 shekels for the privilege of using the restrooms. We saw the ancient city of Beth Shean, an intriguing synagogue (Beth Alpha), and had lunch at the Temptation Restaurant in Jericho. We toured the site of the ancient city, then visited Hisham’s Palace with its beautiful mosaic of the “tree of life.” We arrived in Jerusalem by late afternoon.

Sunday was a free day, and we scattered to different places of worship. Most of us also shopped in the old city of Jerusalem, getting lost occasionally!

Monday we explored sites of significance for Judaism, Islam, and Christianity. We stopped first at the Western Wall, where we saw devout Jews praying. We then walked up to the Haram-es-Sharif (temple mount) where a group photo was taken. After stopping at the church of St. Ann’s (and the pool of Bethesda), we walked the Via Dolorosa on our way to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, a massive building which takes in both the place of Jesus’ crucifixion and his burial. For lunch we journeyed out of Jerusalem to Jeremiah’s hometown–Anathoth (present Anata). There we had lunch and heard Salim tell the story of his house being demolished four times. We ate in the fifth construction, now a Peace Center. In the evening, some of us watched the AFC championship football game on TV (Ravens and Steelers). MCC workers ate supper with us and told us about their work here.

Tuesday we went to the Dead Sea region. First we visited Qumran where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered. Next we took cable cars up Masada, the ancient fortress built by Herod the Great where the last stand of Jewish rebels was defeated just shortly after A.D. 70. We saw the beautiful waterfalls of En-Gedi, and floated in the Dead Sea to end our day–our feet got a bit cut up. We saw the inauguration of Barack Obama in the evening.

Today (Wednesday) we journeyed to Hebron, the place where Abraham bought a cave in which the patriarchs and their wives are buried. We got inside the mosque/synagogue there, then traveled to At-Tuwani, south of there, where Palestinians made us a meal. We heard about their struggles to hang onto their land.