Exploring the Old City

Don Hamer is on professional development leave until May 15. He is writing occasional posts to this blog to share some of his experiences.

After our extensive walk yesterday, Debbie and I got somewhat of a later start today. Having to mail some letters, we found an Israeli post office just inside the Old City by the Jaffa Gate. The Old City, which is walled in, is divided into four quadrants: The Christian and Armenian Christian quadrants, the Jewish Quadrant, and the Muslim Quadrant. We took the rest of the day to wander around the Jewish Quarter. We specifically did not want to utilize the services of a tour guide, so we chalked up a lot of today to just getting to know the city a little bit. Unfortunately, we did that by wandering around in circles until our tour began to feel a little bit like the movie, Ground Hog Day, in which the same events keep happening over and over again. But our persistence has paid off in a sense of how one part of the city relates to the other, and so we now feel poised to begin afresh tomorrow, bright and early. We did get to visit several important sites today, including the place of King David's tomb, which, until the opening of the Western Wall for Jewish pilgrims, was the most holy and accessible site for Jews to pray. We also visited the site thought to be the location of the Last Supper which we Christians celebrate this week as Maundy Thursday. We then visited the Memorial to Holocaust victims -- a series of rooms each filled with original photographs, newspaper clippings, clothing and other articles. Particularly striking are the walls, each of which is lined with a marble plaque commemorating a city or village or other community that was wiped out by the Nazis and their collaborators. Many Jewish pilgrims come here to commemorate loved ones who were victims, and of course I entered with my recent experience of touring the American Memorial to the Holocaust in Washington, D.C. just several weeks ago. All of these sites are just outside of the Zion Gate, which was the site of fierce fighting in the 1967 war as Israeli troops attempted to gain access to the Old City, then held by the Jordanians. Huge gouges in the wall are the remaining evidence left by Israeli bullets and shells. Finally we went to the Western Wall, or Wailing Wall, which is the western-most foundation of the site of the Second Temple, destroyed around 70 CE. Since the 1967 war, this has been the holiest site where Jews come to offer prayer. It is common for pilgrims to tuck tiny pieces of paper containing petitions into cracks in the wall, and one can see thousands of such petitions in each space. According to Orthodox custom, men and women pray at separate sections of the wall, separated by a fence. It was a moving experience for both of us to pray there today. Tonight Debbie and I are so exhausted (we walked approximately 8 hours) that we have skipped dinner and are dining on some fresh fruit we bought outside of the Zion Gate of the city and some nuts we bought in the Palestinian section yesterday, along with some local Israeli wine. We are reflecting on our day, and all of the reminders that what is for us Americans often a theoretical or philosophical discussion is a part of daily life here. Perhaps that is the greatest lesson of our day today.
Know that we are praying for all of you at Trinity and all others who are reading these daily messages, as we hope that you are praying for us. Have a blessed day! Peace, Don+