Jerusalem

When visiting Israel, one must experience all kinds of weather. This morning, we admired the hail that came pelting down as we shivered in our swimsuit shorts, ready to walk through the water system that is known as Hezekiah’s Tunnel. Taking the path that leads to the tunnel entrance, we prepared ourselves for the icy waters that we were certain was to come. The first part of the tunnel was surprisingly very warm in comparison to right outside the entrance. The water tunnel itself truly psyched us out, in more ways than one. To our unexpectant delight, the water was a comfortably warm temperature. However, we were soon trapped by a locked gate not fifteen feet into the tunnel. Once the employee came to our help, allowing us to pass through, we were excited to start on our adventure. Unfortunately, we were stopped again by another locked gate and had to wait for the message to be passed down and for the keys to the gate to be passed to us. Finally, we were trudging through knee-high water in Hezekiah’s Tunnel. A few times, we turned off our flashlights to walk in the pitch-black, touching the walls to guide our way. For the most part, the tunnels were fairly straight, save for a few bends.

Up and out of the tunnel, the temperature drastically dropped and we were once again shivering in our swimsuit shorts in the rain. After changing into something more modest, we were permitted to enter the Western Wall Plaza, where we toured the Western Wall tunnels and learned more about this site that is so sacred for Jews. Around 950 BC, King Solomon built up the First Temple on Mount Moriah. When the Israelites were exiled to Babylon, King Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the temple, around 587 BC. The Second Temple was built by the Jews returning from the Babylon exile in 517 BC. During his reign, King Herod built up a supporting wall around the Temple Mount, a truly inspiring architectural masterpiece reaching heights greater than eight-story buildings. Later, around 70 AD, the Romans conquered Jerusalem and destroyed the Second Temple. However, they left the western supporting wall, believing it to be insignificant. Today, the Western Wall is a site Jews consider to be sacred since it is the closest they can get to the Holy of Holies. We were allowed a few minutes to separate between guys and girls and go to our respective parts of the wall, to pray and leave a prayer, to touch the stone wall that has been polished by human hands over the years of being touched.

After this, we went to Yad VaShem, the Holocaust Memorial Museum. We only had an hour to walk through and take in the emotions. Once you enter, you watch a video that represents what life was like for the Jews in the 1930s, before the Holocaust. The long hallway to the end wasn’t as straight as we first thought, for as we walked, we faced barriers that kept us from going on and we had to journey through the maze of rooms telling the history of this horrific event. With such things on our minds, we boarded the bus for the drive to the West Bank. We stopped for lunch at the top of Herodium, an artificial mountain built by King Herod for his tomb. Due to the intense wind, we had to take shelter and finish our lunch inside the ranger office and souvenir shop. We watched a short movie detailing the funeral of Herod the Great before climbing to the top of the mountain to admire the view while trying not to get blown off. Our last stop for the day was a Christian store in Bethlehem, a city controlled by the Palestinians. Most of the products were carvings of Olive wood, hand-made by the family who ran the business. After a cup of warm tea and a few purchases to support our Christian brothers in Bethlehem, we were back on the bus to get to Jerusalem for Shabbat Shalom, or the Sabbath. From thirty-minutes before sunset on Friday to thirty-minutes after sunset on Saturday, stores are closed, traffic is less, and elevators stop at every floor. Though we have a full day of walking on Saturday, we are all excited to get to sleep in until 7:30 AM! Shabbat Shalom!