Day 7

After a restful night sleep, we're off into the city of Jerusalem again. We started this morning off visiting the City of David, an ancient canaanite city that Kind David conquered and which would later grow into the great city it is today... seeing much war and strife, miracles and tragedies along the way.

In the old City of David we were able to walk through a long narrow tunnel known as Hezakiah's tunnel, which led to springs which were hidden and contained within the walls to protect the inhabitants water source. Some people went through a "wet tunnel" that still had water flowing that you had to wade trough. We chose not to as it was the first stop of the day and the weather had been calling for rain and wind. We were a bit worried we wouldn't warm back up, so we opted for the "dry tunnel" which was still very cool... and not all that dry!

The tunnel and city of David tour ended at the pool of siloam where Jesus performed his first miracle by causing a blind man to see. In the scriptures, it says that Jesus rubbed mud on a blind man's eyes, and then told him to rinse them in the pool... the pool of Siloam where we were. This was very cool! Tina had just finished studying this in the book of John which she's been reading with a group of middle school girls.

Next we visited the southwest walls of the temple mount where we saw huge stones piled on top of one another in the exact same position in which they fell off of the temple mount above when the Romans destroyed the second temple in 70 AD. As Jesus said to the pharisees "I tell you, not one stone will remain on another". We then went and walked up steps on the south side that used to lead onto the temple mount. We stood on and walked in places that Jesus surely traveled. This was a very surreal experience and amazing to get to do... but we are continually reminded that it is not the places or the things here that are important, but who did them and why. It is really incredible to see all of these stories we've heard about and read through all these years actually coming to life before our eyes.

We had lunch at Yad Vashim, the Holocaust Memorial. After lunch, we visited the holocaust memorial. We only had a little over an hour to go through the memorial. While this wasn't nearly enough time to read through each display, it was enough time for us to go through each area and get a good feel for the content and the intent of the memorial. It truly was an incredible experience. Starting with the bridge that you have to cross to get to the memorial, which is designed with loose boards on steel tracks which eerily simulates the sound of railroad cars traveling over train tracks, the main method for moving Jews to death camps during the "Final Solution" in which nearly 6 million Jews would die, the entire affair was utterly breathtaking and deeply impacting. The way the museum is laid out leads you through the progression of the rise of the Nazi party in Germany, through the ghettos, and death camps, finally heading up again through the allied liberation and the beginning of Zionism. This is truly one of the most amazing displays ever. They very tastefully and respectfully displayed the events of the holocaust without villainizing the German people or being too graphic with the horrors that occurred. Outside the main memorial, was a childrens memorial. It is estimated that approximately 1.5 million children were killed during the holocaust.The children's memorial is a candle, surrounded by countless mirrors in the dark. The effect of a single candle, and the mirrors, is the appearance of hundreds of thousands of stars in the night sky. It truly was an incredible experience and will never be forgotten. The horror of the holocaust is so beautifully remembered here at the memorial grounds. It is incredible how kind the Jewish people are in remembering their lost. All around the grounds, they've planted 6 million trees to represent those lost. In addition, they have an additional 28,000 trees planted to commemorate and thank those non-Jews who risked life and limb to save Jews, without reward. If you go to Jerusalem for one thing, it should be to see the land described in the bible on which Jesus and the prophets tread. If you go for two reasons it should be the former and the Holocaust Museum.

We ended our day at the Wailing Wall. Here we encountered scores of orthodox Jews praying at the wall, which is the closest they are able to get to the place of their former temple. We were able to follow tradition and each placed a written prayer into the cracks of the wall. It is interesting to note that the notes are never thrown away. They are indefinitely stored because the Jewish people do not want to destroy anything on which the name of God may be written... so our prayers will be preserved. Not necessarily there in the wall, but somewhere close by.

OK. as I am sure you can see... lots of activity every day! We're so blessed to be here and we're very hopeful that you are blessed by our blog and that you get the opportunity to someday visit this wonderful Holy Land yourself one day.