Sunday, May 27, 2012

Jerusalem - Day 3 (Bethlehem/Shabbat)

Today was a really special day. Friday is the Muslim Day of Gathering for Prayer, and Sunset of Friday marks the start of Shabbat, which is the Jewish Sabbath. Anyway, in the morning we went to Bethlehem to see the birthplace of Jesus. 


 I found this area to be very interesting. This is found in Bethlehem which is in the Palestinian territory.  On top of this post, in the middle of the street, are pictures of all Palestinians leaders and well known members of the community and country that are incarcerated in Israel. 


The door of humility really requires you to humble yourself, and get low! As I crouched down I thought I made it through, but then still hit my head. ouch!


 I keep telling Ray, "The middle east is just like Utah!" It even has a restaurant called St. George.


First going into the room around where it is believed Jesus was born it was very crowded. A russian tour guide actually came over and blocked our entry so her group could go in front!




This is the exact location where people believe Christ was born. It was somewhat underground and it was packed with people. You would bend down and enter this hole that looks like a fireplace and put your head up to this star to either look in or kiss it. As you leave this hole, on the sides you see large bowls for any type of donation that you would like to give.





A Catholic monk (from Palermo) invited us to participate in their service. They cleared out the whole room where Jesus was born for us to sing latin hymns with them and a few others, then we got to go to another room below it that no one ever gets to go to. 





This was a very unique experience because we were allowed to enter rooms that no one else was allowed to enter. I loved the Catholic monk that invited us into the group because he was so kind and wanted us to experience it. He was very dedicated in his calling and was so good to us.




Although we were singing in Latin, the words to "O come all ye faithful" were quite similar to Italian and Spanish, so we were able to sing along. 







After enjoying our time in the "Church of the Nativity" we decided to head over to the local mosque to participate in a Muslim service. Basically it consisted of us taking our shoes off, and sitting with a hundred people while listening to a church leader on a stand yelling in Arabic. It was pretty cool. 




We could interpret this picture in two different ways. Either Ray and Assaf smelled bad or I smelled bad.


This is an Arabic girl I met on the bus coming back from Bethlehem. She studies at University there, but comes to Jerusalem for soccer practice. She's on the national team! I wanted to meet her and her friend as soon as we got on the bus, but I was kinda nervous, but then when her friend got off I was finally like, I just need to do it, and then she turned out to be way friendly and cool. I told her about the mosque we went to in Bethlehem and how there was the guy yelling from the pulpit and I couldn't understand anything he was saying (because it was in Arabic), so I asked her what they say, and she said she can't understand it either. haha. She's studying English literature and her English was super good. 




I absolutely loved the Garden Tomb. It was a beautiful day when we went and Ray and I kept trying to imagine what it would be like if we were there to see Mary Magdalene run to the tomb to discover that Christ had risen. There was such a wonderful spirit and you could feel the faith of all the people there. I could have spent hours here just listening to all the hymns, music and sermons from the different denominations that were there celebrating the Resurrection of Christ.   


 


This is probably the only site that was really how we imagined it would be. It was amazing. You can tell because I look so awkward in this photo. It's like, how are you supposed to pose when you're in such an amazing, holy place? There was a really positive energy coming from everyone that was there. We enjoyed listening to lots of people singing, and one of the most beautiful songs was in a language that we didn't even understand. 





 These are the normal streets in Old Jerusalem. Everyone loves living here and they love Israel. It's hard not to because it is so unique and so special. Never been anywhere like it. 




This guy was so cool. As we walked by him he asked, "Hey would you like to look in my house?" He could tell we were pretty curious. We said we would love to. I am not sure how many families lived in this area because as we entered this door, it opened up into being more of community than anything. It was at least 4 stories, including a basement, and had families and homes every where we looked. I am pretty sure everyone that lived here was related to each other because this man told us that his family had lived there for over 700 years. I think the genealogy work would be pretty easy. haha



The Western wall was an incredible experience. We were blessed to go on a Friday and be able to witness the beginning of Shabbat (Sabboth). It was a huge deal. Each week the whole city shuts down for two days to celebrate. It is a time dedicated to God and family. We weren't allowed to take photos during the festivities because they don't use any type electronics because they are distractions to the things that are actually important. 
The photos we have here are from before sundown, when Shabbat starts. It was amazing to be in there with all the Jewish people. Going down in the crowds was awesome. There was this guy named Keith who is studying to be a rabbi that invited me to sing and dance with him and his group, and it was crazy. He said it doesn't really matter if you know the words, just sing from the heart and express your thanks to God. They had a lot of songs that build up and next thing you know you're jumping up and down and singing at the top of your lungs! It was a blast. He invited us to have dinner with him in the square that night. 



The wall has so much history that can be traced back to Abraham and Issac. The Jewish people come here to pray, study the Talmud and Torah and they write their most desired prayers on paper and shove these pieces of paper into the cracks of the wall. It is believed that their prayers are more likely to be answered if they do so.

There is no one at this plaza at the moment but during Shabbat this is the happening place. This is where everyone comes to try to get a date. Everyone comes, looking their best, with their specific groups of friends, trying to pick out who he or she would like to meet and go talk to. It reminded me of the 50's when everyone would meet up at the Burger Joint, drink their sodas and milkshakes, grease their hair back and try to walk home the prettiest girl. It was pretty fun.




We got so lucky because we were hoping to find Yamakas before going to the Western Wall. We looked and looked but everywhere was closed. Finally when we decided to head back, there was this old man selling them on the corner of the Western Wall. We were so excited and it allowed us to have a wonderful experience with the Jewish people. 

This was the last photo we could get before there were no more photos for Shabbat. So unfortunately we don't have photos of us having dinner that night with Keith and his friends. It was really interesting to be there for Shabbat dinner, with all the songs that are sung to bless the food, our friends, and our families. Keith also just got engaged so randomly during dinner people would show up (we were eating outside in the square) and start singing and then get into a circle with him and spin around while singing. Jewish people sure know how to have a good time! We left around midnight, but that was right about when everyone was coming out to socialize after dinner. It was truly an unforgettable day, and we definitely learned way more than we could take in. 

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