Christmas in Bethlehem

December 23.  After a 3:30 am wake-up call (though I hadn't slept much anyway being in a 14-bed hostel room) I set off for the München airport for my flight to Tel Aviv, by way of Istanbul.  When I arrived in Tel Aviv, Elly's directions found me a shuttle, called a nesher, that dropped me off at the gate of Augusta Victoria hospital on the Mount of Olives.  I found the guest house and then Elly's apartment where I found Elly and Anna who were preparing some very special--and yummy hot chocolate. (by "very special" I mean it wasn't only hot chocolate...)

 

December 24.  Christmas Eve.  After a slow start in the morning due to putzy internet connections preventing Elly from getting her work done, we headed off toward Bethlehem.  Bethlehem on Christmas Eve.  I'm still not sure that was real.  The bus dropped us off at the Israeli West Bank barrier, a concrete wall with barbed wire across the top, not unlike what I have seen in my visits to concentration camps.

We entered "O Little Town of Bethlehem" by walking through a checkpoint consisting of a number of gated and barred pathways.  Welcome.
The four of us, Elly, Anna, Aaron, and I, wandered along the wall, reading the graffiti-art pleading for peace.

 

"Hand in Hand We Stand"    "COEXIST"   "Inshallah"

"Over walls can one fly, when one forgives one's enemy"



"Blessed are the peacemakers..."  "I see through this"   "Stop Now"

After visiting a couple shops owned by friends of Elly's (where as friends of friends, prices drop immediately and bargaining is no longer necessary), Elly and Anna headed toward the church to prepare for the Christmas Eve service.  Aaron and I continued down the hill to Manger Square and the Church of the Nativity.

Church of the Nativity, constructed on the site which
tradition claims as the birthplace of Jesus

The entrance is called the "Door of Humility" and is quite small.  Tall people nearly have to crawl through.  My pictures on the inside did not turn out, but there are plenty on the internet if you are interested.

Thankfully, Elly and Anna had saved us a corner to sit in...Christmas Lutheran Church was packed, people sitting in the aisle and standing in the back.  I heard mumblings from the locals about the tourists coming and taking over on Christmas Eve, but nobody said, "That's my spot!"  Fred (one of my college professors, now pastor at Redeemer in Jerusalem) preached a fabulous sermon as people from around the world gathered to worship, singing in Arabic, German, and English, praying in Arabic, Burmese, English, German, Finnish, Swedish, and Spanish.

Yarabba ssalami amter alayna ssalam,

Yarabba ssalami im la' qulubana ssalam.

Yarabba ssalami amter alayna ssalam,

Yarabba ssalami im'nah biladana ssalam.

(God of peace, rain peace upon us, fill our hearts with peace.

God of peace, rain peace upon us, give our land peace.)

Again on Christmas Day at the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer, Jerusalem, we sang

Yarabba ssalami amter alayna ssalam,

Yarabba ssalami im la' qulubana ssalam.

Yarabba ssalami amter alayna ssalam,

Yarabba ssalami im'nah biladana ssalam,

celebrating the birth of Jesus in a much smaller crowd.  Christmas brunch at the Strickert's followed Christmas Day worship.

December 26.  The day that Elly was determined not to leave the apartment, except for possibly ONE thing that could get her out...and it happened.  We were in the right place at the right time with the right *important* people and we got a phone call, "We're going to try and get into the Dome of the Rock, would you like to come?"  The Temple Mount (where the Dome of the Rock and the al-Aqsa mosque currently stand) is the site of the Jewish Temple (2 Chronicles 3.1-2), the first Temple was built by Solomon and destroyed during what??? (Hint: Babylonian Exile, 587BCE)  The second temple was destroyed in the fall of Jerusalem...in what year?  Remember?  (Hint: 70CE)  The Dome of the Rock houses the Foundation Stone--the rock which it is claimed the world was created out of...and that the Arc of the Covenant sat on...and the rock from which Muhammad ascended to heaven...and look it up on Wikipedia to see all the other things that happened on this rock.  This is the much-desired (or faught-over) site where according to Jewish tradition, the third temple will be built. Currently the Temple Mount is under Muslim control.  So, we scarved ourselves, took off our shoes and with not too much trouble, we got in.  Now this isn't an opportunity that comes up every day.  The Temple Mound is open to non-Muslims only a couple hours each day, and the two mosques are not open to the public at all.  The chance to get in and see the Dome of the Rock and the al-Aqsa Mosque ourselves was incredible. 

December 27.  I took off on my own early when Elly turned around at the edge of the Old City of Jerusalem to go home to bed.  I walked the Via Dolorosa, the "way of suffering" that is thought to be the path Jesus carried his cross, ending in his crucifixion where the Church of the Holy Sepulchre now stands.  The Church of the Holy Sepulchre is also claimed to be the site of Jesus' tomb (hence, "sepulchre").

The Western Wall, also known as the Wailing Wall, was next on my list.  The Western Wall was once (and still by some) considered by Jews to be the only remains of the Temple, and the place where God's presence remains after the Temple's destruction.  The wall is also believed to be the closest point one can get to the Foundation Stone, the Holy of Holies without setting foot on the Temple Mount.  The wall became the "Place of Wailing" as Jews stood before the wall to mourn the destruction of the Temple.  It is also a common practice to stuff prayer notes into the cracks of the wall.  If you'd like, you can even email notes to have stuffed in a crevice.

It was sitting outside Damascus gate waiting to meet up with Aaron that I had a half-full (or empty?) bottle of Coke whipped at me from behind.  I never saw who it was and will never know what the intention was, though the way it was thrown and hit me square in the back of the shoulder, it wasn't an accident.  Interessant.

When Aaron arrived, we wandered around the Old City a bit, then decided to do the Ramparts walk.

December 28.  My last day in the Holy Land.  Elly and Anna went back to work so Aaron and I (with much help and directions from Elly and Anna!) took off on a bus to Masada.  Masada, a plateau in the Judaean desert became Herod the Great's fortress incase of a rebellion by the Jews.  It is also known for the mass suicide that theoretically took place in 73CE when the Romans scaled the wall to find some 960 Sicarii (Jewish extremists who tried to kill all the Romans with daggers, according to Wikipedia) dead by suicide.  Someone in a tourist group while we were there asked the tour guide, "Why didn't they just jump?"  We understood this question after our hike up the Snake Path to the top--a steep climb of 700-some steps over 2K of switchbacks.  A jump would have done it.  We figured that between the climb up, down, and the stairs in the fortress itself, we probably covered over 1500 stairs within those few hours.  After our descent down the Snake Path, Aaron and I stood laughing at the violent shaking of our knees.



Water break part way up.

Overlooking the Dead Sea from Masada.

Fortress ruins.

The next stop was a "refreshing" dip in the Dead Sea.  Yes, you float.  You can't not float.  And, Dr. Bouzard was right.  Don't shave before going in.  Don't get it in your mouth.  Don't splash water in your eyes.  I can handle prickly legs, but prickly armpits kinda freak me out.  Sorry, too much information.

Salt. Is not squishy under feetsies.

Pax.