We toured Jerusalem on Wednesday. We started in the City of David. How can you speak what you feel when you step on the stones where King David lived? Stories I have heard all my life were echoing in my mind. In Jerusalem, cities were built on cities that were built on cities. The archaeological digs go deep and you can look down into caverns that show ancient rocks and buildings. We went down into the heart of the city and walked through the tunnel that King Hezekiah built to secure Israel's water supply thousands of years ago. There is still water in this tunnel and it is 1500 feet long. At one point, the water was up to our waist. The engineering feat of this tunnel boggles the mind. After this, we went to Old Jerusalem and visited the Western Wall. We had our moment of silence there - men and women separate of course - and tears came to my eyes at the Wall just thinking of all the people who have suffered so greatly for their Jewish faith and heritage. This Wall is the holiest spot in the world for Jews - it is the closest spot to the Holy of Holies from the original Temple. The Holy of Holies is the spot where the gold mosque is built that you see in all the pictures and is under Moslem control now. But as our guide told us, Jews would not go there anyway - because this is the spot only the highest priests could enter. We went on the Western Wall tour and saw the incredible stones King Herod built the wall with - one stone weighed 570 tons - no exaggeration there. How in the world they moved it and built with these stones is more than incredible. Our guide put it so aptly - in Jerusalem there is too much holiness and not enough space. Every monotheistic faith in the world finds their holiest monuments here. I went into the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Thinking of Jesus and the life he lived was quite a moment. I went by myself in here as I was the only one with a Christian background interested in this spot but David joined me later to experience it with me. It is huge and a bit surreal, especially with all the Catholic statutes and emblems.
After our tour in Jerusalem, we got our own car and drove to Ein Gedi - a very small oasis in the middle of the desert where we spent the night. It is close to Masada where Avi's Bar Mitzvah was planned to take place.
Thursday morning, we got up bright and early and drove to Masada with the Rabbi. We were scheduled for the 8:00 a.m. Bar Mitzvah and it was probably only 95 degrees or so, thank God. It was 118 degrees when we got to Ein Gedi last night and only cooled slightly when the sun went down. Avi's Bar Mitzvah was incredible. We were in one of the rooms built by King Herod where they have placed a table and a few chairs. The Rabbi was wonderful and inspirational and we were in the open air, listening to the birds, and feeling all the emotion of the moment. Madasa is the heart of Jewish resistance and embodies their love of freedom as the Jews in the Masada took their own lives rather than to become Roman slaves in about 70 AD. It is beautiful there and there are ancient ruins everywhere. Everything we have seen that King Herod built is amazing from Caesarea to the city of Jerusalem to Masada. They say he was a genius and a crazy one, killing people close to him on a regular basis out of paranoia.
After Avi's Bar Mitzvah we drove to Eilat, clear down on the southern tip of Israel. It is so so so so hot here. It is a vacation spot for the Israelis and school starts next week so the place is crawling with children. It is so beautiful but you have to live in the water because you will melt quickly otherwise. I am doing laundry here in the bathtub because we are all out of clothes and I have given up on finding any place to do laundry.
Joanne would love the food here. You have never seen the spreads of vegetables, every kind and every preparation you have ever dreamed of and plenty you never knew existed! The flavors that happen in your mouth take eating to a whole new level. The food is wonderful, I don't know how to even describe it. Everything is fresh. White bread and processed foods don't exist. They just don't eat that way. I will miss the food. However, Avi does not agree. He misses his white bread and cheeseburgers. I told him we are going kosher when we get home. I think I like never mixing dairy and meat.
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