A Holy Day in Jerusalem

On Friday morning, I woke up early to meet about six other members of our group. How early? 5:15am early. We met in the lobby of our hotel at 5:45am and proceeded on a 20-minute walk into the Old City to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. The morning light was already up as we made our way through a very quiet and peaceful Jerusalem.

While our larger group was going to visit this sight on Sunday afternoon as part of our official tour, we were recommended to go there if we wanted to visit the site of Christ’s crucifixion and the tomb he was laid in without having to wait in extremely long lines (our tour was not going to wait for us to do that). However, several of us also wanted to go to Catholic mass, which we did there at 6:30am. There were actually mass times at the Holy Sepulchre that ran every half hour from 5:30am to 7:30am.

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre is shared by the Catholics, Greek Orthodox, Eastern Orthodox, Russian Orthodox and Armenian churches. In the early morning, it is just a beautiful and holy place, with much reverence being paid in all corners of this very large church.  The sight of the crucifixion is at Golgotha is located in the Greek Orthodox chapel. The Catholic chapel is located right next to that one, mere feet away, through a semi-open area. We all stood around in this small chapel for the 25-minute mass (the one we attended was a Polish mass). It was amazing to do communion just feet away from the very site where Christ was crucified.

As soon as the Catholic mass was over, we made our way over to the short line in the Greek Orthodox chapel to spend time at the very place of the cross. There are stones around the sight in the glass below. There is a spot under the altar that each pilgrim to this site can go to place your hands and head on and kneel down under and spend about a minute or so there. I was able to do this and contemplate the sacrifice that Christ made for us. While I felt conflicting emotions of sadness and gratitude at the Garden of Gethsemane the prior day, today the feeling of gratitude and love took over. I felt eternally grateful, I felt loved, and I wanted to express that gratitude and love back to Christ. I felt all of time come together at that place and at that moment. It was my minute at the foot of the cross and there was no place in the world I’d rather be.

Once each member of our group had a chance to spend personal time here, we ventured back downstairs and made our way over to the location of the Tomb of Christ. Obviously, his body is not here. For, He is risen! But this is the traditional place where he is believed to have been laid. At this point it was just shy of 7:30am and there was a series of services going on in and around the tomb. Different Christian churches have different times when they have services there and it was beautiful to watch all the intersecting sects of Christianity in what seemed to be perfect harmony and order with one another, all stewards of this holy place.

At just a few minutes before 8am, we were able to go inside the tomb. There were only a few people in line there and we were able to get in there quickly without a wait. Here the time is a little more rushed. About four people can fit inside the tomb at once. We kneeled and prayed and I placed my hand along the stone slab that is above the place Christ was laid after he was crucified. They only give you about 30 seconds in there at a time before they ask you to move on so other pilgrims can come in.

Once our group all had time here, we left and walked back to our hotel so that we could get some quick breakfast and meet up with our group, which was leaving a few minutes past 8:30am to do our touring for the day.

Our first stop was to the Israel Museum. Highlights for us here included a very large model of the City of Jerusalem, which is located in an outdoor area of the museum. Our guide, Yohav, gave us a very thorough geographical explanation of Jerusalem through this model of the city. We then went inside the museum where we saw some of the Dead Sea Scrolls, which were found around 1947 (the same year as the creation of the State of Israel) These are copies of some books of the Bible, particularly the Old Testament, that were found in caves by a Bedouin shepherd. Some date to the first century AD, others date to a few centuries before Christ. Once again, another example about how stories that have existed for hundreds (and thousands) of years, continue to be confirmed by archeological excavation.

From there, we made our way to Yav Gashem, a museum and memorial site dedicated to telling the story of the Holocaust. This museum was overwhelming. Someone told me if you read everything and visited every exhibit, it would take you four days. I believe it. We were there a couple hours and while I stopped and read some of the displays more slowly in some areas, I felt like I was breezing through most of the museum. More than 6 million Jews were killed in the Holocaust during WWII and more than 1.5 million of them were children. This aspect of children who were murdered at the hands of the Nazis was encapsulated in a deeply moving exhibit that was in a large room that was completely dark with lots of lights that looked like stars all around a room. As you walked around the room (using the handrails because the room was pitch black), names of individual children were read aloud continuously.

Names are important in this museum. When you hear a number like 6 million killed, it’s hard to get your head around it. But throughout the museum, you experience the names of many victims including hearing their individual stories. It’s a powerful place and a reminder that something so horrible happened on such a massive scale, not very long ago. It’s also a shame when you realize many of these lives could have been saved had Jews had a place, like Israel, to go to. But few places made room for Jews who were trying to escape Germany before the Nazis imposed the “final solution.”

We left the museum at the end of the morning and headed to the Machne Yehuda Market, where we found a great small restaurant with a Turkish food cuisine. The place was packed but they were moving people in and out fast and we got seated and ate fairly quickly. From there, we had free time and I walked about 15 minutes back to our hotel, stopping at a few little stores on the way back. The market itself was really packed. So many crowds, so many shops.

In the early evening, we went as a group to the Wailing Wall, otherwise known as the Western Wall. This is the last wall left from the Temple of Jerusalem, the Temple Mount. It’s where Jesus and his apostles worshipped in Jerusalem. The Temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD, but this wall is all that remains. Ever since the Romans sacked it, it has become known as the Wailing Wall. It is the most holy place in all of Judaism. And we arrived here, not simply on any night, but on Friday evening around 6:30pm, just an hour before sunset, when the Sabbath begins.

Guided by tradition, people come from around the world to pray at the Wailing Wall. There are two sides, one for men and one for women. Part of the reason for this is that the orthodox Jews do not want to be distracted in prayer by those of the other sex. So, not only are there two sides for prayer, but they are also divided by a partition with separate entrances. All men are required to cover their head, and most do so with a yamaka. If you don’t have one, they provide them there. I actually bought myself a yamaka at a store near the Machne Yehuda Market earlier in the day. Mine had both a USA and Israeli flag on it – when I saw that one, I felt I had to have it.

A few weeks ago, I let friends and family know that I would be going to the wall. In addition to praying at the wall, there is a tradition of writing a prayer on a piece of paper and sticking that paper into crevices in the wall. Many friends and family submitted special prayer requests to me privately for me to take to the wall.  I wrote them all out on two small pieces of paper and stuck them into the wall and made sure to personally pray for each of their special intentions. I felt every one of them there with me at the wall.

Going to the wall was a very powerful experience for me. While we can certainly pray from anywhere, going to a holy site as this, with the thousands of years of tradition it has represented, a place where many prophets, as well as Jesus and his apostles, also prayed. I was at the wall for probably about 5 minutes praying. I stuck those prayers in the wall and then put both of my hands up on the wall praying as I faced it. Behind me were hundreds of orthodox Jews praying and singing. Behind them, many young people on the grounds, praying, singing, dancing. It was beautiful. I felt in such communion with the millions of Jews and Christians who have come to this wall and honored this tradition.

After we prayed we hung out in the square by the wall for another 20 minutes or so and just took it all in. There was such joy and celebration as we neared sundown, when the Sabbath begins.

And since the Sabbath was beginning, the Israel Collective arranged for us to go to the home of a local Jewish family who hosted us for a traditional Shabbat dinner. The couple who hosted us, Avi and Rochelle, were great. They are probably in their late 30s/early 40s. He is a professor and she has worked for some high-level businesses. She was born in the U.S. and lived in California, but moved to Israel some years ago, and that’s when she met Avi. They absolutely love Israel and shared with us their story and their experiences.

They fit about 28 of us in their home, very tightly squeezed. They walked us through how a traditional Shabbat dinner is done. We participated in many traditional Jewish prayers and customs and various servings of food (and wine) continued to be served throughout the evening. We all went around and introduced ourselves to our hosts, along with a tidbit of what has been the most impactful thing about this trip. My main comment was that coming here has made all the Biblical stories I’ve heard my entire life – more real. By the time all of us recounted our reflections, it was late and almost time to close down the meal.

After we thanked our wonderful hosts for opening their home to us, we made our way back to our hotel, about a 15-minute walk from our host family’s home. It was a day full of visiting some amazing holy sites, in both the Jewish and Christian traditions. And it was one of the most remarkable days in my life of diving into those traditions, from celebrating Catholic mass in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre to ending the day at the Wailing Wall and with a traditional Shabbat dinner in the home of some local Israeli Jews. What a blessed opportunity this has been. I will never forget this holiest of holy days in the holy city.