Shabbat Shalom!

Shabbat is the Jewish sabbath and it begins every Friday at sundown.  The city (and most others in Israel) almost totally shut down mid-afternoon to prepare for shabbat dinner and to attend synagogue at sundown.  Today, we experienced both synagogue and shabbat dinner together!  What a glorious ending to a great day!

I’ll take you through our day in pictures, as we were not in the classroom, but out touring the Old City, prior to Shabbat.

First stop: Golgotha, then the Garden Tomb where we had communion together.  Of note, you will see that the picture of Golgotha (“Place of the Skull,” where the Bible says Jesus was crucified) looks less and less like a skull.  This past February, the “nose” of the skull collapsed and is no longer there.  Erosion, fumes and vibration from an Arab bus station that sits just below it, and jackhammering in a Muslim cemetery atop the hill are thought to be possible causes of the collapse.

One thing that hasn’t changed….the tomb is empty!  The place where Jesus laid is bare!  Indeed, Jesus our Savior is risen to give us life eternal.  Aren’t you glad for that!

Following our visit to the Garden Tomb, we made our way to the Mount of Olives, where the Eastern Gate stands tall and proud across the Kidron Valley.  The Bible tells us that one day that gate will split wide open and the King of Kings will enter in gloriously! (Zechariah 14:1-4)

From the Mount of Olives (where the Garden of Gethsemane is located), we made our way through Lion’s Gate, enroute to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.  There are some denominations that believe this is the place of Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection.  (I don’t believe that to be the case, and I provided reasons in To Golgotha – Part 1 and Part 2.)

Today, the significance of that trek was that entering Lion’s Gate on a Friday meant encountering multitudes of Muslims headed for prayer on Temple Mount. (Friday is a holy day for Muslims.)  Here is an example of police presence at Lion’s Gate and along the route to Temple Mount.

This afternoon was a new experience for me.  We attended an Orthodox synagogue!  Prior to “schlepping” (Jewish slang for “walking”) to synagogue, we were briefed on what to expect, what to do, and what not to do!  (Such as “don’t take pictures!”  Thus, I have none to show you!)  We were given a handy-dandy little program of sorts, and off we went!  In synagogue, men sit downstairs, while women sit in the balcony above.  True to what we had been told, it was “controlled chaos,” as parents and the rabbi attempted to keep kids settled, while the cantor recited traditional readings.  Intermittently, there would be singing.  It was all in Hebrew, so we simply followed the advice, “when in Rome, do as the Romans do!”  It was interesting, to say the least!

We returned to our hotel where we had shabbat dinner together.  Ephraim and Stephanie Kaye (directors of our seminar) led the festivities, which included some Shabbat traditions and a whole lot of singing (mostly familiar Hebrew songs).  It was a great time, and indicative of what Shabbat meals are like for Jewish families.  They laugh, they play, and they definitely know how to live life to the fullest!

Tomorrow we head to the Galilee area to tour, before our last day in the classroom on Sunday!

From Jerusalem…Shabbat shalom!