Seeing Things On Our Own

We had a free morning today.  So for the first time, we set out to explore the Old City on our own.  It's not as big as you might expect.  We walked from our hotel near the Jaffa Gate (on the west wall) to the Wailing Wall (located near the eastern wall) in about 20 minutes.  I'm pretty sure you could walk around the perimeter of the Old City wall (which contained the entirety of Jersualem until 1800 or so) in about an hour-and-a-half.  But there were 30-50 thousand people living there in Jesus' day and probably more now.  So it's small but crowded. 

The Wailing Wall (a foundation wall of the temple that Herod built during in the 1st century) is the spiritual heart of Judaism.  Hundreds of people were on the large plaza.  Some were close to the wall, praying.  Others were milling around.  There were many Bar Mitzvahs taking place.  A Bar Mitzvah is something like confirmation in certain Christian churches.  At age 13, boys read Torah in Hebrew, as part of a ceremony that basically declares them to be spiritual adults.  All of the Bar Mitzvahs took place near the fence that divides the women's and men's sections of the plaza.  The men administered the ceremony; the women made celebratory noises that sounded very Middle Eastern and threw candy.  Then the boys would be hoisted on the shoulders of their friends.  Dancing and singing would ensue.  It was a lively, chaotic scene, one that I found exhilirating.  I put on a yarmulke before entering the plaza (one of those little round caps you see Jews wearing sometimes) and stood around and watched for awhile.

Afterwards we strolled through the city's Jewish quarter (the other three quarters are: the Muslim, the Armenian and the Christian).  This part of town was mostly destroyed during Israel's 1948 war for independence, so there are many newer buildings.  It feels more like America than the rest of the city.  There are more grass and trees; a very pleasant place.

This afternoon we were back at Jerusalem University College, starting the next leg of our studies.  Tomorrow we leave for a three-day trip that will take us to the Mediterranean, the Negev Desert and the Dead Sea.  I am told that internet connections may not be available, so if you don't hear from us until later in the week, don't worry!

P.S.  Thanks for your prayers about my foot.  It still hurts but it limbers up quite nicely when I walk and I'm not anticipating any problems.  God is good!