Sunday around Jerusalem

Our trek on Sunday started at Ein Kerem, the birthplace of John the Baptist, a 15 minute bus ride from Jerusalem. It is a pretty little village that is very quite and peaceful with lots of Lebanese cedar trees all around. The town has two major churches the first being Church of St. John which is the site of John's birth (Luke 1:5-25, 57-80) and the second the Church of the Visitation built over the traditional site of Elizabeth and Zacharias' home where Mary came to visit Elizabeth. (Luke 1:39-49.) Church of St. John built in 1674 by Spain

Blue and white interior of the church

Marks the spot of John's birth

Church of the Visitation

Mary & Elizabeth in front of the church wall with the "Magnificat" behind them printed in 41 languages (Luke 1:46-56)

From Ein Kerem we walked (of course we walked) to Hadassah Hospital to see the stained glass windows in their synagogue. The incredible windows were done by Jewish artist Marc Chagall and each panel depicts one of the tribes of Israel.

Representing the tribes of Dan, Gad, and Asher

A blow-up of Asher's window, my favorite. There was an presentation done in English which explained the meaning of the symbolism he used for each tribe. In this case, his name signifies happiness and the window is about peace and happiness. The color is olive green because his tribe cultivated olive trees which provided oil for all the country, especially to the Temple in Jerusalem which is represented by the menorah in the lower part of the window. I don't know if you can see a crowned eagle with a golden fish, but that represents fertility and there is a dove of peace carrying an olive branch. They are too beautiful to try to explain.

The last visit of the day was to Ammunition Hill a memorial site high above the city that commemorates the para-troopers battle for Jerusalem during the Six Day War in 1967. It tells the story of the battle to capture East Jerusalem from Jordan and to reunify the city. During this week of war, Israel also captured the West Bank from Jordan, the Golan Heights from Syria, and the Sinai and Gaza from Egypt, devastating the armed forces of these counties.

This is a very famous picture of the first Israeli Defense Forces that were able to break through to the Western Wall, the most important religious site for the Jewish people that had been held by the Jordanians since the 1948 War of Independence.

A picture of the actual Star of David that was hung on the Western Wall in June of 1967 when the IDF secured East Jerusalem and the Temple Mount area.

A LITTLE HUMOR, IT'S FUNNY BUT TRUE:

You know you are in Israel when:

Conversing with a local, they tell you where to get the best hummus.

Joggers end their workout with a smoke (the country is hazy due to smokers)

Martyr's pictures are posters in the Palestinian territories (this is for real)

Door guards ask you if you have a gun (there are actually storage rooms for weapons brought into museums, etc.)

You sit next to a soldier on a bus and you are nudged by his/her M16 rifle (are we getting used to it?)

Fur hats and black wool coats don't seem strange even on a hot 100 degree day in May (Sunday and today)

We are in love with Israel!