March 18 - Jerusalem

It was a beautiful day in Jerusalem.  So much celebrating going on all throughout the Jewish Quarter.  Lots of Bar Mitzvah's - they celebrating in the streets with dancing and music, carrying the Torah, and having their ceremonies outside.  Here are a few pictures of people celebrating.

 

Our day began at the Temple Institute.  They are in the process of creating all the items needed for the rebuilding of the Temple. Every item that is made is made precisely to the specifications in the Bible. This menorah is on display in the Jewish Quarter.

From the Temple Institute we walked along the Southern wall of the Temple Mount.  This is the entrance that Jesus would have used to enter the Temple.  You can see in the first picture below the half-arch entrance that is now covered by a wall. The second picture shows our group making Aliyah (going up) and ascending the steps toward the Temple.

There are many stray cats in Jerusalem.  John lovingly calls them Judah lions.  This one was extremely happy to be sitting in his lap and made himself very comfortable.

We went to the pool of Siloam where Jesus healed the blind man.  The people in the picture below are on the steps to the pool.

The Jewish Quarter has a wonderful painting of what the Cardo (the main street through the city) looked like back in Jesus time.  I took a picture of the painting with Nancy, Julie, and Char.

The group went on to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre which many people (including our guide, Ari) believe to be the place of Jesus' crucifixion (rather than where we went the other day to the garden tomb).  Steve, Nicole, and I opted to take a leisurely walk through the old city and walk back to the hotel.  We were back in time to meet Dan and Patty Juster who were our guest speakers for the evening.  John and Arlene have known the Justers for over 40 years. Dan was one of the first people to begin the Messianic Jewish movement and he has written many books on the subject.  He is also active in Toward Jerusalem Council II. To find out more about Dan, go to www.tikkunministries.org