Israel Day 4: New Testament Walk

Below is the impression report I wrote for today's events. I'm sorry I didn't include any pictures, but I just don't feel like uploading them on such a slow connection tonight.

One of the things I most looked forward to when I was getting ready to come to Israel was visiting the Temple Mount. I knew that we would not be allowed to go inside either the Al-Aqsa Mosque or the Dome of the Rock, but I was still pretty excited to see the Dome of the Rock up close. I also could not quite grasp the size of the size of the Temple Mount. I was not prepared for just how big and open it really is.

I was particularly impressed at how beautiful and peaceful it was. Seeing all of the soldiers and police near the entrance was not unexpected, but it still surprised me a little bit. Their presence, however, did not distract from the beauty and serenity of the place. I was thankful that we were one of the first groups in and that the other groups did not really start showing up until after we had finished up in the main areas. This meant that we could enjoy all of the trees and plants in relative peace. Another surprise for me was just how small both the Mosque and the Dome of the Rock are. I expected them to be much larger. I’m not sure why, but in my mind they are huge buildings that can each hold tens of thousands of people. I also did not went realize that they entire plaza area (I’m not sure if that’s the right term) is used on major holidays like Ramadan for a great many to come pray and worship. This should have been common sense, but it was not.

Another even that really impressed me was seeing all of the Bar Mitzvahs taking place at the Western Wall. It had not occurred to me that they would take place there, but it really makes perfect sense. It was amazing to watch how excited the fathers and other men were for the boys, and just how much went into the celebration and ceremony. It was interesting to watch the men then all process over to the dividing wall between the men’s and women’s section to present the young man to his mother and other women. I particularly enjoyed all of the singing and celebration that went into their procession over to the women. I had never been exposed to a Bart Mitzvah before, so it was just fantastic to see what an event it is in the life of a young Jewish man.

The biggest happy surprise for me was found in visiting the Southern Archaeological Park. I’ve never really been in to Archaeology and I was not excited about this part of the NT Walk. I typically just don’t find a bunch of old rocks and ruins all that interesting. This, however, was not the case once we got there. I had not expected to be able to climb on the ruins and to investigate them on my own. Climbing into a ritual bath was fun because I had not realized how small they really were. I also had not expected to climb on stones that may well have been part of the Herodian Temple. Sitting on the Southern Steps where people from the Bible, including Jesus, may have walked, studied, and taught, was totally unexpected and far more moving than I would have imagined.

The biggest highlight for me came when some of us were looking at the stones in the wall and Dr. Richter walked up and discovered an inscription that appeared to be in Aramaic. It was faded enough that she couldn’t read all of it for us, but it was still pretty cool. I even found it a little bit amusing when she described it as “graffiti.” It had not occurred to me that there could be ancient graffiti scrawled into the walls of the Old City. I guess people really are all alike regardless of what century they lived in.