DAY TEN

7/19

We mostly relaxed on this Shabbat.  Blanca, Paul and I took breakfast at the YMCA around the corner from PBI.  As unenthusiastic as that sounds to many who view a YMCA as a large gymnasium, the Jerusalem YMCA, as I think I've mentioned in a previous blog, is an incredible piece of 1920's architecture.  It is a massive stone building, the focal point being a centrally located belfry over the main entrance, from which they give bell recitals several times a week.  The main block of the building has arcades along the ground floor and is flanked by two wings designed to be reminiscent in form of synagogues.  The whole composition of the building is beautiful and interesting.  Anyway, we ate at the restaurant located in one of the small courtyards fronting the building.  It was a great way to relax after a long week of traveling and sightseeing.  And, best of all, they serve non-Kosher food... which meant... bacon and sausage!  (Photo: 1933, www.jerusalemymca.org)  

After breakfast we returned to PBI.  While relaxing on the third floor loggia outside my room, I was serenaded for several hours by a bell recital from the YMCA I just told you about.  It was quite nice.  

In the afternoon we walked over to the Old City to visit the Church of the Redeemer, the only Lutheran church within the Old City.  It was built in 1898 and is spectacular in the simplicity of design form and ornamentation.  As you can tell, I prefer the church buildings here that are simplistic. 

 

The beautiful architecture of the Church of the Redeemer aside, the reason most tourists visit is to climb the small, circular staircase within the belfry, high above the Old City, to get a glimpse of the incredible view.  In the top level, within the arcades of each side of the tower, one is shown amazing views of the Old City and modern Jerusalem together.  

DAY NINE

7/18

In the morning of the eighteenth we took a bus to the area of Jerusalem dubbed the 'entrance to the city'. The major streets of Herzl Boulevard and Jaffa Road intersect here, as well as the city's light rail mass transit system, currently under construction.  The focal point and defining feature of this space is the newly constructed Chords Bridge designed by world renowned architect Santiago Calatrava.  The Chords Bridge or Bridge of Strings spans the massive intersection and will carry the light rail trams as well 

as pedestrian traffic.  

Next, we met up again with David, our tour guide extraordinaire.  He walked us around the open air market of the new (meaning not 'Old City') portion of the city.  We had lunch at a little hole-in-the-wall place within this market that served terrific Lebanese food.  

DAY EIGHT

7/17

Day eight took us to the West Bank of Palestine, to the city of Bethlehem.  It is both exciting and sad going over to Bethlehem.  Bethlehem being in Palestine, you have to go across the border and through the security check point at the wall.  Unless... you know the one bus route that is allowed to go the road that bypasses the check point.  We happened to be well informed and were able to do that route and forgo the security checkpoint.  

After we arrived in Bethlehem, at Nativity Square, we went to the main tourist attraction, the Church of the Nativity.  The Church of the Nativity is a Catholic/Orthodox church built over the cave, which is thought to be the birth place of Jesus.  The Orthodox portion of the church dates to the time of Constantine and has a portion of the original mosaic floor of highly detailed complexity.  There is also a Catholic church as part of the Nativity Church 'complex', which is a bit newer.  It is beautifully proportioned and has a restrained and mature level of detailing making the space very comfortable.  A beautiful rose window of orange and yellow above the organ in the apse of the nave floods the church with a wonderful golden light.  There are also several chapels built under the main portions of the church.  These chapels are built into caves, similar to that in which Jesus would have been born.  

 

The actual cave thought to be the one in which He was born is uncertain, but is commemorated in a cave under the alter of the Orthodox portion of the church.   

After visiting the Church of the Nativity, we bought a few things at the Bethlehem Tourist Center, the only real establishment dedicated to the promotion of the industry of tourism... the major source of income for Bethlehem.  We also had lunch at a nearby restaurant, which was owned by a Palestinian Christian.  It is my understanding that a large portion of the Palestinian population in Bethlehem is made up of Christians.  

DAY SEVEN

7/16

Day seven was our day trip to Tel Aviv.  Tel Aviv is a beach/port town on the Mediterranean Sea.  It was hot... and very humid.  I like the weather in Jerusalem much better because there is no humidity.  We took a bus because there was some problem with the train; it took about an hour.  Once in Tel Aviv, we ate at McDonald's... which had far superior food to our McDonald's in the States.  In Israel, all the cattle is raised to Kosher standards.  As such, the beef produced is excellent.  And yes, it does make a difference, even in a McDonald's hamburger.  

We took a local bus to the historic port of Jaffa, now just a suburb of Tel Aviv.  Jaffa port dates to the crusader period and is being restored as a quaint place to live and for tourists to eat and shop.   

We then taxied back to Tel Aviv to go to the beach.  The beach was excellent.  Sand as soft as baking flour, the water very warm.  We swam some, and relaxed in the lounge chairs at the beach restaurant, eating humus.  

DAY SIX

7/15

...was a relaxed day.  We met with our professor, Julie, in the morning to discuss our projects.  Then, after an early lunch, we set out to walk to the Jerusalem City Municipality building.  At the Municipality we met with the Chief Architect of Jerusalem, Ofer Manor.  Ofer gave a presentation about the current challenges in urban planning and design for the city of Jerusalem.  One of the main issues concerning his career within the last decade has been the establishment/enlargement of the 'city center', a section of new Jerusalem.  Specifically, he has been concerned with the rejuvenation of a group of streets, transforming them into a network of pedestrian streets to form the 'city center'.  Recently, the attitude of the city planners has changed towards the Old City and they now are beginning to incorporate the Old City into the enlargement and rejuvenation of the 'city center'.  

One of the main initiatives of the 'city center' rejuvenation is to incorporate a light rail system into the streetscape of the main artery street (in America we like the catchy term 'Mainstreet').  The light rail mass transit system is being utilized all over Europe.  It is a pedestrian-friendly method to incorporate fast, reliable and attractive mass transit to a streetscape.  

I include a picture of the light rail system in Houston, Texas as an example for those who are uncertain what I am talking about.  The light rail in Jerusalem will be similar.  

DAY FIVE

7/14

Monday, we met with David, our tour guide, early in the morning to walk to the Temple Mount.  Only on Monday mornings can visitors go up onto the Temple Mount.  The Temple Mount, as many of you know, is where the Temple of Solomon used to be.  After that, King Herod built the Second Temple, which was also torn down.  Now atop the Temple Mount is the Al Aqsa Mosque and the Shrine called the Dome of the Rock.  The Jewish consider the wall at the base of the Temple Mount, facing west, toward the Jewish Quarter of the city, their holy place... the Wailing Wall.  

It is a privilege to be able to go atop the Temple Mount, because, as I said, 

it is only open in the morning on Mondays and most tourists cannot fit it into their schedules.  Biblically, the Temple Mount area is signifiant for multiple reasons.  The mountain's Biblical name is Mount Moriah.  It is the location where Abraham took Isaac to be sacrificed.  The first temple of Solomon was located here.  And, when King Herod was in power, he leveled the top of the mountain, made a huge plateau, much as we see it today, and rebuilt the Temple of Solomon for the Jewish people.  That being the case, this is the site where Jesus chased the money changers out of the Temple, where He would have talked to the crowds or to the Pharisees.  Here is where the crowds of people would have been, so here to is where Jesus would have been.  

After the Temple Mount, we headed down to the Pool of Bethesda.  Like the Temple Mount, the Pool of Bethesda is a site we know for fact to be a Biblical location, proven with archeological remains.  The Pool of Bethesda is mentioned in John Chapter 5 when Jesus heals the paralytic man.  Unfortunately, throughout history, many churches have been built over the site, so most of what we see today are remains of those churches.  However, the most well preserved Crusader-era church, St. Anne's, is one this site as well, and is a beautiful example of that era of church design, and has amazing acoustics to listen to a choir sing.

  

Once we left St. Anne's and the Pool of Bethesda, we walked to the convent Ecce Homo.  Ecce Homo was built over the ancient remains of the Antonia Fortress.  The Antonia Fortress was the fortress King Herod built to overlook the Temple Mount, essentially to keep 

an eye on the Jews as they were in the Temple Mount but to keep a distance as well.  The Antonia Fortress was the site of the mock trial of Jesus and where he was beaten and mocked by the Roman soldiers.  This is archeological fact, not tradition or legend.  In the basement of the convent are the remnants of the courtyard of the Antonia Fortress.  The massive paving stones of that courtyard are incised with ancient Roman games.  The Bible describes the soldiers playing a game to win the garments of Jesus after beating him.  Hence, this is the location where that happened.  

Later on in the afternoon we met with famous Israeli architect David Resnik.  He has had an interesting life to share, and was very cordial to discuss his experiences and architecture with us in a candid and casual manner.  Mr. Resnik was born in Brazil.  Shortly after getting married, he moved to Israel in 1949; only a year after the nation's independence.  He opened his office in 1958; and was also a professor of architecture at Catholic University for a period.  

DAY FOUR

7/13

Today we walked through the close by neighborhood of Yamin Moshe on our way to meet with architect David Guggenheim.  Yamin Moshe is built terraced along one of the hills overlooking the Old City.  It is picturesque and a very desirable residential area.  

Architect David Guggenheim's office is in an area called the German Colony.  He talked with us about some of his commissions here in Jerusalem and also offered critique on architecture within Jerusalem in general.  

DAY THREE

7/12

Saturday is the Sabbath.  As such, the Jewish people do not work.  Nothing is open until the evening when Shabbat ends.  We went to Shabbat service with our professor at the Hebrew Union College.  In the afternoon, Blanca, Paul and I walked around.  We wandered around the local YMCA and the King David Hotel, both of which are very nice hotels.  Then we went to the Shrine of the Holy Sepulchre.  

DAY TWO

7/11

The morning of Friday, our second day, we visited the Holocaust museum in Jerusalem, Yad Vashem.  The main building of Yad Vashem is the Hall of Remembrance, designed by Moshe 

Safdie.  The Hall of Remembrance is a long, triangular shaped building that cuts through the mountain and features splayed ends.  One enters the Hall at one end and can see the wonderful view of the valley at the other end, but cannot go directly there.  The visitor is instead directed through a series of rooms commemorating the various elements of the Holocaust.  Finally, after the last exhibit room, featuring the Allied forces' victory over the Nazis, the visitor is led to the exit porch.  This porch is located in the splayed end of the triangular mass of the building, opposite the entrance.  Here, the visitor is greeted with the beauty of the valley, the light at the end of the dark tunnel, so to speak.  

After Yad Vashem, we taxied to the Israel Museum.  Most of the Israel Museum was closed for renovation, however we were able to visit the Shrine of the Book.  The Shrine of the Book is the portion of the Museum complex that is dedicated to the findings of the Dead Sea Scrolls, specifically the book of Isaiah.  This portion of the Museum is underground, with a Hershey Kiss shaped white dome and a black, rectangular box, both protruding from the ground as sculptural elements within the garden.  These white and black elements represent the forces of darkness and light mentioned within the text of Isaiah.  Recently, the Museum has finished building the room specially designed to house the actual scroll of Isaiah.  It was very exciting to see the oldest piece of Biblical text known to be in existence.  

Also within the Israel Museum complex is a huge scale model of the Old City of Jerusalem as it is thought to have existed during the Herodian or Second Temple Period.  The model is updated/changed frequently as archeological evidence supports or disproves the way an element of the city actually existed.  

DAY ONE

7/10

We began the first day of our trip with a tour of the Old City.  As was the case last year, our professor Julie's cousin, David, is our tour guide.  David led us through the Souk, the marketplace of the Old City, until we reached the Jewish Quarter.  Once in the Jewish Quarter, the main road of the ancient city becomes apparent.  The cardus maximus, was the main North-South road of all Roman cities in antiquity.  The standard width of these roads was approximately 36 feet.  They were lined on both sides with a colonnade, in the case of Jerusalem, with corinthian columns.  This colonnade was then covered with a wooden frame, supporting a clay tile roof, thus creating shelter for shops and venders.  The cardus maximus in Jerusalem ran from the Damascus gate, 

in the North, to the Zion gate, in the South.  

After walking the remnants of the cardus maximus, we went to the Wohl Museum of Archeology.  This museum is underground, beneath apartment buildings and such.  The museum shows the foundation walls and mosaic floors of Herodian-period, upper class Jewish homes.  This is the upper class world of the Pharisees where Jesus would have eaten on occasion, as described in the Bible.  This area of Jerusalem during the Herodian period was referred to by Josephus as the Upper or Western Hill as it occupied the western-most, highest point within the city, therefore catching the breezes, which made it ideal for the upper classes who could afford to live there.  

Following the tour through the Wohl Museum, we made our way down to the Western or Wailing Wall.  To the south of that area is the Davidson Center / Jerusalem Archeology Park.  This archeology park is situated at the south-western base of the Temple Mount.  Here, one may walk the actual road surrounding the Temple Mount where Jesus walked, and imagine the merchants selling animals for sacrifice at the Temple.  

Pontifical Biblical Institute

PBI is our home for the month we spend here in Jerusalem.  The building is constructed of local Jerusalem stone, a type of limestone of a beautiful golden-tan hue.  PBi was built in the late 1920's in the neo-Romanesque style.

PBI is located along Emile Bota Street, near the affluent Jerusalem neighborhoods of Kfar David and Yamin Moshe.  A short five minute walk to the Old City, PBI is also near the five star hotels of the King David and the Citadel of David.  Also in the neighborhood is the beautiful campus of Hebrew Union College, designed by world renowed architect Moshe Safdie.  

The Shrine of the Holy Sepulcher

7/12

Saturday afternoon, Paul, Blanca and myself took a stroll through the Old City to visit the Holy Sepulcher.  Upon arriving at the small plaza at the entrance to the Sepulcher, the Mosque of Omar, across the plaza, was having the afternoon call to prayer.  A few moments later we were inside the most Holy site to Christianity, listening to monks chanting while breathing the sweet aroma of the incense.  At every corner within the Old City of Jerusalem one encounters the mixing of these diverse religions; the Holy sites, the people, the customs, the bells, chanting, singing and praying.