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.