Shavua Tov from Jerusalem
Saturday, October 27, 2012
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Another remarkable day in Israel! Those who wished attended Synagogue services this morning. We followed that with a visit to some important Christian sites, beginning with the Garden of Gethsemane, a beautiful spot. Located adjacent to the Garden is the Church of the Nations which we toured and had the chance to listen to a part of a Mass being conducted. We went from there to the Via Dolorosa and had an opportunity to tour the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. The Old City, as it often is, was very crowded but we managed well and had a terrific guide. It was so crowded, in fact, that our guide tried leading us holding up his water bottle but it was not quite visible enough. He then found a hubcap on the street, picked it up and used it so we followed the hubcap everywhere we went!
We could not manage wheelchairs or walkers in the Old City so we did not take all of our folks with us. One of our residents, Fred Schrier, uses a walker but was determined "not to miss anything." So staff accompanied him everywhere we went. He was an amazing trooper and a great sport and enjoyed every minute of it.
This afternoon our entire group journeyed to Bethlehem, which was quite an adventure. We went to the Church of the Nativity and saw so many on pilgrimages to this holy place. It was a powerful emotional moment for our Christian staff and our friends from Otterbein.
This evening, after a fabulous dinner, at which we were joined by Phyllis Singer, the former editor of the American Israelite, which was a treat. From there we went on to The Night Spectacular, Sound and Light at David's Citadel. it is an extraordinary laser show, covering 4000 years of Jerusalem's history, in 45 action-packed minutes. It is the most sophisticated laser light show in the world and it was incredible and so entertaining.
Tomorrow another busy day begins!
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