Day 5

Today started with the following joke on the bus:
A rabbi went to Rome to visit his friend who was a priest. While there, they had a debate about which location was holier - Jerusalem or Rome. They ended up agreeing to disagree. While he was there the Rabbi asked what the little black phone was for on the priest's desk. The priest told him that that was the line directly to God. The Rabbi asked to use his phone. The priest said that it was ok but it would cost him $200.

A while later, the priest went to visit his Rabbi friend in Jerusalem. They had a great evening and at the end of the night, the priest noticed that the rabbi also had a little black phone. The priest asked what was it for. The Rabbi said that it was his direct line to God. The priest asked how much it would cost to use it. The rabbi said it was free. Free, the priest asked? Yes, said the Rabbi. It is a local call.

Today we journeyed to the Mount of Olives. It was awesome! Did you know that the Garden of Gesemene is on the Mount of Olives and faces the Eastern Gate? Jesus would have prayed just outside of the city walls that night. Here is a picture of the garden....

Looking across, you see the Eastern Gate, propehsized to be the gate that Jesus will enter when He returns. As you can see, it is sealed shut and there are graves in front of it. This was the Muslims attempt at preventing this from happening. They know the prophecy too and by putting graves in front of it it "defiles" it and they think that this may prevent it from happening... Read that this was prophesized in Ezekiel 44: 1-3. It happened around 600 AD.

What are you going to do after high school? This is not a common question in Israel as everyone has to serve in the military for a minimum of 2 years after completing high school. You can see very young people in military uniforms everywhere. When you are completely surrounded by your enemies, you must remain prepared. They all get to carry some mean looking guns. They are smiley gun bearers though.

Below is a picture of the sacred pit. It is thought to be where they held Jesus while they were waiting to try Him in front of Pilate. You have to descend a winding staircase to get down to it. The holes in the wall where they tied their hands and feet are still present. This is right on the outside of the wall to the city and was definitely a prison.

The Western Wall - open 24 hours a day. Women have to go to a separate section from the men. The Western Wall is part of the retaining wall to the Temple Mount and is all that is left of the 2nd temple that King Herod built.