More to Jerusalem than feet

In case you were wondering, there is a lot more to jerusalem than feet.  

I love history. Understanding where we came from, how things ended up the way they did, learning about the past.  Fascinating.  I know it is like watching paint dry to many people, but for me it is pure excitement.  So getting a glimpse of a city which has been standing and which has been fought over for more than 3000 years was pure bliss for me.   So bring along your imagination for a few minutes and travel with me to jerusalem. 

I am working in Tel Aviv and there is really no good way to get to Jerusalem except through a bus tour.  I've taken enough of them to know what to expect but it still doesn't make it any easier  I already know that someone will show in their 3" 'touring' heels and they'll be in bare feet at some point after they figure it out.  I also know that 4 of the 5 people we will pick up wont get the 'be ready at 7:15am memo'.  And finally, I also that it is not good for the heart to get all worked up about this before breakfast and that I will need a distraction.   Since I am  going to Jerusalem I figure I've got a choice of 3 Gods that I can pray to in order to get that distraction.  God must be American cause that's what he sends me. 

We've all met him somewhere before.  The American on tour.  Dressed in his finest pink polo shirt and navy shorts with skater dude shoes - the kind that Jamie likes -except that Jamie is 13 and my distraction is 65 and bald on top. We'll call him Tony. As in Tone-ehh, you know like his buds would call him when he enters the pub at home. Tone-ehh is accompanied by his 30 year old dolly friend that he picked up in Italy. She has no idea how old he is, or at least that is what he volunteered to me.  I must have had my 'I'm alone, please speak to me' shirt on.  Oh, and he's always done one better than you.  Always.   

Once inside the gates, it is easy to forget about Tone-ehh. The city is at once dirty and dusty and hot and noisy and cramped and old and alive.  But above all it is a city that you can feel.  Every street has a story.  Every building has a history.  People have been fighting over this land since before there was an Israel. When it was just desert and mountains and literally the centre of the known world which is why the Egyptians and the Phoenicians and the Babylonians and the Romans and the Hebrews wanted control (don't ask me in what order who conquered who - but I bet that Tone-ehh knows).  To control this land was to control trade and much that was known to mankind.  All roads lead to Rome?  Ya well, throw Israel in there too.

Jerusalem is divided into quarters: Armenian, Jewish, Christian and Muslim.  On this particular day they all seem to want to live in harmony with each other which makes me happy. I've already managed to see one terrorist incident in Tel Aviv, I don't need another.  Perhaps it is the precense of hundreds of army and swat team members with big-ass guns that dissuades people. No matter.

We have reached the Wailing Wall.  One of the most sacred sites in all of Judaism. If my story is correct, this was the site of the original Jewish temples from way back when.  After the 2nd one was destroyed and a mosque was built on top of the site, no one dared destroy the mosque because the 3rd temple can only be built on that site by the Jewish messiah when he arrives.  The Wailing Wall is the western wall from the 2nd temple and the only surviving piece of that holy place.  I'm fascinated by the devoutness of the people praying at the wall. It is not something that I have in me and for someone to live their lives with such faith is not something you see everyday.  

Tone-ehh has goose bumps in memory of his mother even though he's not really religious or Jewish.  Of course he has.  I need to put on a different t-shirt.

On to the Via Dolorosa. The street Jesus walked on the way to his crucifixion. The 14 stations of the cross leading to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.  However, I must admit that I am more transfixed on lunch than I am on the church.  At 54 degrees I need to eat and drink and reenergize. Tone-ehh is behind me speaking with a young man from the Congo. He is about 6'4" and black and while I didn't hear the whole conversation, I did hear ... 'look at you, you must love basketball.  Who is your team?'. I love Tone-ehh.

After lunch we go to the church. The church is built on the site of Jesus' crucifixion and the ground which held the cross is glassed in with an alter built in front of it. Similarly, inside the church is the slab of rock where they prepared his body for burial.  People are kneeling and praying at the slab and it is no less a site than seeing the jews at the Wailing Wall.  Jesus lived and was real that much I'm certain of, but whether or not he is a God is a debate for another day.  Standing here and taking it all in really makes you think and wonder.  

I wish I knew where Tone-ehh is to share the moment.