On Friday, Melissa and I originally planned to go to Ticho House, just off Jaffa, since it's a very famous location. Unfortunately, most of the place was shut down for a late morning concert. So we decided to check out the Old City.
We walked through the Aremenian Quarter, not very much at all. Then we followed random paths towards the Christian Quarter (using our sense of direction). We went through the bazaar- which sold a lot of "junk" treasures, perfect tourist traps. The merchants are relentless when it comes to trying to seduce you into buying whatever you're looking at. Melissa and I quickly walked our way out to find the Church of Holy Sephulcher. Melissa, a Protestant, wanted to see it as it's one of the places where it is speculated where Jesus was buried.
From the outside, the architecture blended in with the rest of the Old City- slightly eroded walls with small pockets of windows to let light through. Way up, there were several small domes but other than the engraving of a Cross high above the entrance, it did not look like a church. Tons of people entered through as part of tour groups. The first thing you see as you step inside is the Stone of Uncition, where Jesus was prepared for his burial. It is basically a slab of marble surrounded by a tiny moat of holy water. Behind it is a beautiful, large painting of Jesus laying to rest after his crucifixation with gold, brown, and several muted colors. As you go to your left, you wander into the Rotunda with the biggest and most beautiful dome you have ever seen. Due to its sheer size, it is difficult to believe that this church is actually located in the Old City and somehow, it seems to hide itself from the Dome of the Rock's glorious beauty. In the middle, people went up to the Holy Sepulcher to light candles. You follow your way around back towards the entrance to the atrium. What should be noted as you look all around, I mean from the ceiling to the floor to the walls is the architecture. It changes everywhere because the Church is held by six of Christainity's oldest sects- Roman Catholic, Armenian Orthodox, Greek Orthodox, Egyptian Coptic, Ethiopian, and Syrian Orthodox. Each sect brought its own influence ranging from Byzantine to Frankish Crusader styles. The frescos of Paul and John above in the atrium were very well done and detailed. From there, you walk back and find a staircase that takes you down. At the end of this wide staircase that feels like you're going into a dungeon, is some kind of dark, gloriously furnished room- I'm not sure what it was exactly.
Up on the second floor is the site of Cavalry, a early 19th century marble tomb edifice enclosing the actual cave of the sepulcher.
Though I could not personally identify what I was seeing, the architecture of this building is a must-see, especially that it seems so atypical for an Old City building. Melissa and I wished that we had our cameras (well, she did except she forgot to put in her battery). Soon enough, we'll run back to the church and take a few quick snapshots. I just can't get over how beautifully it was revonated. I certainly hope that Mom won't be too tired when she comes so I can take her over there- it doesn't really take that long. Plus, I just realized that it might not be a good idea to visit the Christian Quarter when we do the Old City tour as it'd be Easter Sunday.
For my Shabbat, I spent it with Zev and Doris Feine's family in Ramot. They picked me up and we went over to one of Zvi's sisters' house. Let me put it this way: I counted 24 plates on the dinner table. The Feines- including Zev and his siblings- love to get together every Shabbat. They bring their children and grandchildren with them. The family is still on the young side as the 2nd generation was mostly in the 20's and early 30's. There were 3-4 very young children- very cute. The family sang a Shabbat song/prayer before dinner. For some reason, when I saw the little children running around and playing with their little toys while listening to beautiful voices in Hebrew, I almost wanted to cry. I felt that these children were very fortunate to be in Israel where they can feel strong about their Jewish identity from the start.
During dinner, I mostly spoke with Zvi's oldest son, who is a cell biologist on Givat Ram campus. He gave me some insight on being an Israeli with parents who made aliyah. I enjoyed talking with him. What I found interesting was that both Zvi and Doris are American and British, respectfully, the son didn't seem 100% confident in his English skills (you can hear the accent). Anyway, I also met a man, Dave, who was from the Jewish Agency. He was quite idealistic in his views about the American Jewish youth and getting them to connect with Israel by setting up programs for them to spend 6 months to 1 year in Israel. The short trips weren't enough, in his views. I challenged him that there were far too many apathetic American Jews in my generation and getting anyone to fly out to Israel over another country like England, would be tough to do. He rebuked that all it would take was just one person. Across from us was a new olah from Romania, Ariela. She had only been in Jerusalem just over two months- as long as I have been! She was very, very sweet and I exchanged contact info with her. I was pretty fascinated by her Romanian roots- especially that I'm just doing some proofreading on a manuscript that talks about the Romanian Jewry during the Holocaust. I don't know, I had a chill when I saw a Romanian Jew in right from me- like a ghost. Nevertheless, I want to see her around Jerusalem.
The dinner was wonderful- it included brisket! I have no idea how many dessert glass bowls this household had- it seemed like an endless supply.
On Shabbat, I just worked out a bit and spend the afternoon at Aroma's doing some work for Bankier.
I don't know if I'm going to be able to sleep at all tonight. Grandma and Zev come TOMORROW and I am going to the airport to meet them. They don't know that I'm going to be there. It'd be great if they called me when they get to the baggage claim and I'd get to say "see ya in 5 minutes!" I couldn't find a light colored posterboard so I might just end up bringing flowers. Jessica and Dena are too excited for me- I definitely plan on asking them to join us for dinner, perhaps Thursday night.
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