Day 4: Jerusalem, City of Gold

Shabbat Shalom! Noah Light and Dani Beiser here, blogging from our first full day in Jerusalem. We started the morning in the City of David, which dates back around 3,000 years ago. In the City of David, we traveled through different ruins of what is thought to be King David’s personal castle. Shortly following tours of his “castle”, we traversed an underground waterway, which was one of three main water sources for Old Jerusalem. This waterway directly under the ruins is known as Hezekiah’s Tunnel. While

walking through, the water came up to about our knees, and luckily no one got too drenched.

After drying off, the group descended to the Davidson Center, located just inside the Old City walls by the Dung Gate. The center is an archeological site widely known

for being the location of the second temple. Outside we saw the actual western wall of the Temple Mount and ruins of The Robinson Arch, which had stones that weighed as much as 400 tons. Leaving the Davidson Center we made our way to the Kotel. Fortunately for us, it was not as crowded as some anticipated. We were given time to freely roam around and pray. Some fellows found the experience truly inspiring and moving.

We had lunch in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City and after had some free time to shop. Once we wrapped up an afternoon discussion about the Kotel experience, we walked to the Christian Quarter, which is also in Old Jerusalem. The Christian Quarter is known to be greatly tied with Jesus. For instance, he was supposedly crucified and buried in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Also, we saw many different types of religious sanctuaries within the Holy Sepulchre.

Our Shabbat plans this evening consist of attending an Orthodox Sepharadi Temple for Friday night services. At this time, we have not yet attended the service, but when we do we are positive we will have an awesome experience, just like we have had this whole trip!

Over and out!