Jerusalem..........
Its very name conjures up so many images in my head, that it is difficult to know where to start. So.... I will take a deep breath and start at the beginning, but this post may well stretch over another two or three as I saw so much.
Lets see how we go.
I had been told the night before that we would be leaving for Jerusalem on the 6.40 am bus. Moshe doesn't drive, so this was how we travelled, and it was easier as parking can be difficult. Shoshi walked me two blocks, where Moshe was waiting for us, and then we walked to the bus stop, where the bus came bang on time. It was going directly to Jerusalem making a few stops before hitting the main highway, but it was a little over an hour when we disembarked at the central bus station in Jerusalem. It was also better to arrive in the city earlier as it does get very busy even in November. It was also a wet day, it had rained overnight, and there was the threat of more rain during the day
What can I tell you? What was my first impression? I actually did four separate trips to Jerusalem, each time seeing completely different things, and each time I got a different impression.
Where Tel Aviv was a modern city, with a lively restaurant and night culture, although I didn't see that side of the city, Jerusalem was so different. The bus started to climb towards the city, and on it's outskirts, I was struck by the fact that the hills are of white stone which with the green of the trees, was a contrast. Also, as you get closer to the city, there are bus stops and at that time of the morning, there were children waiting to catch the bus for school, and they looked different, the girls were dressed in mid calf length navy skirts with blue shirts, the boys were dressed in black with their ringlets and wearing the yarmulke and/or black fedora.
(I've just read that back, who am I to say they are different? Might they not be thinking that I look different? I certainly did not dress as they did, and if anything I was the odd one out).
It was also extremely busy, the traffic slowed and it was a slow journey to the bus station, but its like that every day. Once we got to the bus station, we then took the light railway to the outskirts of the old city. Again, it was busy with people rushing everywhere and lots of standing room only. We got off near the city hall, which is a short walk from the old city.
We walked a little further and waited to cross the road and Moshe told me about the building on my left which had been a hospital. The road also formed the border at one point between the Arab controlled city and Israel. The story goes that one of the patients leaned out of the window, and promptly lost their false teeth. So it was that a delegation from the Arab side, the Israeli side and a UN delegation were rounded up to enter this area and retrieve them.
We entered the city by the Jaffa Gate, one of the main entrances to the city, and we did it as they would, walking through the entrance rather than the road as many tourists were doing.
It was quite exciting. Once through the gate, we started walking to the entrance of the market and passed a couple of Ottoman tombs, it was unknown whose they were, rumour had it they might have belonged to the architects of the city...............
So, a short walk and we were just about to start entering the Muristan...
It was like stepping back in time. We started walking down this alley for a short distance, and then took a right hand turn, and then another to the left and a short while later, Moshe stopped and asked if I would like to go into the store we were standing in front of? Would I? Who wouldn't, it was a fabric store. He knows the owner, who was Arabic, so he told him that he had brought me to visit the city and he was very interesting to talk to. He had the most wonderful selection of fabrics from Damascus, Syria, Morocco and India plus many others, they included the most beautiful silks from these countries, and he pulled out many things for me to look at, table runners, cushion covers and the most beautiful silk shawls and scarves every time I said "ooh" something even more beautiful would come out. He also knew his fabrics and told me that he knew better than the Jews what fabrics they should have for which holiday, beautiful silks for Yom Kippur, there was quite the selection, but... with the unrest in that area at the moment, there is no more being produced, the factories are closed, so what he had was probably all there is. I liked his honesty and chose a couple of gorgeous silk/polyester shawls, which were woven in Syria and he suggested I had the table runner he had shown me, ( how did that happen?), if I didn't want to use it, I could cut it up and make cushions...... well, he gave me a discount so I was happy. It is expected for visitors to bargain, I let everyone else do it for me as I generally forgot and was quite happy to pay what was asked, it must be the Canadian way, we are so polite.
With the shopping done, we carried on our way, and eventually came to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
This is a difficult place to make any sense of. The church is shared by six Christian denominations, not necessarily equally, all of whom watch each other like hawks. It is one of the bizarrest places I have ever visited. Moshe and I were standing in the courtyard prior to going in, and I have to say that my initial thought was, "is this it?" Almost a huge disappointment, I'm not really sure what I was expecting, was I expecting a host of angels singing a heavenly chorus to appear, or was I expecting something more humble or grand? To be honest, I found Jerusalem as a whole a lot to take in and understand. You will notice in the photo a ladder outside the window on the upper storey. This ladder,( which may have been replaced over the years), has stood in this spot since the mid 19th Century. I asked Moshe for the story as my memory is a little vague, and he told me that it had originally belonged to the Armenian community and they would take food into the church through the window as they were locked in there for long periods. The Status Quo Agreement was signed in 1852 and the ladder remains there to this day.
And we haven't even entered the church yet................
There is also another story which relates to the outside entrance that can be seen in the photo. There was a conflict between the Armenian Community and the Greek Orthodox community, the Orthodox were not allowed to enter the church on Easter Saturday and could not get to the Holy Fire which descends into the chapel of the tomb. They stood at the entrance to the church, and a miracle happened, the fire descended, and set fire to a pillar the entrance. A turkish soldier standing on the minaret of the mosque opposite, saw this, and he became a Christian believer, and jumped from the tower to join those at the front of the church. The stone softened and to this day, his footprints are embedded in the stone........
And there, dear reader I will leave you to ponder this and gather my thoughts for the next instalment.....
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