Day 5 Tutti Frutti, Oh Udi!

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Monday morning moaning from Mike and Bone typically was due to the endless abuse of their little heads! This time it was their old bones! The tiny beds in their Spartan room sucked. Cardboard had more cushion then their mattresses! Heading down stairs for day 2 of the breakfast buffet, they took their breakfast outside in the beautiful morning weather. However the biggest damned crows (3 - 4 feet in height!) were cheeky and aggressive in demanding that the Boys share their treats. Fearing an aerial attack the Boys strategically retreating back into the main dining area. It may be worth noting that the Road Scholar bunch was an eclectic bunch, with a group from Dallas, a group from the State of Washington near Bellingham. a couple of Bay Area gentlemen in their 80's, and a lady from Vancouver. All 21 of them jumped on a bus promptly for first stop at the Mount of Olives!

Mike and Bone finding out for one Road Scholar, the Mount of Olives was the Pits!

As the Bus traveled from West Israeli-Controlled Jerusalem to East Palestinian Jerusalem, the Boys saw a marked difference from the clean, upscale West Jerusalem, to a very poor, run down, and dirty East Jerusalem in the Palestinian sector. As the Bus drove in the Kidron Valley in East Jerusalem the Boys could see that The Mount of Olives is the middle of three peaks of a mountain ridge. It took about 10 minutes to get to a clearly a tourist stop with a parking lot filled with tour busses and tourist trinket stands. While the focus of today’s tour was, "Understanding Jerusalem’s Topography and Demographics.” Standing on the Mount of Olives after the drive through East Jerusalem, Mike and Bone got both topics! It was fascinating that west was Israel and Old Town Jerusalem, to the east desolate desert. The Mount of Olives truly was a marker for the City!

The Mount of Olives is chock full of historical and religious events (usually mixed together!) The reality is that looking down across to the Old Town it was easy to see the South Wall area were King David supposedly founded (or conquered from the Canaanites) the original village and based on the barbed wire fence a whole country away!

In the Old Testament, the Mount of Olives is mentioned once in relation to King David. When David’s son Absalom wrested control of Jerusalem, David and his loyal followers fled the city via an eastern route: “David continued up the Mount of Olives, weeping as he went. Later, King Solomon used the Mount of Olives for idol worship: “On a hill east of Jerusalem, Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the god of Moab, and for Molek the god of the Ammonites.” In one of Ezekiel’s visions, he saw the “glory of the Lord depart from Jerusalem and come to rest above the mountain east of it”. Not sure what he saw, must have been good mushrooms!!

Jesus supposedly made many visits to the Mount of Olives. Since his (biblical friends) Lazarus, Mary and Martha, lived in the village of Bethany on the eastern slope of Mount of Olives, he probably spent some time there.

He did have four pretty big events on the Mount of Olives. The first visit was his ”triumphal entry” into Jerusalem on an ass, no, not Urban Meyer, but a donkey! The donkey Jesus rode that day was found in the area of Bethany and Bethphage, on the east side of the Mount of Olives. According to the book of Luke (written 120 years after the event), the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen. Really !

Jesus’ second visit was to deliver what has come to be known as the Mount of Olives Discourse which was Jesus’ response to His disciples’ question “When will these things be, and what will be the sign of the end times? Apparently not soon since it was 2000 years ago.

Jesus’ third visit during the week of His passion was on the night He was betrayed. That evening began with the Last Supper in Jerusalem and ended in the Garden of Gethsemane on the Mount of Olives. During that last Passover meal he with all his disciples sat on one side of a table while Leonardo Da Vinci painted them (isn’t this what really happened?)

Finally, after the trials, crucifixion, and resurrection, supposedly Jesus once again stood on the Mount of Olives. During His final post-resurrection appearance, Jesus led His disciples “ to the Mount of Olives and he lifted up his hands and blessed them. While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven.

Ironically the shrine were this miraculous ascension was right behind Mike and Bone. Udi, told the rote version of the events as it was historical fact much to the doubt of Mike and Bone. After the "stories" every one got on the bus, however, today it was Beth that disappeared instead of Jesus on the Mount of Olives!

Udi was not having his Beth day!!

Being a good guide means the tour members need to be able to count on their guide. And on that particular day, Udi did not count! Typically a guide will know the number of guest then count as they get on the bus ensure no one get left behind. But on that very hectic morning Udi forgot Beth, from Dallas.

While Udi figured out the Beth thing to do, ,,,,,,,, oops best thing to do for the missing guest, everyone else was dropped off in East Jerusalem to check out the Damascus Gate.

The Damascus Gate is one of the main Gates of the Old City of Jerusalem. It is located in the Palestinian sector and is the main thoroughfare for the Arab community. The Bus stopped right outside the Gate, and Udi led the Road Scholars (minus one!) to the overview pictured below. The Damascus Gate is actually three gates that reflect the (literal) build up of the City over time.

The Damascus Gates!?!

Udi pointed Mike and Bone to the remains of the first gate can be seen above, dating back to the time of the Roman Emperor Hadrian, who visited the region in 129/130 CE. Back in the day there was a town square behind this gate where a Roman victory column topped by a statue of Emperor Hadrian stood. Directly over this Roman Gate is the name Hadrian renamed Jerusalem after his troops sacked the City and drove all the Jews out, “Aelia Capitolina.” Hadrian's Roman gate was built as a free-standing triumphal gate, and only sometime towards the end of the 3rd or the very beginning of the 4th century were there protective walls built around Jerusalem, connecting to the existing gate.

Hadrian's Gate

The Crusaders Gate

Next gate that Udi pointed out to Mike and Bone, was a much less fancy gate, the Crusaders Gate. While the Roman gate remained in use during the Early Muslim and Crusader period, but as several storerooms were added by the Crusaders outside the gate, so that access to the city became possible only by passing through those rooms. Several phases of construction work on the gate took place during the early 12th century (during the first Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem, 1099–1187) and the early Ayyubid Muslim period (1187-1192), and then 13th-century second phase of Crusader rule over Jerusalem. The Crusader barbican consisted mainly in an outer gatehouse opening to the east, and connected to the central portal of the Roman gate by an L-shaped courtyard enclosed by massive walls. The barbican was destroyed twice, in 1219/20 by al-Mu'azzam 'Isa when he tore down all fortifications in Palestine, and in 1239 by an-Nasir Da'ud.

The current gate, the Damascus Gate!

Finally, Udi walked the group through the current gate, the "Damascus Gate" which is the only Jerusalem gate to have preserved its Arabic name, Bab al-Amud ('Gate of the Column'), since at least the 10th century. The Crusaders called it St. Stephen's Gate (in Latin, Porta Sancti Stephani), highlighting its proximity to the site of martyrdom of Saint Stephen, marked since the time of Empress Eudocia by a church and monastery.

The Damascus Gate is flanked by two towers, each equipped with machicolations. It offers access from the north to the Arab bazaar (souk) in the Muslim Quarter. In contrast to the Jaffa Gate, where stairs rise towards the gate, at the Damascus Gate the stairs descend towards the gate. Until 1967, a crenellated turret loomed over the gate, but it was damaged in the fighting that took place in and around the Old City during the Six-Day War.

Being in east Jerusalem, the Damascus Gate has become a symbol for the Palestinian national struggle because of its location and the main connecting point for both worshippers and for markets. Seeing 2,000 years of history flow through the three gates gave Mike and Bone some perspective as they walked through the Muslim Quarter with fairly unfriendly stares of people that were not keen on non-Arabic tourist walking around their turf.

Ambling through East Jerusalem

Being in East Jerusalem, the Damascus Gate has become a symbol for the Palestinian national struggle because of its location and the main connecting point for both worshippers and for markets. Seeing 2,000 years of history flow through the three gates gave Mike and Bone some perspective as they walked through the Muslim Quarter with fairly unfriendly stares of people that were not keen on non-Arabic tourist walking around their turf.

Soon however the group emerged into the Christian Sector and to a site Mike and Bone had already checked out, the Church of the increasing Sceplikar! So not to check out, Mike and Bone tried to listen with and open mind and ears, but still it was pretty clear to Mike and Bone what happened with St. Helena and the founding of this 2,000 year old Roman myth or (mess).

Church of the Holy Skeplikar, Part Two

"Once more, into the Silliness!"

Today, the Church was a little less packed than it had been the day before, but still pretty stupid. Udi shared the story to the Road Scholar Group that Mike and Bone knew about how St Helena (Constantine's Mom) with a couple of priest figured out how Jesus was crucified, prepared, and buried, within the a very small area that is now the Church.

Wandering inside the Church of the Holy Skeplikar

Even though it wasn't quite as crowded as the day before, Mike and Bone found that the line to get into the "Tomb Area" was a two hour wait, and Udi wasn't gonna wait two hours for this, so the Boys walked into areas that they did not see the day before.

"Golly! This is Golgatha?"

Mike and Bone walked up some stairs which St Helena marked Golgotha, (also called Calvary), the site of the crucifixion.

Again, with everything else in this Church, the lines were ridiculous to walk by the supposed spot that Jesus was supposedly crucified. After spend close to two hours in this site for the past two days, Mike and Bone were both fairly certain that the real creator of this supposed holy site was Disney ! You could just see some planner laying out the site "Here is where we will say Jesus was crucified, here is where he was prepared, and here is were he was buried, right by the Souvenir Stand!!?" Mike and Bone asked Udi a couple of questions for which he did not have an answer, but an extremely polite Greek Orthodox Patriarch, Gregory spent 15 minutes chatting with the Boys which prevented this stop from being a total waste of time.

Next, back on the Bus for a visit to the "little town" of Bethlehem in the Palestinian Sector for lunch and a visit to the the Church of the Nativity, the supposed birthplace of Jesus and one of the oldest churches in the world. In the Palestinian West Bank, Bethlehem is revered by the Christians for the Naive-ivity and the Jews as the birthplace and hometown of David, King of Israel, as well as the traditional site of Rachel's Tomb.

Brunching in Bethlehem

However before they left for Bethlehem, Udi announced that he was not going to join them and that a very nice woman by the name of Nabila would greet them for lunch and a tour of the Church of the Nativity. Nabila met the Group at a restaurant in an in the outskirts of Bethlehem that served authentic Palestinian food with lots of hummus, kibbee, and kabobs! After lunch, Mike and Bone with the other Road Scholars got back on the Bus for a ride into downtown to the Church of the Naive-ity.

"Bethlehem is not a little Village !"

During the ride there, Mike and Bone noticed that the "little village of Bethlehem" may have been accurate 2,000 years ago, but in 2022 it is a huge, sprawling city on the West Bank of over 28,000 across a rolling vista. After a 15 minute bus ride, the Road Scholars were at their next stop, for the naive, the place that St Helena told the world that Jesus was born!

Walking the Mean Streets of Bethlehem!

After lunch, Mike and Bone with the other Road Scholars got back on the Bus for a ride into downtown to the Church of the Naive-ity.

"Umm! Can you say Copyright Infringement?!"

The Bus dropped Nabila and the Group off a few blocks from the Church where the Boys had the opportunity to check out the fact that Bethlehem had a lot of familiar coffee shops !

Mike and Bone in front of the Church Naive-ivity

Nabila took the Road Scholar group through the VERY short doors, (which requires everyone to bend over to walk in) into the Church of the Nativity, which houses the grotto which is thought to be the birthplace of Jesus, and surprise, surprise! by Constantine’s mother. The Grotto in the Church of the Nativity is the oldest site continuously used as a place of worship in Christianity, and the basilica is the oldest major church in the Holy Land. Since 2012, the Church of the Nativity is considered a World Heritage Site and was the first to be listed by UNESCO under 'Palestine'.

The church was originally commissioned by Constantine the Great a short time after his mother Helena's visit to Jerusalem and Bethlehem in 325–326, on the site that was traditionally considered to be the birthplace of Jesus. That original basilica was likely built between 330 and 333, being already mentioned in 333, and was dedicated on 31 May 339.

X Marks the Spot !

Once in the Church with no one banging their head Nabila had set up the tour in advance showing up to the Grotto, so the Road Scholar's didn’t have to wait 2 hours to walk down the very narrow stairs to check out the Grotto. It took a few minutes for Mike and Bone to get down those narrow stairs where they saw the silver star marking the spot where the manger supposedly was. An interesting fact is that the silver star was stolen in October 1847 by Greek monks who wished to remove this Catholic item. With the large number of people waiting to get down there, the Boys snapped a quick pic and then headed back up through traffic (again, stupid narrow stairs.)

Nabila was great, she told the Team and the Boys a lot of her pride as a Christian in Nazareth and how she loved her city. She was knowledge and eager to share local stories, One of which is the very interesting fact that the Grotto had a pagan past, before it became a Christian site. In 135, Emperor Hadrian had the site above the grotto converted into a worship place for Adonis, the mortal lover of Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of beauty and desire. Jerome claimed in 420 that the grotto had been consecrated to the worship of Adonis, and that a sacred grove was planted there in order to completely wipe out the memory of Jesus from the world. The Boys learned more about Jerome shortly.

Is it one church or three? Waiting for the rest of the group to check out the Grotto, Mike and Bone noticed that it was set up as three separate churches since it is owned by three church authorities, the Greek Orthodox (most of the building and furnishings), the Armenian Apostolic and the Roman Catholic (each of them with lesser properties). The Coptic Orthodox and Syriac Orthodox are holding minor rights of worship at the Armenian church in the northern transept, and at the Altar of Nativity. Showing good Christian behavior, there have been repeated brawls among monk trainees over quiet respect for others' prayers, hymns and even the division of floor space for cleaning duties. The Palestinian police are often called to restore peace and order. Again, showing good Christian behavior.

"How many Churches are there" !?!

St. Jerry, The Cave Dweller!

Nabila then took the Team, down to a cave beneath the Church of the Nativity where a Dalmatian priest in 386 started the arduous task of translating the Bible from Hebrew and Greek into Latin. St Jerome, spent over 30 years sitting in these caves converting the Bible from two languages into one. He obviously had never heard of Google Translate!

The Catholic Church: St Catherine's!

A Crusader Jerusalem Cross!

After the tour of St Jerry’s cave, Nabila led the Road Scholar, back through Town to the Bus. She road the Bus with the Team to the edge of Town where she lived. When Bone slipped her $40 bucks, the Boys saw a tear roll down her cheek. Truly moved, Mike and Bone thought very much about her as a tour guide and person.

Next, the merry Band of Road Scholars headed back to their Hotel in Jerusalem for a bland buffet dinner and a talk with an Israeli Defense Strategist!

In Defense: An Interesting Evening of Israeli Politics!

After a very blah dinner, the Boys grabbed a couple of drinks a joined Udi and the other Road Scholars in a little conference room at the Hotel where a Israel Scholar talked about the state of the world from an Israeli point of view on how to deal with the Palestinians, their declining view of the US, their growing interest in Russia. What what doubly fascinating it was being done on the very day of Israeli elections!! The talk went on for a better part of an hour with lots of questions from the Road Scholars and of course, Mike and Bone! Afterwards the Boys hit the hay, since there was a long day planned tomorrow!