Wednesday, March 16: Holocaust Museum, Israel Museum, free time in the Old City

God seemed to have the weather worked out for us. The only time it will rain during this pilgrimage is the morning that we are in museums. The rain was scheduled to end by noon and achieved this goal early. We had a light schedule today, but it began with an intense start.

View of Israel's Knesset, their Congress

Holocaust Museum…a clear and graphic viewing of how the Germans targeted, isolated, and exterminated as many Jews as possible during WWII. These events serve as a testament to what man is capable of when he sets himself up as god. It was interesting to note that during the late 1800s and early 1900s, there was considerable documentation of Christianity labeling the Jews as having rejected God, as well as growing jealousy of the economic prowess of Jews throughout the many countries that they had been dispersed to. It raised the question of Christianity’s contribution to helping create the climate within which this could develop. In our follow-up discussion, the question was posed whether the Holocaust experience was a strong motivator today for the State of Israel relative to its current approach to the Palestinians and their land on the West Bank.

Israel Museum…the national location that cares for the antiquities discovered from the archeological excavations. The first stage was to tour the Shrine of the Book which provides greater detail on Qumran and its scrolls. We saw the public recognition of Khalil Eskander, better known as “Kando,” who cared for the scrolls until they could be donated to the museum. Again we were impressed with the quiet ways that God uses over time to ensure that His Word lives for future generations.

The second stage was to view the Nano Bible. In 2015, Technion utilized nanotechnology to place 1,200,000 letters on a dot the size of a fingertip. The comment was made that this would be a fantastic strategy to smuggle Bibles into countries that were not friendly to God’s Word.

Our third stage was to walk around a large model of the city of Jerusalem that is based on post-Jesus time. Again, we benefitted from the co-leadership of our rabbi and our guide historian to integrate biblical events in their historical context. Being able to see the whole picture enabled us better understand relationships among events that began on Palm Sunday, led to Jesus’ crucifixion, and were completed with the resurrection. We are now ready for this being our focus for the final two days of our pilgrimage.

View of the model of the City of Jerusalem

View of what the pool of Siloam might look like

Shopping in the Old City…with the New Gate being across from our hotel, we were given the afternoon to experience the eating and shopping in Jerusalem. Our first stop was Jacob’s Pizza (4.5 TripAdvisor award winner) to take a break from our lunches of falafel or shawarma when on the road. Some Ben & Jerry’s ice cream topped it off. We then all branched out to visit the shops and negotiate respectfully with the business owners on items that we wanted to come home with. One stop that we were invited to experience was Melia Art & Training Center, an organization of women from all over the West Bank working to build personal income through preserving the Palestinian culture of cross-stitch embroidery.

Entering the gate of the old city of Jerusalem

Tonight’s meeting focuses discussion on our visit to the Holocaust Museum with its implications for us as we commit to increasing our readiness to shine Jesus’ light to others. Members who have not been well seem to be making progress. We thank everyone for covering us with their prayers.