Because our touring weekend had been aborted last weekend due to unforeseeable (and unfortunately unavoidable) circumstances, Lee arranged for us to have a car this past weekend, and we elected to try to get out to see some of the other 'hot list' locations - starting with the Holocaust Museum right here in Jerusalem.
Known as Yad Vashem, the museum is tucked back in the Jerusalem forest, in a very serene setting. The museum was built and runs entirely on donations- the entry is free, and you can get an audio tour for 20NIS each. Photography is not allowed in the museum, so you don't get any visuals to go along with this post, sadly, but I'll do my best to try to describe it. The heart of the museum is in a triangle shaped concrete building, approximately 300 meters long. Most of the triangle is underground, with the top 1/8 being above ground, and with a glass roof that acts as a skylight. All the coloring is somber - muted greys and black, very dimly lit, very hushed. Entering the pyramid, you are immediately confronted with images of pre-holocaust life. Followed by artifacts salvaged from the bodies of partially charred victims at one of the concentration camps- photos, lockets, papers, letters....personal items, private items. The entire museum is very classy, and all of the displays are respectful - I never felt that there was any attempt to overstate, or shock viewers. The path through the pyramid zig zags back and forth across what they call 'recesses' - pathways that bisect the triangle at regular intervals. Using a combination of maps, video testaments, pictures, and a huge number of artifacts - a collection like I've never seen - the museum takes you on a chronological path through Nazi Germany's rise to power, and their eventual decline- and all of the atrocities along the way. Towards the end of the path, the stories turn to those of Jewish uprisings and heroism, that we westerners don't often hear about. The very last chamber was a circle - a large circle- that was probably 40 meters high, filled with volumes and volumes of books - each book was filled with the names of holocaust victims. So many books. And they're still collecting and documenting names for this display - it was very powerful. We were chased out of the museum at closing time - 2pm, as it was Shabbat - and hurried through the rest of the grounds to get out- there are ENORMOUS gardens and other exhibits, but as we didn't have time, we'll have to try to get back at some point. 3.5 hours! Not enough time to see everything.....
(Jerusalem forest/Ein Kerem area)
As it was still daytime, and we had the car, we decided to check out a few more things in the Jerusalem forest area (ok, so what happened was Lee pulled out the book and goes "hm. do you want to check out the Church of St. John , it's near here." and I said "might as well, we're here."). The area we were in is called Ein Kerem, an Arab built neighborhood, littered with Lebanese cedars and pines. This part of town is historically important, as these were the stomping grounds of John the Baptist. We drove through a cute residential area, nestled in the hilly woods, and parked in an underground lot. Walking up a little hill, we came to the gates of the Church of St. John.
(Courtyard of Church of St. John; Some of the prayer mosaics)
Apparently this is where Aphrodite was found in a well (at least a sign claims that), and is the birthplace of John the Baptist. The courtyard is lined with a prayer translated into 40 different languages. They're all hung in unique tile mosaics, it was lovely. Inside the blue-themed church itself, there is an altar, of course, where John the Baptist was said to actually have been born. The church is Franciscan-run, and built in several styles- Roman, Byzantine and Spanish. Pretty. Very pretty, in fact. We did a quick photo session, and wandered back out to the main street.
(A special rock? It had a special place in the church!)
There was a signpost directing pedestrians towards several other sites- Church of the Visitation, Mary's Spring...a few other places further along. We headed towards Mary's Spring, and took a look at the stream running from under the mountain - supposedly this spring sprung forth from the rock at the moment Mary met the very-pregnant Elizabeth (John the Baptist's mum), to warn her of Herod's intent to murder all children in the land, thereby preventing the prophecy of Jesus coming to fruition.
(Mary's Spring; Mary's Spring)
Up a steep hill from here is the Church of the Visitation, commemorating that fateful meeting between Mary and Elizabeth. Supposedly built on the spot, the church is colorful with beautiful paintings, and has well tended gardens. And some very interesting signs.....and monks. Who I did not photograph. Lots of monks.
(Up the steep hill; The amazing paintings inside the church; Well-tended grounds)
As the afternoon was waning, we decided that was enough touring for one day - besides, we have a very early morning on Saturday. We're going down down down into the desert to Masada. King Herod's castle in the sky. More blog on that soon!
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