Christmas In Israel: Jerusalem

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Photos (top to bottom):  looking down Aqbat e Saraya Street toward the Temple Mount;  a typical street in the Old City with risers for rolling carts over the many steps;  the Stone of Unction (at the entrance to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher), which commemorates the preparation of Jesus' body for burial;  pilgrims passing in front of the Tomb of Christ;  one of many chapels in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher;  1st century tombs off the Syrian Chapel (note the ghostly green images!);  the Tomb of Jesus with the Coptic Chapel to the right;  "lane blurring" while departing Jerusalem

For many more photos of Jerusalem see http://www.becauseoftime.org/ISD/ScenesDakar2.html.

We spent the day in the Old City yesterday, wandering from the Armenian Quarter, through the Jewish Quarter and the Western Wall, on to the Temple Mount, through the Muslim Quarter, to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.  

The Old City is at the same time profound and contradictory.  At the entrance to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, a smooth limestone stab commemorates the washing of Jesus' body before his burial.  Pilgrims enter, knee beside the stone, lay their hands upon it, smile for photographs, then immediately move on.  One woman lay both palms upon the stone, and paused with eyes closed, as if to imbibe the essence of the Holy Spirit.  (While the stone may look and feel ancient, it actually dates to 1808, when the prior 12th-century slab was destroyed.)

In the Old City of Jerusalem you can find everything from olive wood carvings of Christ, to t-shirts reassuring Americans that the Israeli Army has their backs;  from groups singing and dancing in celebration of a bar-mitzvah, to an Arab store owner promising you a special deal, won't you just look in my shop;  from plastic toys, to prayer in a hundred or more Christian churches, Muslim mosques, and Jewish synagogues.  All the while, beneath every step, around every corner, embedded in every wall, there lies a fantastically rich and complex history spanning 4000 years.

Jerusalem is a fantastic experiment in maintaining social and cultural boundaries, while, on the street, most shop owners are concerned with making enough sales to pay the rent and support their families.