Sunday, October 16
Jordan River
Sunday morning we traveled from the Sea of Galilee to Jerusalem. Our first stop was a brief one at the River Jordan, at a site long inaccessible to tourists because it was a military compound. It is reopened again, although there is the ever-present danger of the homosapiencentipede. This was a rare siting.
The water this day was not especially high, and we could look into Jordan, right on the other side of the river.
The Greek Orthodox priest below is baptizing a number of people from his congregation, who are reciting psalms together. The stairs opposite him on the other side of the river are in the country of Jordan, with whom Israel is a peace, and with whom it now has extensive trade.
Up to Jerusalem
After visiting the Jordan River, we “went up” to Jerusalem, as in the many psalms (songs) of ascent. We made “aliya.” This is the term for Jews who move to Israel to become citizens. It literally means “ascent.”
Many visited the Tower of David museum, right across from the Christ Church compound where we are staying, and a tiny group went to the hospital to have Jennifer’s leg looked at.
Sukkah
That afternoon a sukkah was built by the group on the Christ Church grounds, and shortly thereafter another tour group started dancing outside of it:
We also saw a massive sukkah at the Kotel, near the Western Wall of the Temple Mount. It is on the right near the bottom of the stairs. See if you can guess who the folks are that are walking down the steps...
Evening Testimonies
That evening a number of us went up on the roof of the Old City, above the Arab Quarter, to enjoy the view and share personal testimonies about Jesus/Yeshua and his effect one our lives. This is the view we had while we were there:
That is the moon coming up in the distance over the Temple Mount.