On July 11th we decided we were going to go to Bethlehem. It was a Saturday (Shabbat, no Jewish buses run until about an hour after sunset) so our choice was to take a taxi or take the Arab bus down to the checkpoint. We meant to take bus 21, but a few of us needed to grab passports so we ended up bartering with a taxi driver to take us to our friends place to find passports and then go on to the checkpoint. The checkpoint is really not far away from the southern end of Jerusalem.
The checkpoint was all new to us so it was interesting to see the separation wall up and close and see how valuable a US passport can be. The idea was to walk to the Church of the Nativity from the checkpoint, but we really didn't know where we were headed, it was already turning out to be a blasting hot day, and we had a REALLY persistent taxi driver (not many tourists go the Bethlehem these days) following us and telling something we didn't know yet: we were going the wrong way.
So we made a deal to have two taxis drive the seven of us to the Church. On the way, our driver who spoke very good English convinced us that it might be a good idea to have him take us to all the sites in Bethlehem. He said it would take about 2 hours and something like 50 shekels a person ($12.50). Great!
This is the main entrance to the Church of the Nativity. Sorry about the color setting! You can just barely see that the door used to be very big, then was made a bit smaller, and then finally they made it really small. Shawn said that they needed to do that because it was being looted by Turks. Shawn, me, and our friends Beth and Brad.
Evidence of much looting through the ages. The church was built in the forth century, burnt down in the sixth century and then rebuilt by the crusaders. Like many of the churches around here, it was begun by Helena, Constantine's mother. Today it is maintained by Orthodox, Roman Catholic and Armenians. The walls are almost bare. Right in front on the floor is an opening where you can see the original mosaic floor.
Tomb of St. Jerome! The three bible scholars in our group were excited to see where the man who translated the Latin Bible (Vulgate) was buried. (One of only two Christian Hebrew Philologists before the Renaissance).
The star where our friend Andrew is praying at is the traditional spot where Jesus was born. We had to wait a while for an Orthodox service to end before we and several other large groups could go down into the grotto to see it.
This is Mar Saba, an Orthodox monastery where only the boys could get in, and Andrew, who was wearing shorts, could only go in and stay at the door. I didn't have the camera at this time and I think Shawn wasn't supposed to take pictures. But this website shows the view from the women's tower where the women waited for the boys tour to end. Apparently they were treated very well and were given refreshments like fresh grapefruit juice, and the best Turkish delight Shawn has ever had. (women's tower up on the right)
We had to follow slowly a long time. The older one of the shepherds was not a happy young man. He was very unpleased that our driver was driving behind them. Our driver said the man was crazy.
Shepherd's Field. We ate lunch right after this at a cafe nearby. The owner visited with us and shared that she was a Christian. I have since read that were many Christians in the villages around Bethlehem until 20-30 years ago. There are still a good amount there but not a majority like before. Here are only a couple examples of a Christian presence: Bethlehem Bible College, and Al-Shurooq School for Blind Children in Beit Jala, which was started and still run by Helen Shehadeh. I go to church with Helen at the St. Andrews Scottish Presbyterian Church (I'll post more about St. Andrews in the future).
Milk Grotto, believed to be where Jesus' family fled and hid before going to Egypt. Tradition says that a drop of Mary's milk fell and turned the cave white. Some Christians and Muslims believe that scraping a bit of the stone into a woman's drinking water will help with fertility and milk production.
The two hour taxi tour turned into more like seven and at the end of the taxi ride, the drivers doubled the price because we took so long. I think they were expecting us to only take pictures at the sites and then be off. But we were more like pilgrims and we wanted to do lots of exploring.
On our way out of the checkpoint, there was a long line of people, mostly labourers, waiting to get back to Bethlehem. Because we were obviously white tourists and had US passports, we didn't have to wait at all, but those coming in had to wait for us to come out the same way. In the mornings, to get to their jobs by 8am, they have to be at the checkpoint at 4am.
Bethlehem was a hot, emotionally draining day for everyone. When we got back to Har Hatsofim (Mt. Scopus), Andrew was very kind and bought us all an iced drink at Aroma cafe (the largest Israeli coffee shop chain) which is open on Saturdays. Thanks again Andrew! We needed it.
I know that he's a number of centuries too late to register much interest from Shawn, but I'm so envious of your visit to Jerome's tomb! Looks like it was a great trip.
2 comments:
I know that he's a number of centuries too late to register much interest from Shawn, but I'm so envious of your visit to Jerome's tomb! Looks like it was a great trip.
He was a Hebrew Philologist, so it wasn't totally lost on me!
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