From there we went on to the Garden of Gethsemane where Christ spent his last hours. (Fun fact: Geth means olive and semane means press in Hebrew; put it all together, Gethsemane means olive press, fitting because of the olive trees that grow there). Adjacent to the garden is the Church of all Nations, which is home to the rock that Christ kneeled on. Rocks are rather important here, the Dome of the Rock is built around the large stone slab that the Muslims believe Abraham was to sacrifice his son Ishmael upon, and the Jews believe he was to sacrifice his son Isaac.
We then spent the afternoon in various museums: Israeli modern art, looted fine art from the Holocaust, the Shrine of the Book that houses the Dead Sea Scrolls found in the caves of Qumran, and finally the Holocaust remembrance museum, which gave me new insight into Zionism and the Jew's desire for the creation of an Israeli state.
One of our group members, Andrew, flew with us on the L.A. to Atlanta leg last Sunday. But when he tried to continue the journey from Atlanta to Tel Aviv he was turned around because of a passport that would not meet Israeli standards. He fortunately arrived today after flying back to L.A. to get a new passport overnight. Otherwise everyone is safe and happy and healthy, which is wonderful!
Some of you have been curious about the weather, and it has actually been quite pleasant. It is about 85 during the days and 60 at night. Today was the hottest day and it was probably around 92. Winds pick up around 2 or 3 in the afternoon, and those are rather cool. Sounds like the California crowd has hotter heat than here!
With affection, Corinna
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