The tomb of Lazarus and a trip for shoes

Friday, May 22, 2015

This morning we heard a lecture on Orthodox Judaism. The woman was very knowledgable and interesting. Afterwards we went to Bethany to see the tomb of Lazarus. You go down a lot of steps into a first room where they would prepare the body. Then you go through a narrow passage to another room with niches where they would have put bodies. 

 

There is a crusader church above the tomb. 

Then we went back to the college for lunch. We had a free afternoon, so we walked to a little mall. It's clearly where affluent Israelis shop. Some of the others were looking for Tevas. We didn't find them, but we found Naod. Several people bought a pair of sandals. Then we continued on up the street to see the YMCA. It's quite unique. I thought it was a cathedral. It's a big beautiful building. It also has a Peace Preschool in it. For 20 shekels, you can go to the top of the bell tower and get a 360 degree view of Jerusalem. 

Afterwards, we wanted to get a drink at the King David Hotel across the street, but they were very crowded and said we couldn't have a table because we weren't staying there. So we went back to the little shopping center and had a drink there. 

Friday night is Shabbat. Peter said he was going to the Western Wall and there was a group of us who wanted to go with them. They had gone last Friday right after dinner, but this time they wanted to go to compline first. So, we left at 8:30. It was actually a little late. As we were walking there, there were crowds of men in black hats coming there other way. It was actually difficult to get down the street because so many people were coming in the opposite direction. At one point a group of young guys were singing and dancing down the road. Once we got to the wall, it was a lot less exciting. We went to the women's side. The guys to the other side. Some women were touching the wall. Others were sitting in chairs reading or talking. One woman passed her two children over the separation barrier to her husband. On the other side p, some men were singing.  We stayed about 20 minutes and then walked back and went to a hotel for a drink. There were some things they won't serve because it's Shabbat. They are starred on the menu. You can have coffee, but not espresso. You can have tuna sandwich, but not grilled cheese. I had a glass of red wine. Great night.