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DOMINUS FLEVIT CHURCH
We started off visiting Dominus Flevit Church, which is in the shape of a teardrop to symbolize the tears of Christ. This was believed to be the spot (according to Luke 19:37-42) where Jesus, while walking toward the city of Jerusalem, became overwhelmed by the beauty of the Second Temple and predicted its future destruction. More info on Dominus Flevit Church

GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE
We continued down the slippery hill, admiring the ancient gravesites until we reached the Garden of Gethsemane. According to Luke 22:43–44 this is where Jesus was arrested as he and his disciples prayed, the night before his crucifixion. NOTE: According to the Eastern Orthodox Church tradition, this is where the Apostles buried the Virgin Mary. More info on Gethsemane.



CHURCH OF ALL NATIONS
Attached to the Garden, which by the way is full of beautiful flowers and some of the oldest olive trees on earth, is the Church of All Nations. According to Mark 14:32-42, it enshrines a section of bedrock where Jesus is said to have prayed before his arrest. Inside, a private Polish mass was taking place and tour groups from all over the world were passing through admiring the mosaic floor. More info on The Chruch of All Nations.

JERUSALEM BAGEL
We then drove maybe a mile to the Ophel Archaelogical Park and the Davidson Center – it’s where the Wailing Wall is. Outside, I got my first view of the Jerusalem bagel – they are about four times the size of New York bagels and are much cheaper (you can get them for 5 NIS or less). They come with sesame seeds on them but be sure to get a side of hyssop. It’s like oregano and you dip the bread in it. Oh, is it tasty!

WESTERN WALL
The Western Wall, also referred to as the Wailing Wall or Kotel, is one of, if not the, most important Jewish religious site in the world. It’s located in the Old City of Jerusalem and is open 24 hours (free admission). It dates from the end of the Second Temple period and was constructed around 19 BCE by Herod the Great. The wall is 187 feet (57 m) high and stretches for 1,600 feet (488 m). All religions are welcome but there are separate sections for men and women. Men need to either wear a hat or borrow a free paper kipa (which means dome) to cover their head if they intend to go up to the wall. Women must cover their shoulders and knees. More info on The Western Wall.

PRAYING ON THE WALL
Those who go up to the wall to pray, stick a piece of paper with their prayer on it, into one of the crevices in the wall. I was trying to find a spot for mine and in the process, I accidently knocked about 10 pieces of paper out. My heart stopped and at the same time an old man (a Hasidic Jew, dressed to the nines) grabbed my hand – I thought it was over. He didn’t speak much English but he said, “It’s okay. Let’s pray.” Suddenly, I was praying with him against the wall … and then he asks me for money. I got suckered – but I gave him a U.S. dollar and he was happy.

VIA DOLOROSA
A short walk from the wall is Via Dolorosa. It’s the route Jesus walked, carrying the cross on his back. Back then it was just a dirt path but today it’s an Arab souk (bazaar). Each station is marked and the last, which was the site of Christ’s crucifixion and burial, is at Church of the Holy Sepulchre. More on the Stations of the Cross.

CHURCH OF THE HOLY SEPULCHRE
The Pope was giving mass inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre so security wouldn’t let people within a few hundred yards radius, maybe more. However, Amir had us slip in with a bunch of monks and photographers and we walked with them through places we weren’t supposed to be. Then Amir took a sudden right turn down a deserted alley and while following reluctantly, I whispered, “Amir, they’re all going the other way.” Barely moving his lips, he whispered back, “Trust me and just pretend you own the place.” We walked right by a ton of police and military and ended up on top of the church! He opened one of the doors and there it was – The Rotunda of the Anastasis of which is the Edicule of the Holy Sepulchre itself.

INSIDE THE CHURCH
Mass had just ended and we quickly made our way down there to have the place basically to ourselves; there were maybe seven other tourists.

The church is run by the Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic and Armenian Apostolic churches – that was true of a few of the churches that I visited. At the entrance is the Stone of Anointing where I laid my hands like everyone else and felt some kind of crazy energy. The day before, it was a few minutes’ wait to do just that – and an hour wait to get into the rooms holding The Angel's Stone, a fragment of the stone believed to have sealed the tomb after Jesus' burial and the tomb itself. I lit some candles for my mom and loved ones and left with a huge smile on my face. It wasn’t only the highlight of the trip but possibly the highlight of a lifetime. More info on The Church of Holy Sepulchre.

LAST SUPPER & DORMITION ABBEY
There are so many holy sites in Jerusalem that I could write a book so instead I recommend buying a guidebook. I used Frommer's Israel like I do for pretty much everywhere I go. In the interest of full disclosure, you should know I write for them, too. Other highlights included the site of the Last Supper, which is not in its original building (obviously) but rather the place is said to be the exact spot where it happened. Below is King David's Tomb and nearby is Dormition Abbey, the place where the Virgin Mary fell asleep. More info on The Last Supper Room.

CARDO MAXIMUS
We walked all around and Amir took me to Cardo Maximus. It was a Roman road built during the reign of the emperor Justinian (527-565). Most of it hasn’t been uncovered since it’s situated 20 feet below the street level. The two main parts that have been uncovered are part open-air reconstructed street; the other part is a restored arcade of Jewish galleries and shops. More info on Jerusalem’s Cardo.

YAD VASHEM
The last place that is a must visit is Yad VaShem, which figuratively means a monument and a memorial. This new Holocaust museum opened in 2005 as the Jewish people’s living memorial to the Holocaust. I got emotional just walking the “Avenue of the Righteous Among the Nations”, which is between the parking lot and the modern building. Visitors pass trees that are planted in tribute to each individual gentile who helped save Jewish lives during the Nazi era like Anne Frank, Oskar and Emilie Schindler.

The building itself hangs on a cliff symbolizing that the Jews of Europe had the writing on the wall and it is amazingly shaped. As you enter and follow the narrow zigzagging path to the maze of galleries, you go downhill. There’s a black and white video on the wall at the entrance, depicting the good times of the Jews in Europe but then, as we all know, things gradually get worse. I saw images and read stories that had a profound effect on me, an effect that will certainly last the rest of my life. But the museum does present a happy ending; visitors are shown progression as the path gradually inclines. It represents when the war is over and the exit has a view of the city, which is just breathtaking. More info on Yad Vashem.

RESPECT FOR GERMANY
Amir said only three countries honor the Holocaust – Israel, The U.S. and Germany (I visited the Holocaust Museum in Berlin last year) and Amir said the Germans should get a lot of credit for that. In fact, you would think there would be huge animosity towards the Germans but there didn’t seem to be at all. In fact, the van we had, which is owned by the Israeli tourism board, was a Volkswagen.

BIRTH RITE PROGRAM
Did you know that if you are of Jewish descent and between the ages of 18 to 26 you can apply for a free 10-day trip to Israel? It’s called the Birth Rite program and over 220,000 young adults have taken advantage of it since it was started 10+ years ago. Here’s a link with more information.

MEZE DINNER
The first night, we had dinner at a tasty Arab-Israeli restaurant called Minaret. They serve meze so we had 18 small plates of falafel, tahini, eggplant, pickles, hummus, red cabbage. Then came chicken, lamb and beef kebobs with French fries and rice. The whole thing cost $20 USD per person. Minaret Restaurant, 18 Shlomzion Hamalks Street, Tel: 02-6234470.



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