GOOD GUIDES--that's my topic for ABC Wednesday today.
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If I were a Rothschild (as Tevye the Milkman's song goes), I would go on a guided tour of Jerusalem every day. The best way to learn!
The guided tours are not cheap, but then, neither is the course of study to become a licensed tourist guide. The 18-24-month courses cost over 20,000 shekels (~$5,270).
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A guide studies hard and works hard. I know, having been married to one for 22 years.
Let's look at a sample of my guides over the last three years. This was the tiyul (trip/hike) to see the Burma Road and learn about the convoys which carried water and food to Jerusalem when it was under siege in 1948.
This one tour of the Old City tried a new twist: no registration fee but tip the guide as the spirit moves you.
Subject: Jerusalem pilgrim hostels in recent centuries.
A day's walk in the Old City focusing on Christian art. Here, the courtyard of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
About the "Jerusalem Envelope," i.e. the security barrier/separation fence.
A behind-the-walls Jerusalem monasteries tour.
About the "Jerusalem Envelope," i.e. the security barrier/separation fence. 
A behind-the-walls Jerusalem monasteries tour. Remember the post on the Dead Sea Scrolls and Fr. Jean-Michel de Tarragon? This is the man. The Dominican monk/scholar/teacher/photographer/etc. was nice to lecture to our group in the church of Saint Etienne Monastery.
A bus tour to Mt. Carmel and the Muhraka convent of the Discalced Carmelite Order. Lots of readings from the Bible, a whole day of learning about the Prophet Elijah.
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The guide is the young lady with her hand in the air.
Have you noticed how almost all of the guides pictured here are talking with their hands? :)
Moving guided groups usually don't stop at the shops in the bazaars of the Old City, but studying the T-shirts can be instructive.
Overlooking the Old City and on the horizon the Mount of Olives..
Enlarge the photo to see the nice nun in gray. She is not a professional guide (even though her hand is raised); the Sister is a nurse. But she gave us an in-depth look at the old French St. Louis Hospital where she works and lives.
This was part of a Yad Yitzhak Ben-Zvi study day about the Latin Patriarchate in Jerusalem.
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The Hebrew word for guide is moreh derech, literally, a "teacher of the way." God bless these good guides of Israel.
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You seem to have been on very nice tours around Jerusalem:-)
ReplyDeleteThank you for this excellent post, Dina. The guide we had in Greece also used her hands. Actually I do that all the time.I think I cannot talk when somebody holds my hands!
ReplyDeleteA good guide can make all the difference when you are on a tour. I hope someday to be able to visit Jerusalem and take a guided tour.
ReplyDeleteAn Arkies Musings
Beautiful shots my friend! Shaloam
ReplyDeleteYes. On my recent pilgrimage to France and Italy we had some great local guides...and they weren't all professional guides, either.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to read that you had a whole day on Carmelites and Elijah!
Great tour around Jerusalem!
ReplyDeleteI've enjoyed this interesting series of pictures.
you have so many things to see, so many to learn. wonderful tour
ReplyDeleteI had no idea it was so expensive to learn to be a guide. I've always been impressed with all the knowledge guides have to store. I wonder if Moshe still knows all that information. You would be a fabulous guide. You already are, actually.
ReplyDeleteew more kaleidoscopic vision dear Dina.
ReplyDeleteI'm with you - if I could afford it I'd hire a private guide all the time, they're wonderful!
ReplyDeleteVery nice and interesting, I bet you've enjoyed it very much.
ReplyDeleteA good guide is worth his money, lol
Dina...your photographs always astound me. Each one is always filled with such mood.
ReplyDeleteI speak with my hands, also. LOL.
I can't believe how costly it is to become a tour guide.
Shalom.
Perhaps, in the long run going for the guided tour training is a good investment. You could reap the rewards by leading tours and not having to fork out any money each time (lol). But, I totally agree, Dina - you do get so much more out of guided tours...
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