I took a tour myself yesterday and for That's My World I'll pass it on to you.
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The subject of the 3-hour tour was "The People of Jerusalem's Old City."It was sponsored by the Interfaith Encounter Association.
Our guide, shown in the photo above, was educator Jared Goldfarb.
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A large group showed up for the English-speaking tour.
From Jaffa Gate we walked to the Armenian Quarter, then to the Jewish Quarter (pictured above).
The wooden hut you see is a sukkah for the coming holiday of Sukkot.
After hearing Jared's explanation of the situation of Muslims in the Muslim Quarter, we entered the Christian Quarter.We ended up on the roof of the Holy Sepulchre for the final presentation, about the Christian minority.
Jared (here with hand in the air) lowered his teaching voice out of respect for the Ethiopian monks who live in tiny cells on the roof.
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See the dark figure above looking down on us?
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The monk seemed amused and curious.I suspect he sees many many tour groups there every day but not many that sit on the ground and speak softly.
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Happy International Day of Peace!
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Very interesting.
ReplyDeleteA wonderful series of photos with commentary to honour the day!
ReplyDeleteI wonder how I would have felt to be sitting among the group surrounded by so much history ...hmmm
ReplyDeleteI'm sure this would be very interesting - and a good way of building community awareness.
ReplyDeleteWhat a fascinating tour, I really like how multi-cultural and respectful it seems to be. Is it run often?
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I'd like to visit Jerusalem's Old City: it must be so fascinating and interesting.
ReplyDeleteShalom, Dina!
ReplyDeleteHow very interesting. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteShalom to all and thanks for commenting. Yes, it is amazing how so many different peoples live together inside the wall around the Old City in only 0.9 square kilometers.
ReplyDeleteRobin, I just found your comment in Blogger's new Spam filtering box.
Go figure.
This is the first tour like this, but with the unexpected big turnout for it, I'm sure they will do more of them. Plus, it was only 20 shekels.
Guide Jared spoke with knowledge, respect, and objectivity about the diverse populations. I understand he volunteered his time for this, to the Interfaith Encounter Association. They do great work all over Israel.
This tour was not about the buildings or the holy sites, just about the Armenians, Jews, Christians, and Muslims who live in the Old City.
P.S. to Robin and locals:
ReplyDeleteI am on the IEA mailing list and will tell you beforehand about any next tour they offer.
Your capture of the monk's image is a delight. It must have been an interesting tour.
ReplyDeleteWhat excellent photos and post! The one of the Monk is fantastic!
ReplyDeleteHow many beautiful memories for me in your story. I have to come back there, sooner or later...
ReplyDeleteAbout peace, I think that is quite useful the other half of the quote in your title...