Jerusalem
A perspective of Israel
08.09.2008
31 °C
(To see larger versions of the pics, click in them)
We began the day by going to Yad Vashem, the museum that describes the Holocaust from Hitler's rise to power until the settlement of the Jewish in Israel. Although it was very hard to see and listen to it really gave a great description of Hitler's rise to power, the evolution of antisemitism, the ghettos and the concentration camps and finally the end of the war and the rebuilding of the Jewish community. It was extremely emotion for me when I walked our of the museum onto the terrace that overlooked the whole city of Jerusalem. This really will frame our entire experience in Israel.
From there we went to the Old City and the Wailing Wall. It wasn't what Rick and I expected. Somehow we thought that it would be larger and more imposing. It certainly was one of the experiences we wanted to have. Although it was not emotional, it helped give us perspective. But certainly seeing the Old City that it was built by hand so many centuries ago was awsome. Having seen the Great Wall of China, I felt the same sense of wonder. But this experience includes the human element in the present day. Seeing many religious groups living side by side in the city was fascinating.
