Report from Israel #7 - Stones and Stones and Stones

By Janice Beurling

Shalom! Yesterday, was Shabbat and the car rental place wasn’t open. (We weren’t able to exchange our defective car for another until today.) A little hesitant to take the current car on the road, even with the new battery, Dad, Krista and I headed for the Old City on foot.

Without stopping to take photographs, it would take us about 30 minutes to walk from our apartment to the Jaffa Gate. Taking it more slowly, we reached the gate in about 45 minutes. From there we wandered down the main souvenir thoroughfare -- a narrow cobblestone foot lane crowded with tourists and hawkers with their goods hanging on every conceivable surface -- to the Western Wall Plaza. We did actually get lost a bit, but kept facing downward and eventually may it to the Kotel.

Because it was Shabbat, we were not permitted to take photos in the Plaza itself (or write notes, use a cell phone or smoke, if we were so inclined!). But we were content to stand and marvel at the stonework of the Temple Mount. We’re looking forward to the Western Wall Tunnel Tour we’ll take in a couple of days and seeing more of this.

We also enjoyed watching the Orthodox and others pray and fellowship on this sunny Shabbat. We noticed many Orthodox families strolling together today. So many babies! It seems that the average Israeli we see -- whether Orthodox or not -- is not more than 40 years of age and most seem to be pushing baby strollers. I’ve lost count of the newborns we’ve admired. Also, our sense is that the Orthodox here are much more open to converse with strangers than they are at home.

After a while we turned our steps upward and began to climb back toward the Jaffa Gate, this time walking through the Jewish Quarter. I used my map book to take us through some back alleys and we saw many interesting doors and glimpsed quiet courtyards. We laughed when we found a group of very short doors. Krista and I are both tall (due to all those Dutch and Swedish genes rushing around our DNA) and we’ve noticed that, although there are a good number of taller Israeli men, we always tower over the Israeli women. I keep quoting to Krista: “And there were giants in the land …” (Genesis 6:4).

As we moved out of the Jewish Quarter toward the Armenian Quarter, we stopped to admire a particularly narrow walkway. Next door, a man happened to be closing up his shop. He greeted us with a smile and, of course, that was all Dad and Krista needed to start a new friendship. Sammy is a Syrian Christian who was born and raised in the Old City. He expressed a real faith and hope in the Messiah and we had a wonderful time fellowshipping with him. He welcomed us into his shop, showed us photos of his family and friends and, when we left, we truly felt we’d made a new friend.

After leaving the Old City, we considered taking a cab home, but decided to walk down the valley through the artists’ colony of Yemin Moshe. The day was beautiful (though warm), the birds were singing and the flowers were blooming. It was strenuous, but we had a great time exploring.

Today was our day for the Mystery Tour. Some months ago, I came across a website that suggested simple but less common day trips in and around Jerusalem. I chose one and was able to keep our destination a secret from the others. I just told them it was a small site with a big story. We started out (in our replacement rental car) by driving through the hills of Judea, heading southwest out of Jerusalem.

We constantly marvel at the forested hills in the region. When we were here in the 1970’s, there was scarcely a mature tree to be seen. I remember going home and telling everyone that all I saw were rocks. Today, much of this part of Israel is covered with mature trees -- a great blessing!

After winding along the hillsides and through narrow valleys, we reached a wider valley with many different crops. Soon we came to a crossroads. We turned to the right and I asked Dad to park the car at the side of the road. We got out and began to walk along a field of bell peppers toward a dry stream bed. Mom, Dad and Krista had no idea where we were standing, but I began to read from 1 Samuel 17: “Then David took his shepherd's staff, selected five smooth stones from the brook, and put them in the pocket of his shepherd's pack, and with his sling in his hand approached Goliath.”

We were standing next to the stream that runs through the Valley of Elah. On one side of the valley the Israelites stood and faced the Philistines who were on the hillside of the opposite side. We can’t know exactly where David found his five smooth stones, but we were standing next to the probable stream where he looked. Of course, Krista and I looked for some stones of our own, but we had to walk a ways down the stream to find them. I think there have been some other tourists here before us!

So, we have had two fairly restful days and are now ready for more adventures!

Here are some of the photos Krista and I have taken (click for bigger):


As we headed toward the Old City, we passed an ancient Muslim cemetery.




Views of Jerusalem just outside the Jaffa Gate.






Heading into the Old City.








The ruins of a German Crusader Church.


All dressed up for Shabbat.


Near the Western Wall Plaza.






And there were giants in the land!


Walking through the Jewish Quarter.
















Outside the City Walls again.








The Valley of Elah -- where David faced Goliath.










Two views of the dry streambed.