Israel - Journey to the Holy Land
“The unique history of an ancient country, amazing
climate and healing possibilities of the Dead Sea,
the historical foundation of Christianity is all Israel"
The Holy Land is a region of the Middle East, located on the southeastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. It is divided into four main parts: the Coastal Plain, which stretches along the Mediterranean coast; The western mountainous region, which extends from the mountains of Galilee and Samaria to the Judean Hills of Jerusalem; The southern desert part, which starts from the vicinity of Beer Shera and stretches to the Gulf of Aqaba; A mountain valley located in the eastern part of the Western Mountains.
About the country, its history and people
Israel is a country where the history of the universe originates, the history of bygone years and the present. It is here, like nowhere else, that you can feel the breath of eternity, the spirit of incredible vitality, strength and faith. This is a small country with an area of .22 thousand square meters. km is a country of contrasts, in which in one hour you can get from a modern city to a desert, and from a flat area to a mountainous one. It takes less than an hour for a tourist to drive from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, Haifa or Beer Sheva, from Jerusalem to the Dead Sea, from Haifa to the heart of the Galilee. All roads in Israel lead to places of interest and architectural monuments mentioned in the Bible or related to the early history of civilization.
This land has been sacred to the Jewish people since the time of the biblical patriarchs - Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (beginning of the 2nd millennium BC). According to the Bible, the Land of Israel was bequeathed to the Jews by God in order to become the Promised Land - all the sacred places of the Jewish people are located here. The establishment of royal power and the emergence of the Kingdom of Israel, and later of the Kingdom of Judah, dates from the end of the 11th to the middle of the 10th centuries BC. e. and existed intermittently in the region for the next thousand years. In 629 - 630, as a result of massacres and persecution of Jews initiated by the Byzantine emperor Heraclius, the Jewish presence in the region reached its minimum in the entire three thousand-year history, but did not stop completely. At the end of the 19th century, Zionism was developed - a movement that set as its goal the foundation of a Jewish state in the land of Israel, raising the Jewish question in the international arena. This movement led to the fact that on May 14.1948, in accordance with the plan for the division of Palestine adopted by the UN, the creation of the state of Israel was proclaimed.
Israel is a parliamentary republic. The head of state is the president, who is elected by the Knesset for five years by secret ballot. The supreme body of legislative power is the unicameral parliament, the Knesset, which is located in Jerusalem and consists of 120 deputies. The central body of executive power is the Cabinet of Ministers. Power in cities is exercised by municipalities, in towns and villages - local councils, regional councils lead groups of small settlements. The population of the country is about 8 million people (2012). The main part of the population (83%) are Jews, up to 16% of the population are Arabs (Palestinians), as well as Armenians, Russians and representatives of other nationalities. The official capital is the city of Tel Aviv (whose population, together with the suburbs, is 1.1 million people), the actual capital is Jerusalem (805 thousand people). Despite scarce natural resources, thanks to the latest scientific developments, metallurgy and mechanical engineering, the production of medical devices, computers and robots, fiber optics, pharmaceutical and chemical products are dynamically developing in the country. In rural areas, kibbutzim are widespread - economic communes, in which income and property belong to all its inhabitants. The country's GDP per capita is $29.400 (2010).
Stop at the Dead Sea
Resting in the Egyptian resort of Taba, I took the opportunity to make a one-day excursion to neighboring Israel to the holiest place on Earth - the city of three religions, Jerusalem. The tour began in the dead of night, when an Egyptian bus took us only a few kilometers to the border, where there were already many buses with tourists like us from various hotels. We were asked to leave the bus and cross the Egyptian and Israeli border and customs checkpoints on foot, as we will make our further journey on an Israeli bus with a local guide. Leaving Eilat shining with lights in the night darkness, we meet the dawn on the road that runs through the hilly Negev desert. Gradually we begin to descend, the Dead Sea gleams in front of us in the predawn rays, on the shore of which we made a stop.
We immediately rushed to plunge into its waters. But the water pushed us out by force (you can safely lie on its warm waves), so there was no way to dive and inspect the bottom, as we were already used to on the Red Sea. And, apparently, there was nothing to look at - a muddy bottom was felt underfoot, which is not surprising, since due to the high concentration of salt and various minerals, no living creatures can exist there. Of course, we knew about this long before the trip, but here we were personally convinced. The Dead Sea is a unique place on our planet, one of the wonders of Israel, which gives guests the opportunity to improve their health during their holidays. The sea is located 413 meters below sea level and is the lowest place on the surface of the Earth, as a result of which it has the highest atmospheric pressure on Earth, and the air is hotter, drier and richer in oxygen than anywhere else in the world. The minerals of the Dead Sea, enriched by the waters of the Jordan River and coastal streams, are highly concentrated during evaporation. The concentration of minerals here is 8-10 times higher than in ocean water, which is widely used in the cosmetics industry in the area. Allergies, neuralgic diseases, respiratory diseases and many other problems are successfully cured even in a short time. Numerous hotels and sanatoriums are located on the shore, where you can spend time comfortably, take a course of health massage and SPA procedures. However, it is the water of the Dead Sea, as well as the healing air and the mild sun, that have the main healing effect. The water temperature of the Dead Sea ranges from +19 C in February to +31 C in August. The average air temperature in autumn and spring is +27 C, in winter +20 C, and in summer it exceeds +35 C.
They were plentifully smeared from head to toe with its healing mud, which lay in abundance not only in the water, but also on the shore. Of course, we did not hope to be healed of all diseases in a few minutes, we simply paid tribute to tradition. Opposite the small sea, the coast of neighboring Jordan is clearly visible.
Therapeutic mud packaged in buckets, as well as various creams, scrubs, soaps, etc. based on Dead Sea minerals, can be bought in a special store, which the guides insistently offer.
Near our stop there is a palm grove, which was planted after the formation of the State of Israel, on the 60th anniversary of which our excursion was dated. Traveling a day earlier in Jordan, we noticed that the people of Israel, unlike their Arab neighbors, have done a lot in their short history to “revive” the desert landscapes of these places, created by mother nature.
Jerusalem - the city of peace, the city of confluence of three religions
We rise along the road up, in front surrounded by the picturesque Judean mountains, at an altitude of 750 m above sea level is Jerusalem - the city of the confluence of three religions. 3.5 thousand years ago, King David moved here the capital of his kingdom, known as Shalem, or Jerusalem, and Solomon, the son of David, built the Temple, the House of God. Since then, Jews have turned their prayers to him. For two thousand years, Jerusalem for Christians has been a holy city, the city of the Passion of Christ and the Resurrection. Muslims call this city "El-Quds" (Holy), their third most important shrine, Al-Aqsa, is located here. Such a fantastic mixture of monuments of history and peoples, traditions and cultures, where churches, synagogues and mosques dominate at the same time, cannot be found anywhere else.
During its five thousand years of history, it has experienced more upheavals than any other city. The holy places are located mainly in the Old City, surrounded by a 4-kilometer wall and almost unchanged since the 16th century. 8 gates lead to the Old City: Damascus, Jaffa, Zion (Gate of David), Garbage, Lion, Herod (Flower), New and Golden. The most beautiful and richly decorated - Damascus, lead to the Muslim quarter.
First, we make a stop at the observation deck on the Mount of Olives, from here you can see the best view of Jerusalem in all its grandeur: powerful fortress walls with 34 towers and 8 gates, domes of temples, mosques and synagogues. Opposite is the Muslim Quarter, which adjoins the Temple Mount with the sacred courtyard of Haram el-Sherif. The temple itself has not survived, now in its place is the mosque of Omar. The second mosque on the hill, Al-Aqsa, was built to commemorate the ascension of the Prophet Muhammad. On the mountain also rises the Mosque of the Rock, erected over the sanctuary of Solomon's temple, in which, according to legend, Noah's Ark was kept. This is the most important sanctuary of Islam and the oldest surviving Muslim building in the world. There you can see the footprint of the prophet on the rock and three hairs from his beard.
We go down past the archaeological excavations. I wonder what period these ancient dwellings belong to?
We visit the Church of the Torment of Christ. This is the third church built on the mountain where Jesus prayed, preached and taught, where Judas betrayed him, where he was seized by the guards. The construction of this church, which ended in 1924, was carried out with donations from all over the world, therefore it is called the Church of all nations. The mosaic on the portico depicts Jesus Christ, who revealed to man the connection with the Creator.
The very decoration of this church makes us empathize with the torment of Christ: the twilight reigning in it, and its high vaults, and icons depicting the suffering of Jesus and the scene of Judas' betrayal - all this makes us remember his words: “My Father! May this cup pass me by! "
Near the Garden of Gethsemane (Gethsemane in Aramaic - olive press). In this garden on the Mount of Olives, Jesus spent his time in prayer, and here he endured his grievous torment.
In Gethsemane, behind the Church of the Martyrdom of Christ, not far from the tomb of the Virgin, on the slope of the Mount of Olives, there is the Church of St. Mary Magdalene - a Russian Orthodox church in the Moscow style, built by the Russian Tsar Alexander III at the end of the 19th century in honor of his mother, Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna.
Our further path passes along Via Dolorosa (Sorrowful or Cross Way) - the road along which Jesus Christ passed from the place where he was sentenced to death by Pontius Pilate, to Golgotha, to the place of crucifixion, and where the main Christian shrine is currently located - the Temple Tomb of the Lord. Via Dolorosa contains nine of the fourteen stops of the Way of the Cross of Christ. The sixth stop is a meeting with Veronica. When Jesus was passing by, she went out to meet him and wiped his face with her handkerchief dipped in cold water.
The last five stops are on the territory of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. The temple consists of three main structures: the temple on Calvary, the chapel of the Holy Sepulcher and the Church of the Resurrection. The territory of the Temple is strictly divided between six Christian denominations: Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Syrian, Coptic, Ethiopian and Armenian. This agreement, adopted in 1852, is known as the "status quo". Each denomination has its own hours for prayers, and not even a single nail can be driven in without universal consent. Such a division often causes conflicts between representatives of different faiths, therefore, since the middle of the XII century, the keys to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher have been kept in a Muslim family, and a representative of another Muslim family, Nuseiba, opens and closes the gates of the Temple every day. The keys to the Temple have been handed down in these families to the eldest son from generation to generation for many centuries.
After passing through a large courtyard, paved with stone slabs, we approach the facade of the Temple with two large arches (one of them is walled up), this is the entrance. At the entrance to the Temple is the chapel of Revelation (Limit of Reese Division), where Jesus' clothes were torn off before the crucifixion - this is the 10th stop.
The twelfth stop is another shrine of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher - Golgotha. Marble steps lead to the top of the mountain where Jesus was crucified. The Calvary temple is divided into two parts. The place where the cross was dug is marked with a silver circle, and the alleged places where the crosses of the two robbers who were executed with Jesus on Calvary stood are marked with two black circles. Here, through the hole, you can touch the top of Golgotha.
Near the entrance 13th stop: on the marble floor lies the stone of anointing, on which the body of Jesus was laid by Joseph and Nicodemus for anointing with incense before burial.
Directly behind the stone is the wall of the Resurrection Cathedral. If we go to the left of the stone, we find ourselves in a large rotunda of the central building of the Temple, in the center of which rises a marble chapel (cuvuklia). The chapel covers the cave of the Holy Sepulcher (where Jesus was buried) and is divided into two parts: the chapel of the Angel and the Holy Sepulcher itself, which is a small cave. This is a stone burial bed carved into the natural rock. According to Jewish custom, the body of Christ was laid with his head to the west and his feet to the east. To prevent attempts to chip off and carry away pieces of stone, the Lodge was covered with a slab of white marble. This is where the resurrection took place. This is the last, fourteenth, stop of the Sorrowful Way.
Two windows in the chapel of the Angel serve to convey to all those who pray the Holy Fire, which descends annually on Holy Saturday before Easter. According to tradition, on Holy Saturday, the patriarchs of the Greek Orthodox and Armenian churches enter the Kuvuklia. The patriarch of the Greek Church enters the cave of the Holy Sepulcher and prays for the sending of fire. The patriarch of the Armenian Church remains in the chapel of the Angel. It is his duty to see to it that the Greek Patriarch does not start the fire with natural means. When the fire lights up, the Greek patriarch takes out a burning lamp, from which the Armenian patriarch lights candles (bundles of 33 candles, according to the number of years of Christ's earthly life), then both clergy go out to the faithful.
The third part of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher is the Church of the Resurrection. In its center, on a marble floor, on a small elevation, there is a stone vase, symbolizing the "navel of the earth. " In the dungeon, to the place of finding the Cross of the Lord, a multi-step staircase leads. It is believed that it was here that Queen Elena discovered a wooden cross with nails.
In the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in the aisle of the Crucifixion in the rock, you can see a crevice (a consequence of the earthquake that accompanied the death of the Savior), through which the blood of the Son of God, according to legend, falling on the skull of the forefather Adam, washed away the sin of the first person. It was here, back in the time of the Crusaders, that a chapel-chapel was consecrated in the Church of the Resurrection in honor of the forefather Adam.
The early Christian tradition about the burial of Adam is associated with an elevation outside the Jerusalem fortress wall, where the Lord Jesus Christ was crucified on the site of the ancient grave of the forefather Adam. This place was called Mount Golgotha. Origen wrote about this, saying that “on the Place of the Skull, where the Jews crucified Christ, the body of Adam rested, and the shed blood of the Savior washed the bones of Adam, reviving the whole human race in his face. ”
According to another legend, the cave of the forefathers in Hebron is the place where the remains of the first man are to this day. The English pilgrim Zewulf, who visited Jerusalem during the era of the Crusaders, as well as John of Wü rzburg, who described the holy places of Palestine, who were undoubtedly familiar with the tradition of venerating Golgotha as the tomb of Adam, nevertheless claimed that Adam was buried in Hebron.
How to reconcile these two traditions that have the right to exist? Light is shed by the manuscript "Cave of Treasures", dated to the 7th century, written in Syriac. This manuscript tells that the patriarch Noah saved the remains of Adam and Eve from the flood and after the completion of the flood they were again buried in Hebron. Only the skull and two bones of the forefather, Patriarch Noah bequeathed to his eldest son Sim to be buried in the place where, according to the archaic idea, the center of the earth was located. Shem built the city of Jopiah, then built an altar, under which he laid the head of our forefather, and not far from this altar he founded the city of Jerusalem, which means "The World of God. " Subsequently, Palestine was conquered by the Canaanite tribes, and the place where Adam's head lay fell into disrepair, although from memory the people called it "Golgotha" (in Hebrew - skull, forehead). Here, on Golgotha, the work of the redemption of the world was to be accomplished. Consequently, the two traditions do not contradict one another - being buried in Hebron, the head of the forefather Adam was transferred to Jerusalem and buried in the ground at the place where the Lord Jesus Christ would later be crucified, whose blood, falling on the remains of the biblical forefather, would wash away the original sin committed in the Garden of Eden.
This little-known Syriac manuscript explains how the icon-painting tradition of the Orthodox Church adopted the image of the skull and bones at the base of the Calvary Cross.
After visiting the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and the Christian Quarter, we continue our acquaintance with the Old City, inside of which there are 4 quarters: Muslim, Christian, Armenian and Jewish. From the Jaffa Gate, built in 1538 to the northwest of the Tower of David, it is most convenient to walk around the Old City, so they are the busiest and there are always a lot of tourists here.
As if by the hand of a great master, pieces of a wonderful picture are joined together, which is being added right in front of us. Men in black clothes, with sidelocks, hurrying to the synagogue, Arabs inviting you to buy something from them, soldiers with machine guns at the ready, tourists and pilgrims from all over the world, church bells ringing, the voice of the muezzin, gathering the faithful for prayer. . . All this is contradictory and harmonious at the same time, and we can only contemplate and enjoy, frozen in mute admiration from the masterpiece we saw.
We pass through the Muslim quarter - the largest of the four, it is inhabited by Arabs who came from the surrounding villages after the Jews and Christians left these places. Here are the most significant places for Muslims: the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa mosques. They are revered by Muslims on a par with Mecca. Via Dolorosa, the Sorrowful Path of Christ, also passes here. The streets of this quarter are completely dotted with shops and shops designed for tourists. They are a rather picturesque sight: sellers in all languages of the world invite buyers, in incredible crowding, every now and then, traffic jams are formed by streams of tourists and pilgrims, and intoxicating aromas of herbs and spices hover in the air.
The Armenian Quarter is the smallest quarter of the Old City. Armenians began to settle in Jerusalem for religious reasons around the same time that the construction of the Christian quarter began. The Cathedral of St. James was built here, which became the center of the Armenian community in Israel. This is one of the most closed, closed and not crowded quarters of the Old City; tourists are not very favored here. Armenians live in their small and closed community, speak their own language, study in national schools. Representatives of the Armenian diaspora are mainly engaged in creative professions: there are many artists, photographers, and artisans among them. Their pottery is in demand among tourists and residents of the city.
There are many unique historical monuments in the Jewish Quarter: these are the remains of the watchtower of ancient Jerusalem, the remains of the David Citadel with the Jerusalem History Museum, the South Wall, the Hasmonean tunnels, the Warren's well, the arches of Wilson Robinson and Berkeley, as well as the wide staircase of Maalot Rabi Yehuda leading to a sacred place for every Jew - the Wailing Wall built of huge stone monoliths. Every day, Israelis and guests of the country come to her. They write down their requests to God or cherished desires on pieces of paper and put them between the stones of the wall, and then they pray or simply ask God in their own words for the fulfillment of desires. We also performed this ritual at the Wall, many wishes came true. The Jews of the world pray towards Israel, the Jews of Israel pray towards Jerusalem, and the Jews of Jerusalem pray towards the Wailing Wall. Therefore, the Wailing Wall should be told in more detail.
Only one eighth of the Wall, 57 meters long, enters the square. Although the Wailing Wall is not the wall of the Temple, it is the closest to it and therefore has become the greatest shrine of the Jewish people. It got its name because the Jews mourn here the First and Second Temples, both destroyed on the same day, but in different years. The scriptures say that both destructions did not happen by chance. The Jews were punished for idolatry, bloodshed and incest the first time, and for causeless internecine warfare the second. After the destruction of the Temple, the Western Wall was accessible along its entire length for a long time. But about 700 years ago, the Mamluk and Arab conquerors began to build up approaches to it. Jews who continued to pray at the Wall had to make their way to it. Jews who continued to pray at the Wall had to make their way to it through narrow passages, but this also stopped in 1948, when the Old City was conquered by Jordan, and Jews were generally forbidden access to the Western Wall. In 1967, after the Six Day War, when Jerusalem was unified, the Western Wall, to the great joy of the Jewish people, was again in his hands.
The Western Wall was built to support the western side of the sacred Temple Mount. Long before the Prophet Jeremiah predicted that the Temple in Jerusalem would be destroyed, but its western wall would remain. And although the Wailing Wall is not the wall of the Temple, it is the closest to it and therefore has become the greatest shrine of the Jewish people. It got its name because the Jews mourn here the First and Second Temples, both destroyed on the same day, but in different years. The scriptures say that both destructions did not happen by chance. The Jews were punished for idolatry, bloodshed and incest the first time, and for causeless internecine warfare the second. The Jews of the world pray towards Israel, the Jews of Israel pray towards Jerusalem, and the Jews of Jerusalem pray towards the Wailing Wall.
A lot of modern traditions are associated with the Wailing Wall. Here, soldiers of the selected military units of the Israel Defense Forces take the oath, many boys who have reached the age of 13 (bar mitzvah) are called here for the first time to read the Torah, on the Independence Day of Israel and on the Day of the Liberation of Jerusalem, solemn events are held at the Wall.
We finish our tour of Jerusalem by leaving the Wailing Wall through the smallest Garbage Gate of the Old City, which is mentioned in the Old Testament. The gate got its name, most likely, due to the fact that through them garbage was taken out of the Temple outside the city walls into the Gehenom Valley. Since Ottoman times, the Arabs have called them "Bab al-Maghariba" - "Moorish Gate" because of their proximity to the area where immigrants from North Africa settled. The garbage gate is located below all other gates in the Old City wall. Above the gate, an old carved arch with a carved stone flower, typical of the times of the Mamelukes and the Ottoman period, has been preserved.
Jerusalem is a city that enchants and bewitches, attracts and inspires awe. It must not be seen, but felt. This is a place where the sense of reality is lost, where time and eternity merge. . . Here, not only the State of Israel and its history, but also the whole of humanity was formed.
