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On the morning of his second day touring with Rent-a-Guide tours,
Lawrence Davis, Splash Magazines Worldwide Editor-in-Chief/Publisher, was greeted by tour guide
Ossi in a new
Mercedes van.
Davis and his group were prepared to spend the day learning all about
Jerusalem, and
Ossi was full of educational information for both those who don’t know much about
Israel and those who may already think they know quite a bit.
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Ossi and his Mercedes van
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“
Jerusalem is the capital of
Israel, the biggest city in
Israel with almost 700,000 inhabitants. 500,000 in the new city, 200,000 in what we call the east part of the city,”
Ossi said. He talked about the
Six Day War and the local Palestinians that became full right citizens after the war ended. Palestinians may be elected to the local government, they get welfare and unemployment benefits, and they study in Israeli universities.
Ossi also explained that similar to
Mount Olive in
Jerusalem,
limestone is the stone typical to
Jerusalem mountains. During
the Turkish time from 1517 until 1917, also known as the
Ottoman period, the rulers tried to limit the number of Jewish inhabitants in Jerusalem. In an attempt to do so, they passed a law stating that if one wanted to live in
Jerusalem they must cover their house with
limestone. The rule was created because the leaders were sure that the Jews couldn’t cut the
limestone, but they figured out how to and covered their houses in it. This law was followed by the British and Israelis as well and “this is how
Jerusalem became so unique, you know, covered almost 99% of the houses with the white
limestone,” clarified
Ossi.
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Jerusalem's white limestone
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Though the law started in the 17th century as a way to filter the Jews out, the Jewish people learned how to cut the
limestone and now it’s a law just to keep the custom going. According to
Ossi, the
limestone he showed
Davis’ group was quite soft
limestone, but there are different kinds of
limestone and it is able to survive for a very long time.
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Beautiful city of Jerusalem
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Driving through the Palestinian area, the group sees Palestinians coming to rent welfare apartments from the Israeli government. The Palestinians are completely covered, and
Ossi explained that this custom started when the Intifada began. Before, he says that Palestinians looked like they were Israelis; you couldn’t distinguish between the two and now you can.
Ossi then showed the group the
Hyatt Hotel, a 5 star hotel covered mostly in
limestone. This is where
Israeli Tourism Minister Rechavam Ze'evi was
assassinated 4 and a half years earlier. He was shot as he was coming back from breakfast, right by his room by a Palestinian who worked for the hotel for 12 years.
To hear
Ossi tell this story, click here: (Coming soon!)
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The Hyatt Hotel
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Next stop on the tour is a beautiful
cemetery, where soldiers from outside
Israel that fought in
World War I are buried. This
cemetery holds soldiers from
Australia,
New Zealand,
Canada and
Britain.
Ossi pointed out some memorial stones with the
Star of David on them meaning that the soldiers were Jewish. It is written ‘so far but so close,’ which
Ossi explained as meaning so far from his family in New Zealand but so close to his homeland,
Israel.
To hear
Ossi describe this cemetery, click here: (Coming soon!)
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The cemetery
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With
Ossi, the group then sees the
Hadassah Hospital on
Mount Scopus, which is connected to
Hebrew U’s medicine faculty. He explains that the university and hospital were surrounded by the Jordanians for 19 years, from the
Liberation War in 1948 until the
Six Day War in 1967.
Ossi expressed that the cafeteria is well guarded by security men, and tells the tragic story of why it is so necessary. Palestinians have the right to study there as well, and 4 years ago a
female suicide bomber came in. She killed 22 students, 10 of whom were Palestinian. When they found the one who sent her, they asked how they could help her kill their brothers, and their response was that they weren’t helping her kill, they were helping them become
Shahids, which means
martyrs. Palestinians believe that committing suicide gets them to paradise and 72 virgin ladies, and understandably
Ossi has trouble understanding this.
To hear Ossi tell this story, click here: (Coming soon!)
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Jerusalem, Israel's capital
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Ossi informed the group where the
Russian church was where
Jesus is believed to have ascended to heaven. He was crucified on Friday, and on Sunday when
St. Mary came she was told he had disappeared.
The New Testament says that
Jesus spent 40 days on
Mount Olive and then ascended to heaven from that church. There is a rock with a mark of his footprints from where he was sent up, but
Ossi points out that in Christianity, there is a different version to the story than there is in Judaism. “Take it or leave it, you shouldn’t argue if it’s the right place or not,”
Ossi believes, because there is another place which is said to be the spot where
Jesus ascended according to the Greek Orthodox and the Catholic.
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View of Jerusalem
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Ossi pointed out that
Davis’ group could see the
Jordanian Desert and the
Dead Sea down on the right. The
Jordanian mountains were also visible and the
Jordan River was at the foot, coming from the
Sea of Galilee along the
Jordan valley and going to the
Dead Sea.
Ossi showed them how the black roads were divided into two parts with a
security wall. He said that on the way to
Tel Aviv, they would pass the
West Bank so they will be able to see the
security wall surrounding the Palestinian cities and villages.
On the Arab side, there is no vegetation and on the Israeli side, it is all green,
Ossi marvels. He shares that he lives on a
Kibbutz, a common village, and there is a great advantage to life in a
Kibbutz because the leaders had to study a very sophisticated Israeli agriculture system. The car is now passing the
Middle East Dessert and
Ossi goes on to describe the watering system in
Israel. He says that they take water from the
Sea of Galilee, which is fresh water irrigated by a very sophisticated and computerized dripping system. He laughs at the fact that even though the
Sea of Galilee is just a lake,
Israel is so small that there is no space to write it out on the map, so it is written on the sea.
Leaving
Mount Scopus,
Ossi takes the group to
Mount Olive, where they can see the
Augusta-Victoria monastery which is a
hospital as well. It was built by
Wilhelm II, the
German Kaiser at the end of the 19th century. This Lutheran monastery served mainly the Palestinians and it is named after the
Kaiser’s wife
Augusta Victoria. “99% percent of the population there on
Mount Olive they’re actually Palestinian,”
Ossi reveals.
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Augusta-Victoria monastery/hospital
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And then the group was taken somewhere they would probably not have ever known existed had they been with any other tour guide –
Ossi’s panoramic view. Instead of only going where all the other tour guides take tourists,
Davis was lucky enough to have
Ossi take him to a unique location overlooking
Israel. It really was the best panoramic view, he recalls. It was breathtaking.
Davis could see
the Wall, the
Old City, the
Four Quarters, and everything looked so populated. The view made him say ‘wow’ out loud.
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Davis' group at Ossi's panoramic view
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Ossi's panoramic view
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Looking into the beautiful distance,
Ossi showed the group that up on the hill in the
New City they can see the
biggest cemetery in the world with more than 200,000 graves. This
cemetery is so special because Christians believe that the
Messiah will come from
Galilee to the
Chevron caves to
Mount Olive to walk through
Mercy Gate, which is blocked now. This is why most Jewish people want to be reborn again and thus buried here. Jews come from the United States to be buried in this
cemetery.
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Close up of the cemetery
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Ossi points out that down in front are the archaeological digs. He highlights the city of
King David, who conquered the city from the Canaanites. It was made it 3,000 years ago, and
King David wanted to thank g-d so he built the
Golden Dome, which is right in front of
Davis and his group. This dome is the same place where
Abraham was asked to sacrifice his son on
Mount Moriah, and when he wanted to build the
Temple g-d told him he could not build it because his hands were filled with blood.
Ossi continues the story by saying that g-d did tell
David that his son,
Solomon would build the
Temple when he was king.
King Solomon enlarged the city from
the Dome up to the
Temple Mount and built the
Temple and surrounded the
Old City with walls. This was the 2950 years ago, said
Ossi. It was destroyed by
Nebuchadnezzar, the
King of Babylon, in 586 and the Jewish people were exiled to Babylon. They spent almost 50 years in Babylon and until the
King of Persia,
Cyrus, allowed them to return and build
the second Temple which was finished in 520 BC.
Harold the Great enlarged the city and
Temple as well, but it was destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD and Jewish people were forbidden to come to
Jerusalem,
Ossi explained.
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The Golden Dome
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Ossi then told the group that in front of them, they could see the
Christian Quarter. The black dome on the right is called ‘our Lord is weeping’, because beneath this dome is where
Jesus was born, lived, and crucified as a Jew,
Ossi said. Jews used to come three times a year to celebrate holidays by the
Temple, and this is why
Jesus was coming with the
12 Apostles to
Jerusalem; they were celebrating Passover. He came the whole way along the
Jordan River, came up here and then he watched the sea,
Ossi described.
Jesus was crucified when he was 33 years old, which means 37 years before the city was destroyed by the Romans.
Ossi detailed how
Jesus came here and watched one of the most beautiful cities in the world.
Jesus then started weeping because he could see in his vision what was going to happen; the city was going to be completely destroyed and not one stone would be left. This is why it is in the shape of a tear, concludes
Ossi, and it was built by
Antonio Bellucci, a very famous
Italian architect.
To the left
Ossi shows the group the
Russian church built by
Alexander II,
King of Russia in 1888, named after his mother Alexandrova.
Ossi said that they call it the
St. Mary Magdalen Church, and this is where he will later take the group to see the
garden of Gethsemane where
Jesus was betrayed by
Judas to the Roman hands.
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Front of coin
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Ossi then pulled out a
Jewish coin to show the group that it can’t have any images on it, only geometric designs. He told a story about the
coin, called the widow. There was a woman who brought this
coin,
which is a low value, to donate to the
Temple, and usually people donated a half shekel and this is much less so when she donated it, everybody laughed at her. However, the priest came and said you shouldn’t laugh, this is old money that the woman has so it’s actually much more than what everyone else donated to the
Temple.
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Back of coin
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After
Davis’ group looked at the
coin,
Ossi had them look over to where a
fortress used to be. This
fortress was where
Jesus was judged the second time, and from there he was sent to be crucified. They call it the ‘
suffering way’,
Ossi said, with two domes at the end of the path. As
Davis and his group stood in front of the domes,
Ossi told them that one was where
Jesus was crucified and one was where he was buried. The Christians believe that
Jesus was crucified on top of
Adam’s tomb, but the Muslims seem to have a different take on the events.
The Muslims didn’t come to
Jerusalem first as they didn’t consider it a holy place for themselves.
Ossi describes that instead, they settled about 10 miles from
Jerusalem and in the 8th century, they developed a legend mentioned in the
Koran saying that before
Muhammad passed away, he arrived on a
mule, a half horse, half donkey from
Mecca. They say if this is the beginning, where
Abraham was asked to sacrifice his child, so it should be the end as well. Thus, they called
Jerusalem ‘
the holy place’ and they built the black dome,
Ossi said as he pointed it out in front of the group. In the
Koran it says that
Muhammad then walked to the
Golden Dome and there he was lifted up to heaven by
Noah,
Moses,
Elijah, and
Jesus Christ. They all welcomed him to heaven and showed his footprint on the rock there. This is why today the Muslims call the
Golden Dome the
Dome of the Rock because the rock is where his footprint was built by a Turk in the 16th century. This same Turk built the walls surrounding the
Old City.
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The Golden Dome
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With the group thinking about the different religions’ interpretations,
Ossi prepared for the next part of his tour. The next stops include the
Church of All Nations,
Jesus’ path through
Via Dolorosa, the oldest
olive trees in the world, and the
Zion Gates.
To read what happens next in
Davis’ trip to
Israel, click here.
To read about Rent-a-Guide Tours, click here.
To read about Davis’ trip to Tel Aviv, click here.
To read about Davis’ trip in Jaffa and Tel Aviv, click here.
To read about Davis’ ride from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, click here.
To read about Davis' interview with the Sheraton Jerusalem Plaza Hotel's Executive Chef, click here.
To read about Davis’ trip to Jerusalem, click here.
For more information on
Rent-a-Guide Tours, please visit their site by clicking here.
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