Holy Land Tour-Day Two

Today we drove to the City of David where we walked through Hezekiah's Tunnel. The history behind that was amazing! The tunnel served many purposes, one being to make getting water easier and safer for the women. The tunnel was built very quickly; they started digging on both ends and worked toward the middle. There is a plaque showing where they met up with each other. We got to walk through the tunnel! It was awesome! There is still water flowing through it so we got to wade through about a foot of water. My favorite part was when we turned off all of our flashlights and stood there in the pitch black and sang 'Lead, Kindly, Light'-what an amazing feeling! Outside of the tunnell was the Pool of Siloam where Jesus told the blind man to wash his eyes after he put mud on them. Only one corner of the pool is uncovered. I sat on the original steps of the pool!!!

We drove toward Jericho and stopped to look out over the Wadi Kelt (or the Valley of the Shadow of Death). This is the location of the parable of the Good Samaritan. From here you can see the traditional site of the Mount of Temptation where Satan tempted Jesus Christ. I got to take a small donkey ride here.

We stopped by a big sycamore tree which is thought to be the sycamore tree that Zacchaeus climbed to see Jesus coming.

That evening we went to the 'Wailing' Wall and watched the Jews bring in Shabbot (their Sabbath). We weren't allowed to take pictures so I don't have any documentation, but it was a great experience. We walked down and touched the wall, after you touch the wall you have to walk backward as a sign of respect, that you won't turn your back on God. People write down their prayers and then stuff them into the cracks of the wall. They sing and dance too, the men are on one side and the women are on the other.