Sukkot and Separation Wall

This week has been the week of Sukkot. This meant that many of the shops were closed down in the Jewish Quarter. My teacher Ophir Yarden told us that on the last day of Sukkot if we went to the Western Wall we would see people praying for rain and semi “throwing a temper tantrum.” What happens is the Jews take willow branches and raise them and chant and then hit them on the ground. It was super cool to see and worth waking up at 5 to head out.

Ben and Lindsay!

If you look to the right where the white clothing stops you can see the barrier that separates the men and women's sides.  Obviously the men get to celebrate more than the women do.

With the lovely Elyse Kathryn Barnes.

Hitting the willows on the ground.

Later in the day we went on a field trip to the Separation Wall. Danny Seideman came and talked to us and then took us to the wall. First off, the Separation Wall is separating the West Bank from Israel after the 6 day war. Mr. Seideman gave some really amazing points that I want to share.

“Jerusalem is a place of too much history and not a lot of geography.” So true. So much has happened in a place that really isn’t that large.

The problem with the separation wall and the lines drawn by Israel is that no one else agrees with Israel’s annexation of east Jerusalem. On the USA’s CIA maps on Jerusalem it doesn’t say Jerusalem, Israel. It doesn’t say Jerusalem, Jordan. And it doesn’t say Jerusalem, Palestine. It actually says “Jerusalem, status to be determined.” Crazy huh? What country am I living in? Jerusalem doesn’t really belong to anyone.

Mr. Seideman also made us feel really great. He said it is important for Christians to be in Jerusalem. He likened Latter-Day Saints with the canary in a mine. When the canary dies so does everyone else, they just don’t know it yet. When we leave things get really bad. Having us around is important to keeping the peace.

The wall made me pretty sad. After studying WWII so much I couldn’t help but think of the Berlin Wall. The Separation Wall was built within a city. People who had been friends with a 5 minute walk now can only see each other with a 30 minute drive and going through borders. Seriously, so sad.

With these beautiful girls again!

Trying to take an artsy picture...

On our way home we had to take this classic picture.

This is cute little Marissa.  She is one of my favorites here.  Isn't she adorable?