Our day started at Ammunition Hill. This was Gershon’s choice as he felt it was important for the kids to understand what holding Jerusalem meant and what people were willing to sacrifice to make it ours. There was an excellent, recently-produced video featuring men who survived the Battle of Ammunition Hill discussing what had occurred with their grandchildren. (I was particularly moved that they included in the video the grandchildren of a man who did NOT survive the battle.) The video was projected onto a platform below which was a topographical sculpture map of Jerusalem and the hills surrounding the city as it all stood at the outbreak of the Six Day War. With incredibly cool lighting effects, the map-sculpture was used in conjunction with the map to give one a true sense of the retaking of Jerusalem.
Ammunition Hill, which is not far from Mount Scopus (Har Hatzophim) where Hebrew University is located, was held by the Jordanians following the 1948 armistice. Because of its strategic position, the Jordanians prepared the hill in case of an Israeli attack. They built and fortified a series of trenches, making it incredibly difficult to overtake. Following the film, we walked through the trenches while Gershon gave us an even more position oriented sense of the battle.
Leaving Ammunition Hill, we parked the car at the Mamilla Mall and made our way to Jaffa Gate. Probably the most heavily used gate of the Old City, it is part of the impressive wall that now surrounds the Old City and which was built under orders from Sulemein the Magnificent. While Gershon spoke about the features of the walls, the actions of the Jordanians between 1948 ad 1967, and the history of the city outside the walls, we made our way slowly to the stairs leading up to the Ramparts.
Walking the ramparts of the Old City of Jerusalem (We crossed from the West Wall and onto the Southern Wall, I believe.), is breathtaking. Doing so with a toddler is chaotic. As we walked, Gershon brought history to life, and helpfully carried Asher up some of the steeper stairs. The walk itself was tiring because we were in the direct sun and there were numerous towers to pass over-around-and-down.
The Ramparts walk ended near Har Tzion (Mt. Zion) and the Zion Gate, which put us right next to the Tomb of David. My memories of this place, probably from my first trip to Israel when I was 11, was of a much smaller and less decorated place, but when I asked I was told my memory was wrong. It was a beautiful room with a wood mechitzah (divider) decorated with bronze placards of some of the shorter Psalms.
It was now close to 1 and hunger was overtaking the kid’s so we aimed for the Rova, the center of the Jewish Quarter of the Old City, where there are many lunch spots. Pizza and falafel for most, shwarma for Shevi.
As we entered the Rova, I stopped in awe. Across from the path we were on stood the Hurva Synagogue. Originally built in the 18th century and then rebuilt in the 19th century, the synagogue was deliberately destroyed by the Arab legion when they held the city after 1948. When the Jews retook Jerusalem in 1967, all that remained was an arch, a striking reminder of what had once stood there. In the years since either of us were last in Israel, however, the Hurva was rebuild based on pre-1948 photographs and just walking past it was incredible.
After lunch we went to go see the remains of Chezkiahu’s (Hezekiah) Wall, which he built to keep out the Sancherib and the Assyrians. Unfortunately, some municipal worker thought it was a good idea to place a giant inflatable Moon over the ruins as part of the week long Jerusalem light show.
Disappointed, we continued to walk through the Jewish Quarter and made our way to the Cardo, the ancient Roman market road that was unearthed beneath the Jewish Quarter. It’s now rather commercial, but also has “windows” down to more remains of Chezkiyahu’s Wall.
Next Gershon led us to a shul that connects to the Kotel area. We went down to the Wall and from there we went out of the Old City through the Dung Gate, which is the gate near the Western Wall. We were on to our final destination...the City of David, Eir David.
We started this part of the tour with a 3D movie about the history of the valley, how the Jebusites settled it and what David saw when he conquered it. The 3d was cool, the air conditioned theatre even cooler.
As we climbed to the roof for a view and pointing out where things were session, my mom decided she had had enough. Up the stairs and down the stairs under a roasting sun...so she went back the plaza. We passed her on our way down to walk through the tunnel that Chezkiyahu built to ensure there would be water if the Assyrians besieged Jerusalem.
Getting to the tunnel was quite a few steps, and I have to admit that by this point I was a bit shakey from a full day in the heat. Finally we got to the entrance. The first few feet of the tunnel has rushing water, and it’s quite cold. David held Asher in his arms since we did not want his bandages to get wet. As we entered the single file tunnel, Yaakov started panicking and asking to go back. Sorry kiddo, no u-turns. Once past the fast water, the spring got deep ... meaning up to my thighs but it quickly leveled out to just above the ankles and remained there for the duration of the tunnel, which was far longer than we expected.
This was no walk for anyone with clausterphobia or who is very large. I only had to duck a few times but I felt bad for David who was carrying Asher in his arms. To make things just a smidge more challenging, the group two ahead of us went really slowly and created a traffic jam. The walk was pleasant but long. David, however, said that the whole time he kept thinking about Gershon mentioning a few days earlier that Israel was probably due for an earthquake.
Out of the tunnel, we heard a little more about the excavations and the history of the site, both ancient and modern. However we were quite tired so we took a shuttle back to the beginning, got my mom and took a bus to where we had parked the car.
We returned home exhausted but was quite satisfied by the day. Next however I needed to fulfill my promise of ice cream to the kids. Asher was asleep. Mom and David were too tired. So I took the four big kids to Ben Yehuda Street where we found gelato (Italian style ice cream) and they even had pareve for Shevi, since she had eaten shwarma earlier.
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