The Jerusalem Center

Today is Saturday 13 November 2010 the Jewish Sabbath or Shabbat. We went to Sacrament Meeting here with the Jerusalem Branch. This was positively one of my favorite days of the whole tour!! Church is the same all over the world, but it truly is quite a thing to hear the stories and read the scriptures and while doing so look at the very places talked about!! Incredible! It was the Primary program and the kids make you laugh like they do anywhere. To quote one of the young boys,"Abraham took Issac to a mount-probably the one right behind me- and got his knife ready."

This would be the view the young boy was taking about. We were sitting in the auditorium on the right. The Temple Mount is what is framed in the arch way there. The BYU Jerusalem Center is on the Mount of Olives, so much of what we learn and teach about took place right here!! Wowwww, I'm so lucky!

I really find the signs in Israel so interesting and this one fits the bill.

English, Hebrew and Arabic just to make sure we don't carry our weapons inside.  Man, I'm so glad that I don't feel the real need to even have a weapon let alone leave it somewhere while I visit various public sites. (I did refrain from smoking :)

The sisters in Jerusalem, what else is there to say? Were we dressed modestly?

Another view of the Old City of Jerusalem and the Temple Mount. To quote Mayor Teddy Kollek, the mayor of Jerusalem that played a major role in getting the BYU Center built, "You have taken the most beautiful piece of property we could offer you and have done more with it than I thought was humanly possible. I consider it the most beautiful building built in Jerusalem in the last one hundred years." He said this to Jeffrey R Holland after touring the Center and while gazing at this view. 

This is our educator John Lund. He was great. He gave us lots to think about.

A view of Hebrew University which is on Mount Scopus and just to the north (I think) of the Jerusalem Center. Also, I do believe it is between Mount Scopus and the Mount of Olives that the mountains are going to split and provide an escape for the Jews in the last days.

The Jerusalem Center from the Temple Mount. Some interesting "IF's" to note. If any one of these if's had occured there would be no Jerusalem Center for Near Eastern Studies.

-If the Mayor had become unsteady and withdrawn the building permit- no center

-If a tomb was discovered on the site, one bone, one skeleton -no center. (a tomb was discovered a few yards from the property)

-If any kind of moratorium had been declared (and so many different parties were trying to get one) - no center. 

Fun fact: Jerusalem has 3 sabbaths, Friday for the Muslims, Saturday for the Jews and Sunday for the Christians, so there were always days that someone could work, hence what should have taken seven years to build took three!

-If Jeffrey R Holland had been willing to be bought off - no center.
An ultra Orthodox man offered a huge amount of money to "End the Mormon situation in Jerusalem".

There is so much more, but we'll leave it at "A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid".

Loved, loved, loved spending time here, really sad that I didn't get to do a semester here in 1991 like I wanted to!!! Six months in Jerusalem vs one week. (a no brainer)