The Israel Museum

We had another free day, so a group of us took taxis to the Israel Museum to see the archaeological finds from Israel and also the Dead Sea Scrolls. Now that I know more of the history of the area, and the importance of some of these items, it was a lot more interesting looking at old pottery. They also had an awesome scale model of Jerusalem from the time of the Jesus - it was interesting to see how the Temple and the Roman palaces fit into the city.

I spent the afternoon relaxing, emailing, etc., and just after supper, a small group of us headed to the Western Wall to observe how the Jews celebrate the beginning of the Sabbath. So many people were making their way to the wall, that we just had to follow the crowds! It was amazing to see how excited and happy the people were about the Sabbath - singing and dancing in groups, praying against the wall, etc. It makes me wonder why we're always so somber in Church ... why don't we celebrate like this more often?