Israel - Third Day - Sabbath approaches

Our Third Day was Friday.
The Jewish Sabbath, or Shabbat, would begin in the evening.

It was a good day to visit Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Memorial, especially as we had visited the Palestinian Theology Centre the day before. Although I already knew a lot about the Holocaust it was sobering to be reminded of mankind's brutality to fellow human beings.

However, I was shocked to hear tour guides castigating present-day people from groups who had been associated with the atrocities. And some of these guides were speaking to school children.

It is right that we remember the atrocities that have been carried out in the past. How else can we remember the lessons needed to avoid these tragedies occurring in the future? But if such remembrance is used to promote hatred and distrust of present-day people, who had nothing to do wih the violence of the past, then such remembrance is counter-productive.

The conflict between Israeli Jews and Palestinian Arabs is too complex to be unravelled in this forum. But one thing is clear - without forgiveness there is no future.

For lunch we went to the YMCA. I was expecting a low-class establishment, but clearly the YMCA in Jerusalem serves a different clientele from most YMCAs in the UK. The food was excellent and the outdoor restaurant in the shadow of the building was a very pleasant relief from the blazing noon-time sun. After several days of special Palestinian food, it was a delight to eat a good old-fashioned steak and chips - but don't tell my wife!

After lunch we had the afternoon off, for shopping, relaxation, or more exploring. Two intrepid members of our party were determined to go swimming. But the permission they received to use a nearby hotel's swimming pool neglected to mention the exorbitant price for non-guests. The lads had just waded in up to their waists when the price was made known - and they beat a hasty retreat. Swimming would have to wait until Tuesday. Until then the roof-top patio at St Andrews was the next-best thing.


We had a arranged for a late dinner so that we could return to the Western Wall to observe the celebrations at the beginning of Shabbat. In the 6:40pm photo above there are far more people at the Wall than there were at 9:45am photo in the First Day blog (below). Indeed six of our own party took the opportunity to enter the Wall Plaza and mingled with the Jewish worshippers.