On Thursday, April 27, 2000, the Modern Israel class and Jerusalem Studies class took a combined field trip to the area of Jerusalem known as the “New City.”

One of our first stops was Herzl Cemetery. This military cemetery has graves of national leaders, Zionist heroes, and soldiers who died in the line of duty.

I mentioned Theodor Herzl in a previous post about Independence Hall in Tel Aviv. Herzl was an Austria-Hungarian born journalist who was deeply concerned over anti-Semitism. He helped convene the First Zionist Conference in 1897 which brought many groups together and increased Jewish sympathies. Nevertheless, he was quite discouraged by the lack of progress at the time of his death in 1904. Following the establishment of the Modern State of Israel almost fifty years later, Herzl’s body was exhumed from Austria and buried here at Mount Herzl in 1949.

We also saw the Knesset, an austere-looking building built in 1966 to house Jewish parliament.

The Knesset (Great Assembly) has 120 seats. By comparison, our American system has 435 Representatives and another 100 Senators. In the Israeli parliamentary system, the Prime Minister forms laws within his Cabinet, then the legislature refines and passes those laws. It’s a strong democratic system that differs from, but is still modeled after, our own US system of government.

(A few days later on April 30, a couple of us had some free time and went back to the Knesset for a guided tour. One thing that stood out to me were the three huge tapestries in the Chagall Lounge. The one on the far right represented the “Last Days” of Isaiah, when the lion will dwell with the lamb. Jacob’s ladder and Moses were also depicted. The tapestry in the middle represented the “Exit from Egypt,” included images of King David welcoming groups to Jerusalem, the convergence of Sephardic and Ashkenazi Jews, and Moses holding the Law. It was fascinating to see these biblical and apocalyptic references in a modern government building. Modern Jewish identity is inextricably tied to God’s dealings in the past with his chosen people).

OK, back to our New City tour. Another building that was brought to our attention was the YMCA building. This structure dominates the skyline and has the same architect as the Empire State Building in New York. There are many languages represented in the masonry reliefs around the building.

Not far away, the King David Hotel is a thriving five-star hotel with something of a dark past. On July 22, 1946, a bomb was detonated by the militant Jewish group known as the Irgun. Under the guise of a milk delivery, they smuggled 350 kilos of explosives into the basement, leading to a massive explosion that killed 91 people. This event garnered global attention and influenced the British to decide it was time to withdraw occupation.

Later in our tour, we visited the Russian Compound and were shown a large pillar known as the Finger of Og, or Herod’s Pillar. The pillar was never finished or moved, reminding me of the unfinished obelisk in Aswan, Egypt. The pillar is 39 feet long and we don’t know much about it. Some suggest it may give us clues into how Herod the Great rolled his massive ashlar stones up to the Temple Mount.

Around every corner in Jerusalem, there seems to be a mix of old world and new world, with some new story to tell or mystery to unravel.

25 years ago, I had the privilege of traveling to Israel for a semester through the Master’s College IBEX program. To celebrate the 25th anniversary, I’m sharing highlights from my journal, emails, and photos. Feel free to share your own IBEX memories here as well!

Photo credit: I took a limited number of photos on this trip and don’t have any currently scanned, so I’m indebted to Todd Bolen in his Pictorial Library of Bible Lands for most of these images. The Knesset interior and Finger of Og photos are from Wikimedia Commons.