Feb. 3rd

Today started off on a very somber note, as our first stop was Yad Vashem, Israel's holocaust museum. It sits on a hill above the city of Jerusalem and is absolutely amazing museum. Architecturally speaking, it was way cool! The entire museum is layed out around a triangular center hallway and you snake your way through the museum in and out of the center hall from one end og the building to the other.

The contents of the museum leave you speechless.....videos contantly running with survivors telling hundreds of stories about their families and their experiences. Six million Jews were murdered during the holocaust in completely inhumane ways. The museum does an excellent job of telling the story of the birth of anti-semitism and how Hitler and the Third Reich came to power and began persecuting and killing Jews all over Europe.

Governor Huckabee placed a wreath on the official grave containing the ashes of many of those killed during the holocaust. It was extremely moving to say the least. No photos as we weren't allowed to take any pictures inside the museum....sorry!

Next we went to the Shrine of the Book, which houses the world famous Dead Sea scrolls. A young Israeli soldier accidentally found them in a cave while searching for his lost sheep! I actually saw fragments of the chapters of Leviticus, Psalms and the Isaiah scrolls in specially treated display cases. There was also a giant outdoor sculpture depicting Jerusalem around the time of the second temple (70 AD) which was fascinating.

Finally today, we were allowed to visit the Knesset, the Israeli Parliament, which is a very unusal privilege for a tour group. We listened to a speech by an M.K. (Member of Knesset) and a presentation on the Muslim threat in the Middle East. Both were excellent!

This was our last day in Jerusalem. Tomorrow we head to the garden tomb, the Qumran (caves where dead sea scrolls were found), Masada and the Dead Sea. We'll stay in Tiberias for the rest of our trip, stay tuned!!!