Jarom in Jerusalem: What Happened Last Week; Harry Potter, big bridge, Temple Institute, Olive wood carvings

Well, as many of you may have noticed, the last harry Potter Movie has come out in theatres. I found myself with a free day here in Jerusalem, and a lot of students wanted to go see it, so we went to a movie theatre in West Jerusalem and watched the second part of Harry Potter 7. The theatre was a little ghetto, and they do intermission here, which basically means they stop the movie at a random scene (right in the middle of a climax) and give you a ten minute break. They stopped ours in the middle of a spell. Also the film was just slightly out of focus on certain parts of the screen. In retrospect I probably could have spent my time a lot better, but at the time I was kind of concerned I hadn’t been social enough while here, and it seemed like a really good idea at the time since we couldn’t think of anything else that would take up a large amount of time (lack of planning.) The movie was good; I didn’t like the last book, so they did a pretty good job of entertaining me anyway.

After that we went and walked towards this really big thing that we thought was a big piece of art but it turns out it is a really big bridge called David’s Harp as far as I can tell. We then walked by the Jerusalem main bus station, did some more walking, walked to an Armenian Church which was closed on Sunday of all days, then we decided to go to a place called the Temple Institute.

There are many types of Judaism today. Many Jews refer to synagogue as “temple” because the synagogue has replaced the temple in their minds and theology. Some Jews believe in a temple will be rebuilt at the site of the old one, but God or the Messiah will be the one to do it. Others are getting ready already to build the temple. These are the people we visited at the Temple Institute. They’ve basically made all the implements/ vessels that will be needed for a third Jewish temple, according to specifications in the Bible as well as Jewish traditions and writings. It was pretty cool to go in and see the priestly robes, levers made of copper, cups made of Gold or Silver to catch blood or pour water, huge meat skewers, the menorah and table of showbread, harps and horns, and even a long explanation of how Jews have been trying to recreate the same shade of blue color which existed in ancient times. There were also twelve stones of the proper type in a breastplate or what they call the Urim and Tumim. Apparently they believe that the Hebrew alphabet was written on the stones representing the 12 tribes, then someone would ask the priest a question and light would shine on the letters spelling out your answer. Mormons have a different, but similar view of the Urim and Tumin; we believe that it was used by seers or prophets to receive revelation in ancient times. The whole thing was very interesting: unfortunately, they did not allow us to take pictures, which really would have made the experience worth it. I guess I’ll just have to try and keep in my brain what those things looked like.

After that we visited some of the three olive wood carving shops which cater to LDS people specifically. How do I know they do? Probably the Olive wood carvings of Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, even carving of popular depictions of Jesus, Nephi, the first vision, and several other carvings. One shop just has a couple, another has more, and a last one had a ton. Of course, they also have lots of nativities, flight to Egypt scenes, Jesus face carvings, and a lot more. I bought only the cheapest stuff. Some of those things cost a LOT of money. Apparently Glen Beck ordered one that cost 20,000 dollars that was a large recreation of Herod’s Temple (some Jerusalem Center students went to see it before he sent it off.) The last guy we visited had a big BYU flag in his shop as well as pictures with several church presidents. Hehe. Apparently his kids went to BYU as well (although he’s not a member of the church). Funny the imprint the church has made in some people’s lives here.