Monday, Sept. 15, we stopped at a school for visually impaired and sighted children. It is called Siraj al Quds, and is run by a blind man named Nur. BYU bought the school athletic equipment and a fooz ball game. The philosophy behind this school is that blind children need to learn to adapt to a normal environment and sighted children need to learn how to be helpful to those with disabilities.
On their exercise bikes
The children are very active and aggressive.
Nur would like the JC students to paint a mural on this wall.
Don't you think a mural would look good here?
The children have a very small playground behind the school.
The slide area was not as popular as the fooz ball table BYU gave them.
The fooz ball table is locked up to control the students use of it otherwise it would be in use continually. A side note: Since returning home, we got an e-mail from Nur saying the IDF had come to his home unannounced and demolished it with heavy equipment. He lives on the dirt road running through the bottom of the Kidron Valley. His family have lived there since before the War of 48. He said he had no idea what was going on except that the Israeli government is trying to take over the land outside the Old City. Nur went to the police in that area and they said they had no idea the IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) were going to do that.
We went into the Jewish Quarter of the Old City to tour the Hurva Synagogue. Shortly before the fall of the Jewish Quarter during the 1948 War of Independence, soldiers of the Jordanian Legion blew up the Hurva Synagogue. Few of the walls were left standing. After the liberation of Jerusalem during the Six Day War, one of the synagogues four arches was reconstructed becoming a symbol of the synagogue and of the entire Jewish Quarter. In 2000 reconstruction was started being true to the original. Remnants of the walls were integrated into the new structure. The restoration was completed in 2010. The building serves as a synagogue as well as a yeshiva where Jewish men can study during the day.
Our tour guide, Bataya, lived in the US before she came to Jerusalem to make Aliyah. Her husband is retired and studies at the synagogue every day. She said his goal is to create something with God I think she meant like a relationship. I wanted to ask her if he was a better person because of his study.
The synagogue has a balcony for the women.
The tour took us under the synagogue where they have found the remnants of a ritual bath, Mitva.
The holy torah is kept and read in the front of the synagogue.
An unused mosque sits directly outside of the synagogue.
We went up in the top balcony for this view. We also went out on the roof for a complete view of the Jewish Quarter.
On our way home we walked through the Palestinian Quarter. Kids are the same everywhere. They all like to stop at the local candy store on the way home from school. This just happens to be in the Old City.
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