I have anticipated posting this blog since the first week of my arrival here in the Holy Land. One quirky little quality of mine is my passion for cemeteries. My friends here have seen me rave uncontrollably as we have visited many different, unique cemeteries. I must devote an entire blog post to the many cemeteries we have visited over the span of this semester.
Background.
Before you all judge me, I must explain where this passion and love came from. It boils down to my mother. My mother is wonderful and has taught me the wonders of cemeteries. She used to take my sisters and I around the Salt Lake cemetery along with a map and her wisdom for wonderful adventures in the summer time. We would search for prophets, family members, and just random inspiring individuals. I loved it. I even took dates there to explore the wonders of the cemetery. There is just something peaceful and serene about cemeteries. Rach and I would often go running in Provo through the one cemetery south of campus. We have had many good, long conversations within the walls of that cemetery.
Much to my surprise there are cemeteries ALL over the Mount of Olives and East of the city.It is a beautiful sight. There is so much history coorelated with each of these cemeteries. Cemeteries are found on the east and northern sides of the city because it was thought at the time of the Temple Periods that cemeteries defiled the city and therefore must be placed away from civilization. They are on the north and eastern sides of the temple mount because the winds blow from the West and therefore they did not want the "evil" from the cemeteries to blow over the Temple Mount. Consequently, today there are thousands of graves covering the eastern wall of the city and the Mount of Olives.
Even on some of our random field trips we have passed through a few. Although this quirky passion of mine caught a few people off guard, they began to understand and even embrace this passion of mine.
Mount of Olives:
Yad Veshem...
wowza chels!
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