HOSTING TOURS at the JC

One of our main assignments was to host regular public tours and concerts at the BYU Center.  As hosting directors, we made up the weekly schedule for us and the other two senior couples -- over music (Mike & Shari Ohman) and housing/medical (John & Christine Jackson, then Val & Arlene Chapman). 

Each Wednesday, Thursday and Friday there were 8 guided tours -- starting every half hour, from 10 to 11:30 am, then 2 to 3:30 pm.   On non-tour days, a sign was posted at the front driveway -- noting the tour days and times.

In 2009, about 14,000 took tours and another 11,000 came to weekly JC concerts. Over 90 % of them were non-LDS -- mostly Jewish. Tour attendance dropped in 2010 to 10,000 and to only 8,000 in 2011, with fewer large LDS groups taking tours each year -- due to the U.S. recession and ongoing safety concerns. Most groups were local walk-ins, averaging 4 to 8 persons in size. Groups of 10 or more were to schedule advance reservations.  We gladly took groups of any size -- even one or two at a time!   We warmly greeted guests at the front door or desk.  They were invited either to visit the LRC exhibit or to take cold water or a restroom break -- until the next tour began.

 

Each guided tour started in a seminar room (capacity 60 each). After our welcome, we showed a 12-minute orientation film in any of 5 languages:  Hebrew, English, Arabic, Russian and Spanish.  If multiple languages were requested, we took part of the group into Seminar Room 2. As the public could not enter areas where students slept or studied, the video showed those areas and explained all JC and BYU student functions. We were allowed to discuss the JC or BYU but not our religion or doctrine, by agreement with the Israeli govt.  With larger groups (over 60), we also used the Dome Theatre -- at the far end of the long entry hall.

 Each group had its own personality.  One mixed group of Arab, Jewish and Christian students came on 6/1/11 from an architectural college in northern Israel. On 8/4/11, Eran Hayet's daughter Noa (front row) brought her Israeli Air Force unit for a tour.

After the video, we took each group across the hall into the Auditorium for a 12-minute organ program.  Mike Ohman was a superb organist -- a music professor from BYU who had also helped install our organ in 1987.  It was custom-made in Denmark to fit this precise atrium space.  After explaining the organ, he normally played three pieces -- first, full-blast to show off some unique horizontal Spanish trumpets. Then a more mellow piece was followed by a sublime one.  Meanwhile, the group admired the view and took photos.

Children (of all ages) were fascinated by that grand instrument. Sometimes Mike would let them sit by him and play a few notes.

On 3/2/11, about 50 Arab teachers from 6 or 7 schools near Beit Safafa filled a seminar room and much of the auditorium -- our largest Arabic tour group. On 11/16/11 an even larger mixed group came all at once -- 3 busloads (135 people).

After the organ program, we escorted our guests along the Level 8 hallway -- often noting how the JC is filled with arches, windows and light. Architects even left the concrete unfinished, to blend with the natural exterior limestone.

While descending the stairs to Level 7, we described some ancient mosaics -- displayed courtesy of the Israeli Antiquities Authority. One mounted over the stairs was recently found outside Jaffa Gate in Jerusalem -- while excavating for the new Mamilla mall.

Others mounted on the Level 7 walls were from Be'er Sheva (southern Israel), including this BYU cougar! All mosaics were from the Byzantine period (350 to 630 AD).

We also noted the new fountain (2009) -- replacing the one that splashed too much water. It celebrated the value of water there, with artful use of shadow and light. It brought the sound of peaceful rainfall inside the bldg. (They could also use more rain outside.)

 The outside terrace presented a panorama of Jerusalem landmarks. We paused for photos. (Cameras were allowed at the JC for all events and displays.) Our main objective outside was to maintain the spirit & peace felt inside. The JC back side was as impressive as the front. Lawns, gardens & green space were quite rare in this city of stone & hardscape. Gardens on all 8 levels fulfil the architect's desire for Jerusalem to be seen through arches, flowers and the beauties of nature.

Resuming our outside tour, 4 large bronze models helped us describe four stages of the city's long history. (It was at least partly destroyed and rebuilt over 20 times.)   Rather than explaining each model to large groups, we may give our history lecture inside -- or allow their guides two minutes to explain each model. 

In Nov. '10, we had two huge group tours -- 150 in one hour. [Carl and Melanie Harris from Galilee helped, as the Jacksons & Ohmans were on a Jordan field trip.] Retired school teachers from Afula (near Galilee) filled the view terrace. One week later, the Mormon Heritage group of 50 had a microphone and speaker system -- even better.

The 50 Arabic school teachers who came on 3/2/10 also thronged the terrace. They spoke constantly among themselves (a unique Arabic cultural trait), but focused mainly on what they were seeing & hearing.  In that case, it was easiest for the Beit Safafa Society's Director to explain each model.

The first model depicted the 1st Temple period -- shown after David captured Jerusalem from the Jebusites (1000 BCE), after he and Solomon built the temple, and after Hezekiah protected the water source and built the outer walls to save the city from the Assyrians -- who had captured the rest of Israel by 721 BCE.   Babylon then destroyed the temple and the entire city in 586 BCE, since the people did not repent.

 

The 2nd Temple model was next. The people returned from exile in 515 BCE under Zerubabbel and rebuilt a very modest temple. It was magnificently replaced by Herod the Great. The people didn't trust Herod, so he did it piecemeal over some 66 yrs. This was the temple of Jesus. It and the entire city were again destroyed by the Romans in 70 C.E. after the First Jewish Revolt.

A third model showed 638 C.E. = no temple! Romans rebuilt the city as Aelia Capitolina (including 2 long cardos) for pagans only.  Then they became Christian Byzantines -- and built Church of the Holy Sepulchre and other holy sites under Constantine. The temple mount was an empty rubbish heap & the city was in bad shape after Persian destruction in 614 AD.

 

The last bronze showed the Old City today. Arabs came in 638 C.E. under Omar the Great. The Dome of the Rock shrine & al-Aqsa Mosque were built by 700.  The Crusaders came for 200 years, but lost to Saladin in 1187. Jews, Christians & Muslims all co-existed quite peaceful for nearly 1,000 yrs. By 1538, Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent of Turkey rebuilt the walls.

 










Next we toured the botanical gardens (west side of the JC). There were native herbs & plants, including many biblical fruits -- grapes, olives, dates, pomegranates, figs, wheat and barley (Deut. 8:8).

This pomegranate tree was loaded with luscious fruit.  No matter its size, each pomegranate has 613 seeds -- the same number as the Jewish orthodox rules and commandments.

Once a year (in Oct. after it rains), BYU students processed olive oil in the ancient way. First, they picked and shoveled olives into this stone mill. Then several students (instead of a donkey) pushed the big mill stone, crushing the olives (pits & all) into a mash -- which was then scooped into hemp baskets.

These young girls on a 8/5/11 tour enjoyed running the big stone wheel. Students extracted enough olive oil for all who come during the next year to take a small vial home as a souvenir.

The ancient beam press method was over 3,000 years old. It used levers & pulleys to press oil out of the crushed olives. Hemp baskets were placed beneath the large piston, forcing oil into the 1st hole. When water was added, residue sank & pure oil floated, then was skimmed into the 2nd hole.

More efficient was the screw press from the Byzantine period -- some 1,500 years old. It required less space and was easier to use.  One man could turn the giant screw with a lever to press out the oil. It is still used at times today. The last stage was to skim off and collect the best olive oil.

When the oil flowed, it was reddish-brown -- almost the color of blood.  Then it was processed (with water and time) to become clear and light green.

 

The JC winepress was just beyond a small grape arbor. Harvested grapes are pressed with bare feet in the first two vats. (That process prevents the bitter grape seeds from being crushed.) Then the juice is processed with additives in the end vats and boiled for later use.

 

Finally, we told my favorite story -- about this ancient olive tree. After being transplanted from the Galilee, it seemed to die. But the gardener said old olive trees never die -- if you know what to do.  He grafted a young branch into the old trunk's hollow center. Over time, new roots grew and activated the old ones.  Then five new trunks sprang up, producing the tallest growth of any tree -- and many olives! Like Israel, this tree is both very old & very new. And maybe it will never die! Some day all trunks may grow together, united in peace & harmony. This symbolized our hope for the Holy Land and its many diverse groups living there today.

The grafted tree also brought seeds of a raspberry plant. It spilled out of the old trunk. Some say that Moses' burning bush on Mt. Sinai was a raspberry!

At the end, some tourists return to view the current LRC art exhibit -- or to use the restrooms.  But they may not wander the premises unaccompanied.

After each tour, we escorted guests to the front gate. They always thanked us for being nice and spoke of the peace and beauty at the JC.  We urged them to return, to bring friends and to attend our weekly JC Sunday Evening Classic concerts.