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One of the things I immediately had to get used to , other than the uncommonly cold and rainy weather the first two days in Jerusalem , was Shabbat . I didn ’ t realize that just about everything closes down for Shabbat on Fridays in Jerusalem , one hour after sunset , for the next 24 hours – meaning no hot meals , modified elevator availability , basically nothing requiring electricity or gas was available during that time !
Saturday morning , I was greeted in the lobby by one of the friendliest , most knowledgeable people I have ever met , Eli Meiri . Eli would be our tour guide for the next five days . Once I was situated and secured in Eli ’ s lift-equipped van , we headed to the Israel Museum . We were able to see amazing exhibits , including the Model of Jerusalem from the Second Temple Period ( time of Jesus ), the Shrine of the Book ( exhibiting the earliest biblical texts ) displays from the first cities , the first human bones and graves , and many other beautiful and historically significant artifacts .
Everything in the museum was accessible – flat , easy , with wide tiled floors with ramps and lifts where necessary . You could easily spend a day or more here to see all of the exhibits .
The weather was not cooperating so we were unable to visit the historical Mehane Yehuda fruit and vegetable market in downtown Jerusalem , so we went back to the hotel for a short rest before dinner .