• Discover the hidden and surprising connections between Hinduism and Judaism.
• Visit the Temple Mount to learn about ancient temple architecture.
• Walk part of the Via Dolorosa and discuss the theory that Jesus lived in India.
• Learn about the Sikh saint Baba Farid and visit the Indian Hospice where he meditated.
• Meet the Sisters of Charity from Kolkata who continue the teachings of Mother Teresa.
• Stop at the Menachem Eliyahu synagogue funded by the Sassoon family to learn about Indian Jews. 

On this day trip we will visit the Old City of Jerusalem to delve into the hidden and surprising ancient and modern connections between Hinduism and Judaism. Our tour will begin at the Davidson Center where we will try to answer the question of why the Second Temple was crowned with swastikas and whether Sanskrit was spoken in Jerusalem during the time of King David. 

From here, we will ascend to the Temple Mount where we will discuss temple design in the ancient Levant and compare it to Hindu Temple architecture. In addition, we will visit the grave of Maulana Mohammed Jauhar, a leading figure in the Pakistani Khilafat movement who is buried near the Dome of the Rock. 

Exiting the Temple Mount by the Lion’s Gate, we will join the Via Dolorosa at Stations I & II where we will ponder the parallels between Christian and Buddhist thought. Some scholars have suggested that this may be evidence that Jesus spent part of his life in India, where he was exposed to Buddhist ideas. 

As we continue along the Via Dolorosa, we enter into a side alley to see the exterior of the 18th century Afghani Zawiya which once served Muslim pilgrims visiting the Old City from Afghanistan. From here, we will stop for lunch near the Herod Gate before continuing our tour.

Following lunch, we will visit the Indian Hospice or “Zawiyat al-Hindi” and meet a member of the Indian-origin Ansari family who have been maintaining the site since the 1920s. In addition to being a “home away from home” for Indian nationals, the Hospice is built around the holy site where Baba Farid, a 12th century Indian mystic and Sikh saint meditated upside-down for forty days. 

From the Indian Hospice, we will continue to one of the alleys of the Damascus Gate where we will meet with the Missionaries of Charity, the organization founded in Kolkata, India by Mother Teresa. Several of the Sisters serving in Jerusalem are of Indian-origin and they will discuss their important work in Israel and the Palestinian territories. 

Lastly, our tour concludes in the Jewish Quarter where we will visit the Chabad-Lubavitch Menachem Eliyahu Synagogue originally built by the Bombay-based Sassoon family in the 19th century. We will learn about how the Sassoons traveled to India from Iraq in the 1830s and amassed untold wealth in the Opium trade that earned them the monicker “The Rothschilds of the East.”