ELA educator and school administrator Naomi Tetherly taught second and third grade at Robert M. Hughes Academy Charter Public School before taking on the position of Special Education Director. Outside of her classroom experience, Naomi Tetherly enjoys exploring new destinations. In early 2018, Ms. Tetherly set out on a 12-day tour of Israel’s Holy Land, making stops at the Dead Sea, the Mount of Olives, and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, located in the holy city of Jerusalem, is sacred to Christians. The church is known worldwide as the site of Jesus’s last days and his miraculous resurrection.
The hill where the Church stands has held religious significance since the 2nd century. The Church as it appears today was built in 1048 and is currently shared by 5 different Christian denominations. The tomb believed to belong to Jesus is housed inside the ancient structure.
Visitors to Jerusalem’s Old City can explore the Holy Sepulchre year-round between the hours of 5 AM and 8 PM from April to September. During the fall and winter months, the Church closes an hour earlier.
A teacher at East Longmeadow Public Schools, Naomi Tetherly is licensed to serve as vice-principal/principal elementary (Pre-K-6) in the state of Massachusetts. Naomi Tetherly enriches her knowledge through world travels and recently visited the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, Israel. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre is situated at Golgotha, a hill in the Old City. The church complex encompasses the site of the crucifixion, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ and is considered the holiest of Christian shrines. As early Christians revered the site, the Roman emperor Hadrian established a temple covering the site in honor of the pagan goddess Aphrodite. When Christian Roman emperor Constantine I came to power he replaced the temple, sometime around 320, with a Basilica. The church underwent destruction and rebuilding under the various forces that controlled Jerusalem over the centuries, including the different Crusades that were fought to gain control of the Holy Land. As a result, the vast church complex is made up of over 30 astonishing chapels and worship locations from various denominations of the Christian faith.Different parts of the church are owned by the Catholic, the Armenian Orthodox, and the Greek Orthodox churches, and two Muslim families hold the key that open and close the church. As a mixture of various architectural influences and as a place of worship, it is a must see site while in Jerusalem.
