Jerusalem crash course
Get to know Jerusalem with me!
“The view of Jerusalem is the history of the world; it is more, it is the history of heaven and earth.”
Benjamin Disraeli
A bit about me:
My name is Oren. I live on a kibbutz in the Negev desert with my wife and three kids. I've been a tour guide since 2011. When I started, I set myself a mission: to solve a problem nobody seemed to be talking about. Most sites in Israel aren't impressive on their own. The Western Wall is, well, a wall. Walk into the Church of the Holy Sepulchre during high season and it can feel more like a madhouse than one of the most sacred places on earth.
If you want to actually get something out of these sites — especially in Jerusalem — you need to know the story behind them. So I wrote a series of booklets about the sites, and later started a YouTube channel.
A few years in, I realized the same problem applied to Israel itself. People didn't just need context for a wall or a church. They needed context for the whole country: its history, its society, and the arguments that shape it. So my videos grew to cover all of that.
Since October 2023, my focus has shifted. I chose to step back from in-person guiding and dedicate most of my time to telling Israel's story to people around the world. This course is where all those years of guiding experience come together — for anyone who wants to understand Jerusalem and Israel more deeply, whether you're planning a visit or learning from halfway across the world.
"Thank you for the excellent footage and guide. I’ve been wanting to take my family to Israel for 20 years, and now at least they can have a tour from Texas."
- Steve Wallace
"Thank you so very much. Your work brings me as close as I can get at this time to the most important place to me in this world. Your attention to detail and love for what you do is self evident. "
- Joanne Goleman
"Hi Oren, Amazing! This course is really special. We will rewatch it many times as we develop our own sense of Jerusalem. ."
- Paul Roux
What’s included in the Jerusalem crash course?
MODULE 1
The Old City
I’m going to be dramatic here and say that the Old City of Jerusalem is the most important square kilometer in the world. Nowhere else in the world do you have so many important sites so close to one another, literally touching each other – the Temple Mount, the Western Wall, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and so much more.
MODULE 2
The City of David
The City of David is a site located outside the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem. This is ancient Jerusalem (yes, ancient Jerusalem lies outside the Old City. Welcome to Jerusalem). A very well-known book was written about this site – it’s called the Bible. But without a guide to show you around, you’ll understand next to nothing.
MODULE 3
The Mount of Olives
To the east of the Old City of Jerusalem, you will find the Mount of Olives. The sites here are connected to the past – you have the oldest Jewish cemetery and churches that commemorate events from Jesus’s life. But they are also connected to future events…