We returned today to the Old City of Jerusalem and entered again through the Dung Gate. This time we were to visit the Temple Mount, which is one of the most important religious sites in Jerusalem, both for the Jews as well as the Muslims. The present site is dominated by two important structures: the al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock.
There is so much history on this Mount. This is the location of Mount Moriah where Abraham sacrificed Isaac. This is the place where Solomon built the grand temple for Yahweh. That temple was destroyed, then later rebuilt by Ezra and Nehemiah after the Jewish exile period. This temple was more modest than the original, but when Herod the Great came into power he established the Temple Mount (an elevated plateau surrounded by four walls) on which a more glorious and ornate temple was built. This is the temple where Jesus taught and overthrew the money changers in the court. It was destroyed by the Roman Empire in 70 AD. Afterwards the site remained undeveloped for six centuries, until the Arab conquest. A beautiful shrine called the Dome of the Rock was built in 691 that sits over the ROCK, a remnant of Mount Moriah where it is thought that the Jewish Temple was situated. Some believe this to be the exact place where the Holy of Holies was located. The location is the holiest site in Judaism and is the place Jews turn towards during prayer. Due to its extreme sanctity, many Jews will not walk on the Mount itself, to avoid unintentionally entering the area where the Holy of Holies stood.
Among Sunni Muslims, the Mount is widely considered the third holiest site in Islam, revered as the Noble Sanctuary and the location of Muhammad‘s journey to Jerusalem and ascent to heaven. After the Muslim conquest of Jerusalem in 637 AD, Umayyad Caliphs commissioned the construction of the al-Aqsa Mosque and Dome of the Rock on the site. In light of the dual claims of both Judaism and Islam, it is one of the most contested religious sites in the world. Since the Crusades, the Muslim community of Jerusalem has managed the site as a Waqf, without interruption. As the site is part of the Old City, controlled by Israel since 1967, both Israel and the Palestinian Authority claim sovereignty over it, and it remains a major focal point of the Arab–Israeli conflict. In an attempt to keep the status quo, the Israeli government enforces a controversial ban on prayer by non-Muslims.
This is probably the hottest and most disputed piece of real estate in all the world. Surprisingly, the security as we entered was not as tight as entering the Jewish Western Wall, although Israeli soldiers armed with automatic weapons patrolled the area. This was a very different experience from the Wailing Wall. It was a quiet setting for the most part. It is very unusual for a religious Jew to enter and walk on the Mount because he would NEVER want to step on the Holy of Holies place since no one knows exactly where it was. While we were there, however, a religious Jew came walking by [with no shoes on] and this created a huge ruckus (big balagan) among the Muslims in the area, who jeered and made rude, loud comments in Arabic! This also happened a second time: I had just passed some older, grandmotherly Muslim women who smiled pleasantly and said “salam”. Then just a few moments later, these same women started chanting loudly at a religious Jew. These chants were not very pleasant. Then I watched as they went on to what was most likely a study of the Koran, hugging, and laughing with their friends. Other groups were gathered elsewhere quietly. My heart was somewhat numb with very little feeling. This people also desperately need King Jesus to set them free.
We left the Temple Mount and exited through the Lion’s Gate. The Lions’ gate is located on the north-east walls of the old city of Jerusalem, leading to the Via Dolorosa. It is sometimes called Stephen’s Gate, because this is the gate that he was led out of and stoned.
We continued on to the place known as the Upper Room on Mount Zion – the place that Jesus met with His disciples on the night of His betrayal, the night before His crucifixion.The room is on the upper floor of a two-story building near the Basillica of the Assumption, south of the Zion Gate in the walls of Jerusalem’s Old City. This was also the place that His disciples and followers had gathered to wait for the coming of the Spirit after He had ascended.
Entering the Christian quarter, there was a completely different sense. Freedom! Jesus the Messiah has come! Praise God for the gift of the His Son!
We then went to the Israel Museum where there is a detailed, very large scale model of the city of Jerusalem from Jesus’ day. It was very beautiful, helpful, and interesting to have this visual overview of the layout of the city. Many details of the city came alive in our minds with this spectacular display! Also there was more information of the Dead Sea Scrolls some of the actual non-canonical scrolls on display.
Then on to the Holocaust Museum (Yad Vashem) – As the Jewish people’s living memorial to the Holocaust, Yad Vashem safeguards the memory of the past and imparts its meaning for future generations. It was stablished in 1953 as the world center for documentation, research, education and commemoration of the Holocaust. While the Nazi persecution of the Jews began in 1933, the mass murder was committed during World War II. Over a 4 year period at least 6 million Jews, including 1.5 million children, were murdered. There was a separate museum to commemorate the lost children. A darkened room illuminated by a single candle in the center of the room, but magnified by a multitude of prisms and mirrors that scattered thousands of points of light around the room, was the setting. A continuous recording, which read the names of the children in English, Hebrew, and Aramaic, was played – it was said that it takes 3 1/2 years for all of the names to be read. The museum was both horrifying and sobering. The atrocities committed against the Jews were hard to imagine. In a world of total moral collapse there was a small minority who mustered extraordinary courage to uphold human values. These were called the Righteous Among the Nations – individuals who acted in the face of the atrocities to assist by hiding Jews, providing false identities or false papers, smuggling or assisting Jews to escape, and saving children. They stood in stark contrast to the mainstream of indifference and hostility that prevailed during the Holocaust. Contrary to the general trend, these rescuers regarded the Jews as fellow human beings who came within the bounds of their universe of obligation. They are given special recognition within the museum and, interestingly, they have been offered Jewish citizenship as a result of their actions. We took no pictures within this memorial.
Our last stop of the day was Bethlehem – the city of Jesus’ birth. This city is now primarily an Arab city, under Palestinian control. So we had to go through a security checkpoint and even got a new guide, Ramzi. Since our original guide, David, is Jewish and serves in the Israeli reserves, he could not accompany us into the city. The population of the modern city is about 35,000 and is 80% Muslim and 20% Arab Christian.
We drove down Nativity Street which it is believed to be the road that Mary and Joseph would have taken as they entered the city.
We stopped at the Church of the Nativity where a cave that is believed to be where Jesus was born is located. The church is owned by three denominations – Greek Orthodox, Armenian, and Catholic. This is the oldest church that is still in use in the world! The church is built over the cave, or grotto, where His birth took place.
The last stop of the day was to view Shepherd’s Field – a grassy, rocky slope that may have been the place where the shepherds would have been tending their sheep on that glorious night when the angels’ pronouncement was made! “Glory to God in the Highest and on earth, peace, good will to men!” Baby Jesus, born of a virgin, who came to die for the sins of men.
We then stopped at an Arab Christian shop that produced and sold various articles made of wood from the many olive trees in that region. Finally we proceeded back through the checkpoint, which took 45 minutes, and headed back to Jerusalem.
After returning to the hotel, I had the privilege to go with Sheri to the house of her friend that lives here in Jerusalem. Kay is British and is married to an Arab Christian who teaches Theology at Bethlehem Bible College. She sells handmade items from the “marginalized” people from Bethlehem. Life is very, very hard for the Arab Christians in Bethlehem – they are often shunned by the predominantly Arab Muslims in the city and must live in isolation because of the tight control of the city’s access by the Israelis. She buys their handmade items to provide an income for them and then sells the items outside of Bethlehem for a profit; she then gives the profits to aid the Palestinian refugees. The items were beautiful, but not nearly as beautiful as her honest, humble heart and being in her gracious home.
Once again, a late bedtime with an early rising in the AM.
Lila tov