Israel: Tour Day 9 - The Old City, the Kotel and the Western Wall

We set out on the bus at 8:00 AM to make our way to the Old City.

On the way, Yehuda reminded us that Solomon's temple, the original one on the site, was built on Mount Moriah, the place that some believe that Abraham had planned to sacrifice his son Isaac. The first Temple was destroyed in 586 BCE by Nebakanezer. King Herod began rebuilding the temple in 20-19BCE by building a box around Mount Moriah and filling it in. A massive plaza, about 480 x 300 meters in size (the size of six football fields) was then built to cover Mount Moriah. The plaza was kept in place by massive retaining walls. The "Kotel", or Western Wall is part of the western retaining wall, not, as some might think, part of the Temple itself.

The rebuilt Second Temple was completed in 63 CE (AD), however, only seven years later, the entire temple complex and parts of the retaining walls were destroyed in the aftermath of the First Jewish Revolt. Eventually, the Muslims built the Dome of the Rock on the site of Abraham's sacrifice. A new city was later built after arches were constructed through the western wall. In the 13th century. Today, the Old City is approximately 220 acres (one square kilometer) in size. The walls surrounding the Old City date to the rule of the Ottoman Sultan, Suleiman the Magnificent (1520-1566 CE). Construction of the walls began in 1537 and was completed four years later, in 1541.

Map from www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org ---->

The Old City has a total of eleven gates, but only seven are open (the Jaffa gate, Zion gate, Dung gate, Lions’ gate "St. Stephen's", Herod’s gate, Damascus gate "Shechem" and the New gate). One of the gates that is closed is the Golden Gate, located just below the Temple Mount. According to Jewish tradition, when the Messiah comes, he will enter Jerusalem through this gate. To prevent him from coming, the Muslims sealed the gate over four hundred years ago, during the time of Sultan Suleiman (1520-1566). They have not been opened since. However, Jews don't seem to be particularly worried about the Golden Gate being sealed closed. As one tour guide suggested, "If the Messiah came this far, He'd find a way in!"

We began our tour at the Kotel, the external retaining wall on the western side of the city, that has been the traditional site of prayer for centuries.

Women's section of the Western Wall-->

There, with men and women divided by a barrier that bisects the Kotel, we prayed, pressing our hands against the cool surface of the stone face, with hundreds of others beside us. Some of us placed notes containing prayers into a crevice between the stones, a centuries-old tradition

<----Men's section of the Western Wall

We then proceeded into the tunnels of the Kotel itself. The external wall of the Kotel, where prayers are conducted outside, is only 60 meters out of the 486 meters that make up the Western Wall. After the 1967 war, a tunnel was dug that extends along the entire length of the western wall. This makes it possible to be even closer to the holy site of the Temple than the Kotel itself. Deep within the tunnels, we found ritual baths which once extended under an ancient bridge leading to the temple.

As we went deeper into the tunnel, we found a stone, located at the inner wall of an ancient pool, which was 13.6 meters in length, 5 meters thick, and estimated to weigh 570 tons, the equivalent of nine modern tanks.

How it was placed there and without modern machinery, is a mystery. The stones in the Western wall weigh, on the average, 10 tons, and yet are fitted so closely, using no morter, that it is not possible to slip a piece of paper between them. Yehuda mentioned that one method of identifying Herodian stones is to look for a frame around it, a unique characteristic in the ancient world.

If the Kotel is simply a retaining wall, and not part of the Temple itself, why is it so important to Jews? Yehuda explained that it was because, for hundreds of years, this retaining wall was the only wall that was accessible for prayer. Even though a tunnel now exists that can bring Jews closer to Temple Mount, the Kotel remains a holy site.

We continued on into the tunnel to find the original site of the entrance to the Temple. Called Warren's Gate, it is one of four that led to to the Temple Mount. Once, this place was open and accessible to everyone. In fact, the gate was used as a synagogue for hundreds of years until Jews were expelled from Jerusalem by the Crusaders in 1099. Later, when the Muslim recaptured Jerusalem under Saladin in 1187, the area was completely blocked and remained that way for centuries. But the Jews always dreamed of returning to the site and praying at this entrance once again. Now, in this confined space, it is possible to walk on the original pavement from the Second Temple period and follow in the footsteps of the pilgrims who walked through the gate two thousand years ago.

Woman praying in the tunnel at Warren's Gate---->

Here, in near darkness, it is difficult to imagine that huge numbers of people streamed through this gate on the way to the Temple two thousand years ago. But, here I am, part of the same community of believers that they are. And it is possible to touch the same spirit, to touch the stone they touched, and to be still and converse with God in a place that has been filled with prayer for thousands of years. The stillness, and the power of this hidden Kotel, literally at the gates of prayer, will never be forgotten.

It should be mentioned that Warren's gate, which leads into the Temple area from the "Hidden Kotel" was initially accessible after Israel took control in 1967. To allay concerns that it could be used by Zionist extremist groups to blow up the Dome, Warren's Gate has since been closed off with five meters of cement.

Moving through the tunnel, beyond the Hidden Kotel, we found a Medieval cistern, dated from 14th century. We also found Herodian columns and walked on an ancient street, over 2000 years old, uncovered as archaeologists excavated the tunnel. Two pillars can be seen standing by the street, now buried deep underground below the Old City. Interestingly, the Herodian pillars have odd shaped 'handle's on the smooth round surface of the columns, about three quarters of the way up. Archaeologists suspect that this section of columns was likely never completed, as these appendages, used to help fasten ropes when lifting the columns in place, were generally chiseled off by masons after installation

Beyond this, Herod built a massive cistern, was used to hold water. No photo could be taken because it was very dark, but what we saw, which was quite large, is, in fact, only a quarter the original size. The other side was sealed in order to prevent access to a convent located beyond. Towards the end of the 19th century, Charles Warren observed that people still used it to draw water.

Arab street on emerging from the Western Wall---->

<---Arab market
















The Davidson Center and the Jerusalem Archaeological Park

The Davidson Center and the Jerusalem Archaeological Park is one of the largest, most significant archaeological sites in the country. Within are recently excavated and restored storage complexes belonging to the arabian 7th century CE Umayyad Dynasty , which took control of the region after the fall of Jerusalem 638 CE.

<----steps outside the Southern Wall of the Temple Mount. The Black Dome, part of the the al-Aksa Mosque.



When we arrived at the Davidson Center, we were shown, through a movie and a character actor, how the Temple was used in ancient times, and the steps he took to bring an animal sacrifice to the priests as an acceptable offering to God. The steps he took, which were repeated by every faithful pilgrim, was to:

1. Go to moneychangers, who provided money in the local currency. We actually saw the shop of a money changer. It was located was near the Great Arch, one of the largest in the Roman Empire at the time. "Mobetchanger" means "man at the table", the Hebrew root of which is the basis of the word "banker".

Moneychanger's stall just outside the Western Wall---->

2. Purchase an animal sacrifice, typically a dove or lamb.

3. Become purified in a ritual bath, which we saw later at the site. We saw these baths earlier, inside the tunnel at the Western Wall. Another was uncovered at the Davidson Centre archaeological site. The concept of cleanliness is a relative term, especially in the middle east. In ancient times, the "cleanliness" of the pool was tested by placing a stick in the pool. If it fell, was "clean". If it stood up, the pool was "dirty".

<--- ritual bath. Note the guard rail in the center of the steps

4. After purification, do not touch anyone else when emerging from the pool. The pool at the Davidson Center had a guard rail down the middle of stone steps leading into the pool. Those requiring purification went down into the pool on one side. When clean, they emerged to ascend the steps on the other side.

5. Take the animal sacrifice, often a lamb to the temple

6. Pass through the temple gate, one of four, which included Warren's gate that we saw earlier today. Only Jews could pass beyond the temple gate into the temple area itself. We know this because an Inscription has been found at the site, prohibiting non-Jews from entering.

7. Present the sacrifice to the priest, who takes it to the alter for ritual slaughter.

While we were at the Davidson Center, we were invited to see a real-time virtual reality reconstruction of the Herodian Temple, as it stood prior to its destruction. The Temple itself was white with pure gold ornaments, 40 meters high. The entrance to the Temple plaza was at the southern side , through tunnels that emerged at the surface. The entrance to the temple itself was at the eastern end. The Holy of Holies was at the side of the western wall, which is why this wall is most venerated among Jews.

After the presentation, we discussed the meaning of what we saw. Rabbi Infeld: "So much of what we do today comes from what happened here. The sacrifices was the precursor of our modern sacrifice of words. These are the very beginning of what we are. This is us."

We emerged from the Davidson Center with some free time to wander around the Jewish district. There, we enjoyed a fallafal lunch (Naomi found a great pizza!), and shopped at some lovely shops nestled along ancient walkways.

An interesting door in the Jewish Quarter---->

A visit to the Rothberg Institute at Hebrew University

After stopping at the hotel briefly to release the kids for a more "child friendly" program, a group of us, consisting largely of adults and older teens, left for the Rothberg Institute, located on the hilltop of the Mount Scopus campus of Hebrew University. From there, an incredible panorama of Jerusalem can be seen below.

<----Rothberg Institute

We were greeted at the bus by Naomi, the Dean of Student Relations, at the campus, who took us to meet several other senior administrators and three students who are currently taking courses. We learned quite a bit about the Institute, which specializes in making foreign students at home in an academic institution.

The beautiful campus at Hebrew University on Mount Scopus, site of the Rothberg Institute---->

Along with academic degrees, they also offer Hebrew courses so that students with more limited available time can come to study over the summer in Jerusalem. In all, there are about 24,000 students at Hebrew university, approximately 1200 of which are registered at the Rothberg Institute

On the way home, we had an in-depth introduction to a middle eastern traffic jam. Squeezing our bus through bumper to bumper traffic in sweltering late afternoon heat, up the short street leading to the hotel seemed to take forever. Thanks to our driver, Yossi, we eventually got there :-) .

Tomorrow is a day to reflect. We will be visiting Yad Vashem, one of the most important museums of rememberance in the world.