Restored to shalom

Today we visited one of the sites I’ve been most anxious to see: The Temple Mount in Jerusalem. Located on Mount Moriah, where Abraham offered his son, Isaac, the Temple Mount was the center of Jewish worship and was the platform on which rested the very presence of the living God. The second temple was originally built in the 6th Century bce and was enlarged by King Herod the Great before Christ was born to a truly magnificent architectural behemoth. The Temple Mount itself was large enough to hold 26 soccer fields and more than 100,000 people. The stones used to make the walls beneath the temple mount ranged from 2.5 tons all the way to 580 tons. That one stone weighs more than a million pounds and was carried and placed 2000 years ago. Everything I read about the vastness of the temple mount was surpassed by walking up onto it myself. It once held the Temple itself which was visible for miles outside of the city.

I’ve read countless stories of Christ walking in and around the Temple Mount preaching, teaching, rebuking, performing miracles, and much more. Jesus would have made the trek as a faithful Jewish man to the Temple to worship many times during his life. It was a flourishing place for the worship of YAHWEH which had ritual baths for cleansing, sacrifice, corruption, markets, rich people, poor people, soldiers, and much more. Today things are different.

Walking up to the temple mount entrance with quiet anticipation, I noticed a security checkpoint. We emptied ourselves of any metal we were carrying and we walked through a metal detector. In front of us was a single young man wearing a Kippah speaking to a police officer. The officer was explaining to this young man that he could only enter the temple mount with a police escort. Though he wasn’t very religious, he considered himself Jewish, and this was cause for concern for the police officer. Our talented guide, Yehuda, briefly explained as we walked up a long wooden corridor that because of the presence of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, one of the holiest sites in the world for the Muslim faith, there are Jewish “radicals” who wish to destroy it. The added security was a precaution. There were a variety of trees, stairs, stones, and people on cats on the temple mount. Many of the people were wearing religious garb, while some were wearing military uniforms carrying a pistol, a rifle, and a baton. Though they are only there to keep the peace, it’s an intimidating site. I soon saw the young Jewish man walking with a group of Jewish men being escorted by armed police officers; he knew no one in the group.

Standing where the temple once stood is a building called the Dome of the Rock. It’s a stunning dome covered in beautiful mosaics of Arabic texts. Inside the dome is the tradition rock which Abraham offered Isaac to the Lord upon; not everyone agrees. Until the tearing of the temple veil, the Living God was present here in unique and intimate way. It was a place for all of God’s people to worship Him; today it is a place filled with tension and the worship of other gods. For many Jews, seeing the temple mount without the temple is a sight that brings unbearable sadness. Many pray at the Western Wall of the temple mount in remembrance of the Holy of Holies resting previously only 50 or 60 meters away; it’s nearly the only thing left of the entire structure after being destroyed by the Romans. It’s a truly breathtaking sight to behold, but it also reminds me that the world is now how it is supposed to be. All of the violence in this world will someday be restored to shalom.

I must admit that I felt like a western tourist in a part of the world I did not belong, but I can’t help but be grateful for the opportunity to walk where my Savior has walked. The temple and the temple mount were paramount in the life and faith of Jesus Christ; to see it was life-changing.

David’s City, Hezekiah’s Tunnel, Southern Steps

The old city of Jerusalem is a whirlwind of current religious fervor, archaeological intrigue, and complicated political passions. Situated in the middle of the old city is the temple mount, upon which now rests the Dome of the Rock—an Islamic shrine built in 691 A.D. over what is purported to be the rock upon which Abraham attempted to sacrifice Isaac. South of the Dome of the Rock is the Al-Asqa Mosque, thought by Muslims to be the first Mosque ever constructed. Still south of the Al-Asqa Mosque are the old southern steps to the second temple mount.

The Southern Steps
Today these steps lead to a wall whose once-entrance is now blockaded by a bulwark of rocks and mortar. Years ago, during the time of Jesus, these southern steps served as the main entrance to the temple mount, where all observing Jews would come to sacrifice during the major Jewish festivals. What is more, these steps served also as a platform for rabbinical instruction during the Second Temple Period in Judaism (516 B.C. – 70 A.D.). These steps, which now quietly ascend to a closed southern wall, were once places of annunciation—places from which Jesus stood and taught crowds of listeners. Today, one can sit on these steps and hear a Christian sermon while groups of orthodox Jews cross behind the preacher, and as tourists zealously capture photographs from anywhere they please. A seat on these steps makes for a picturesque view of the Kidron Valley and the Mount of Olives. Much has changed on the surrounding hillsides in the past 2,000 years, but watching the passersby in front of the southern steps to the old temple mount, I could not help but contend that people have remained the same. Still, after 2,000 years, we remain resolutely in need of the message the Master preached from the same steps, upon which we sat today.

Hezekiah’s Tunnel
Spelunkers and creek-walkers would find their homes in Hezekiah’s tunnel. This underground water way stretches 533 meters and can be traversed within seventeen minutes. This unlit tunnel thought cool and refreshing from even the mild mid 60-degree weather of this week, was not built as a long, dark, ancient refreshment pool. When it was constructed by King Hezekiah of Judah in the mid 8th century B.C., there was a much darker shadow looming in the distance over the Northern and Southern kingdoms of the Israelite monarchies. This was the shadow of the ancient Assyrian empire. Hezekiah’s tunnel was built as a protective pass between the Gihon spring and the rest of the city of Jerusalem, so that the city of Jerusalem would not be cut off from its source of fresh water if the city came under seize. It is obvious that this project was a massive undertaking. Walking through the tunnels today, the density of the surrounding rock tells the explorer that this tunnel was built to withstand the military force of an ancient super power. As a modern marvel Hezekiah’s tunnel is a mild hike through tight quarters, though it makes for a great choral echo chamber as a group sings hymns to pass the time.

David’s City
The City of David is truly a place where the old meets the new, where archaeological intrigue and the self-understanding of one people group meets the current political passion and livelihood of another. The old City of David extends from below the southern steps mentioned above and into/underneath the current neighborhood of Wadi Hilweh. The City of David contains many important archaeological finds including Hezekiah’s tunnel, the pool of Solomon, and the Spring of Gihon. Archaeologists are certain that the ground below the existing modern village of Wadi Hilweh contains remains of houses and other artifacts that would help us understand what it was like to live during the twelfth and eleventh centuries B.C. However, excavating on and under this land is a politically charged issue. Even though archaeologists have discovered such exciting things as the names of Israelites mentioned in Jeremiah, they must still be sensitive to the old city’s current occupants.

This paints just a small portrait of the complicated political/religious climate of modern Israel. Jerusalem is home to the three largest world religions: Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. Tensions between these three groups intensify and wane as each wages their claim on the holy sites of this city. The intricacies of modern Jerusalem’s religious-political issues often escape us westerners, as we have often only discovered a single narrative strand in the complexly weaved life of Jerusalem. These complexities reach their climax in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict over ownership of this land. During this conflict, families have lost loved ones—mothers and fathers have lost their daughters, sons have lost their fathers, sisters have lost their brothers. As conflict continues, thousands of people lose their lives in a struggle for power, control, and simple comfort as fear and mistrust perpetuate cyclical patterns of injustice from which there seems to be no escape. As we seek to uncover the ancient land of the Bible and surrounding Levantine culture, we must be sure that our quest does not become a conquest of a people that call this land home.

In conclusion, I have never known a place like Jerusalem. Nowhere else that I have walked has there been the real possibility of new discovery from the ancient world right below my feet—if only we would have turned over the right stone, we might have introduced an exciting new find into the extensive chronicles of Jerusalem’s archaeology. Yet, within the massive archaeological discoveries to be made in the old city of David and the rest of Jerusalem, old and new conflicts make this city a somber reminder that the work Jesus began at this city 2,000 years ago remains unfinished. Today, though modern Jerusalem has evolved, Jesus has remained the same. He remains with us, in his people, the church. And as we cry out for his return, he still longs to gather this ancient modern city to himself as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings.

Western Wall & the Rabbinic Tunnels
The Western Wall, or a portion of what remains from retaining wall of the 2nd Temple period, is found in the Old City of Jerusalem. When originally built by Herod the Great around 19 B.C. it was larger, but it now stands about 62 feet above the street level and runs 1,601 feet along the western side of the temple mount. But not all of this wall is found above ground. Much of it can only be reached through the “rabbinic tunnel” that runs adjacent to the wall under the street. And while the portion of it outside of these tunnels is surrounded by the modern world, that which is underground allows us to catch a glimpse into the life of those who first walked alongside it thousands of years ago. Archeological digs are still ongoing, but many arches, artifacts, and even an ancient water system has been uncovered there.

But this Western Wall is not simply an ancient site that only archeologists concern themselves with today. It is one of the most important locations for current Jewish worship. Many people visit the site on a daily basis, and during Shabbat it is especially full. It is true that since the time of the crusaders, the Jewish people have not been given access to the temple mount itself. They are only allowed to worship alongside this wall. Nevertheless, it is thought that the Western Wall was the retaining wall closest to the Temple and holy of holies, making it an extremely sacred place to offer up prayers regardless…and this is exactly what our group witnesses this morning.

After crossing the security checkpoint, we immediately heard a number of Orthodox Jews reciting their liturgies and prayers out loud. We saw many men with phylacteries strapped to their foreheads containing passages of the Torah. Many others also had tefillin straps wrapped around their arms, and special prayer shawls with the tzizit ritual fringes on the ends. And if the men were not wearing the traditional Orthodox headgear, they were wearing a kippah (yarmulke) to make sure their heads were covered. More so, just before the entrance to the outside portion to the Western Wall, we saw metal faucets and water jugs laid out so that the Jewish people could make sure they were ceremonially clean before approaching. And as an additional precaution in this regard, men and women are not allowed to pray in the same area. There is a gate segregating the sexes. Some people also choose to leave written prayers in the cracks of the wall both outside in the courtyard and underneath in the “rabbinic tunnel.”

Our group tried to follow these cultural expectations as best as we could when offering prayers ourselves. There was a small stand of white kippah set out for visitors to wear and the guys in our group (besides those who were already wearing hats) chose to put them on. We also approached the wall slowly, and did not turn our backs on the Jewish holy site too fast out of respect (some of us even walked backwards across the courtyard for a bit). Some of us even left written prayers within the cracks of the walls. I personally did not leave a written message, but spent some time praying to God and reflecting on the significant history this wall has been a part of throughout the ages.

All in all, this entire visit to the Western Wall was slightly overwhelming. Seeing so many new sights and hearing so many unfamiliar religious sounds was very foreign. And because of the strangeness of the experience compared to our western Christian practices, it would be easy to begin thinking that the Jewish worship there was “backwards” or “sinful” in some way. But I think we all could learn a thing or two about devotion and loyalty from these people here. Many Orthodox Jews come to the Western Wall multiple times per week to worship and make sure that they are religiously and ritually prepared to do so each time. Some even travel great distances on a pilgrimage of sorts to see the wall. And as Christians, we may not have the same feelings about the holiness of this wall, but I am curious what would happen if we borrowed some of our Jewish brother and sister’s loyalty and devotion and applied it to our churches and communities back home?

-Colby Hetcel