A City of Faith, Not Facts - Old City, Israel
Old City, Israel
During the second part of Sukkot I visited Netanya, a coastal city very close to Tel Aviv. A round trip bus ticket cost me the equivalent of about six American dollars. Netanya was established as a place by the original Zionist settlers and since the city is rather new, there is a not a whole lot to see, however the major reason I wanted to visit Netanya was: The National Monument Commemorating the Victory of the Red Army over Nazi Germany. It was built in Netanya last year. The monument was inaugurated by President Vladimir Putin of Russia and that fact was made clear at the monument. The monument has two parts, a bunker which shows the joint struggle over the Red (Soviet) Army and the Jews during World War II and a sculpture with two white wings representing peace and victory. The monument was really cool and worth the trip. It reminded me of the Soviet War monuments in Eastern Europe; expect this one is much prettier. The city of Netanya placed the monument next to its memorial for its citizens who died defending Israel and another one honoring those citizens of the city killed in terrorist attacks. While, I was waiting for a bus to pick me up and take me to the bus station, I spoke to an Israeli soldier, on his way home for the holiday. This soldier told me that he worked in the city, that he was proud to serve, but wanted to get out of the army. He said as an atheist he couldn't understand the conflict between the Jews and the Arabs. He uttered something that shocked me. He said, if the Old City of Jerusalem ceased to exist that he thinks it would end all conflict in the area. He said that small part of Jerusalem has caused all the wars and he honestly felt if it was destroyed that the conflict would end. It was so amazing to hear this soldier who puts his life on the line, to say that all he felt without the city of Jerusalem it would have been achieved. This I think will stick with me as long as I remember this trip, because he was telling his deepest held belief to a total stranger.
The next night we celebrated Simchat Torah, to celebrate the end of Sukkot in Rabin Square. This was an amazing experience thousands of people were gathered in the square to hear the rabbis of Tel Aviv and the mayor close out the holiday. I will admit that I went with everyone just to photograph the event, but ended up having a lot more fun than I expected. The other Americans in my group began dancing, and then total strangers joined in and soon we had three large circles of dancers. I will post photos, so you can see what I mean. Luckily I took the photos and therefore there are no photos of me dancing in Rabin Square, but I assure the reader that I was a busting a move. The whole ceremony had a holiday feel to it and was amazing to witness. I think that many of those dancing in the square were Secular Jews and they let themselves go and enjoyed the religious festival, but added dancing to it.
The rest of the weekend was spent just hanging out, catching up on TV and continuing my Ulpan work. To give an update about my Ulpan, it’s going and I can carry on simple conversations, I can order food in restaurants, ask the bus driver to take me to the Central Bus Station and tell the time. Now, with the alphabet, yeah that’s not going as well.
Anyway, the real reason I wrote this entry was to talk about the last day of my holiday break was my trip to Jerusalem. This was going to be my third attempt to see the Temple Mount in 16 months, but it was after the holiday officially ended. I did something called the Sandman’s New Europe Holy City Tour, which promised to take us to many of the important religious spots in the old city. When I arrived at the Jaffa Gate, I was told that unless something changed the Temple Mount would be open. On our way to the Temple Mount we stopped at a few sites along the way. We stopped at the Tower of David, which was actually built by King Herod. One of the other people on the tour asked, why did they not change the name? Jeremi, our guide, answered "Jerusalem is a city of faith, not of facts." He was saying that in Jerusalem traditions matters more than do facts. We stopped in the Armenian Quarter and saw the outside of their famous church, since they were conducting a mass we were not allowed inside.
Before I describe, my trip to the Temple Mount, I will explain the history of it. In the Torah and the Bible, there is a story in which God tested Abraham’s faith. An angel told Abraham to take his son Isaac to Mount Moriah and sacrifice him to God. Right as Abraham was going to kill Isaac, an Angel said, no, this was a test by God. The Holy Scripture doesn’t explain the awkward ride back to their home. Fast forward, to the time of King Solomon, who built the First Temple on the site of Mount Moriah to honor the event. After the First Temple was destroyed and left in ruin, it was not until King Herod who rebuilt the massive Jewish Temple. You will see a model of Herod’s temple below. In 66 AD, the Jews rose up in revolt against the Romans, who crushed it, but it took many years. In August of 70 AD the Romans broke through the defenses, broke into the city and destroyed the temple. You can actually see some of the stones they threw off the Temple at the Southern part of the Kotel. The Jewish Temple was destroyed and all that exists of it was one of the retaining walls that held it up, the Western one, hence the name the Western Wall. Christians in Jerusalem did not built anything on the ruins of the temple, but that changed when the Muslims seized the city in 638 AD. Muslims believe that in 621 AD, Muhammad, the last major prophet was taken on a Night Journey to meet with God. In the story he ascended to heaven, in what they believe to be the same spot that the Altar of the Jewish Temple stood. In response, in the years 691 AD, the beautiful Dome of the Rock was built and then forty years later the Al-Aqsa Mosque was built. Muslims controlled the site from 638 to 1967 expect for about one hundred year period, that the Crusaders did.
In June 1967, Israeli forces entered East Jerusalem, including the Old City. The call went out over the radio, “The Temple Mount is in our hands.” The man who screamed this, was the IDF’s chief Rabbi Shlomo Green. Green then went to the general, who led the successful attack, General Uzi Narkiss and said, “Now is the time to put 100 kilograms of explosives into the Mosque of Omar so that we may rid ourselves of it once and for all.” Narkiss refused and threatened to have Green arrested. However, Green’s idea is the idea of many right-wing Israelis who want to rebuild the Third Temple. The Israelis left the Temple Mount in control over the Islamic Waqf. The Waqf bans non-Islamic prayer at the site and only allows tourists to the Temple Mount at certain times. Non-Muslims are not allowed inside either the Al-Aqsa or the Dome of the Rock. This spot is the most controversial spot in Jerusalem and was closed days before, because many Palestinians feel that the Israelis are intentionally allowing in religious Jews to pray at the site, which caused problems.
When I reached the entrance to go up to see the Temple Mount, I was met by a security guard who did not ask me about if I was carrying weapons, they asked me, was I carrying a Christian or Jewish Bible. I was stunned and said no. They had a bucket full of confiscated bibles, but I got through and made me way through the wooden tunnel and I got my first glance at Al-Aqsa. The Temple Mount is an interesting place to visit and reminded me a lot of the Western Wall, most of the people I saw, were just groups of Muslims studying. However, whenever a tourist passed one group of Kids, they shouted “Allah Akbar,” which means God is Great. Now our guide told us that Muslims don’t just shout that when they are angry, they were doing it to intimidate and screw with the tourists. Al-Aqsa for such a holy site is very plain and not worth talking about. The Dome of the Rock, on the other hand was one of the most beautiful buildings I have ever seen. The building’s golden dome is gorgeous and it felt amazing to look at up close. We had to be off the mountain at 11 AM, so we only had twenty minutes to take photos and take in the site. At 10:58, Palestinian guards at the site began ushering our group out of the sight and by 11:00 we were out of the Temple Mount.
The next step we visited was the Small Western Wall, which was a small part of the retaining wall, but is surrounded by houses, as was the Western Wall. The houses in front of the Western Wall, were bulldozed right after Israel seized control over the Old City. The Small Western Wall has a claustrophobic feel to it and I think that is the point. However, at both of the Western Walls I felt no religious importance or anything holy. I wonder why that is, but I can’t control where I feel my faith come alive.
We then made our made our way to the Christian Quarter and began walking down the Via Dolorosa to walk the Stations of the Cross. Our destination was The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which is thought to be the place where Jesus was crucified and buried. The church is divided into many parts with the Eastern Orthodox, Armenian, Roman Catholic, the Greek Orthodox Church having the lion's share. In the 19th century, the Coptic, the Ethiopian Orthodox, and the Syrian Orthodox Churches were added. The monks of each faith do not like each other and on many occasions, Israeli police have been forced to break up fist fights between the monks. The insanity is seen in the fact that the Ethiopians have their spot on the roof, because during Ottoman Rule, all the Ethiopian monks were called back home. When they returned to the church the other sects had taken the spot in the church and divided it among themselves. In 1852, the Ottoman Sultan passed the Status Quo agreement, which said that the parts of church that belonged to each sect would never change. The story goes that the Armenians were doing work on a window and left their ladder outside without realizing it. The ladder was the property of the Armenians, but the Greeks wanted the ladder moved. The Armenians refused and told the Greeks, this is like the Ethiopians. First you take our ladder, then you take our window, then our altar and finally we’re on the roof with the Ethiopians. There has always been a ladder for as long as photographs have been taken of the church. Then after hearing that story we walked into the church. I saw the spot again where Jesus was supposedly crucified. It was amazing to see all these Christian pilgrims kiss the ground of the church. Now maybe the Church isn't on the spot where Jesus died, but who cares at this point. What makes the site Holy is that for nearly two thousand years pilgrims have been coming to that spot and believing it. The Church is massive and very powerful for any person to visit. One more interesting fact, two Muslim families serve as the keepers of the key to the church, to have a neutral person do it.
After, the tour was finished I made my way to the Israel Museum, one of the best museums in the world I ever visited. The first thing I visited was the famous Dead Sea Scrolls, which is the oldest Hebrew bible writings ever found; some of the scrolls are two thousand years old. It was so cool to see something that old that was still legible. However, to protect the integrity of the Dead Sea Scrolls no photos were allowed. This exhibit is one of the highlights of the museum, but right next to the Shrine is a 1 to 50 model of King Herod’s Jerusalem. The model included what they believe the Holy Temple actually looked like. One of my highlights was taking a photograph in front of the Hebrew version of the famous Love statue from the States. The museum has immense collections of archaeology, Judaica, and pieces of art.
Jerusalem is a tremendous city and even though the Old City has divided the region, its history belongs to the world. The shrines that the Christians pray at might not be the actual spot where Jesus died, or for Muslims that Muhammad ascended to heaven and for Jews where King David is buried, but that doesn’t actually matter. I understand what the guide meant, by saying that Jerusalem is “a city of faith, not facts.” It really means that even if those are not the exact spots, where the events happened, the fact that billions believe it, makes it true.