TRAVELING: THE JEW'S SANCTUARY IN JERUSALEM

TRAVELING: THE JEW'S SANCTUARY IN JERUSALEM.

1. Western Wall

Picture 65 : Photo shot of Sahalataylor [Me] at the Western Wall.

A section of the 2000-year-old retaining wall of Herod’s Temple, is the symbol of Jewry’s unwavering faith and devotion. In the old city, the holiest site in Jewish history—the sole remnant of the Temple Mount destroyed by the Romans in 70 CE. Since 70 CE it has been the focus of Jewish pilgrimage, substituting for the temple pilgrimages of happier days, for even after Rome’s harsh edicts of banishment, Jews were allowed to pray there on the ninth of Av—anniversary of the Temple’s destruction.
Only during the 19 years of Jordanian occupation , from 1948 to 1967, were Jews forbidden to approach the hollowed site.
Huge Herodian ashlars from the original construction make up twelve courses of stones, each nearly one and a half meter in height.

Picture 66: Photo shot of my spouse Mrs B. Tampubolon and friends at the Western Wall

Its spiritual content is felt by the profusion of tear-stained petitions tucked into the crannies between the blocks by countless legends of the Western that hovers over the Western Wall by the multitudes of Jews who, bringing their hopes and tears, their aspirations and their thanksgiving, come to pay homage at the Western Wall

Picture 67: Photo shot my daughter Conny at the Western Wall

People from all over the world write notes to God, adding their supplications to the millions already resting between the ancient stones.

Picture 68: Praying at the Western Wall

2. The Temple Mount.
This is the site of the First and Second Temples, the religious and spiritual center of the Jewish people throughout the ages.

The First Temple was built by King Solomon and destroyed by Nebuchadnezzer, King of Babylon, in 586 B.C.E. The Second Temple was erected by those who returned to Zion in 515 B.C.E. and destroyed by Titus the Roman in 70 C.E. Both Temples were destroyed on the same Hebrew date, the ninth of Av. After being conquered by the Arabs, it became a Muslim religious center. The Temple Mount was conquered by the Israel Defense Forces during the Six Day War in 1967.

3. Mount Moriah.
Called Mount Moriah or Haram el-Sharif – the Enclosure of Noble Sanctuary –it is traditionally place where “the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground”, [Genesis 2: 7], and where Abraham bound Isaac for sacrifice.[Genesis 22: 9].
Here on the hill crest, was David’s altar, over which Solomon built the temple, eventually to be replaced by Herod’s magnificent structure, of which the Western Wall still stands.

4. The Tomb of King David.
Traditional Tomb of David, Chamber of the Holocaust, Hall of the Last Supper, David Palombo Museum, Church of Dormiton, Adjacent to southeast corner of the Old City.

Leading off the hall is a chamber with an enormous cenotaph, which folklore holds to be King David’s Tomb. Still highly revered, during the occupation years from 1948 to 1967, it acted as a substitute for the unapproachable Western Wall.

Picture 69: King David's Tomb