Another Day in the Old City

When I awoke from a much needed sleep this morning, I thought back to some of our activities from our first day of touring, especially remembering our time on the Ramparts as we claimed and hiked the walls of the Old City seeing sights like the one below, the Tower of David which was not built by David at all...

And as I thought back to my time at the Wall, I must say that something just didn't feel right.  The first time I went to the Wall two years ago had been life changing and powerful and this time, to be honest, it felt different.  I had moments of feeling lonely, actually jealous of some of the others in our group.  I was jealous as I watched David Messe standing at the Wall with his arms around his sons, the three of them holding onto the Wall together.  I was jealous as I watched Bernie Klein and his son Sam sharing a special moment at the Wall together.  I was jealous as I saw Gary Cohen and his sons wrapping themselves in Tefillin and praying together at our holiest of places.  And I felt alone.  All I wanted to do was to be able to wrap my arms around Leasa, Carly and Hayley and share that moment at the Wall together.  Two years ago I traveled to Israel alone.  This time, being with my family, I wanted to share this most special moment with them.  But I was not allowed to because the plaza of the Kotel is still  segregated and the men and women are separate.  While I can understand the reasons behind the division, Judaism to me is all about family.  If I can't share my Judaism with my family on every level, then it truly is not my Judaism.  This morning, we had the honor of meeting and learning from a woman who is working to change this.  One day, because of her work I will be able to embrace my wife and daughters as we all lay our hands on the Western Wall together.  I look forward to that day.  Anat Hoffman shared with us some of the darker sides of Israel, or as she puts it "pimples on the butt of Israel," areas where she and her organization the Israel Religious Action Center are working hard to change.  We learned of one law that prevents deaf kids from experiencing bar mitzvah at the Wall because they would not be able to hear the Shema.  We. Immediately thought of his w sign the Shema thanks to Rabbi Dubowe and for many it is more powerful than actually saying the words.  They have already won victories for equal rights for women as well as other key issues facing Israel.  The takeaway was this...  We matter.  Israel listens to the voices of Reform Jews, the largest movement of Judaism.  Her charge was for us to not be silent, but to raise our voices for change in Israel.  It was a powerful session that empowered us all.

After this enlightening session we made our way back to the Western Wall Plaza to go under ground and into the Western Wall Tunnels, the continuation of the Western Wall beneath the Muslim Quarter in the Old City.  We paused for our group picture with the Western Wall behind us...

Aren't we a handsome group?

The tunnels are truly amazing, and the scale of the Western Wall cannot be described in words.  We all see the Western Wall as it is today, and often do not realize that in fact it is only one eighth the size of the actual wall that supported the Temple Mount.  It reminded us of a powerful Mussar teaching about how we look at situations.  Often we react to things without knowing the entire picture.  In other words, we only see the one eighth of the wall rather than allowing ourselves to really see the entire structure.  If we can just step back from a situation we can truly see the entire picture.  

This arch was the support for a ramp that went up to the entrance to the Temple in ancient days.  How incredible to stand beneath it.

We learned from our guide David about how the Wall was built and how they moved the enormous stones, some forty feet long, without the help of modern machines.  It truly was an unbelievable accomplishment.  

Here is that stone, forty feet long, long enough for those in our group to stand side by side with room to spare, each holding on to the same stone.

We paused for a moment at a certain spot, believed to be the closest we can get to the Holy of Holies, where the Ark of the Covenant was kept.  We were only 90 meters from where this was!  Here we each had some time to pray at this unique section of the Wall.  We also could see and touch the top of Mount Moriah, not only the mountain where the Temple was built, but also the mountain where Abraham was ready to sacrifice his son, Isaac.  To be in that place was powerful beyond words.

After this we spent some time at the Western Wall again.  Uri asked each of us to pick out a stone from the Wall.  He told us to think that as our stone.  He explained that this stone will always be here, even though we will return to the United States.  This stone will serve as our connection to this holy place.  He said we can think of the countless people who have visited the Wall and have chosen the same stone as we did and feel the link to them.  He also told us that in the future countless people may choose our stone as theirs, creating another link.  It was a powerful image for all of us.  Here is my stone.

Robin Platt shared with me a very powerful her father Joel experienced while at the Wall.  As he was approaching the Wall, a very religious man asked if wanted to lay Tefillin.  He politely declined, but the man had seen his name tag and recognized that he was of Cohan descent.  This gentleman asked Joel if he would bless him.  He took off his hat and Joel placed his hands on his head and offered him a blessing.  Joel has been to Israel several times before, but nothing like this has ever happened to him.  It was a powerful moment.  Have you ever offered a blessing to another?  There is not just power in receiving blessings but also in giving them to others.  I challenge you all to take a moment and give another person your blessing today.  I have been blessed by each person on this trip, sharing some pretty unique experiences.  I hope they feel my blessing as well.

After this we made our way from the Wall to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre by way of the Muslim Quarter and the Via Dolorose.  I need to share some thoughts about our trip through the Muslim Quarter.  We walked through the market by many storefronts.  In each of these stores were countless toy guns, mostly machine guns for children to play with. We saw t-shirts for sale that said "Free Palestine" and one that struck me that said "Google Isreal... Did you mean Palestine?" I was taken, as was many in our group, with the number of children who were playing with toy guns often pointing them at people passing by and pretending to shoot them.  It was a sobering reminder of the challenges facing Israel and how fragile peace really is.  

After this short, but powerful walk, we turned onto the Via Dolorosa, the street believed to be the route taken by Jesus after his conviction as he headed for his crucifixion.  

This led us to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, a central holy place for many forms of Christianity.  

Inside the church we saw the place where Jesus was said to be nailed to the cross, the place where the wood of the cross was set in stone and the stone his body was believed to be placed on after his death.  I was surprised as to how moved I was by this place.  While it is not from my tradition, I was taken by the many people who made the pilgrimage there to be as close to their faith as possible.  

This is the stone that is said to be where they placed Jesus after his death.  It was really amazing to see the people gathering and laying their hands on this stone, much like we placed our hands on the Western Wall.  Two different faiths finding meaning in ancient stones.  It was a remarkable connection.  We witnessed people taking articles of clothing and rubbing it on the stone, wanting to have as much of their belongings touching this holy rock as possible.

After this we saw the place where the body of Jesus was placed in a temporary grave and where they found the grave empty some three days later.  At the moment we were there we saw this beautiful light coming in from the ceiling.

Being in this place brought up the question, "how do we know that this is really where this happened?" The truth is we do not know, just as we do not know for sure the validity of many of our Torah stories.  Uri explained in a very powerful sentence...  "Faith has the power to succumb all question."

After this we stopped for a bite to eat in the Christian Quarter, making the day of the restaurant owner who continually could be overheard saying "praise God."

We then made our way to the City of David, a more recent archeological find in what used to be a Palestinian town.  

After changing in to our water clothes we prepared to descend down under ground into King Hezekiah's tunnel, a 2700 year old water tunnel that brought water to Jerusalem.

As we waded through the cool water, we were amazed that this was built entirely by hand so long ago.  Inside the tunnel it was pitch dark except for the light from some small flashlights we were given to help us navigate through the tunnel and the many flashbulbs going off to try to capture pictures.  Only in Israel can you go from the holiest of Jewish sights, which is directly under one of he holiest of Muslim sights, to the holiest of Christian sights to an amazing ancient water park build entirely underground!

You often heard the sounds of "ouch" as our taller travelers banged their heads on the low ceiling again and again...

It was another amazing day in Israel, another day indescribable by words and pictures other than to say that everyone should have the chance to experience what we are experiencing.  We ended our day with the Night Spectacular at the Tower of David Museum, where the walls of the Citadel serve as the stage for a night time show which is a celebration of sight and sound, depicting the history of Jerusalem.  

Tomorrow we are set to change the mood of our trip as we head to Yad VaShem, the memorial for the six million Jewish victims of the Holocaust.  While I am not excited to face this darkness once again, I feel a strong sense of moral obligation to share this with our community.  Tomorrow will be another emotional, amazing day.