Sunday, March 04, 2007

wailing wall - jerusalem..



this is the earth mound that supported the great jewish temple of 3 thousand years ago.. the temple was completely destroyed a long time ago.. the western wall is all that was left.. most is buried under the muslim quarter..

16 comments:

  1. Aha!

    I never understood this, how can you build a building over another building? This is my bread and butter, and I tell you it's hard! Especially using 3000 yr old construction.

    It's even harder to build over rubble!

    So as I see it there are 4 outcomes, and as we all know Judaism came much before Islam, so the Aqsa Mosque and surroundings were built either:

    1- On TOP of the old temple
    2- on top of the RUBBLE of the old temple
    3- on top of the cleared site of the old temple
    4- on a site away from the old temple.

    Either way, is there evidence showing the temple was exactly where you claim it is?

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  2. Thanks for finally posting pictures relating to judaism! :)

    In the movie Baraka there are some really nice shots taken at the wailing wall.

    Who destroyed the temple, and do you know when it was destroyed?

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  3. it was destroyed twice..

    while i dont think the wikipedia entry is necessarily inclusive/conclusive of all relevant information it gives you an idea http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_in_Jerusalem

    its a very controversial site.. :) but its our only genuinely holy place.. synagogues are not holy - they are mere gathering spots.. i wish i had the opportunity to take some photos.. unfortunately i was sick all weekend and my camera was at work :(

    the regions historical analysis is fed by many sources.. we obviously turn to the bible for a lot of it but also to extensive archeological work that angers jews as well as muslims and others as they worry about how invasive it may become..

    there is enormous evidence about locations especially when you go through the "caves" a network of uncovered pathways underneath the muslim quarter of the city that originally was like a sewage system when the muslim quarter was elevated to its topographical height but has now been discovered as the original underbelly of the ancient jerusalem.. you see the walk ways of the town and the promenade that went down along the western side of the entire temple - not just the tiny patch that we today pray at..

    also the entire water-security system of the city has been discovered enabling access to he shiloah spring during war time.. ancient jewish engineering assured a constant water supply with incredibly accuracy that is difficult to explain.. we built a similar system in mount megido or ar-mageden as you know it :)

    there are enormous amounts of evidence my friend..

    and then there was my grandad Blessed be his memory).. a jerusalemite of many generations whose family fed into the constant jewish population of the town and their legacy and tradition.. but thats just to warm the heart.. :)

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  4. i might add that jerusalem as a city has existed for millenia..

    your point should also be addressed by noting the shift of the city.. while the temple mount has been static.. the city has revolved around it.. originally as the city of king david jerusalem had the temple at its head and the city spread beneath it where you now find silwan.. an arab village mixed with jewish residents as well and a lot of archioloical work.. the city since swung around to the left of the temple and the original city of david is outside jerusalem's ancient looking walls..

    it is a fascinating and charged place no doubt.. and a spot of worship for many..

    what you dont see in my picture is that this wall is surrounded by countless mosques and churches..

    a very intense focal point for so many souls..

    its amazing..

    :)

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  5. should also add that our tradition - aside from praying at the wall is to place little notes to god..

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  6. How interesting is this place. I was so curious about it. Thanks Global Themes.

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  7. My dear Lirun :)

    Thanks for that insightful dose of history! However I don't think you've answered my question. I just feel very troubled by the general opinion amongst Jews that the Muslims built their buildings on top of the Jewish Temple (which you're right was destroyed twice, neither by Muslims if I might add).

    The Al Aqsa mosque however has suffered from quite a few attacks in recent times.

    Anyway, from what I've read it seems when the Muslims took control of Jerusalem the mosque was already built (apparently first founded by Jacob). I don't know if it can be called a mosque. Anyway it was apparently disused by the people that used to control Jerusalem back then, and the muslims cleaned it and turned it into a mosque.

    I'm not trying to be trouble, just trying to figure out the facts. I'd love to be able to visit Jerusalem one day, and especially all these lovely sites of the Al Aqsa, the Dome of the Rock, and the Wailing Wall!

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  8. hey bujosh

    the mosques were not built on the temple.. they were built on the ruins..

    dude.. no trouble at all.. :) honestly - i would love to visit the temple mount myself but i am not allowed because i am jewish (a) for safety reasons and (b) for various religiously administered reasons.. so the best i can do is go into the caves nearby for a handsome fee and stand where legend has it is the closest to the centre of the earth and the holiest of holy chambers of the ancient temple heheh..

    there is talk of a synagogue oing up on the temple mount to sit side by side the mosques - i like that idea and think it would be nice for us all to feel the magic of the place together..

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  9. hold on a second?!!!?!!!

    isn't Jerusalem administered by Israel? Aren't you Israeli? Why can't you visit the Temple Mount?

    I thought they only stopped troublemaker Arab males between 16-40 yrs old for "security reasons", I've never heard someone barred for being Jewish.

    It's like this "sorry sir you cannot goto Mekka coz you're a muslim."

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  10. yes bujosh exactly hehehe

    jews cant go without a permit because they dont want us picking fights and there are also some other religious reasons..

    really really bizarre i know..

    but it is questionable if it would be any more peaceful around here if they stopped muslims and started letting jews :)

    i hope sooner rather than later things change for the better.. i would love to go there..

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  11. you need a special permit..

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/witness/september/28/newsid_4290000/4290758.stm

    sharon's visit is seen by many as the very cause of the second intifada..

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  12. hey, what does bujosh come from? is there something i'm missing here? hehe

    as for this permit issue, that's a really really big surprise to me!!!

    religious issue I can understand but this is a joke, coz as I understand the Western Wall is THE most religious place for Jews.

    True about Sharon's 2000 visit to Jerusalem in Sept being the trigger to the 2nd intifada. If Perez or even Barak went it wouldn't be too bad, but Sharon's quite hated in Arabic eyes, and if I recall correctly he went there with hundreds of guards, all very unneccessary!

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  13. PS: The link doesn't seem to click!

    Why not use the following format:

    <_a_href=" **URL** "> **URL** <_/a>


    (Remove the three underscores with spaces to make it work!)

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  14. Thanks.. how very interesting.. and a little victory on the HTML front :)

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