Day 14 - Temple Mount and Bethlehem

This morning we went to the temple mount. The lines to go through security and access the temple mount can be very long so we made sure our entire group was on the bus and ready to go at 7:15am. Fortunately, the lines were not long when we arrived. We made it through security without any problems. Access to the temple mount is controlled by the Israelis (because they control Jerusalem), but Muslims control religious worship on the mount. As such only Muslim worship is allowed. They don't allow people to bring scriptures, prayer shawls, or even iPads onto the temple mount. They also require women to dress modestly (they may even ask women to purchase additional clothes if they deem shoulders to be uncovered, etc.) Steven told us this ahead of time so of course, we had no issues with it. Steven also told us that while we were on the temple mount we needed to be sensitive to Muslim culture. This meant that even husbands and wives should not have contact - holding hands or hugging. As in Muslim culture, any contact between men and women outside the home is considered inappropriate. We were careful to respect their culture while on the temple mount.

The entrance used by anyone who is not Muslim to enter the temple mount

Steven gave us a crash course in the Muslim belief system. There are five key tenants of the Muslim faith:

1. Shahadah: sincerely reciting the Muslim profession of faith.
2. Salat: performing ritual prayers properly five times each day.
3. Zakat: paying an alms (or charity) tax to benefit the poor and the needy.
4. Sawm: fasting during the month of Ramadan.
5. Hajj: pilgrimage to Mecca, once during an individuals life, if they are able

There were a few interesting things we discussed Haj. First, Muslims receive a new name during Haj. Second, you can do Haj a second time for someone unable to go, or passed on before they were able to. The religious similarities between the three monotheistic religions are pretty incredible. Steven pointed out that Islam is a beautiful religion. One of the beautiful aspects is that intent is much more important than action. For example, scripture study and being mindful is as important during Ramadan as forgoing food. Another example, Muslims will wash before praying and entering a mosque. However, if water isn't available they could wash with sand. The concept is that it isn't as important to actually be clean as it is important to go through the process of preparing oneself for worship. The intent is more important than the result, which is a beautiful concept.

The Dome of the Rock

The Dome of the Rock

We explored the Temple Mount and got some pictures of the Dome of the Rock. There are several structures on the Temple Mount associated with the Dome of the Rock and the Al Aqsa Mosque. One of the Domes is called the Dome of the Chain, which Muslims believe will be the site of judgment day. Only the righteous and worthy will be able to hold onto the chain and pass through. Additionally, there is another Dome that has bedrock underneath it. This could be the site of the Holy of Holies from the Jewish Temple. Because archaeology isn't allowed on the Temple Mount no one really knows where the Jewish Temple structures stood, but there are three theoretical sites for the Holy of Holies. This is one of the reasons why Jews don't go onto the Temple Mount because they don't know where the Holy places were. In fact, there is a sign at the entrance warning Jews that according to Torah Law they should not ascend to the Temple Mount. Some rabbis believe that they might know where the holy places are and so they have outlined where the Jews can go without violating Torah Law. While we were up there we saw a group of Orthodox Jews on the Temple Mount. They were escorted by both Israeli and Muslim authorities.

The Dome of the Rock

The Dome of the Rock

The BYU Jerusalem Center can be seen in the distance

The church of the Holy Sepulcher can be seen in the distance

A site where some Jewish scholars believe the holy of holies was during the time of the second temple

Steps leading up to the temple mount

These stones were likely part of the original temple complex. They are the only visible remnant on the temple mount.

After the Temple Mount, we left the Old City and headed to the Israeli Museum. We saw the model city and discussed the history of Jerusalem starting with David and Solomon. David was not able to build the temple because he was a man of war. However, his son Solomon was able to and his name in Hebrew sounds very similar to the word Shalom, or peace. David did help fund the first temple and prepare by building the sacred vessels, even though he was unable to completely build the temple. The Northern Kingdom was conquered by the Assyrians and the Lower Kingdom was conquered by the Babylonians who destroyed their temple. Eventually, Cyrus, King of the Persians, let the Israelites come back to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple. The Greeks came to Jerusalem in the 4th century BC and they helped expand the temple. The Temple fell into disarray because the Israelites started worshipping the Greek Gods. The Maccabees got it back on track and eventually started ruling Jerusalem. However, when they couldn't determine the correct line for the Royalty they consulted the Roman government who instead put their own Governor over Jerusalem. Herod expanded the Temple and the Romans continued to rule through the time of Jesus until they were conquered by the Byzantines. The Arabs came in the seventh century AD and built the Dome of the Rock and they stayed in power until the Crusades came in the 11th century AD. The crusades didn't last long and it was back in Arab control really until the British Mandate following WWI and then the UN made Israel a state. It's incredible how many times the city has been conquered and rebuilt. It's such an eclectic, diverse city.

A model of Jerusalem during the time of the second temple

A model of the second Jewish temple in Jerusalem

We discussed where the walls changed with each of the different periods and then discussed the Essenes and how they believed that the Scribes/Sadducees were corrupt (because they were) and so they started developing their own civilizations. The Scribes and the Sadducees used their political influence, power, and money to become the High Priest. The Roman Leader was able to appoint the High Priest each year. The Priestly families would pool their resources to ensure that their candidate was appointed. It's a very corrupt system. Essenes eventually moved to Qumran and started writing the Dead Sea Scrolls.

The Israel Museum houses some of the Dead Sea Scrolls, so we discussed their way of life and the scrolls. A lot of the scrolls were Old Testament passages written word for word. For the most part, their version of scriptures matched our versions of scriptures. They also had scrolls that outlined the Apocrypha and their way of life. It was a really interesting exhibit and it was cool to see the scrolls.

Alison did not want to take a picture. 

That is better - keeping it cool in Jerusalem

We also discussed ancient Jewish Temple worship. All but two sacrifices took place within the temple. The two that don't take place in the temple are the scapegoat and the red heifer. The High Priest transfers the sins of the Jews to the scapegoat and then releases them into the wilderness with a red ribbon tied around their neck. This is obviously very symbolic of the atonement, where Christ took our sins upon him. The Red Heifer was sacrificed on the Mt. of Olives and was necessary to purify the Priests who became unclean by being around death. We talked about how there is both spiritual and physical death. The scapegoat is the salvation for spiritual death and the red heifer is the salvation for physical death. Interestingly, the color red is a symbol for both of these. It's easy to see that the blood of Christ saves us from both of these types of death.

Another picture of the model of Jerusalem during the period of the second temple

After the Dead Sea Scrolls, we headed to Bethlehem. Bethlehem is a pretty crazy place. It's under Palestinian Authority and so we had to go through a checkpoint to get in and it really did feel like we were in a different country. It was less clean and less organized. We ate shwarma for lunch and it was delicious! After lunch, we headed to the Church of the Nativity to see the birthplace of Jesus. This was disastrous. The birthplace of Jesus has a church on it that is run by 3 different religions (similar to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher). It is also a crusader-era church. Tradition has pilgrims coming here to celebrate the birth of Jesus since the 2nd century AD, so this is likely pretty close to his actual birthplace.

The place we ate lunch at in Bethlehem

The guy serving our lunch called these the "holy sodas"

lunch

The Church of the Nativity

A mosaic inside the Church of the Nativity. Before they began restorations on this church the mosaic was covered with plaster. 

Inside the Church of the Nativity

Several tour groups arrived when we did and the line to see the grotto was out of control. Unfortunately, we had a group of Chinese tourists behind us who were pushing us forward and trying to cut in the line. It made for a very stressful situation and the church was terribly organized. By the time we made it to the grotto we were all stressed and frustrated, so we didn't really enjoy it very much. Eric mentioned that he never wants to go to Bethlehem again, which is sad because my experience the last time I was here in Bethlehem was very different. However, I'm not in a hurry to go back to Bethlehem either. We did purchase a baby blanket from Muhammad, a member of the church in Bethlehem.

After we made it out of Bethlehem we drove to the valley of Elah. This valley is famous because this is where Israel fought the Philistines and David slew Goliath. We drove down into a river bed in the valley. This would have been near the spot where David would have fought Goliath. The water in the river is long gone, but the stones are smooth and rounded testifying that the water once flowed here. Interestingly, calling something a river doesn't necessarily mean that there is water. Instead, you would call this a River flowing with water, as Nephi did in the Book of Mormon. This is evidence that the Book of Mormon was translated from a different language (in this case, Nephi spoke Hebrew) since we wouldn't use that term in English. We each walked through the trees collecting stones. Then we read together the story of David and Goliath. We talked about how David had the chutzpah (Hebrew word for guts) and faith, which allowed him to face Goliath. More importantly than his battle with Goliath may have been his ability to inspire the armies of Israel to have faith that God would fight their battles for them. We then talked about modern Israel and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. His brother was killed while leading the heroic raid on Entebbe, in the African nation of Uganda, to free hostages being held by Palestinian and German revolutionary ­terrorists. He and his family have paid a price they never should have been asked to pay, but because of that, he knows what it means to ask Israeli soldiers to risk their lives for their country. Because of that, he is uniquely qualified to lead Israel. It was interesting to get an Israeli perspective on this, oftentimes, strong-willed and divisive leader.

The Valley of Elah

Steven had some slings for us that we used to throw a few stones. It was getting dark so we had to hurry up before the light was totally gone. Alison is great at slinging stones. Then we headed back up to Jerusalem. On our way, we talked and laughed with our group. There are currently 9 people in our tour group and they are all wonderful. We get along especially well with Dave and Leslie Ott from St. Louis. We sit at the back of the bus with them and chat whenever we have the chance. Often we end up recounting funny stories. Leslie told us on the way back tonight that she has not laughed this much in a long time. We are glad that we can share these experiences with such great friends.