Israel Day 1, 6-28-07 Jerusalem Old City & Temple Mount

Israel trip day 1
Thursday, June 28, 2007

The Dan Panorama hotel provided a mind-blowing breakfast. I understand that is typical of the hotels in Israel. There were omelets cooked to order, three types of fish, two yogurts with fresh fruit, piles of fresh fruit, cereals, rolls, three other types of hot food, fresh squeezed orange or grapefruit juice, eight different deserts, salads, fresh cooked omelets and pancakes, and I forget what else.

We met our tour guide, Ron Beer, and he explained that the hotel is your home away from home, and on that basis they make sure you are well fed. He spoke a little about himself; he asked about us; how we travel; what we expect to see and learn; and more. He reviewed our schedule for the next 9 days and we took off in our rental car for the first stop: Haas Promenade where we could see all of Jerusalem from the west to the west bank and from the Old City to the Mount of Olives.

Ron is a great fit for us, even though he did not carry a gun. He would tell us a little, and then ask some questions to make us think. In that way, we really retained much more information about the culture, heritage, and history of Israel. Just like everyone else in Israel, boys and girls alike, he served in the military from age 18 to 20. He fought in wars on the Lebanon and Jordan borders and personally knows how hard it is for Israel and the Jewish people to continue to survive. His parents fought here in 1948 for Israel’s independence so he has a direct connection to the creation of this country.

It was clear through Ron, and what we saw, that the following statement I read last year is true: “If the Muslim world would lay down their guns, there would be peace. If Israelis laid down their guns, there would be no Israel.” Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt, Russia and more would like to see Israel and the Jewish people wiped out. Israel has 7 million people and the only democracy in the Middle East surrounded by 100 million Arabs and Muslims and no other democracy. Through all of this, and 3000 years of persecution the Jews continue to exist. There is something to be proud of here.

Our next stop was the Old City and the Jerusalem Archaeological Park and Davidson Center and the Temple Mount Excavations.

Day One was like a highlights tour ending at the Western Wall of the Temple Mount and the Wailing Wall. You might ask, “What’s the difference between the Western and Wailing walls?”

To start with, it is the same support wall that created the Temple Mount that was built by King Herod about 2000 years ago where the Second Temple was built for the Jews. The first temple was built around 500 years earlier and lasted for about 400 years until is was destroyed by the Babylonians. King Solomon built the original first temple. He is the son of King David who united the 12 tribes of Israel 3000 years ago. King David was told he could not build the Temple because he had the blood on his hands from war.

In 586 B.C. when this first temple was destroyed by the Babylonians Jews were driven out of Israel. About 70 years later, Queen Esther allowed the Jews to return to Jerusalem and they rebuilt that first temple, but nowhere near the beauty of what King Solomon had built. Still, it lasted for 400 years until King Herod built the second temple around 30-40 B.C. Around 70 A.D. this second temple was then destroyed by the Romans.

Also, a temple and a synagogue are two different things. The Jews have not had a temple for 2000 years after the Romans destroyed the last one. A temple is where Jews brought offerings that were sacrificed to God and only priests were allowed inside. We no longer have a temple or priests. We have synagogues and rabbis. A synagogue is a meeting place and rabbis study the torah and the Talmud instead of sacrificing animals to God.

Back in the time of the Second Temple the country was called Palestine, not Israel. Jews, Arabs, Drews, and anyone else who lived in Palestine at that time were called Palestinians, except for the Romans. They were always Romans.

In 705 A.D. a mosque was built on the Temple Mount on the site where the Second Temple used to stand by Arabs from Saudi, Mecca, Medina, etc. Mohamed is responsible for the creation of the Islamic religion practiced by hundreds of millions of Muslims around the world.

The Wailing Wall is the part of the Western Wall that is the closest point to the location of where the holiest of holy parts of the Second Temple used to stand 2000 years ago and is the closest that a Jew can get to that point. That is the reason for volume of prayers and bar mitzvahs that take place at this site.