Today we went on a tour of the old city.
We started off by seeing a view of the old city from rooftops. Then we went to the southern wall (of the Temple Mount) excavations and saw the kotel and Robinson’s arch. From there we went through the only gate open to non-Muslims to enter the Temple Mount. On the Temple Mount we saw Al-Aqsa mosque and the Dome of the Rock. Later, we walked on Via Dolorosa (the street w
here Jesus walked on the way to his crucifixion) and made our way to a famous hummus place in the Muslim quarter (Abu Shukri). Lastly, to finish off our day, we went inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
Everything that we saw and talked about could easily fill up an entire semester, but we managed to go over it all in just 6 hours.
We didn’t actually go into the holy Muslim sites (which have been closed to non Muslims since the year 2000), but saw and walked around them.
For those of you who don’t know, the Dome if the Rock is not actually a mosque, it is a shrine.
Over the course of the day, we went to the holiest place for Jews (the Temple Mount), the third holiest place for Muslims (Temple Mount/ Al -Aqsa mosque & Dome of the rock), and the holiest place for Christians (Church of the Holy Sepulchre).
Throughout the whole day we kept circling back to the fact that religions are always one-uping each other. For example, the Dome of the Rock was built on top of where the Second Temple was.
The best part of the day was when Jeron wore a skirt. Yes, you heard me right, Jeron wore a skirt.
Jeron did not chose to wear a skirt, as you may have guessed, but he was wearing shorts (even though it was super cold today) and out of respect, on the Temple Mount everyone’s legs must be covered. So, the Muslim caretakers of the Temple Mount made Jeron put on a skirt.
-Naomi
Dome of the Rock
Jeron in his skirt ?