A Whirlwind Tour Through the Middle East – The Western Wall, Bethlehem and the Wall at West Bank
What is known in the West as the Wailing Wall is known to the Jewish people as the Western Wall. It is the famous remains of the Second Temple. Built during King Herod’s time, the remains was part of the wall intended to serve as the supporting structure for an extended temple compound for the Jewish people. Although the Romans destroyed the Second Temple in 70 A.D. during the invasion of Jerusalem, the Western Wall stood, to this very day. Jesus Christ has prophesied the destruction of the Second Temple (Matthew 24:2).
Being connected to the Temple Mount, the Western Wall is a holy site where Jewish people come to pray.[1] The Westerners like to refer to the “Wailing Wall” because as the Jewish people pray here, many wail. The Jewish people may be weeping for the history of oppression and the many invasions of Jerusalem that they experienced.[2] They may be weeping specifically about the destruction of their holy temple and the timing of the Third Temple yet-to-materialize. For centuries, the Jewish people come to Jerusalem, and they shed countless tears at the Western Wall.
As soon as we arrived, we split into the men’s group and the ladies’ group. Indeed, I saw many praying in tears with the Talmud in their hands. I figured that I would not be able to share the same sentiment with which the Jewish people felt about the wall. Yet it was with the same yearning for God’s holy presence that I touched the wall (1 Kings 8:41-43). In my little prayer slip, I wrote, “may I be of God’s use in this world.”
What a wonderful experience it was to visit the Western Wall as the conclusion to our tour in Jerusalem. At lunch we savored many delicious roast meat with naan bread at an Arabic restaurant. Bethlehem was in view.
Bethlehem is in Palestine, and only when we checked our phones upon arrival did we realize that we were in Palestinian territory. There were other clues, such as the proud displays of Yasser Arafat at many spots. The last stop of our tour in Palestine was actually the birth place of Jesus Christ, who began his life on earth here in Bethlehem.
Despite the initial excitement, I was a bit disappointed in Bethlehem. The line was very long, perhaps not so surprisingly. Again, the church was overly ornate. People worshipped kneeling down and kissing what was supposed to be the staple where Jesus was born. I felt as if it was superstition that I was witnessing.
Back in the town of Bethlehem our tour guide hurried us to finish the souvenir shopping. He said that parking was prohibitively expensive at Bethlehem. The coach would have to pay $60 USD for an hour of parking there.
We exited Palestinian territory and I had in my mind the beauty of Jerusalem, lingering as I cherished the sights and sounds there. I wondered to myself: would New Jerusalem (Revelation 3:12; 21:2) really be that much better than what we see on earth here? Isn’t Jerusalem as it is now already heavens on earth?
Soon enough, we passed by the wall. This is the 708km-long wall that Israel built in 2000 within the occupied Palestinian territory along the Green Line in West Bank.[3] This act of Israel has caused incredible animosity from Palestine. While the Israeli government claimed that it built the wall to counter terrorist threats, the Palestinians viewed it as a wall of segregation. The controversy has risen to the attention of the international community. In 2004, in what was known as the “wall case,” the International Court of Justice determined that Israel has acted contrary to principles of international law when it constructed this wall.[4]
The wall was made of tall, gray metal planks. Graffiti lined the wall as far as we could see. There was an image of an Arabic woman, wearing a headscarf and carrying a gun. This powerful imagery of the tension brought to mind the reality of Israel today. It was not heavens on earth, despite all those creamy glimmer I saw in Jerusalem. The tension that I felt when I saw armed police marching in Old City came to mind vividly, reminding me that peace is not to be had here, nor there, anytime soon.
The people of Palestine, including the Jewish people, are living this complex reality day by day. Although signs of prosperity, the promise of milk and honey, are seen everywhere, the century-old strife between the Jewish people and their Arab neighbors also casts a shadow over their futures. As much as this was a pilgrimage for me, there was no missing of the discomforting political reality that was also religious and historical in nature. Did Jesus not also confront the same complex reality of Palestine? With this insight, I concluded that there was, indeed, a real hope invested in the idea of New Jerusalem, the holy city of peace that shall descend when the time comes.
[1] Wikipedia on the Western Wall.
[2] For the Jewish perspective on the Western Wall, see Six Reasons Why the Wall is Holy at aish.
[3] See Wikipedia entry on the Israeli West Bank Barrier.