The Temple Mount

On this last full day of my time in Jerusalem, I was privileged to set foot upon the Temple Mount. Known in Hebrew as the Har ha-Bayit and in Arabic as al-Haram al-Qudsi ash-Sharif, this is the holiest site in Judaism, one of the three holiest sites in Islam, and one of the holiest sites in Christianity, for it was here that Jesus's teaching, ministry and last days were centered. In my faith the Temple Mount has additional significance, as my beliefs also center upon Temples and Temple worship.

According to Jewish tradition, the Temple Mount is Mount Moriah, the place where Abraham went up to offer Isaac, his son. Here the Israelites built a Temple under King Solomon, which stood on the site for some 400 years until its destruction by the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar in 586 B.C.Two later Jewish Temples were built or expanded on the site, in 538 B.C. and again by Herod after 19 B.C.

My personal feelings on visiting this last and greatest site in the Holy City are deep and emotional. There is a power in this place unlike any other. A few impressions. First, I was amazed at the sheer size of the Temple Mount. Indeed, the area is so vast that on the outer fringes one has the sense of being in the country, among the trees and flowers on little country paths. Also, there is a profound sense of peace in the holy space, of something more powerful and more vital than anything below in the bustling and strife-filled city.

As a final act of devotion in my visit to this holy city, I took away a small white stone from the Temple Mount, near the inside of the long-sealed Golden Gate, which I will take with me back to United States.

Welcome Home from the Hajj

Hajj is the annual pilgrimage to Mecca performed by devout Muslims. Hajj is the fifth pillar or principle of Islam--essentially it is a religious duty for every able bodied Muslim that must be carried out at least once in his lifetime. In the Muslim Quarter of the Old City today, Max pointed out to me the way families decorate the doorways of their houses to welcome home a returning pilgrim. The doors are painted with bright colors, stars and Islamic insignias, much the same way we might place streamers, banners, balloons outside our American houses to welcome home soldiers or missionaries. Max said that once the Hajj has been accomplished, the returning pilgrim has then earned the honorific title of "Hajji" for the rest of his life.

The Khalidi Family's Private Library and Mosque

As a surprise, Max and Brooke took me today to meet Hefa Khalidi in the Muslim Quarter of the Old City. Hefa is the heir and conservator of the Khalidi Library (al-Maktaba al-Khalidiyya), which was established in 1899 by her great grandfather, Hajj Raghib al-Khalidi. The Khalidi family have lived in the Old City for centuries and members of the family have served as judges, administrators and leading aids to the Ottoman Empire. The library is based on family holdings of manuscripts and books collected by the family over many centuries.

We went first to Hefa's house, which is entered by an unobtrusive green door along the narrow streets of the Muslim Quarter. She was expecting us, and took a ring of keys and invited us about two doors down the street. Inside a stone structure we were shown a family mausoleum with graves of three of her ancestors. In an adjoining room we were shown the private family mosque, with bookshelves and family photographs along one wall, a spiral staircase in the corner, and the marble niche facing Mecca on the opposite wall. She gave me a history of her family, dating back many centuries to days when her forefathers were prominent in Ottoman Empire affairs. She then took us up the spiral staircase to the manuscript collection. Here on steel shelves were many thousands of manuscripts. She showed us a half a dozen of these. The were all richly illustrated, and written in Arabic, Turkish and Kurdish. Most were at least 4-500 years old and at least one of the manuscripts she showed us was more than 1,000 years old.

Hefa's family has lived in this house, very near the Western Wall of the Temple Mount, for centuries. Interestingly, she also told us that her family previously owned vast tracts of land on Mount Scopus, which were taken away from the family upon Israeli Independence, and the Jerusalem Center for Near Eastern Studies is now built on former Khalidi land. Max later told me that while the family never received compensation for its Mount Scopus holdings, the University has been very generous in offering scholarships to Palestinians over the years, in part because of the Khalidi family. Max also told me that one of Hefa's cousins is a renowned Palestinian scholar living in the United States, now teaching at the University of Illinois.

One of the impressions I take away from meeting Hefa Khalidi is the rich heritage of Islam.

Hall of the Last Supper

Among the most curious sites I have seen thus far is the Hall of the Last Supper, ostensibly the place where Jesus broke bread with his disciples in an “Upper Room” before the crucifixion. The strange nature of this site is that it was actually 15^th century Franciscan monastery until turned into a mosque by the Turks. I don’t know—it’s just hard visualizing Christ and the disciples from Roman times meeting in this Middle Age monastery room adorned with Arabic inscriptions.

Russian Church of St. Mary Magdalene

As you approach the bottom of the Kidron Valley you will see the stunning golden domes of the Russian Church of St. Mary Magdelene. Founded in the 1880’s by Tsar Alexander III, this church is set among many trees and is very peaceful. As we left the precinct of the Church we heard from many points the Muslim call to noon prayer.

The Jewish and Muslim Cemeteries in the Kidron Valley

As we descended down the Mount of Olives in the direction of the Old City we left the residential neighborhoods altogether and came to the vast fields of graves which fill the Kidron Valley—Muslim graves on the west bank of the Kidron Brook in the shadow of the walls of the Temple Mount, and Jewish graves on the far side. Max told me that the story is that Muslim graves were placed directly beneath the walls of Temple out of spite for the Jews—that is because while the Messiah is promised to return to the City through the long sealed Golden Gate it is considered forbidden for a Jew to pass through a cemetery of nonbelievers.

Mosque of the Ascension

Close by the Russian Church of the Ascension is the Moslem Mosque of the Ascension. Located in a most ancient Byzantine structure, the mosque claims to also contain the spot from which Jesus ascended to heaven. Brooke pointed out to me one of the most fascinating features of the mosque. The mosque is set in the exact center of circular wall. Inside the wall at about waist height or a series of iron rings embedded in the rock wall. Brooke told me that these were used in Byzantine and Ottoman times to secure the edges of tents or to tether horses of visitors to the mosque.