In Honor of Holy Week Pt 2 - Western Wall aka Wailing Wall, Jerusalem, Israel

One of the Views into the Men's (left) & Women's (right) Exterior Courtyard at the Western Wall

The Western Wall aka Wailing Wall or the Kotel is an important Jewish religious site located in the Old City of Jerusalem. The reason why its called the Western Wall is because its the Western most wall of the Temple Mount. An interesting thing to note about the Temple Mount is that -- what you see today is actually the SECOND Temple that was reconstructed by Herod the Great around 19 BCE and additional layers were added in the 7th century onwards by other ruling empires. The First Temple, built by King Solomon, was destroyed in 586 BCE when the Jewish nation was exiled to Babylon. What you see today is only part of the Second Temple as parts of the Western Wall are located below street level (which, I'm sure you didn't know; and is too much to write about here, but if you want to read more, click here for more info on Second Temple).

Some interesting notes about the wall:

• Though the Western Wall is commonly referred to as the "Wailing Wall", Jewish people never refer to this holy place as the Wailing Wall - only as the Western Wall. The name gained popularity from 19th century literature where people used to call it the "Place of Weeping"... A description that stemmed from a Jewish practice where Jewish people came to "speak" to the wall -- often "mourning" or giving prayer requests... and mourning the destruction of their temple. (A third temple has been rumored to be built, but nothing has occurred).

• There is so much history here that it is even difficult for me to grasp and remember, but for this blog posting, suffice to say -- that after the Roman Empire and the Spanish, Turkish Ottoman, British, Jordanian ruling and now the Israeli ruling, this area of the Western Wall has been designated as a holy place for Jewish people to to devote their prayers (part of the 1930 International Commission) without interruption or interference.

• The exposed Western Wall, or the one you mostly see, refers to an 187 ft stretch of the wall, but actually it stretches 1,600 ft. Where is the other part you may ask? Its "hidden" behind residential structures built along its length.The height of the wall is 105 ft, with the exposed section approx. 62 ft. There are 45 stone courses, of which 28 of them are below ground level. Each stone weights anywhere from two to eight tons, with the largest weighing approx. 570 tons (found on the Northern side). Its amazing how this structure was even created! The area is thought to have been a limestone quarry centuries ago (hence the very large limestone blocks), so that may have helped place the stone into place

• You can visit, with a fee of course, the lower parts of the wall. Its actually an interesting tour and I highly recommend it. The guide books say you need a reservation, but my brother and I were able to get a ticket without one (but you may need a reservation if you go in peak season).

• The Western Wall is supposed to the sole remnant of the Holy Temple and is the "CLOSEST" spot to the holiest spot in Judaism -- the Foundation Stone -- which is expected to be housed inside the Dome of the Rock (others say it is situated opposite of the exposed section of the Western Wall), which is located inside the Temple Mount in the Muslim Quarter. Interestingly enough, Jews are forbidden from setting foot upon the Temple Mount and is considered a sin punishable by Kareth. WHAT?!?! So, one of holiest places located in the Muslim quarters ... can not be accessed by Jews and is considered a sin!

• Every year, more than a million notes, or prayer requests, are placed in the wall crevices. The notes are collected twice a year and buried on the Mount of Olives. If you can not be there to place it, you can even fax in your request to have it placed there. The likes of Pope John Paul II, Barack Obama and Pope Benedict XVI have placed messages in the wall

• The wall is segregated by gender, which I found surprising (and I will have to ask my Jewish friends why). Are women a substandard class or is this my American ignorance and prejudice towards American society (even though, we all know not everyone is created equal)? I started to think this when I compared my experience with that of my brother's.... here are some of the stark differences. Male's side: Exterior area was nearly double the size of the female side; there was a library and discussion room, not to mention a separate prayer room where rabbis would be present (um, did we mention that only males are allowed to be rabbi's); meanwhile, the female side had a small prayer room, and when I say small, I am not exaggerating -- it would be the size equivalent of two or maybe three restaurant sized bathrooms! you will have to see the photos.

Of course, there are photos to document this experience at the Wailing Wall. Below are a select few and you can visit my FLICKR page to see additional photos. The photos of the men's side was contributed by my brother, Wilson Lee.

Inside a small study room is a private sanctuary to pray (left). Within the Western Wall's crevices are small notes, or prayer requests left behind by visitors.

Men's library and prayer room (even has a rabbi) inside a building adjoined to the Western Wall. In the FLICKR photo album you'll see a stark size contrast of the prayer/library rooms between the men and women's side.

In Honor of Holy Week -- Photos of the Old City In Jerusalem, Israel - Part 1

I figured since its Holy Week, I thought I would share some of my photos from the Old City in Jerusalem, Israel. After all, Jerusalem is part of the Holy Lands and is the place where many religious sects were born, and inevitably leading to many religious wars/fights stemming from differing religious viewpoints.

So, this is PART 1 for the week, giving you an aerial view of the different parts of the Old City while walking on "Ramparts Walk". I began the journey at the old Jaffa Gate and ended it near Lion's Gate. Through this walk, you will see bits and pieces of people's lives in the four quarters, where their daily routines though may be similar are separated by their religious faith and ethnic backgrounds -- Armenian, Christian, Muslim and Jewish. I ended my walk at the Lions Gate, but also continued forward through to the Jewish quarter, where I discovered the Western Wall, or more infamously known as the Wailing Wall. I hope to elaborate further on the story of the Western Wall and give you a view of the wall that you may never have imagined in a later posting. Additionally, some of my following postings will include photos from Jesus' Christ walk through Via Delarosa, the stations he stopped at, the Holy Sepulcher, and perhaps some photos of his origins - Bethlehem and Bethany Beyond Jordan. But, until then, enjoy the aerial view of the life people lead within the walls of the Old City.

Here is a quick glimpse of the photos within my FLICKR account... These photos are here to illustrate the lifestyle of the people living within the Old City Wall. Click here for more photos on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/simplyeverywhere/sets/72157623607445109/

Israel-Palestine's Berlin Wall in Bethlehem

January 14, 2010, Photos of Israel's Security Wall in Bethlehem (A view from Palestine's side of the Wall)

According to wikipedia, The State of Israel has been constructing barriers along its borders, which are mainly located on Israeli-occupied territories in the West Bank and partly along the 1949 Armistice line, or "Green Line" between Israel and Jordan. The length of the border is expected to be 436 miles long (703 km) and as of August 2008, only 58% had been constructed, 9% was under construction and 33% of it has not yet been constructed. The barriers have been under a lot of scrutiny and are highly controversial. Depending on which story you read or who you are hearing it from, everyone has their own point of view of the walls -- that well, for a tourist is tough to believe who is right or wrong and will certainly take longer than a few days to understand. After my brother spoke with the hotel manager at our hotel, who is Israeli-Jewish, he learned that the security walls or fences have been built to protect Israeli civilians from Palenstinian terrorism, aka suicide bombing attacks. Since the construction of walls, the number of bombings have significantly reduced. He mentined that people used to be afraid to walk around the New City town center because there were frequent suicide bombings! According to wikipedia, opponents of the barrier say that the barrier is an illegal attempt to annex Palestinian land under the guise of security, which violates internatinal law. To put it quite simply, the barriers have in a sense "trapped" or restricted Palestinians from traveling freely within the West Bank and finding work in Israel.

So, that's a bit of background on borders and barriers built within Israel, which brings me to the photos I took of the security wall on our way out of Bethlehem. The photos you will see are from the Palenstinian side. G raffiti artists and commoners alike have creatively used Israel's "security wall", which places an Israeli/Palenstinean divide between the two warring countries, as a means to add their social commentary on the Israel / Palestine situation.

The photo above is of two Palestine men sitting in front of the Israel/Palestine Wall.

Note: Israel continues to place security walls and fences throughout its country. Over the last few days, I've been reading in the Jerusalem Post that Israel wants to put up a fence along the Israeli/Egypt Border, which stretches from the Gaza Strip (west part of Israel) to Eliat (southern tip of Israel). The project which is expected to cost north of 1.5 billion NIS, or approx. $6 billion US, is "supposed" to prevent illegal drugs from entering Israel among other things like illegal immigrants (from Nigeria, Ghana, and the Ivory Coast). The project is expected to start in two weeks.

For more photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/39368875@N04/sets/72157623094617725/