 | This is where G‑d appeared to Abraham. This is where the covenant of circumcision was struck. It was here that monotheism burst upon world consciousness. It was here that Judaism was born...
But in the midst of this inspiring travelogue, I am puzzled by two things:
1) Lazer Gurkow describes "the Western Wall. Strolling across the broad promenade, we feel the thrill of the sacred place. We imagine the wall in its glory days, our ancestors striding along Herodian paths; their footsteps echo in our ears". What are "the glory days" of the wall? In the days of true glory, the wall had/will have no significance, neither is the plaza a sacred place: the significant and sacred place is the other side of the wall - the Temple Mount. The "broad promenade" wherein we pray today should be relegated to its true use - a car park for Jewish pilgrims going up to the Beit ha-Mikdash. The wall might be used for chaining bicycles to. That even frum Jews think of the wall and its plaza as holy characterises all that is wrong in Israel today.
2) With such a sensitive understanding of the sanctity of Eretz Yisrael, why does Mr Gurkow choose to remain in exile?
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Daniel is quite right that the Wall pales in comparison to the sanctity of the Temple Mount itself. Would that we soon have the privilege of strolling on the mountain itself with the coming of Moshiach and the rebuilding of the Holy Temple.
The sanctity I referred to was the proximity to the Temple Mount, the closest we are de-facto permitted to stroll according to all halachic opinions (with the exception of the Temple Tunnels). That Jews prayed at this wall for centuries, considering it the sole remnant of our Holy House, grants it further sanctity.
As to why I remain in exile? It is our mission to help bring Moshiach, at which time all Jews will live in Israel. The weight of bringing Moshiach rests on all our shoulders and we must spread this weight equally.
If you, Daniel, pull from Israel and I push from Ontario while our fellow Jews each tug and pull from their respective locations, we will in fact bring Moshiach quickly.
If we all pull from Israel we will be hard pressed to make a difference in Diaspora communities.
Your passion is commendable and I thank you for your thought provoking comments.
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Rabbi, you stated that "We visit ritual baths carved into the bedrock; our ancestors bathed in these pools as far back as 420 BCE, during the first temple period. " Did you not mean during the "second temple period" since the first temple was destroyed in 586 b.c.e.?
Otherwise, your report is very compelling. I remember having toured Hebron in 2004, and while taken in by the inescapable reality of this tiny Jewish community surrounded on all sides by Arabs that want nothing but kill them, I felt rushed by the guides to get us from place to place. Thus all of this historical background illuded me. Thanks for filling in the gaps. I feel now that my memory of the visit there is no longer in black and while, but in full color.
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Dear Arnold,
Thank you for your kind words and for raising a most interesting point about the age of the destruction of the first temple.
You cite the apparent discrepancy between the date I referenced and the date commonly accepted in the history books.
This date has been the subject of ongoing debate between traditional Jewish sources and secular historians. The traditional (Talmudic and Midrashic) Jewish view dates the first temple's destruction in the Hebrew year 3338 since creation, which corresponds to 423 BCE.
Secular historians have always claimed that the temple was destroyed in the year you cited, 586 BCE.
It comes as no surprise that I reference the traditional, rabbinical, view.
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