The Temple Mount

Today, my dream came true, and I got to go up onto the Temple Mount. We got up at 7 and walked to the Old City, watching the sun rise as we dodged cars and other pedestrians on our way through an Arab neighborhood. We entered the Old City, following my friend from Japan, who had been on the Mount before and knew where to go. We finally got to the Wailing Wall, the only place non-Muslims can get up onto the mount. We got into a decently long line with other tourists (many of them from Germany) to wait our turn to go through security. About twenty minutes in, a security officer wound his way down the line, asking people how big their groups were. When he got to us, we told him there was six of us, and he immediately waved us through to the front of the line. Don't ask me why we got special treatment, I have no idea. We went through security and then walked up a long wooden bridge to the top. Riot shields were kept just inside the Mount entrance for quick access by police. Once inside, it was like stepping into another world. The Mount is full of fountains, gardens, trees, and green grass. My dad would appreciate how nicely maintained the lawns are. On one end of the Mount stands the Al Aqsa mosque, built over 1,000 years ago by the first Muslims to conquer Jerusalem. It is a massive building, but we could not enter since we are not Muslims. On the other end of the Mount, standing on a huge courtyard of shining limestone, stands the Dome of the Rock. This building was built over the rock where Abraham tried to sacrifice Isaac on and where the Muslims believe that Mohammed ascended to heaven. Behind the Dome and overlooking the Mount of Olives was a set of arches, where Muslims believe that God will judge humanity at the end of time. I was in awe the entire time. It has been a life-long dream of mine to be able to go up on the Temple Mount, and today I actually got to do it. We stood on the place where the presence of God manifested itself on earth. We spent most of our time walking around the Dome, looking at the intricate architecture and Mosaics covering the outside walls. The Dome itself is covered in gold, and it shines like the sun during the day. In the back of my mind as I was walking around, I thought about the very stones I was standing on. This was Jewish ground, this foundation was and is Jewish, and where this Dome stands, two temples stood, the dwelling place of the most high God on this earth. Solomon stood on this mount, building the first Temple to the Lord. Herod stood on this mount, building the second. The Babylonians swept over this mount as they put the first temple to the torch and made off with its treasures, as the Romans did to the second centuries later. I stood on some of the holiest ground on earth, God's dwelling place and His point of contact with His people before He sent His son. The only place in this city more sacred, in my opinion, is Golgotha, where Christ died, and the tomb, where Christ rose again. I stood there, gazing at a Muslim temple built on a Jewish foundation, and I thought about all of the history of this place. Here, Muslims sit and worship, children go to school, old men talk about times long past, and Israeli soldiers and police watch everything, unbelievably tense and tasked with preventing another war. Of all of the points of contention in Jerusalem, this place creates the most tension. Jews are forbidden to pray on the Mount, though they are allowed to go up with the rest of us. I heard about how an Orthodox Jew went up one day, and he was followed by police and soldiers to ensure that he did not pray and cause another conflict. Torah law forbids Jews from going up onto the Mount, because they do not know where the Holy of Holies is located and they do not want a Jew to wander through it by accident. Only the High Priest, on one day every year (Yom Kippur), was allowed to enter the Holy of Holies, and the Rabbis do not want any Jews to desecrate the place. We might have wandered through the Holy of Holies ourselves today without realizing it; we also don't know where it is located. The curtain was torn when Jesus died. The Muslims have their own security up on the Mount; men with walkie talkies and guns patrol everywhere, looking on the non-Muslims with suspicion and anger. One followed our group for a while before he gave up and switched to another. Despite the security, we had an amazing time, and this will most definitely be one of the great highlights of my time here.