Today is Tiyul (Field Trip) Day
Thursday, August 11, 2005

This was by far the best field trip we have been on. Although I have only been on three field trips, they take up an entire day and are very long and hot days. So, I can say fairly that this was the best one so far. The night before, David and I had arranged to take a cab to the Old City with our friend Eliana who is studying to be an educator someday. We met up with a different tour guide who is called Rabbi “Gingi,” which is the Hebrew word for red head. As you can imagine he has bright red hair and beard. He is pretty amazing with great insight and spirituality.
We started at the Davidson Center, a museum near the Western Wall, devoted to Temple findings. We watched an amazing 3-D computer program that was put together based on archaeological discoveries of what the Second Temple and the Temple Mount might have looked like. From there we went around the museum looking at coins that were found from this period and clay vessels and pots. We went outside and were able to see the remains of the Temple. The Southern part of the wall surrounding the Temple is still in tact and we were able to see it. One of the major archs, Robinson’s arch, connecting the upper side of Jerusalem (where the wealthy Jerusalemites lived) and the Temple still exists in minute form. The base of it is still there in the wall. (We took lots of pictures). And as we all know, the Western Wall, the Kotel is still around and is the place where many Jews come to pray and ask for healing and blessings from God. This was also a wall that surrounded the Temple area. It was not part of the Temple and many people have been misled into believing that it was part of the actual Temple.
I really enjoyed learning about the history of the Temple while standing in its midst. I am struggling with some of it as well. It is hard for me to believe that a Temple larger than twelve football fields existed built of stones that weighed sometimes over 500 tons. It is even harder to believe that it existed because there is hardly any archeological evidence from the actual Temple itself. What we witnessed today was from the surrounding areas of the Temple. The place where the Temple supposedly stood is now where the Dome of the Rock is and no one, but Muslims, are allowed in that area. There is no visiting, or exploring, or excavating. So, how do we really know that a Temple existed for the Jews? Oy, it is a historical and theological debate that has been going on for centuries.
I had always imagined that there was always a Temple and never questioned its existence. Being in rabbinical school and going on these field trips has opened my eyes to the reality that there is not enough evidence to prove that a Temple existed.

Thursday night: David and I were invited over to two of the interns’ apartment, Adam and Dara. There were about ten other HUC students that were also invited and we had pizza and beer night. One of the best parts was that Michael, one of the rabbinical students, had his newborn baby son, Mose, over as well. We were all able to play with him. Mose is 8 weeks and we are all getting excited to be able to baby sit soon!

 

This page was last updated on August 15, 2005

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