I cannot say that my experiences on the icnext Israel trip have been unexpected, because I knew coming in that this was a “learning experience” not a “tourist experience”; nevertheless, I am extremely happy to report that today was our first day full of traditional tourist activities. A highlight was having a chance to walk in the tunnels below the old city of Jerusalem.
We began by immersing ourselves in our individual connections to religion at the Western Wall among other relics of Israel’s complex past. Then we headed down to the underground tunnels buried deep below the Western Wall to learn the background of the Temple and how it came to look the way it did. First a history lesson: after King David died, Solomon constructed the first Jewish temple, lasting 410 years. However, after multiple tragedies, including the famous story of Purim, this temple was destroyed and the second temple (lasting 420 years) was constructed. The second temple was also destroyed, contributing to why the city of Jerusalem has statistically been attacked, destroyed, and rebuilt the most times of any city.
After looking at a series of engaging digital images, and a 3-dimensional model featuring the development of the temples over the years, our tour guide, Moshe from South Africa, asked us to relate the temple to the Roman colosseum. I was extremely confused, myself never being to Rome and finding it unimaginable to picture the similarities between a place I had never been and one I had seen once. However, as we went through the tunnels with their cold stone walls and heard him speak about the different artifacts found in both places, I began to notice the similarities. The dripping water and low walls only added to the effect. My favorite part, however, was the aqueduct at the end of the long pathway, filled with two lonely goldfish, and surrounded by an impressive amount of history. Through seeing the columns, learning about artifacts stolen from temple by roman rulers and taken to the colosseum, and other aspects of this rich history, I began to understand the similarities. So I will ask you, reader, the next time you go to a famous landmark, try to immerse yourself in the history and attempt to find the connections that might not be immediately obvious, but that are hidden within the walls.