After we finished making fun of Amnon for lathering his beautiful head with sunscreen, we toured the Southern Excavations and Davidson Center with Rabbi Michael Unterberg this morning. Our purpose was to gain a deeper understanding behind the history of the area and the Jewish claim to Jerusalem.
Rabbi Unterberg taught us about the building of the Second Temple by King Herod in 20 BCE. Herod wanted the Temple to be so huge that people would come from other areas of the ancient world and marvel at it. Sure enough, even today people from all around the world travel to the Second Temple. I find it fascinating that it took us 12 hours to get to Israel and arrive at the Second Temple while years ago the journeys of people who traveled here could have lasted 12 weeks. I also found interesting the different theories as to how the Second Temple was constructed (referred to as experimental archaeology). I connected this to my visit to Machu Picchu over the past winter break. The construction of these places both remain a mystery to a certain extent.
Rabbi Mike also talked to us about the Jewish claim to Jerusalem and their own homeland. He discussed how there is proof that Jews have continuously lived in Jerusalem and there has always been a Jewish nation in Jerusalem. Jews have faced as much adversity as any other group of people in history, and through it all we have always referred to ourselves as a people. We have as many reasons to call ourselves a nation as anyone else. To say that the Jews don’t have or deserve a nation is anti-Semitic.