Today we had the opportunity to tour the southern wall of the Temple Mount and look at the ruins of buildings remaining from ancient Jerusalem. Normally I don’t like to take tours, or view museums but I was extremely grateful that we were able to look at the ancient remains surrounding the Temple Mount. What gave me such an appreciation for the ruins was almost entirely due to visiting the Kotel. I’m not religious, but I do appreciate being raised with somewhat of a background in Jewish culture. I had big expectations for the Kotel, since I never visited it before and usually when I have big expectations I am heavily disappointed. However, there is no way to describe the connection I felt while there. When I entered the room with Torah scrolls set within the walls, I felt a lot of vibrations and unexpectedly I almost cried out of happiness.
Expanding my knowledge by exploring the southern wall and walking on street level in ancient times made me appreciate the Kotel even more. At one point we all were able to see on the ancient Jerusalem sidewalk huge dents and broken stone. It was really fascinating to learn that the huge dents were caused by Romans throwing multi-ton stones off the temple wall during the destruction of the first temple. Standing on ancient street level, the temple’s outer wall is about twice the height as the Kotel is perceived to be at our modern street level. Thinking about people who were alive in Jerusalem so long ago who never saw something as large as the outer wall really inspired awe in me. Visiting the Southern Wall and touring the museum was fascinating, it enabled me to see what my ancient ancestors were a part of.
It was really a privilege to talk to a soldier who was at the Southern Wall, who turned out to be the officer of a larger group of soldiers we all got to interview. The officer looked very European, and told me that his father moved to Israel from England and his mother moved to Israel from Canada when she was around 17 or 18. The officer was in the IDF for two years and had one year and four months left of service. He said that he really liked the army, and additionally added that if army service were not mandatory, he would have joined the IDF anyway. The unit of soldiers he is in charge of is a combat engineering unit, and deals with explosives and mines in combat situations.
The officer said that the hardest part of being in the army was not being able to make decisions for yourself which I found interesting, because usually when I talk to American soldiers in the IDF they talk about how the more confrontational Israeli culture compared to American culture was difficult to handle in the army. A good advocacy fact that I learned is that during operation Cast Lead, every day for three hours the fighting was stopped so that Israel could send water and food into Gaza. The fact that Israel was concerned with the survival of these people even in their struggle is really honorable. The officer said he appreciates what the army has taught him, especially the maturity he gained.