Israel: Holy Sites
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The Tomb Of The Son’s Of Hezir In Jerusalem
The Tomb of The Son’s of Hezir, located in the Kidron Valley adjacent to Jerusalem’s Old City, is actually historically correct (unlike the Tomb of Absalom and the Tomb of Zechariah that are neither tombs nor for those attributed!) and was teh burial cave for an important family of Kohanim, priests in the Holy Temple. This hewn (meaning carved from the hill) burial cave is dated to the Hasmonean period (the second century BCE), and above the opening is an inscription identifying the deceased which says: “This is the tomb and the nefesh of Eliezer, Haniah, Joezer, Judah, Simeon, Johanan, sons of Joseph son of Obed. Joseph and Eliezer sons…
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The Tomb Of Zechariah In Jerusalem
The Tomb of Zechariah, which is located in the Kidron Valley at the foot of the Mount of Olives is truly a stunning site. But please don’t be disappointed to learn that Zechariah is not buried here. It was constructed apparently for someone else, who for whatever reason did not merit to have their name associated with it thousands of years later. Such is life! Or rather such is history, things get mixed up a bit, sort of like the game of telephone, but over a long period of time. Will Americans understand in a thousand years why kleenex is called kleenex? Do you even know why is it called…
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The Tomb Of Absalom In Jerusalem
This past Passover holiday I finally had the chance to visit a spot previously only seen from the car, The Tomb of Absalom. Absolutely do include this in your next visit to Jerusalem’s Old City, it is truly interesting! Located in the Kidron Valley, or Valley of The Kings, at the bottom of the Mount of Olives Jewish cemetary, the Tomb of Absalom is not really a tomb as far as anyone knows, and if it it, not of Absalom, but so be it, history gets a bit mixed up sometimes over the course of thousands of years! Just as the Tower of David has nothing to do with David,…
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What Is The Temple Mount? Can I Go There?
Entrance to The Temple Mount within the Muslim Quarter, Jewish Law forbids entrance by Jews, and in any case only Muslims are allowed entrance through this gate. The Temple Mount refers to the elevated plaza above the Kotel (Western Wall) in Jerusalem that was the site of both of The Jewish People’s ancient temples. The first temple, built by King Solomon, was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BCE. The second was built in the sixth century BCE and stood for nearly 600 years before it was destroyed and the Jewish people exiled in 70 CE by the Roman Empire. Jews continue to mourn the destruction on the fast day of…
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The Kotel HaKatan, The Small Wailing Wall In Jerusalem
We are now in a period on the Jewish calander called “The Three Weeks” which is the 3 weeks leading up to the holiday called Tisha B’Av, The 9th of Av. The 9th of Av is a mandatory fast day (except for those under 12/13, elderly, ill or possibly just after birth) and is the saddest day of the year, the day in which we mourn the loss of our Holy Temple in Jerusalem. For the next 2 weeks I’ll be sharing with you many interesting photographs from our stray in the Old City of Jerusalem, which helps put this history dating back to 2,000 years ago in perspective. One…
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Blessing Of The Kohanim At The Kotel During Passover
Attending the blessing by the Kohanim at the Kotel on the second day of chol hamoed Pesach was amazing, and a first for our family. We were fortunate enough to have an invitation to a rooftop balcony to enjoy the event way above the crowds, and it was indeed very special! It is true that Kohanim bless their community every Shabbat and holiday in the Beit Knesset, but in this case there are so many Kohanim, that the likely hood of having at least one with a direct line to the original Kohanim from the Biat HaMikdash, The Holy Temple, is quite great. And truly, seeing all these people gathered…
