All is well in Jerusalem

The luggage arrived 40 hours later! So everyone can stop praying to St. Anthony now. Thanks anyway.

Our retreat has begun, but I visited the Western Wall (Wailing Wall) before we started. This visit also involved a trip to the Dome of the Rock, sacred to Jews and Muslims alike.

The Western Wall is all that remains of the Temple Mount which was destroyed by the Romans in 68CE. Before that it was rebuilt by Herod the Great on the site of the First Temple which was built by Solomon and destroyed by the Babylonians in 586BCE. Herod the Great's Temple was known as the Second Temple period, and this was the Temple of Jesus' time.

Today, all that remains accessible at the Wall is about 55 meters. There is a further 80 plus meters to the right and some 320 meters to the left which adjoin tunnels. Jerusalem was reunified in in 1967 after the Jordanian occupation of the Old City, and today the Wall is a unique place of prayer, and a symbol of Jewish national unity. It draws all cultures to its embrace and is a very special showcase of Creation at prayer. Looking closely you can see the Prayer notes which have been pushed into the cracks in the Wall.  I prayed for peace, both personal and international here.

The pics I have included are intended to give an overview of the elderly, the young father passing on his traditions, and the young with his own 'beach 'culture, and of course a middle aged Aussie still trying to be young. It seems mobile phone cameras are also popular here, recording the moment I guess. This is not a bad website: http://www.thekotel.org/ .

This page is dedicated to all who work and pray for true peace and unity among all peoples. 

Double click to increase the pic.