07-19-2006, 06:00 PM
I wrote the good people at http://thestoryofjesus.com/ regarding the wailing wall and this is what she wrote back. May it bless you!
Dear Jack,
Thank you for your kind words and for contacting us again with another excellent question.
In response to your question, I would like to tell you a story – please bear with me – that will give you a richer view of my direct answer that will follow this story.
A little girl had a Mother who loved her dearly. This Mother was always doing special things for her in addition to taking care of her daily needs. The little girl’s friends liked to come to her home to play because they, too, felt the love of this wonderful Mother. This little girl was very proud of her Mother and of their home. It was a happy and joyful world this little girl lived in.
Then the little girl became old enough to attend school. Off she went, skipping and jumping with joy and glee as she looked forward to making even more friends than those she already had.
It wasn’t long into the school year when a class party was planned and Mother’s were asked to bring baked treats for everyone. The little girl just knew that the whole class would love her Mother’s cookies because her playmates who came to her home to play really, really liked them. And so, she asked her Mother to bake her favorite cookies to bring to the party.
The day of the party arrived and so did the Mother’s with their cookie trays just loaded with all kinds of treats. But none were quite so nice and tasty looking as the little girl’s Mother’s cookies. And she was so very proud.
As the Mother’s carried the trays around to the little desks where the children were seated, the little girl noticed something very strange that she had never noticed before in her entire, young life. As her Mother held her tray of delicious goodies out to her for her to take one, the little girl didn’t seem to notice the tray or the cookies but only her Mother’s hands.
She wondered if her Mother’s hands had always been that way because she had never noticed them before. She just kept staring at her hands. Her fingers were bent in funny directions and some of them looked a little twisted. There were ugly marks that looked like an old dried up piece of apple. Her Mother finally asked her, “Honey, don’t you want one of your favorite cookies”? She looked up at her Mother and then all of a sudden she was ashamed. Ashamed of her Mother’s ugly, ugly, ugly hands. She didn’t want her Mother there. Tears filled her eyes as her face became red with embarrassment. She didn’t want any of the cookies and she certainly didn’t want the whole class to know that this was her Mother.
Somehow she made it through the rest of the party and the school day. As other occasions for parties came up throughout the year, she was careful not to tell her Mother because she didn’t want her come.
The week before school was out, a wonderful picnic was planned and all Mother’s were asked by the teacher to participate. The little girl knew there was no way to keep her Mother – with her ugly hands – from coming. She went off by herself to think how she might possibly get out of going to the picnic so she wouldn’t have to be embarrassed again. And then, as she sat thinking, a very strange thought entered her young mind, one that had not crossed it until that very moment. She wondered WHY her Mother’s hands were so ugly and so different from all the other Mother’s hands she had seen.
The more she thought about it, the more she wanted to know so, mustering up all the courage she could find in her little body, she went into the kitchen where her Mother was preparing the evening meal.
“Mother, why are your hands so – different – than the other Mother’s hands?”
The Mother pulled out a chair from the table, invited the little girl to sit down, and then she told her a story. When the little girl was just a tiny baby, as she was laying in her crib one night, a lamp that was close to the crib had an electrical short in it and caught on fire. Because it was close to the crib, part of the bedding quickly caught fire and the flames began to surround the baby. At that very moment, the Mother came walking into the room just to check on her to see if she was covered up and the instant she saw the flames, she ran her hands into the fire to grab her baby. The little girl, who was laying against the far side of the crib, was untouched by the flames, but the Mother’s hands were burned so severely they became crippled, twisted and deformed.
Tears ran down the little girls face as she fully realized that those hands had rescued her and saved her life. All of a sudden she felt more proud of her Mother than she had ever felt in her entire young life. As she looked at those hands, they became the most beautiful hands in the entire world because they were hands of love. Never again would she be embarrassed and never would she forget the sacrifice made for her because every time she would see those hands, they would be a constant reminder.
And now, Jack, the story after the story: Just as this Mother’s hands were a forever reminder to the little girl of her Mother’s love, so it is with the Wailing Wall.
The ‘Western Wall’ as it is called, is actually part of the retaining wall that supported the temple mount built by Herod in 20 B.C. It is the holiest shrine of the Jewish world. After the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 A.D., the Jews were not allowed to come to Jerusalem until the Byzantine period when they could visit once a year on the anniversary of the destruction of the Temple and weep over the ruins of the Holy Temple. Because of this, it became known as the “Wailing Wall.”
Jews were again not allowed to visit the wall from 1948-1967 when it was in the Jordanian section of the city. After the Six Day War, the Western Wall became a place for national rejoicing and prayer as the last accessible relic of the last Temple.
This wall is a constant reminder that connects the Jew’s history with their hope for the future. If nothing of the Temple had been left, the ‘out of sight, out of mind’ mindset would have spread down through the centuries. Even though the Jews do not recognize Jesus Christ as the Son of God and the Messiah, they do remember the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and the Patriarch’s. This wall keeps their history and heritage alive. And, it also keeps it alive to the rest of the world. It is a living testimony of a history filled with love as well as tragedy, just as the Mother’s hands.
I hope this explanation helps you with your forum.
God Bless You, Jack,
Tina
I also found this little article at: http://www.amfi.org/mailbag.htm
Jesus said of the Temple that not a stone would be left unturned. What about the Wailing Wall?
The original hill which King David bought from Araunah the Jebusite was not large enough for the massive temple Herod wanted to build, so he artificially enlarged it by building massive walls all the way around it and filling it in with earth and stone.
Contrary to popular perception, the Wailing Wall (called the Western Wall in Israel today) was never a part of the Temple itself, but is merely the exposed Southwestern portion of the massive platform (or "Temple Mount") upon which the Holy Temple once stood, and which now supports the Dome of the Rock and the El Aqsa mosque. When you stand at the Wailing Wall, the Temple Site is far above your head. This platform is still very much intact all the way around. The Temple itself has long since been utterly and completely obliterated, to the point that scholars still argue about its exact positioning on the mount. What is known is that the Holy of Holies was on the Western end, which is the main reason the Western Wall of the platform became so important to later generations of Jews -- it was as close as they could get to the Holy of Holies without actually going on top of the mount, which the most conservative factions will not do, for fear of inadvertently treading on the Most Holy site and profaning it.
The reason I looked this up is that some are saying that since the wall is standing, that what the Lord God had prophesied hadn't come to pass, and therefore Jesus couldn't be the promised Messiah. However, if they would had taken the time to actually read what is written they would had seen that He had been speaking of the buildings and not the walls.
See: Matthew 24:1-2
Dear Jack,
Thank you for your kind words and for contacting us again with another excellent question.
In response to your question, I would like to tell you a story – please bear with me – that will give you a richer view of my direct answer that will follow this story.
A little girl had a Mother who loved her dearly. This Mother was always doing special things for her in addition to taking care of her daily needs. The little girl’s friends liked to come to her home to play because they, too, felt the love of this wonderful Mother. This little girl was very proud of her Mother and of their home. It was a happy and joyful world this little girl lived in.
Then the little girl became old enough to attend school. Off she went, skipping and jumping with joy and glee as she looked forward to making even more friends than those she already had.
It wasn’t long into the school year when a class party was planned and Mother’s were asked to bring baked treats for everyone. The little girl just knew that the whole class would love her Mother’s cookies because her playmates who came to her home to play really, really liked them. And so, she asked her Mother to bake her favorite cookies to bring to the party.
The day of the party arrived and so did the Mother’s with their cookie trays just loaded with all kinds of treats. But none were quite so nice and tasty looking as the little girl’s Mother’s cookies. And she was so very proud.
As the Mother’s carried the trays around to the little desks where the children were seated, the little girl noticed something very strange that she had never noticed before in her entire, young life. As her Mother held her tray of delicious goodies out to her for her to take one, the little girl didn’t seem to notice the tray or the cookies but only her Mother’s hands.
She wondered if her Mother’s hands had always been that way because she had never noticed them before. She just kept staring at her hands. Her fingers were bent in funny directions and some of them looked a little twisted. There were ugly marks that looked like an old dried up piece of apple. Her Mother finally asked her, “Honey, don’t you want one of your favorite cookies”? She looked up at her Mother and then all of a sudden she was ashamed. Ashamed of her Mother’s ugly, ugly, ugly hands. She didn’t want her Mother there. Tears filled her eyes as her face became red with embarrassment. She didn’t want any of the cookies and she certainly didn’t want the whole class to know that this was her Mother.
Somehow she made it through the rest of the party and the school day. As other occasions for parties came up throughout the year, she was careful not to tell her Mother because she didn’t want her come.
The week before school was out, a wonderful picnic was planned and all Mother’s were asked by the teacher to participate. The little girl knew there was no way to keep her Mother – with her ugly hands – from coming. She went off by herself to think how she might possibly get out of going to the picnic so she wouldn’t have to be embarrassed again. And then, as she sat thinking, a very strange thought entered her young mind, one that had not crossed it until that very moment. She wondered WHY her Mother’s hands were so ugly and so different from all the other Mother’s hands she had seen.
The more she thought about it, the more she wanted to know so, mustering up all the courage she could find in her little body, she went into the kitchen where her Mother was preparing the evening meal.
“Mother, why are your hands so – different – than the other Mother’s hands?”
The Mother pulled out a chair from the table, invited the little girl to sit down, and then she told her a story. When the little girl was just a tiny baby, as she was laying in her crib one night, a lamp that was close to the crib had an electrical short in it and caught on fire. Because it was close to the crib, part of the bedding quickly caught fire and the flames began to surround the baby. At that very moment, the Mother came walking into the room just to check on her to see if she was covered up and the instant she saw the flames, she ran her hands into the fire to grab her baby. The little girl, who was laying against the far side of the crib, was untouched by the flames, but the Mother’s hands were burned so severely they became crippled, twisted and deformed.
Tears ran down the little girls face as she fully realized that those hands had rescued her and saved her life. All of a sudden she felt more proud of her Mother than she had ever felt in her entire young life. As she looked at those hands, they became the most beautiful hands in the entire world because they were hands of love. Never again would she be embarrassed and never would she forget the sacrifice made for her because every time she would see those hands, they would be a constant reminder.
And now, Jack, the story after the story: Just as this Mother’s hands were a forever reminder to the little girl of her Mother’s love, so it is with the Wailing Wall.
The ‘Western Wall’ as it is called, is actually part of the retaining wall that supported the temple mount built by Herod in 20 B.C. It is the holiest shrine of the Jewish world. After the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 A.D., the Jews were not allowed to come to Jerusalem until the Byzantine period when they could visit once a year on the anniversary of the destruction of the Temple and weep over the ruins of the Holy Temple. Because of this, it became known as the “Wailing Wall.”
Jews were again not allowed to visit the wall from 1948-1967 when it was in the Jordanian section of the city. After the Six Day War, the Western Wall became a place for national rejoicing and prayer as the last accessible relic of the last Temple.
This wall is a constant reminder that connects the Jew’s history with their hope for the future. If nothing of the Temple had been left, the ‘out of sight, out of mind’ mindset would have spread down through the centuries. Even though the Jews do not recognize Jesus Christ as the Son of God and the Messiah, they do remember the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and the Patriarch’s. This wall keeps their history and heritage alive. And, it also keeps it alive to the rest of the world. It is a living testimony of a history filled with love as well as tragedy, just as the Mother’s hands.
I hope this explanation helps you with your forum.
God Bless You, Jack,
Tina
I also found this little article at: http://www.amfi.org/mailbag.htm
Jesus said of the Temple that not a stone would be left unturned. What about the Wailing Wall?
The original hill which King David bought from Araunah the Jebusite was not large enough for the massive temple Herod wanted to build, so he artificially enlarged it by building massive walls all the way around it and filling it in with earth and stone.
Contrary to popular perception, the Wailing Wall (called the Western Wall in Israel today) was never a part of the Temple itself, but is merely the exposed Southwestern portion of the massive platform (or "Temple Mount") upon which the Holy Temple once stood, and which now supports the Dome of the Rock and the El Aqsa mosque. When you stand at the Wailing Wall, the Temple Site is far above your head. This platform is still very much intact all the way around. The Temple itself has long since been utterly and completely obliterated, to the point that scholars still argue about its exact positioning on the mount. What is known is that the Holy of Holies was on the Western end, which is the main reason the Western Wall of the platform became so important to later generations of Jews -- it was as close as they could get to the Holy of Holies without actually going on top of the mount, which the most conservative factions will not do, for fear of inadvertently treading on the Most Holy site and profaning it.
The reason I looked this up is that some are saying that since the wall is standing, that what the Lord God had prophesied hadn't come to pass, and therefore Jesus couldn't be the promised Messiah. However, if they would had taken the time to actually read what is written they would had seen that He had been speaking of the buildings and not the walls.
See: Matthew 24:1-2