The Western Wall Tunnel Tour

Hi everyone!

We hope that this message finds everyone well and happy.  As Rabbi Larry posted, we visited the Western Wall and the Old City on Sunday.  We were fortunate to take part in the Western Wall Tunnel Tour...it was fantastic and very informative.

At the appointed time, our tour guide, Batya (an American ex-pat with four kids, 12 grandchildren, and, God willing, one more soon) took us to the mouth of the tunnels where she first explained the history and topography of the construction of the Temple Mount by Herod, the Temple having fallen into disrepair during the turmoil at the time of the Roman conquest.

She then led us down into the tunnels, where we had the opportunity to see, touch, speak to and pray in the presence of the stones from the original construction.  Unlike those stones of the Wall on the "surface", these stones, are truly massive, perfectly measured, and intricately carved; each is offset 2 cm from the next to add to their extraordinary stability as a platform for Herod's Temple mount expansion.

It took 10,000 stonemasons ten years to construct the Wall -- of which only a tiny portion is visible today above-ground.  In the photo to the right, you can see the original stone masonry in detail.  In the photo below, the original stones set during the Herodian era looked chipped at the top...that's because they are.  When the Roman Legionnaires attacked Jerusalem in 67 CE, they were ordered to destroy the walls of Jerusalem -- only they were not able to move the blocks (the foundation walls being 15 feet thick and each stone being dozens of feet long, wide, and high).  In desperation to follow orders, the soldiers resorted to chipping away at the stone blocks.  Needless to say, they were not entirely successful!  The smaller stones laid on top represent later stone masonry of inferior quality building up the wall.

Most of the larger Wall is not visible, Jerusalem having been built over it in successive layers over the centuries.  It took Israeli teams twenty years to extend the tunnel all the way to its northern end, where they found a quarry from which the stones are cut, as well as the two thousand year-old street paralleling the wall (which our guide kept calling "the original Wall Street").

Our tour emerged in the Muslim quarter, . Once on the street, we were escorted back to the plaza by guards.  Here is a photo of Larry, Keithen our tour guide, Batya.  You can see how narrow the tunnel is.  While we walked it, we were able to gaze down shafts plunging 45 feet lower, revealing an ancient mikvah, a quarry, and portions of the wall remaining from the First Temple built 3000 years ago!  We also were able to view how stone arches were plastered over and used as water cisterns by later inhabitants of Jerusalem.

The tunnels are open for people to walk through at their leisure several days a week without having to take a tour. We also encountered groups of women praying underground at the spot directly opposite the traditional site where Abraham brought Isaac as his offering to God, which also is, according to our tradition, the place from which the entire world was brought into existence by God. We also passed  workers continuing the business of uncovering even more of the secrets of the Temple mount.

More to come.

Love,

Laurelle