Chapter 39 intertwined shrine

Finally returned to Jerusalem. Thankfully, the convoy without a license plate drove half of Israel, which is heavily policed, without encountering any obstacles. Before the advent of modern transportation methods, it was really difficult for pilgrims from all over the world to come to Jerusalem once.A tiny part of them finally arrived. How did those ragged ascetics feel?It is hard for us to imagine.Then, when we enter the city, we must at least tidy up our minds. Step into the old city with one foot, a thick medieval. The dark and frightening city gate opened countless alleyways, narrow and crowded, with small shops like hemp.All are warned to keep an eye out for safety, making us suspicious of every bend, every wicket.

The road stones under our feet have been honed for thousands of years, and they are slippery and uneven. The smell that permeates the surroundings seems to come from a distant cave. I don't know how long I walked, suddenly it was bright, there was a square in front of me, and at the other end of the square was the famous Wailing Wall, the highest holy place of Judaism. This wall was once part of the wall of the Second Temple of the Jewish Kingdom, and the Romans deliberately left it in order to preserve the evidence of their victory when they destroyed the city.When the Jews who lived in exile for thousands of years thought of this wall, they felt unspeakable grief and indignation.Until the modern war, the Jewish soldiers still wailed when they reached the wall. I have seen those touching photos.

Near the Wailing Wall, men and women are separated at both ends, separated by a fence in the middle.Men must wear hats when approaching, and women cannot turn around when leaving, but should back away from the wall. In front of the wall, countless Jews put their heads against the wall stone, holding scriptures in their left hand and patting their chests with their right hand, chanting scriptures and praying, their bodies swaying slightly.After reading a paragraph, he kissed the wall stone with his mouth, and then stuffed a small note that had been written long ago into the crack of the stone.No one else will know what is written on the note. The Jews say it is a secret letter sent to God, and the wall is the post office.So I followed their example and sent one after praying.

There were singing voices behind him, and when he turned his head, he saw that the Jews were doing a rite of passage for a boy who had just turned thirteen years old, and the tone was already cheerful.As a result, cries, songs, chanting, and sighs all converge under the wall, where a nation completes a kind of confession that has been suppressed for thousands of years. There is an uphill road on the right side of the Wailing Wall. Just a few steps up, you will see a huge golden dome. This is the holy place of Islam called the Golden Rock Mosque, also referred to as the Dome of Rock (Dome of Rock). On the opposite side, There is also a Silver Dome Mosque, both of which were built after the Arab army conquered Jerusalem in the seventh century AD.

We took off our shoes at the entrance of the Golden Rock Mosque, and entered with bare feet respectfully.I saw that the huge dome was gorgeous, exquisite and resplendent, and the ground was covered with thick blankets. A dark brown fence in the middle is very high. Looking on tiptoe, it is surrounded by a gray and white boulder.According to legend, Muhammad, the founder of Islam, ascended to heaven. There is a cave under the boulder, with stairs to go down, and devout Muslims worship inside. Islam attaches great importance to Jerusalem, and for a time it was the direction of their daily prayers.Until now, it is still another important holy place besides Mecca and Medina.Walking out of the Golden Rock Mosque, I looked around and found that the Holy Land of Islam is open, bright, and clear, and it is unique in the whole city. The Wailing Wall of Judaism is only at its feet.

The holy places of two religions are intertwined, and the holy places of the third religion, Christianity, also circle out.The way of circling is a tortuous path. It is said that before Jesus was betrayed by traitors and executed by the authorities, he paraded through the streets with his cross on his back. Mr. Jing Jie, a Chinese student who is currently studying for a doctorate at Tel Aviv University, is familiar with this road and enthusiastically led us through it. First, the place where Jesus was scourged and crowned with thorns, and then the place where he fell several times while carrying the cross while parading through the streets. There are commemorative marks everywhere.There is a relief at the entrance of the small street where he met his mother Maria while walking down the street. The eyes of the two are calm and sad, and they stare straight, which is moving.

Finally, I arrived at a hillside, where the execution ground was, and a Church of the Holy Sepulchre was built from the fourth century AD.There is a mortuary stone of Jesus at the entrance of the church, which is ocher and white, and it was touched like sandalwood by later generations.Two elderly women knelt there and wept, and other pilgrims from all over the world also knelt on both sides. Christianity calls this long path the Via Dolorosa (Via Dolorosa), also referred to as the Way of the Cross. Without modern decoration, let people take a walk and think about it: the innocent Jesus was condemned by the guilty. He took up the cross and redeemed people for their sins.

The way, so real and so specific, is almost an easy-to-read text of the Bible. Each of the three religions has superimposed layers of tragedy on the city in their own touching ways.Any decent religion always has a clear sense of tragedy when it was founded, and it has gone through hardships in the process of development because it is closely connected with ethnic issues, and both have suffered huge grievances from each other. As a result, the tragic experience of history was added to the original sense of tragedy. Everyone has a thousand words, and everyone wants to cry silently. This religious sense of tragedy goes in many ways.Whichever one is higher, leads to the sublime in the human sense; whichever one is lower, falls into a struggle in a narrow spirit. Therefore, the road to Jerusalem also has many directions.

Climbing from the Wailing Wall to the mosque, I saw a group of Arab female students gathered on a gap in a high place, looking down at the Jews in front of the Wailing Wall.There was no hatred or contempt in their eyes, they were pure and innocent, thinking about something.When they realized that there was someone behind them, they turned their heads in horror, fearing that they would be criticized by their elders or stopped by the Jews, but when they saw a group of Chinese people, they smiled reassuringly. October 29, 1999, Jerusalem, overnight at the Renaissance Hotel