The Holy Land through the Eyes of Islam

Ugh. It was so cold yesterday morning. My alarm went off at 6:15 and I wanted to hurl it across the room. Except my alarm is my cell phone and I'm kind of fond of it.

I had set the solar water heater the night before, so the water would be nice and warm the next morning. Still, it took all my willpower to make my way to the shower. There I stood. Next to the shower. Waiting for the water to warm up. 5 minutes. 10 minutes. I began to realize I was wasting water, so I turned off the shower to investigate my predicament. Someone turned off the timer on the water heater! This whole cold water conundrum threw my morning way out of whack. I ended up leaving 10 minutes later than I should have, with frizzy hair and a bad attitude.

Luckily, the Dorot gang is very understanding of bad mornings. I made it to the Old City just in time to walk with (most of) the group to the first stop of our "The Holy Land through the Eyes of Islam" day: The Dome of the Rock and Al-aqsa Mosque. I say most of because two Dorot Fellows did not join us on this part of the day. The area where the Dome of the Rock is/the Temple Mount/HarHaBayit/Mount Moriah is considered by many Jews to be the holiest site in Judaism. There are many different halachic understandings of what this means for modern Jews (whether we can go at all, whether there are certain things we must do to prepare before going, whether we can go to the area but not up on the raised platform where the Dome of the Rock/Holiest of Holies is).

The Temple Mount is unbelievably beautiful, first and foremost. It's speckled by huge trees and lawns, and I was distinctly aware of a sense of calm about the place. (Although I'm sure that is not the case on Fridays when the place can, and sometimes does, hold more than 300,000 praying Muslims.) And the Dome of the Rock itself is one of the most beautiful buildings I have ever seen. It's huge, with intricate mosaics covering all its (eight?) sides. The top, which is painted with 2 tons of pure gold, shimmers in the light and stands in remarkably stark contrast to, well, everything.

Our tour guide, Nasser Aweidah, gave us a great overview of the history of and current political tensions surrounding this place. I was incredibly grateful for his honesty and willingness to speak bluntly. (Except, perhaps, when he voiced his opinions about women, who, in his opinion, should never lead because 1) they lead with their heart not their mind 2) it takes two women to accurately witness something whereas it only takes one man 3) they are flighty. Of course, he is not representative of all Muslims by any means! And his opinions about women are not specific to Islam. Judaism has very similar things to say.)

I knew, before my visit to the Dome of the Rock, about the political implications of this Holy (to both both religions) space. The Dome of the Rock is the 3rd most holy site to Muslims, where it is believed that Mohammad ascended to heaven. But, the Temple Mount is where the Temple once stood, and, it is believed by many Jews that where the Dome of the Rock sits is the general area where the Holy of Holies, the sacred space in the Temple where only the High Priest could enter, is located. I knew this. But the knowledge was nothing compared to the experience of standing there, on the ground that is holy to two of the world's religions. The knowledge that Palestinians in the West Bank cannot come to this place while I can is powerful, but is nothing compared to the experience of standing beneath the golden dome. I left feeling very confused about the solution to this dual-claim on this sacred space ... and a little hungry.

Conveniently, lunch time was next on our list. We left the Old City and took a bus to the Everest Hotel (which is technically in Israel as well as the West Bank so that both Israelis, who can't visit the West Bank, and Palestinians who can't be in Israel without the proper ID, are legal) in Beit Jala to meet Professor Yussef el-Herimi of Al-Quds University who talked to us about Muslims texts (most the Quran). From there, we went to Abu Ghosh where we were welcomed into the home of Issa Jaber, the director of the Education Department for the Abu Gosh local council, who talked to us about the day-to-day civil life of Muslims in Israel.

When I got home, Max and I went to grab dinner at this delicious vegetarian Indian restaurant in the shuk. And then my 6 am start caught up to me and I fell asleep.