Dome of the Rock from the Garden of Olives.(author’s photo)
Pope Francis took off his shoes before he entered. I probably was required to do the same years ago when I visited the Dome of the Rock in the center of Old Jerusalem. Islam reveres this spot as the site of Mohammed’s ascension into heaven.
Jews believe that the rocky area enshrined under the Dome of the Rock is the foundation stone where the the ark of the covenant rested in the first temple.
The interior of the shrine is stunning. Beautiful white double columns support the impressive dome and the walls are decorated with colorful,intricate patterns from floor to ceiling. The floor itself is covered with prayer rugs underneath the spacious dome. The rocky area is at the shrine’s center enclosed by a protective border. It is a shrine of remembrance, not a mosque. After Mecca and Medina it is the third most sacred shrine in Islam.
Traditional Jewish piety claims the rocky memorial as the exact spot of the Holy of Holies in the first temple built by Solomon. Destroyed by the B
abylonians in the sixth century, B.C.E. a second temple was built soon after and was restored and embellished by Herod the Great. This was the glorious structure that Jesus knew as His father’s House.
Destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD, the temple was the symbolic center of religious and cultural Judaism.
It’s the dream of Jewish zealots to reclaim the Dome of the Rock and many evangelical Christians expect that the temple will be rebuilt in the scenario of the last days.
As I slowly walked inside along the walls of this beautiful shrine I quickly found myself in front of the secured area of exposed rock. The rocky area looked like it had been bathed every day. There was no dirt, no dust, just exposed rock in the floor of the mosque. Light from somewhere gave the rocky outcropping a sheen. Until the 1960s no non-muslim was allowed to enter the mosque, shod or not.
As I exited the Dome of the Rock, I could see to my left the line of visitors approaching the Jewish religion’s most sacred site: “The Wailing Wall”or more properly “The Western Wall.” Jews cherish the wall as a remnant of the Second Temple, destroyed by Trajan in 70 AD.
A Man prays t the wailing Wall. (Author’s photo)
I walked to the low fence in front of the wall. As I reached the front of the line of visitors, a helpful man gave me a yamaka and asked me if I were Christian. I said yes, he nodded me toward the wall and I put on the yamaka. I prayed for peace and left a private note in the wall, a kind of remembrance.
These days I feel we Catholics are losing a sense of the sacred in our own religious structures. I really wish we would restore the custom of the sanctuary. I would welcome a railing around the altar of sacrifice and the tabernacle. The altar and tabernacle area should be a place of silence and reserve. Too often, it is not.
Holy places should make us feel awed and humbled. We needn’t take off our shoes as we enter the interior of our churches, but it is holy ground. Then, again, maybe we should take off our shoes to remind us of the holy ground we walk on or, maybe we should cover our heads humbly as we bow in reverence in the presence of God.