Wester Wall, Yom Kippur 2

Western Wall, Yom Kippur 2009

Prayers at the Western Wall at the end of Yom Kippur, 28 Sept 2009.

Kapparot and the Day of Atonement

An interesting tradition in Orthodox Judaism is Kapporot (or kapparos), in which a rooster is waved over the heads of people, symbolically transferring sins to the rooster, which is then slaughtered.  Many Jews oppose it as barbaric.  It is apparently a vestigial remain of the Yom Kippur sacrifice.  Here are some sites about this ritual:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kapparos
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/kapparot.html

Some videos (Note: Some of these display the slaughtering of the chickens.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xwu1giSLoI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpTTk-o88-I&NR=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYQmgu3M0VQ&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUDcgfDG-0o

Panorama of Temple Mount

Taken by me on the eve of the Day of Atonement, 2009.

http://gigapan.org/gigapans/33607/

Temple Mount Incident

Reports indicate that some Jewish Haredim associated with Third Temple Movements entered the Temple Mount/Haram to pray as part of Yom Kippur.  Muslims objected, and clashes occurred.

http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSLR406084

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ioi_0jtO9RjMwPNRoXNCndRPRq3gD9AVKFI80

Western Wall

A "gigapan" I took of the Western Wall can be found here.

http://gigapan.org/gigapans/33486/

It allows you to zoom in to quite high resolution on any part of the picture.

Hurva Synagogue, Jerusalem

The Hurva Synagogue was the main synagogue for Ashkenazi Jews for centuries.  It was destroyed in the 1948 war, but is now under reconstruction.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurva_Synagogue

Temple Miqve

A large miqve (ritual purificaiton pool) was discovered recently in archaeological excavations near the Western Wall. It was used for priests and Jews to ritually purify themselves by immersion before ascending to the temple.

http://www.antiquities.org.il/about_eng.asp?Modul_id=14

Blogging blues

Sorry I haven't been doing much the past week.  I took a fall and wrenched some muscles in my back and right arm, making computer work painful.  I'm on the mend and should have some more stuff soon.

Herod's other temples

Herod built three temples to his patron Augustus of Rome (only one to the Lord).  This may be one of them.

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1253198156150&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull

I'll try to get up there in a month or so and take some photographs.  It may be an important site to show some of the architectural features of Herod's temple in Jerusalem.

Incarnate Father?

This interesting late Baroque painting from the Vatican Museum shows Mary in the center, flanked by Christ on the left and the Father on the right, with the Holy Spirit as a dove above.

Israelite Temple of Lachish Th Israelite Temple of Lachish

The site of Lachish, 40 km SW of Jerusalem, is famous for its siege in 701 by the Assyrian king Sennacherib, memorialized by relief panals now in the British Musuem.

However, it was also the site of an important Israelite temple. The basic structure of the temple can be seen in slides 1 and 2, with the courtyard in the foreground, and steps leading up to the Holy Place

Slide 3 shows the Holy Place (right) and Holy of Holies to the left, a small room reached by another set of steps. The basic structure is similar to that of Solomon's Temple, although it is much smaller, and has a broad Holy Place rather than a long one as described in the Bible for Solomon's Temple.

Oldest depiction of Menorah found

In an early synagogue at Migdal on the Sea of Galilee.

http://www.antiquities.org.il/about_eng.asp?Modul_id=14

This is the synagogue where Mary Magdalene would have worshipped.

Nabi Samwil

Haredi Jews praying and studying in a small shrine at the traditional tomb of the biblical prophet Samuel. In the back is a cenotaph of Samuel.

Is there any meaning ...

... to the Blogosphere?

YouTube channel

I've started a YouTube channel for posting videos from Jerusalem. Here's a link.

http://www.youtube.com/user/HamblinOfJerusalem

You can subscribe if interested.

The ceiling of Michaelangelo's Cistine Chapel (wide angle lens).

Michaelangelo's Last Judgement, Cistine Chapel, Vatican, Rome, (Wide Angle Lens).

A replica of the Shroud of Turin in the Church of the Holy Cross in Rome.

The Roman Mithraeum underneath the Church of St. Clemente in Rome.

The Menorah from the Arch of Titus in Rome; this represented part of the plunder in the Triumph parade after the destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem in AD 70.

Vatican and the Tiber at Night

A beautiful stroll along the Tiber presented this view of the Vatican