Old city tiyul
Today we visited the old city. We walked up the steps to the temple that the ole regel, the pilgrams, would climb up on Shavuot, Sukkot and Peasach. To be granted entry they would first have to purify themselves. They did this by bathing in mikves. These were essentially bath houses that were assimilated in from Roman culture that were believed to ritually purify you after bathing in one. Then, they would pay a half shekel (which was a good sum of money back in the day) to get in. Finally, they would sacrifice whatever they could, for example: pregnant women or women who were about to go into labor would sacrifice two doves. Because this was such a large proccess to simply enter the temple we can assume what a holy sight it truly was. If people went through so much effort just to get in the temple must have meant a lot to the jewish people
Today, the temple is still one of the holiest sights in the jewish religion. People go and pray everyday and everynight.
We also had a chance to look at the homes of many wealthy Jews from the time period. We walked through the remains of homes that belonged to the Sadducees. The Sadducees, or Tzdokim, they were the upperclass who alligned with the Romans. They were in charge of the temple and running ritual sacrifices however, they don't accept oral law they only interpret the torah. In the remains of these houses we found many things. We found ostricans, mosaics and most importantly baths. Baths were an important find because we were able to figure out their class. Only rich people could afford to have mikvas in their home. We also realized that most of the homes external archtecture was Roman. 
I think that seeing these houses from thousands of years ago was amazing. It was so cool that many things were able to stay intact over that long period of time. So after this great trip, I pose this question: If you were a pilgram coming to Jerusalem would you have gone through all of this to see and pray at the temple?
As a women I would not because women couldn’t go as far as men. With my religion, I think it’s important to pray at least once in your life at the holy city. At the time however, it was a big deal to make a sacrifice because our religion told us to. Because of its importance at the time, I would make a sacrifice if I was male and able to bring more than a dove. I also don’t believe now that you have to sacrifice to God to live your life feeling pure. Feelings and beliefs have change over the years and to me they will continue to be unclear.
ReplyDeleteIf I were a pilgram coming to Jerusalem I would have gone through all of hardships in order to pray at that temple. That temple was regarded as one of the holiest Jewish sites, and as a Jew it had a significant importance. At that time period, praying in the temple symbolized your devovotion to Judiasim. I belive that all the steps needed are just part of the journey of praying at the most important Jewish sight.
ReplyDeleteIf I had been a pilgrim during the time of the Bayit Shani, I would have most definitely gone through this process to go and visit the Second Temple. The temple was the center of our religion so as any good Jew would have done, I would have made the journey to go and see it for myself. However, being a woman I would not have been allowed the full rights of praying and being involved in the sacrificing as a man would have. While I may not achieve the full experience, for a Jewish pilgrim woman at the time, this would absolutely be something worth doing.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I would not go into the Temple. First off, I don’t want to spend all my money just to stand somewhere for a few minutes. Also, as a vegan, I would not feel comfortable sacrificing an innocent life just to enter a “sacred” place. In my opinion, sacrifice is the same as murder. In addition, I don’t see murder as a sign of purity. The Mikva is suppose to purify you, but it’s just sitting in water. To me, the whole process is pointless and a waste of time.
ReplyDeleteConsidering the Temple was the center of all Jewish life, I would have gone through the steps in order to make the pilgrimage to Jerusalem and visit the Temple. The Bayit Shani was not only a place for religion and sacrifice, but also served as a center of community life. As we were taught, the outer courtyards were constantly filled with people, and connections with other members of the Jewish community could always be formed. Additionally, if I were a male pilgrim and were able to make the sacrifice (despite my personal belief that sacrifice is wrong) it would most likely be an extremely spiritual moment and help to affirm my Jewish identity, thus strengthening the Jewish future.
ReplyDeleteAs a Jewish person, I would have without question taken the steps necessary to visit the temple. In addition, as a reform Jew, but not a strict one, I would have been comfortable with going through orthodox traditions in order to enter the temple, as they would not disagree with my Jewish philosophies. The act of entering the temple was one of incredibly awe, as it was by far the eighth wonder of the ancient world, and even if I weren't Jewish, I am positive that I would have wanted to make the journey if only to experience the wonder of seeing such a magnificent temple.
ReplyDeleteI think that if I lived at this time, and I had the means and money to, I would totally go to the temple to pray. It's really an amazing thing and super important to the religion, and it honestly would probably mean more to me than just going to see a retaining wall. And yet, I've been wanting to see the Western Wall since I was little. So, yeah, I think I would want to go to the wall as long as I was able to.
ReplyDeleteI would absolutely go through the process of moving to jerusalem in order to be able to pray at the temple. The temple was the center of jewish life so going to a Mikva before entering is not the biggest inconvenience. Being a modern day jew and not having access to the temple mount I feel like I would do anything to be able to go there.
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ReplyDeleteI have no doubt in my mind that I would have made the long pilgrimage, and taken all the necessary steps to show my love for G-d. Even if I hadn't been Jewish back in the time of the Bayit Shani, I probably would have went to visit, due to the incredible architecture and beauty that the temple had to offer.
ReplyDeleteYes I would. The temple was the holiest site in Judaism. It was the center of prayer and culture. Although the process for sacrifice was long and hard I believe that all the steps leading up to the final sacrifice and prayer would have made the whole experience more meaningful. Sacrificing at the temple would have connected me more with Judaism and affirmed my love and dedication to God.
ReplyDeleteYes I would have. This was life at the time. Life revolved around religion. Visiting The Temple and making a sacrifice would be the most important thing to do in ones life. Society revolved around this idea and it would 100% be important for me as a pilgrim to go
ReplyDeleteI absolutely would've. Even though it seems like a hassle to go slaughter an animal, in this time period there was nothing more important that could be done. Peoples' way of life retained religion as a vital part of society, and as a pilgrim, this would be one of the most important things to do.
ReplyDeleteI think that if I were a pilgrim at this time I would have gone through the trouble of going to the temple. This is because it would’ve been immensely important to me to go to the bayit shani for my religion. Because it was something everybody did once I would want to do it.
ReplyDeleteIf I made the trip all the way to Jerusalem of course I’d take the few extra steps to pray once I was there. It would be pointless to make the journey if you didn’t pray. And while the requirements for being able to pray were intense everyone was doing it so it wouldn’t feel as bad.
ReplyDeleteBeing in Jerusalem has made me think hard and long about the idea of etz- land. I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s far from the most important part of my Jewish identity, so I’m not sure if I would’ve visited the temple and all the other places that we’ve visited. Prayer and services are an integral part of my identity as a Jew, so I might have visited some places where active prayer was taking place like the kotel, but I don’t know if I would’ve visited older, inactive prayer sites.
ReplyDeleteI think that for the time, going through that lengthy process to pray at the Temple would have been appropriate. It was simply the way one would pray back then. But today, we have synagogues where you pray in a much different way. And being a modern, Reform Jew, I don't think I would go through all that to prey at the Temple.
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