Glimpses of Israel - The Walls of Jerusalem
by Joseph Hunting
It seems natural for mankind to set aside some place or building as a sacred shrine. There are shrines commemorating battles; some shrines are moving and stir the emotions deeply. One cannot visit Yad Vashem in Jerusalem, the tomb of the Unknown Warrior in Westminster Abbey or U.S.S. Arizona in Pearl Harbour without being emotionally stirred.
No doubt there are many other less sombre shrines commemorating kings such as the magnificent pyramids in Egypt, temples to forgotten gods in the jungles of Central America, or even the great monolith called Ayres Rock in Central Australia, a remaining link with the Aborigines' fading 'dream time'.
Yet in Jerusalem there stands a rugged stone wall that is more revered and loved than most other man-made edifices. Why is this? Is it because the stones of that wall are a symbol and a heritage that is deeper than life itself? Are they not the only tangible evidence that here, on the Temple Mount of which these stones are a part, dwelt the very presence of the God of Israel? Surely, the stones of the Western Wall are a spiritual link binding modern Israel with the Glory that has departed, but will one day return.