Western Wall, Western Tunnels Overview Tour: Kotel, Jerusalem, Holiest Site in Judaism, Wailing Wall

[Music] [Applause] [Music] welcome to the Holy Land and this biblical site of the western wall as you can see there's a lot of people here it's a very very busy place very very visited in this video we're going to be taking you on a tour showing you about the western wall we're gonna be going inside the tunnels that go along the western wall we're gonna be showing you some important things about the western wall now the western wall also known as the Wailing Wall because the Jews weep here often during their prayers is located on the western side of the Temple Mount it is part of the retaining wall or support wall that Herod the Great built in around 20 BC when he enlarged the Temple Mount complex in order to accommodate a larger temple and Temple Mount area it was a massive undertaking that required exceptional and sophisticated engineering when the Romans destroyed the temple in 70 AD the support walls survived for hundreds of years prior to 1967 people prayed in the small area of the wall that could be seen at that time however in 1967 following the Six Day War the Israelis excavated below the ground level of the wall and found two more levels of the wall there they then cleared the area around the wall to create the Western Wall Plaza that visitors see today unlike many thing the Western Wall was not part of the wall of the temple King Herod built it was part of the Temple Mount support wall not the temple wall once again you can see in the plaza a walkway leading up to the Temple Mount area to your right here or to the south the section of the Western Wall Plaza is divided into two parts a men's section and a women's section it is considered a holy place the western wall like a synagogue so men must wear a head covering when entering into the western wall section or getting up close to the wall most Jews do not enter onto the Temple Mount area or fear of unknowingly walking in the place where the Holy of Holies might have been Plus Muslims do not want them entering there as well the Western Wall Plaza or the western wall is the closest the Jews can get to the Holy of Holies and where the temple used to be located just to the left or north of the western wall is where Wilson's arch which is the modern name for a stone arch whose top is still visible today it once supported a bridge that provided access to a gate that was level with the surface of the Temple Mount during the time of Christ under this arch area is a synagogue where Jews pray and read the scriptures today what you're seeing here today in this Western Wall Plaza is only about 10% of the Western Wall the other 10% lies south of the Western Wall Plaza and is towards the southern stair area we'll be showing you that in a moment the other 80 percent of the western wall is accessed by entering into what is called the western wall tunnels and we will be showing you that part after we talk about the southern part south of the Western Wall Plaza further to the south we can see the southern part of the western wall and the stones that are still here that the Romans cast down when they destroyed the city in 70 AD under the Roman general Titus we can see the broken pavement that the huge stones that fell down crushed the pavement as they fell and burn marks can be seen still here that the Romans did when they lit the city and burned it we can see the shops were part of a large shopping plaza that were destroyed here as well were located on this southern part just south of the Western Wall Plaza this is the same wall that Jesus and His disciples would have seen in the same shops that they would have walked through that the people in that day would have seen on the southern stairs is also where Jesus would have taught his disciples and walked on to enter the Temple Mount from the southern area as well so what you're seeing here is actual literal places where Jesus would have walked we can also see an important stone which stood upon the uttermost southwestern corner of the Temple Mount overlooked these shops and everything on the southern part of the western wall it has words written in Hebrew that mean the trumpeters house a priest would stand at this corner announcing with a loud trumpet calling for the Sabbath and the people to observe the Sabbath day asking for the shops below to close down and respect the beginning of the Sabbath well we wanted to bring you up close here to the southern wall in this western wall what we're seeing here and we'll show you in the video is part of the western wall but we wanted to show you some important stones that fell down when the Romans destroyed Jerusalem in 70 AD we can see some of the ash marks and burn marks on these stones and stuff when the Romans burned the city in 70 AD and I will show you that here in this video and then just behind me right out here was a walkway with shops and on each side of here there were shops and then people right up above me is where they entered on to the Temple Mount but this stone right here is of really importance here this was the cornerstone that was up on the top of the wall and when the Romans destroyed the temple they shoved this down the course what you're seeing here is original this is how it was it was excavated and found it like this and then on up above here in a moment I'm going to show you some dents in the walkway here where the stones fell down when they shoved them off they were huge massive stones so I wanted to show you this stone here which is of really significance this sat on the corner of the Temple Mount on the southwest corner and in Hebrew this says trumpeters house so this stone right here was where the trumpeters would stand with the horn and they would announce the Sabbath and different holidays or different feasts and stuff like that for the Jews to observe so this fell down here and here it says the trumpeters a house so this is where the trumpeter would stand and blowout to announce because there were shops right here as we mentioned and he would announce to them for the Sabbath is coming to close up and once again their feast and stuff like that now on up here I'm going to show you we're going to take the camera on up here I'm going to show you this dent where this stuff fell up here we're gonna walk on around here okay you can see here right here and we'll get a close-up of this with the camera but right here is where you see this big huge dent and then right there's a dent these are where these big huge stones fell down and just absolutely crushed the walkway here so anyway then up above here is what's called Robinson's arch where the people would come up the stairs and then go on up to the Temple Mount so anyway we wanted to get you up close here and show you this stuff so you could see the results and the evidence when the Romans destroyed Israel in 70 AD now let's take a fascinating tour through what is called the western wall tunnel here we'll see the remaining about 1,000 feet of the western wall that lies underneath the structures above so this underneath they've excavated and we'll see now what the western wall looks we'll look at some massive stones and some amazing things that took place here we'll begin this tour by looking at what the Temple Mount platform entailed and what was under the Temple Mount platform before King Herod enlarged it in order to build on the mountaintop there had to be erected supporting walls that could be filled in so there was a flat place upon which to build King Solomon first did this when he erected the first temple in around 950 BC then later on Ezra Nehemiah zerubabbel built upon this same platform when they rebuilt the temple again in around 515 BC later on in around 20 BC King Herod began rebuilding a new massive Temple Mount in order to do this he had to enlarge the Temple Mount platform immensely so it wound up measuring nine hundred and eighty five feet wide by fifteen hundred and seventy five feet long or an equivalent the size of about thirty-five football fields King Herod put ten thousand men to work and trained 1,000 priest as Mason's so they could work on the most sacred parts of the temple the building was began in about nineteen BC and finished in ten years but the work of decoration was not completely finished until ad 64 the temple King Herod built on this huge Temple Mount platform was enormous in size nothing in the known world at that time compared to it in size and beauty here you can see a comparison to the Dome of the rock which is currently on the Temple Mount the temple Herod built was three times as big and the Dome of the rock is huge measuring over a hundred and fifteen feet high so temple and Temple Mount was absolutely spectacular and massive in size six years later unfortunately in AD 70 the Romans burned down and destroyed the temple in Jerusalem and it has never been rebuilt since located beside the western wall tour entrance on the left side or northern side of the western wall is a synagogue here Jews gather to study read the Old Testament and the Torah and pray this is one of the Jews most holy synagogues because of its proximity to where the original temple was where in the Holy of Holies resided at the beginning of the western wall tunnel - or entrance is a room where the tour begins here tour guides give an overview of the temple Solomon built the temple ezra nehemiah and Zerubbabel oversaw and then the temple King Herod built the history of the western wall is meshed in with the history of the temples that once resided next to the western wall now let's walk inside and see these beautiful tunnels and these access ways that go along the western wall [Music] as we walk along the western wall we see what is known as the master course of blocks this is some of the first rows of rocks or blocks that were hewn that support the temple mount western wall the largest stone found in the western wall measures over 40 feet in length longer than a Greyhound bus it is almost 12 feet high taller than a semi-trailer its depth inside is 14 feet almost as wide as some highways it weighs over 600 tons which is equivalent to 200 elephants or ten tanks or two 747 jumbo jets with the people and their luggage included there is no machine big enough today to lift them it was carved outside the city and then placed here the stones that are carved and were placed here are made with such precision that not even a credit card will fit between the joints to this day we next come to what is called Warren's gate this is the closest place along the western wall to where the temple used to be it is therefore according to the Jews the holiest place and the western wall that they can get through the temple and the Holy of Holies was located the Holy of Holies or the temple is just 200 feet east of where this warrens gate place is in the vicinity of Warren's gate is a prayer place right next to the warren gate entrance and also a new synagogue that has been recently dedicated for use for the Jews or prayer and seeking the Lord we can also see the bedrock of the western wall of the Temple Mount as well the Masons who laid the great stones to build the western wall actually chiseled the bedrock of the mountain to make them look like they were stones but in reality they are the bedrock of the mountain on which the western wall rest next we can see these tiles of the original floor where Jesus likely could have walked they're visible here in this western wall tunnel and they are the original tiles that were here during the time of Christ we are now walking through a Hasmonean aqueduct built over 2,200 years ago which was 200 years before Christ this aqueduct runs through this bedrock and arrives at the stroke in pool [Music] we now end our tour at this trophy and pool where water was stored or use in the city of Jerusalem now what are some lessons we can learn from this western wall well it's sad that today the closest the Jews can get to the place where the original temple used to be located is the western wall which in reality is just part of the supporting wall of the Temple Mount as we have seen it's sad that because the Jews refused to heed God's warning to obey and follow him he sent judgments upon them and Jerusalem as well it's also sad that because the Jews rejected their Messiah Jesus Jesus prophesied that Jerusalem would be destroyed this was fulfilled in 70 AD this reality of this destruction is the overarching fact that we have seen in this video we just see destruction all throughout all the places that we have seen however according to the many passages in the Bible God still has a plan for the Jews scripture prophesied that God would bring them back to their homeland after being scattered for thousands of years he also said that during the Great Tribulation Period that many if not most of the Jews will recognize that Jesus is indeed their Messiah and turned to him in repentance amazingly we see this first prophecy fulfilled in that the Jews have returned to their homeland and have their own country back there have been many civilizations that have occupied the Holy Land but God has fulfilled prophecy in bringing the Jews back to their homeland today in Israel this is an amazing prophecy the stones here cry out that God's Word is true and is verifiable through the fulfillment of these prophecies now we'll in this video with a sad but very true saying that is found in the southern stair entrance area of the Temple Mount it goes like this the Jerusalem stone so resilient and supple vows to the transient follies of humankind bearing a testimony like a hundred witnesses and yet remain silent well thank you for watching this video I hope that you've enjoyed it and God bless [Music] [Laughter] you [Music]

Channel: HolyLandSite

Views: 79,239

Keywords: Western Wall, Western Wall Tunnels, Western Wall Tour, Temple Mount Platform, Southern Stairs, Wailing Wall, holiest site in Judaism, Jerusalem, old city jerusalem, jerusalem walls, largest stone in western wall, kotel, israel, christian western wall tour, jerusalem

Id: DL4DLw9Ppqg

Length: 18min 58sec (1138 seconds)

Published: Fri Jan 11 2019