Is Jerusalem fun? Is Jerusalem safe?

Jerusalem is a holy land for Christians. It is full of sacred atmosphere and has been endowed with an inviolable meaning by mythology. It is now jointly managed by Israel and Palestine. Every year, millions of believers go there for pilgrimage. Praying here shines brightly in the golden ocean of the desert. Now many domestic friends want to travel to Jerusalem, but they don’t know whether it is fun or safe.

I have always wanted to go to Israel, especially the legendary Golden Jerusalem.

I admit that I am not a believer in God, but to me, a mortal, Jerusalem is still a city belonging to the kingdom of heaven. In my vague impression, this is a mysterious city. Under the gaze of the gods, it has experienced golden splendor, gray loneliness, and even black killings. Every inch of her arid land is rarely moistened by rain, but it has been deeply soaked in blood again and again in thousands of years of reincarnation. The sun and moon are full, and the stars and constellations are arranged. People are born here, pray here, unite here, cry here, laugh here, fight here, reconcile here, survive here, and perish here. Prosperity rises in the morning, but sorrow disappears in the evening. Thousands of years of time, the blood and tears of thousands of people, with the sigh of God, turned into rolling yellow sand in the desert of the Middle East. The yellow sand was driven by the wind, drowning the thousands of years of time, the tears of thousands of people. Jerusalem, this city that should have been buried in the desert, was destroyed, prospered, destroyed, and reborn again and again from the ashes of blood and fire because of human hatred and desire, and the cruel and affectionate favor of fate. 3,000 years later, on a warm afternoon, the Kingdom of Heaven flew out of the mysterious illusion like rainbow-colored bubbles. An ordinary person like me stepped onto the golden Jerusalem.

Overlooking Jerusalem

Love and Hate

People say that Jerusalem is golden. I stood on the top of the Mount of Olives and looked up into the distance. A burst of orange breeze blew in, sending the blue sky to the end of the sky. At the end of the sky, the bright yellow ocean roars and rushes in, but it has been tamed by the skillful hands of humans for thousands of years into the docile land in front of us. The houses in Jerusalem are growing happily on this land. In order to be grateful for the gifts of the earth, every house here is built with local stone. The stone pattern is engraved with the mark of the desert, with a hint of white in the yellow. I guess that the sun must have heard of the good name of Jerusalem and was delighted with her, so he decided to give his own golden glow to this city. Thousand-year-old ancient city. Yes, Jerusalem is golden, as the song from the other side sings:

Yerushalaimallofgold

Yerushalaim, bronzeandlight

WithinmyheartIshalltreasure

Yoursongandsight

Jerusalem, City of Gold

How bright, City of Bronze

I would like to make music like a harp

I will sing your praises.

For thousands of years, the warm tears of mankind have surrounded Jerusalem, flowing quietly, singing her praises and sighing her sighs. Jerusalem was grateful to mankind, so she used her beautiful appearance and tortured soul to repay people's affection. Dear friend, do you still remember? Human beings are the children of the universe. The universe prefers her children, so it gives human beings its own colors. Light and darkness, the colors of the human soul, are carefully blended and swayed by a quill called fate, sketching a picture called Jerusalem on this ancient land. People who lived and died in 3,000 years, under the cold gaze of the Milky Way for hundreds of millions of years, stretched out their trembling hands and touched every inch of the land on the scroll. From that moment on, beauty and suffering became the soul of Jerusalem.

Jerusalem is the city favored by the gods, so it is named after the Hebrew word "city of peace". 2000 years ago, Jesus looked down at this peaceful city from the Mount of Olives, but what he saw was a future in which the beautiful Jerusalem was devoured by blazing fire. Jesus instantly understood that his heavenly Father had prophesied to him the city he loved most. The city's unchangeable destiny. Jesus is God, but he is also a human being. The fragility of human nature made him extremely sad for a moment, and he shed tears for his beloved city. 2000 years later, I stood in front of the "Main Weeping Hall" and looked at this city that had been reborn from the ashes of fire countless times. When the overlapping phantoms of the three major religions crashed into my heart through the rolling wheels of history, my body couldn't help but tremble slightly.

Church of Weeping

Jerusalem is the holy city of Judaism. King David’s warriors have long gone and will never return, but the sound of the king’s harp still echoes in the ears. Jerusalem is the holy city of Christianity. Jesus completed his 14 stations on the Stations of the Cross here, and his people are still grateful for the painful redemption. Jerusalem is the holy city of Islam. The saint Muhammad once stepped on the holy stone here, climbed up and down the blue sky, and traveled to the seventh heaven. God loves all people and wishes that people in the world will always enjoy peace, no troubles and no sorrows. Everyone also loves God, and in order to gain God's favor, they will not hesitate to sacrifice the blood of foreigners to the devil in their hearts. Over the past 3,000 years, this city has been conquered 37 times and destroyed 8 times. Good and evil in human nature are like two naughty children, repeatedly fighting for their favorite toys.

In this game that lasts for thousands of years, due to man's evil, countless creatures returned to the dust, but because of man's kindness, small flowers bloomed in the dust

Milk and honey flowed out of the desert< /p>

A small street shop in Jerusalem was filled with all kinds of gilt jewelry, which made me, a jewelry lover, overjoyed. After some selection, I bought a hexagonal Star of David with local characteristics. When checking out, the shop owner smiled and sent a promotional card in Chinese, which said that the owner of this jewelry shop is a Jew who immigrated from Yemen after the founding of Israel. His craftsmanship was passed down from his father’s father’s father’s father< /p>

Star of David

The short record on the card brought to mind a passage from Mrs. Meir’s biography:

“The Jews have already settled in Muslim Yemen. Inhabited for many centuries, cut off from the rest of the Jewish world, persecuted, deprived of political rights, reduced to poverty and surviving as the property of the rulers of Yemen, prohibited from engaging in various professions open to others, and even barred from working with the same people. Muslims walked on the same side of the street as Jews were the poorest, humblest citizens. How did they make ends meet? They became skilled craftsmen, silversmiths, jewelers, weavers and carpenters"

"Thousands When the Yemeni Jews heard that the State of Israel was about to be established, they risked their lives and escaped. They were attacked by Arab bandits on the road and reached Aden through the desert. Since the Egyptians banned Israeli ships from passing the Suez Canal, they had only one way to get to Israel by plane."

Mrs. Meyer also recorded a conversation between herself and an old Yemeni man in plain writing:

“Have you ever seen an airplane before?”

"No"

"Aren't you afraid of flying?"

"No! It's written in the Book of Isaiah in the Bible. They will soar on the wings of eagles. ""

"My Life" is the autobiography of Mrs. Meir, the third Prime Minister of Israel. In this book, Mrs. Meir recorded her own growth in simple and restrained writing, as well as the suffering and integration of the Jewish nation.

"My Life"

I love the warm writing style of this book. Xia Huan writes about this country that was born and revitalized in the flames of war. Because of this love, I brought this autobiography, which embodies the rich history of Israel, to the land of Israel.

During World War II, 6 million Jews were brutally murdered. When the haze of the war gradually dissipated, the scarred Jews boarded Noah's Ark in the new millennium and traveled from the United States, France, the United Kingdom, Poland, Ukraine, Russia, Australia, Brazil, Argentina, and South Africa traveled across the ocean and returned to their homeland.

2000 years ago, the "Bible" Jeremiah 32:37 faithfully recorded this period of history:

God said: "I am angry and furious and in great wrath." "I will drive Israel (the Jews) into various countries, and I will gather them from there in the future and bring them back to this land"

Who would have thought that the prophecies made thousands of years ago would change the outcome of a nation's failure to do so. The memory that disappeared created a miracle a thousand years later. The Jews, who had been wandering forever, actually came home. But it was not a warm home, but a desolate desert surrounded by enemies. The Israelis did not retreat. The deep fear of the Holocaust was deeply engraved in the hearts of every Jew. The heavy warnings of history convinced them that a nation without a country would never have a foothold. In order to protect the hard-won land at their feet, the Israelis took up their strongest weapon

The strongest weapon of the Jews is their constantly moving minds. Jews are the most innovative people in the world. Israel's population is less than half of Beijing's, but it took just a few decades to build a world-renowned innovative country. This special ability that is the envy of other countries may stem from the speculative spirit of the Jews that has been passed down since ancient times. The Jewish classic Talmud records the story of a debate between two rabbis. One rabbi's explanation of the scriptures convinced the earth and shook it, but another rabbi was still unconvinced, claiming that even if God himself came in person, he would not recognize it if he could not be persuaded by reason. When God heard this, he was very happy and praised the two of them with a voice. The Jewish nation’s tradition of questioning, debating, and thinking about issues from multiple dimensions seems to have been destined since then to become the source of innovative thinking for the entire nation in the future.

Interestingly, the Jews are also the most traditional nation. Orthodox Jewish believers can be seen everywhere on the streets of Israel. They wore black felt hats, long black coats and white shirts, and had long, curly hair on their sideburns. Orthodox Jews maintain an ascetic lifestyle. They neither perform military service nor work. They strictly adhere to Jewish traditions and chant scriptures every day. They firmly believe that it is their devout prayers that have blessed this troubled country

The collision of history and cultural diversity has created an inclusive Israel. The languages, characters, histories, traditions, cultures, and customs of different countries are like streams of clear water, converging into surging rivers in this desolate land. Because of everyone's desire and belief, honey and milk flowed out of the desolate desert.

One city, two walls

On Mount Zion in Jerusalem, I heard an interesting story. It is said that every newly married Jewish couple will crush a glass during the wedding ceremony and swear to the heavenly alliance: "Jerusalem will be built next year!" The crushed glass symbolizes two constructions and two destructions. of the Jewish Temple.

The Jewish nation has never forgotten its determination to recapture the Holy City, so it chose to use a wedding custom to burn the firm will of the entire nation into the marrow of every Jewish descendant. The Jewish temple had long since turned into dust, but a section of the western wall of the temple was favored by God and stood on top of the dust.

Wailing Wall

This former city wall is now the "Wailing Wall". The day I came to the Wailing Wall happened to be the Jewish Sabbath. Jews like to choose this day to hold adult ceremonies for boys who have reached 13 years old. According to local custom, a black wooden wall was erected in the middle of the Wailing Wall to separate male and female prayers. As a result, the children's mother could not stand beside the children. She could only stand on the chair with me, carefully sticking her head out, and looking at the children with warm eyes. The children wore black hats on their heads, faced the Wailing Wall, and silently recited Jewish scriptures. I couldn't hear the children's reciting, but a hoarse voice floated into my ears along the cracks in the sunlight. The voice carried rhythm and penetrated from the depths of my ears into my brain, and from my brain into my heart. I looked back and saw an old woman with pale hair, holding a sheepskin-covered Bible with trembling hands. Her face was covered with deep ravines, and two clear streams flowed quietly along the ravines. flow. The breeze is like a naughty 13-year-old boy, flipping through the footers of the Bible, the footers fluttering gently, and the stories between the pages, together with all the vivid characters in the stories, are like birds in skirts. , flying towards the Wailing Wall one by one. Accompanied by the grunting of gray-white pigeons, white slips of paper filled with wishes were flying up and down in the old gaps of the Wailing Wall. Stories emerged from the pages one by one, along with all the people who had run away in the stories. People who walked out of the story silently recited the eulogies in the Bible, wrote their wishes on paper, folded them, and stuffed them into the gaps in the Wailing Wall. Every brick and every gully in the Wailing Wall turned into a The story tells the story of every past life and every present life of the wish-maker, Guru, Guru, Guru, Guru. Stories are transmitted among people in whispers. It is said that this is the place closest to God. It is said that the wishes made at the Wailing Wall will come true< /p>

Wailing Wall is an old man who loves to tell stories. His stories not only belong to God, but also to God’s neighbors. Behind the Wall of Sighs are the ruins of the Jewish temple, and what stands on those ruins now is the Islamic temple. Non-Muslims are prohibited from visiting mosques, but Jews insist on their right to pray in Muslim holy sites. The story between Jews and Arabs is a ledger that is constantly being cut and messed up. It is said that whenever fanatical Jewish believers try to break into an Islamic church by force, extremist Islamic believers will retaliate with suicide bombs. As a result, on this small holy mountain, sighing scenes are often staged: Jewish believers cry outside the Wailing Wall: God, why does Jerusalem not only belong to us? Islamic believers cried in the temple behind the wall, God, why does Jerusalem not only belong to us?

This sad scene reminded me of another wall in Israel, the separation wall. I had heard of the name of the Separation Wall before I even set foot on the soil of Israel. It is said that this special wall separates two hostile countries, one is called Israel and the other is called Palestine. But what I never imagined was that Palestine in Jerusalem is actually a country within a city. What’s even more depressing is that the tomb of Jesus is located in Jerusalem outside the wall, while the remains of Jesus’ birth remain in Palestine inside the wall.

While my thoughts were racing, I stood on the top of Zion Mountain and looked out into the distance. The two high walls are tearing at each other, roaring, colliding, fighting, enveloping, sighing, mourning, and crying, turning the turbulent waves of history and reality into the rolling yellow sand of the Middle East, sweeping across the vast land, passing through Break through the barriers of the human heart and rush into the blue depths of the sky. The blue depths are the end of the sky, the abode of the gods, and they dwell on it. I looked up at the solemn temple of the gods and asked softly with a trembling voice: God, please tell me, since you are omnipotent, why was your temple destroyed? For what reason? Leave a section of the Wailing Wall alone to your people? Allah, since you really exist, please tell me why you built your palace behind the Wailing Wall? Is this a revelation from God? One wall apart? One wall apart! Why? Only a wall separates us!?

In the people's affectionate prayers and hazy tearful eyes, the gods are silent, just looking at this affectionate land with their affectionate eyes. Following the eyes of the gods, I look down from the sky. At the end of the mountain, looking far into the distance, I can only see the high earth-colored wall coming step by step from the depths of history. The clear yang is the sky, the turbid cloud is the earth, and the Wailing Wall is in the middle. I quietly listen to her murmur of crying. , then turned around silently, and the Wailing Wall also slowly walked away, step by step deeper into history.