March 26, 2014 Jerusalem
Once again in Jerusalem, there is no longer the excitement of the first time, but the sense of ritual for the "holy city" has not diminished by half a point.
Dagan was intimately familiar with Jerusalem, and he took us from the Zion Gate into the Old City of Jerusalem, through the Muslim quarters and the Jewish Quarter, introducing the story of Jesus' fourteen-stop tribulation. Then take everyone into the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and go to the Wailing Wall. Last year, I came to Jerusalem and listened to a tour guide. Considering that we are not very familiar with biblical stories, Dagan's explanation is more detailed. I'm a little curious, as a Jew, I don't know much about the story of the New Testament, and why is he so familiar with it? Later, I asked him about the opportunity, and he said that every year so many Europeans and Americans visit the company, they must take them to Jerusalem, of course, to understand the Jerusalem that Christians want to know. It's also part of business.
Last year, I came to Wailing Wall and knew that the Wailing Wall is divided into men and women, and the part of the Wailing Wall for men to pray is about three times that of the female part. Last year, I didn't get a chance to ask the tour guide, and this year it was just right to consult Dagan. He told us that in Judaism, women can pray at home, while men must pray at the Wailing Wall. So the area given to men is longer than that of women. I didn't find a similar explanation online, maybe his explanation is correct?
Enter the Wailing Wall to pray, put on their characteristic white hats, follow Dagan's instructions, take a small piece of white paper, write down your wishes, lean your forehead against the wall, pray silently, and then insert the note into the gap in the wall, there is a good chance that this wish will be fulfilled. I wrote down my wishes, prayed silently in my heart, and inserted the note into the crack in the wall. Others around us have done the same, hoping that our wishes will be fulfilled.
PS: I brought back to China the little hat I was wearing during prayer. The following year, Dagan traveled to Shanghai to meet Jews living in Shanghai, where they invited him to a weekend Jewish ceremony. He told me he didn't have a hat with him and didn't know where to buy it. I lent him the hat I had brought back, and he was so excited that I might have helped him solve a big problem. Later, when he returned the hat to me, he told me that the Jews living in Shanghai were more strict in their religious rituals than the Jews in Israel. He even sang a few times, almost singing wrong, making himself very embarrassed. The farther away from your hometown, the more important the holy city in your heart becomes, probably because of this truth.