The week of Passover and Easter was supposed to have been a week filled with Jewish tourists to Jerusalem and the Old City. But, because of the COVID-19 crisis, the city was nearly still. So, Window to Mount Zion decided to bring the unique experiences that usually take place on Mount Zion and its environs during this time to you, online, in a series of online meetings featuring different prominent figures from different religions and different denominations.
Virtual Tour of Mount Zion with Mayor Lion, Rabbi Yitzhak Pindrus and Rabbi Yitzhak Goldstein
The week of the Jewish holiday of Passover is usually a busy one. One of the three pilgrimage holidays, when in ancient times Jews would flock to the Holy Temple in Jerusalem, the Old City is usually teeming with people. Instead, Window to Mount Zion featured a virtual tour of the Jewish sites on Mount Zion, on Monday, April 13. Distinguished guests included Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion, who frequents the Sephardic synagogue on Mount Zion, Yitzhak Pindrus, a long-time public figure in Jerusalem Haredi society and a resident of the Jewish Quarter of the Old City, and Head of the Diaspora Yeshiva, Rabbi Yitzhak Goldstein. Project Coordinator Merav Horowitz Stein spoke about the significance of Mount Zion in general, as a place that is holy to Christians and Muslims as well as Jews, and its significance between 1948 and 1967, when it was the point closest to the Western Wall that was under Israeli control. Mayor Lion also spoke about the Sephardic synagogue on Mount Zion, which is small but a significant part of religious life in Jerusalem. Rabbis Pindrus and Goldstein spoke about Mount Zion and the Old City from their perspectives. You can see the entire half-hour panel in Hebrew here:
In closing words, Mayor Lion summed up Mount Zion, “Mount Zion is not well known to Israelis, but every stone and cobblestone is filled with history. You can feel the history everywhere you walk. It’s very exciting.”
There were some 100 people attending the virtual tour, and it was recorded and is now up on Window to Mount Zion’s Facebook page. The tour was also covered on the Haredi web site, Kikar Hashabbat (referencing the major square in Jerusalem’s Meah Shearim neighborhood). Click here to read the Hebrew article.
Headline – “A Special Holiday Virtual Tour of Mount Zion: Join In”
Many thanks to all who participated. Here’s the Facebook post in Hebrew, about the “tour”:
Interested to learn more about Mount Zion? Window to Mount Zion has just launched a new virtual tour. To enjoy the tour in English, click here.
Many thanks to the Jerusalem Foundation for its support of Window to Mount Zion.
