Mount Olivet
EASTERN GATE
The Eastern Gate, also called the Golden Gate, faces the Mount of Olives and is the only eastern gate of the Temple Mount and one of only two that used to offer access into the city from that side. It has been walled up since medieval times. The date of its construction is disputed and no archaeological work is allowed at the gatehouse, but opinions are shared between a late Byzantine and an early Umayyad muslim date.
The Hebrew name of the Golden Gate is Sha’ar HaRachamim (שער הרחמים), Gate of Mercy. In Jewish sources the eastern gate of the Temple compound is called the Shushan Gate. If the Golden Gate does preserve the location of the Shushan Gate, which is only a presumption with no archaeological proof, this would make it the oldest of the current gates in Jerusalem’s Old City Walls. According to Jewish tradition, the Shekhinah (שכינה) (Divine Presence) used to appear through the eastern Gate, and will appear again when the Anointed One (Messiah) comes (Ezekiel 44:1–3) and a new gate replaces the present one; that might be why Jews used to pray in medieval times for mercy at the former gate at this location, another possible reason being that in the Crusader period, when this habit was first documented, they were not allowed into the city where the Western Wall is located. Hence the name “Gate of Mercy”. – From Wikipedia
This section contains photos of the Jewish cemetery on the Mount of Olives. The Mount of Olives or Mount Olivet (Hebrew: הַר הַזֵּיתִים, Har ha-Zeitim) is a mountain ridge east of and adjacent to Jerusalem’s Old City. It is named for the olive groves that once covered its slopes.
VIEW FROM MOUNT OF OLIVES
View of Old City from Mount of Olives.
VIEW FROM MOUNT OF OLIVES
View of Old City from Mount of Olives.
VIEW FROM MOUNT OF OLIVES
View of Old City from Mount of Olives. The Eastern Gate can be seen to the right of the Dome of the Rock.
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Jewish cemetery on the Mount of Olives.
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Panorama of Jewish cemetery on the Mount of Olives.
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A view of the Eastern gate.
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Golden domes of Russian Orthodox Church.
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Street going down the Mount of Olives. It is actually steep enough to be slick without the proper soled shoes, hence the handrail down the entire street.
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Hooded crow.
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Lea walking down the street.
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Another view of the Jewish cemetery.
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Closer view of tombs in Jewish cemetery.
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View of Mount of Olives Jewish cemetery.
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View of walls on each side of street leading to the Garden of Gethsemane.
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Jewish cemetery grave showing memorial stones. When visiting Jewish graves of someone, the custom is to place a small stone on the grave using the left hand. This shows that someone visited the grave site, and is also a way of participating in the mitzvah of burial. Leaving flowers is not a traditional Jewish practice. Another reason for leaving stones is to tend the grave. In Biblical times, gravestones were not used; graves were marked with mounds of stones (a kind of cairn), so by placing (or replacing) them, one perpetuated the existence of the site.
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Jewish cemetery grave showing yahrtzeit candle.
Yahrtzeit, יאָרצײַט, means “Time (of) Year” in Yiddish. Alternative spellings include yortsayt (using the YIVO standard Yiddish orthography), Jahrzeit (in German), Yohr Tzeit, yahrzeit, and yartzeit. The word is used by Yiddish speaking Jews, and refers to the anniversary of the day of death of a relative. Yahrtzeit literally means “time of [one] year”.
The Yahrtzeit usually falls annually on the Hebrew date of the deceased relative’s death according to the Hebrew calendar. As a widely practiced custom, mourners also light a special candle that burns for 24 hours, called a “Yahrzeit candle”. Lighting a yahrtzeit candle in memory of a loved one is a minhag (“custom”) that is deeply ingrained in Jewish life honoring the memory and souls of the deceased.
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Jewish cemetery showing older graves.
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Another view of the Jewish cemetery showing older graves.
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