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Messiah's Gate (Sha'ar Harahamim)
July 25, 2007
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Golden Gate (eastern gate). Click on thumbnail for larger image. Image found on Wikipedia.
Other Names:
The gate has two doorways
the south part is known as Sha'ar Harachamim (the Gate of Mercy)
the north part as Sha'ar Teshuvah (Gate of Repentance).
Centuries ago, Jews used to pray opposite this gate, which faces the Temple area. They prayed first at Sha'ar Teshuvah and then moved to Sha'ar Harachamim to beg for mercy hence the name Gate of Mercy.
Arabic literature of the Middle Ages refers to this gate as the Gate of Eternal Life.
Christian literature refers to it as the Golden Gate.
Date:
Built in the 5th century CE this is the oldest of all the gates.
Location/Direction:
On the eastern part of the Temple Mount, Sha'ar Harachamim is the gate closest to the site of the Bet Mikdash (Temple). It is set into the eastern wall of the Old City and faces Har Hazaytim (Mount of Olives) and the Jewish cemetery.
Distinctive Feature:
This gate, unlike the other gates, has double arched doorways with no visible signs of entry.
Design:
The gate has a beautiful decorative double arched doorway supported by wide columns set into the stonework. Inside the gatehouse are two massive pillars. According to Moslem tradition, these were brought by the Queen of Sheba to King Solomon.
Date:
Although the builder is unknown this gate existed in its present form as early as the sixth century CE.
This is the only one of the eight gates which is sealed. It is one of the most beautiful of Jerusalem's gates.
The gate has a special holiness; legend has it that the Shechinah (Divine Presence) used to appear through this gate and will appear again, and that in the meantime it must be left untouched.
The doors have been sealed for hundreds of years and it is said that they will remain so until the coming of the Mashiach (Messiah). According to tradition the Mashiach will enter Jerusalem from the east. The Arabs believed he would come through Sha'ar harachamim. Hoping to prevent the redemption of the Jews they blocked the passageway with great stones.
They also built a cemetery in front of the gate thinking that the Mashiach could not set foot in a cemetery and therefore would not be able to come. They knew that Eliyahu Hanavi who will announce the coming of the Mashiach was a cohen.
In the time when the Kotel was hidden from sight beneath tons of debris and no-one knew exactly where it stood, Jews would pray by the Sha'ar Harachamim.
SOURCE: Agency for Jewish Education
