03-01 Jerusalem

It was only a week after Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, was assassinated on November 4, 1995 that I attended an International Small Business Congress in Tel Aviv.
Naturally I gave myself several free days to visit the holy sites in old Jerusalem. We were told which days were safe if we wanted to visit the old city. Muslim holy days were a no-no. The photo gives a good sense of what old Jerusalem looks like.
The Church of the Holy Sepulchre was the most popular site for Christians as the spot where Jesus was crucified. The place was packed and everywhere I could see people with tears running down their cheeks.
But I had no feelings of emotion. It was the first time I realized that I did not have any religious faith and was an atheist in the sense that I just did not believe there was a God. But watching others, I realized that their faith was a source of comfort and meaning.
Then I had a close-up view of the Dome of the Rock, an Islamic shrine with a gold-plated roof. It is a UNESCO world heritage site. We were not allowed inside.
Naturally, I visited the sacred Jewish prayer and pilgrimage site, called the Western Wall or the Wailing Wall. I was asked to wear a kippa, or skull cap, and approached the wall to put a note between one of the rocks.
But I had an orthodox Jew as an employee back home at the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, and for her I pealed off a couple of pieces from one of the ancient rocks.
Arriving home, you would think I gave her a million dollars, when she received my gift. She said she prayed every day in front of this tiny piece of the Western Wall.
Naturally, before leaving Israel, I visited modern Jerusalem and walked through an area where the most orthodox Jews lived. On Saturday, they throw stones at any cars passing through their area of the city. Saturday is the Jewish sabbath.
Most people who visit the ancient city of old Jerusalem, come away either inspired or full of questions about how a so-called religious centre could have such a history of violence.
It was convincing to me that God and all the different faiths is something man-made.
That’s the way I see it anyways.