Hundreds of Jews, led by Breslov activist Rabbi Shalom Arush, barricaded themselves inside the lower hall of King David’s tomb on Mount Zion on Sunday morning to prevent a Christian Mass ceremony that was scheduled to take place there.
The lower hall is used as a Jewish prayer hall.
The Greek Orthodox Christians were forced to move their prayers to the Cenacle, the upper room above the tomb, where they believe the “Last Supper” was held. They plan to try again tomorrow to enter the lower hall of David’s Tomb.
Jerusalem City Council member Aryeh King wrote on Sunday morning:
“The battle over the future of David’s Tomb continues. I came this morning to pray at the grave site of the king of Israel, King David, on Mount Zion. The Greek Church today is seeking to hurt the feelings of the Jews and to conduct an idolatrous ceremony at the grave of our King, King David. I canceled all my meetings and my plans to be part of the mass prayer and singing and learning taking place now, until the evil decree is removed.”
According to Chareidim-1, another Jewish protester complained,
“There is no parallel phenomenon in the whole world, where police would evacuate a Jewish synagogue to make room for Christians to pray there. Mount Zion is crowded with Christian churches, many of which stand on top of the graves of kings from the Davidic line, but the Christians are not satisfied with that. It is most important for them to say their Christian prayers in the Jewish synagogue right above the entrance hall leading to King David’s tomb.”
There have been rumors that the previous government wanted to hand the whole building over to the Vatican, which caused major protests.
And of course there is the question of is King David really buried there at all?
