“Be exceedingly happy, O daughter of Zion; Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem. Behold! Your king (Messiah) shall come to you. He is just and victorious; humble, and riding a donkey and a foal, the offspring of [one of] she-donkeys (Zechariah 9:9)”
“And you shall give it to Eleazar the kohen, and he shall take it outside the camp (via the Eastern Gate) and slaughter it in his presence (Number 19:3)”
“The he-goat shall thus carry upon itself all their sins to a precipitous land, and he shall send off the he- goat (via the Eastern Gate) into the desert (Leviticus 16:22)”
By Nosson Shulman, Licensed Tour Guide
Today we are exploring one of the most significant (though unfrequently visited) sites in the country, the Gate of Mercy, which is now sealed but leads to the top of the Temple Mount. What makes this site so important is not just because of its history, but also its future! That is because (according to Jewish tradition) this is where Mashiach (Messiah) will enter to redeem Israel.
The Gate is found on the eastern wall of Jerusalem’s Old City, which is by the far the oldest wall. Whereas most of the current walls surrounding the Old City are from the Ottomans in the 16th century, the visible bottom parts of the wall are from the Hasmonean period (circa 100 BCE), and the top parts are from the times of Herod (circa 20 BCE).
In the days of King Solomon (who built the First Temple), an eastern gate existed which led to the Temple Mount. It is believed to be close to the current gate, although it was destroyed by the Babylonians in 422 BCE (some historians say 586 BCE) along with the holy Temple. In 371 BCE, the Jews once again returned to Israel and rebuilt the Temple.
In 355 BCE after a wave Jewish immigration back to Israel, Nehemiah rebuilt the city walls of Jerusalem. This included the construction of the Shushan (Eastern) Gate, named after the capital city of Persia, the empire who ruled Israel at that time. The Eastern gate even had a design of Shushan on it. According to Jewish sources, this was ordered by Persia so that the people would remember that they were living under Persian rule, and not to rebel. The gate led directly to the Temple Mount, and through it the High Priest lead the red heifer, an extremely rare cow, to the Mount of Olives. Due to the Torah specifications of what constitutes a red cow, only 9 have ever existed and in the days of Messiah, a 10th is to be found. The red heifer was slaughtered, with his remains being burned. The ashes of the animal would then be mixed with a special water, and then sprinkled on someone who had been impure (for example being near a corpse) in order to purify him. This was an extremely important procedure, otherwise anyone who had ever been to a cemetery (or been in place where someone died while he was there) could not enter the Temple until they were purified (see Numbers 19 for more on the Red Heifer).