Devarim (דברים – lyrics), Deuteronomy 1:1 – 3:22
At the end of the 40-year exodus, Moshe rebukes the children of Israel. He reminds them of their rebellious behavior. He insists on the fact that Lord thus offers them a country already built. Moshe also discusses the recommendations he gave to his successor, Joshua.
This parsha is always read on the Shabbat preceding the fast of 9 av. It is called Shabbat Chazon (שבת חזון – Shabbat of Vision) because of the Haftarah (Isaiah 1:1-27), which contains the prophecies of the destruction of the Temple.
Isaiah chapter 1-‘ישעיהו א
בִּימֵי עֻזִּיָּהוּ יוֹתָם אָחָז יְחִזְקִיָּהוּ, מַלְכֵי יְהוּדָה.
of the time1 of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
The Western Wall (הכותל המערבי – HaKotel HaMa’aravi): The second Temple was destroyed2 by the Romans3, but the retaining wall of its esplanade is still standing. It is made up of 46 rows of stones ranging from 2 tons to several hundred, like the one that can be seen in the underground part which is 14 meters long and weighs 570 tons. The wall is almost 500 meters long, but only a 70 meter section is easily accessible (of which 57 meters are in the open). A tunnel runs along the underground part of the wall for more than 200 meters. The initial height of the retaining wall is about 60 meters but it is 32 meters on the visible part of the place of prayer. The thickness of the wall is estimated at 4 meters at its base and 2 meters at its top. The closest place to Saint-des-Saints4 is called Kotel Hakatan. It is located in the undergrounds of the Kotel.
1 VIIIth century BCE
2 The First Temple, built in 970 BCE, was completely destroyed when Jerusalem was taken by the king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar in 587 BCE. The Second Temple, built in 515 BCE, was destroyed by the Roman armies of Titus in 70; all that remains today are the retaining walls of the esplanade built by Herod and the remains of the arches that allowed access to the esplanade.
3 Flavius Josephus, testifies to the capture of Jerusalem and the destruction of the second Temple by Ttitus in “The War of the Jews”, Book VII.
4 קודש הקודשים Kodesh Hakodachim, the most central part of the Temple in Jerusalem. The Muslims appropriated the place and built the Dome of the Rock (golden dome).