The Western Wall
The Western Wall is the holiest place in Judaism due to it being the last remaining evidence of the Second Temple compound. Although for many Jews it is just a wall, many also believe that upon the destruction of the Second Temple, the immanent presence of God came to reside in the wall. Once Jews were allowed to pray at the Wall again, heavy restriction were placed on women(?). It is only fairly recently that a movement has begun to allow women to pray at the Wall. The group in charge of this movement is known as Women of the Wall, which is composed of a variety of Jewish sects(?).
Twenty five years ago, a group of women went to pray at the Wall. They wore talitot, read from the Torah, and sang. All of these go against the traditional gender roles proscribed(?) to women in Orthodox Judaism. As a result, these women were attacked by many of the Orthodox men. Since that day, the Women if the Wall have fought numerous court battles for their right to pray at the Wall. The judges ruled that women had the right, but despite this women faced many more challenges when trying to pray there. Eventually a decision was made to make a separate space for women, though this space is much smaller than the men’s space. Although the situation for women has significantly improved and they are now protected by the police, about 5-10 women are still arrested every month at the Wall. Now, the Women of the Wall are in the process of negotiations with the government.
City of David
In Draper’s article, he notes the controversy and debate regarding what he calls “biblical archaeology.” This he defines as the search for evidence of that corresponds with the biblical narrative. His article is precisely about the debate between these the two schools of archaeology regarding potential biblical sites. Eilat Mazar, the archaeologist that discovered the alleged Palace of David, is a member of the ??? school. Her critics, such as ??? Finklestein, are members of the minimalist school.
Since the discovery of the Palace of David in 2005, the site has had a strong influence on those who have a literal interpretation of the Bible. These sites have attracted many tourist groups due to their significance to both Judaism and Christianity. This is because these religious groups believe that sites like these lend credibility to their diets. Moreover, these discoveries are important to the Israeli Zionist movement.
In addition to the discovery of what Mazar claims to be the Palace of David, the alleged battle site of David and Goliath was found as well as a corner of a Judaean city that is allegedly from the time of David. Additionally, there is evidence of a copper-smelting operation at a place where the Edomites would have resided during the time if David. According to the Old Testament, the Edomites were at war with the forces of David. The archeologist that discovered this site claims that the biggest period of smelting at the site wax at the time of David, but other scholars think that the Edomites emerged two centuries later. Regardless, the evidence of copper smelting indicates that there was economic activity at the site.
The ??? school of Mazar is highly controversial due to the extravagant claims that they make of their finds. Finklestein and other critics believe that members of the ??? school jump to conclusions about their finds. Some critics even allege that scholars like Mazar, whose research is backed by the Israeli Government(?), make these claims in accordance with a political agenda. Moreover, members of the minimalist school note that the only evidence of the site being from the time of David is from a single shard of pottery that dates to that time. The structure itself may not be dated correctly due to faults in Carbon C14(?) dating, which have a margin of error of about 40 years. Some even state that the site is from around one century after Mazar claims.