After forty days of war-time closure, the gates of Old City of Jerusalem reopened, and with them came the return of mass religious gatherings—Christian, Muslim, and Jewish. Yet the renewed activity also underscored a stark reality: while access has been restored, the scale and spirit of worship remain far from normal, particularly for Jews during the recent Passover festival.

The contrast was most visible on Saturday, as roughly 10,000 Christian worshipers filled the streets around the Church of the Holy Sepulchre for the annual Holy Fire ceremony, a ritual dating back more than 1,200 years. At the same time, the twice-yearly Birkat Kohanim—the Priestly Blessing traditionally delivered en masse at the Western Wall during Passover—was severely curtailed under security restrictions, with attendance capped and the usual massive crowds absent.

During the height of the war, Jerusalem itself was not spared. Iranian ballistic missiles were fired toward the city, with intercepts taking place directly over the Old City of Jerusalem. Shrapnel and missile debris fell in multiple locations, including near the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound on the Temple Mount, and in the Jewish Quarter.

Israeli officials stated that Iran had “repeatedly targeted the holy sites of all three monotheistic religions,” with fragments in at least one instance landing just meters from major Christian sites. Police bomb squads were deployed across the Old City to secure the areas and remove dangerous debris, underscoring the unprecedented reality of active պատերազմի reaching the most sensitive religious locations in the world.

Despite the direct threat, no major damage or casualties were reported at the holy sites themselves. That outcome, given the scale of the હુમાસ and the density of the Old City, was widely viewed in Israel as a near-miss with far-reaching consequences avoided.

Every Passover, tens of thousands of Jews gather together in the Western Wall plaza, recreating a scene reminiscent of the Holy Temple, as hundreds of Kohanim ascend the steps, spread their prayer shawls over their faces, and raise their hands in the Priestly Blessing. But due to wartime restrictions, this did not happen. 

The Western Wall Heritage Foundation announced that due to the ongoing war with Iran and Home Front Command security directives, the Birkat Kohanim ceremony last Sunday was restricted to just 50 men. 

The general public was prohibited from attending. The announcement cited the narrow access routes to the Old City, the inability to safely evacuate large crowds in the event of a missile alert, and the proximity of Iranian missile impacts, two of which have already struck within several hundred meters of the Temple Mount. The ceremony was broadcast online.

Jerusalem’s holy sites reopened on Thursday morning, restoring full public worship following a shift in defense policy and updated Home Front Command guidelines. By sunrise, the plaza was already filling, with thousands of worshippers returning to the Western Wall after a prolonged period in which entry had been limited to roughly fifty people at a time.

The reopening followed a broader easing of wartime restrictions after a ceasefire between the United States and Iran and a reassessment by the IDF Home Front Command. While most regions returned to normal activity, several areas in northern and central Israel remained under partial limits on public gatherings.

The Holy Fire ceremony proceeded two days after the Old City reopened, following a 40-day closure imposed during the war with Iran. The event marks the climax of Orthodox Christian Holy Week, during which a flame—believed by participants to be miraculously kindled at the site of Jesus’s burial—is distributed from Jerusalem to Christian communities worldwide. Clergy and diplomats from countries including Greece, Cyprus, Romania, and Russia received the flame for transport abroad.

Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion welcomed the return to religious routine. “After a challenging period in the country, we have returned to routine, including the sacred ceremonies of the three religions living side by side in the city,” he said. “Jerusalem will continue to be a beacon of tolerance for Christians, Jews, and Muslims.”

Despite the celebratory tone, attendance at the Holy Fire ceremony was noticeably lower than in previous years, and the event unfolded under heavy police presence. Authorities established multiple checkpoints leading into the church compound, citing crowd control concerns. Police acknowledged detaining several individuals during the مراسم, stating that those involved had disrupted public order and, in at least one case, assaulted an officer.

The reopening also saw a surge in Muslim worship at the Al-Aqsa Mosque, where more than 100,000 gathered for Friday prayers following weeks of restricted access during Ramadan. The site, administered by the Jordanian Waqf, had been largely inaccessible during the height of hostilities.

All three faiths returned to their holy places within days of a fragile ceasefire between Israel, the United States, and Iran. The war, which began after a joint US-Israeli strike on Iran on February 28, had turned the Old City into a restricted zone, with gatherings limited to as few as 50 people and missiles landing in and around Jerusalem.

Jewish leaders had petitioned Israel’s High Court earlier in the week to ease those restrictions, resulting in a modest increase in permitted attendance. Still, the limitations remained in place throughout Passover, muting what is typically one of the most powerful public religious gatherings of the year.

For Christians and Muslims, the reopening brought large-scale public worship back to Jerusalem. For Jews, the return was partial. The Birkat Kohanim, meant to draw tens of thousands in a unified national blessing, was reduced to a fraction of its usual scale.

Jerusalem is described in the Bible as a place where the entire nation ascends together. When that unity is constrained, the absence is felt not only in numbers, but in the spiritual intensity that defines the city.

The gates are open again. The question is whether the full voice of Jewish prayer in Jerusalem will be restored with them.