Peta_in_Jerusalem

Abraham's tent, then back in the Holy City

2012-01-25T17:50:00.008+02:00

When my sister, Amanda, was preparing her second stint as tour-leader for a group of Australian psychologists on a professional development visit, she decided that what they had needed most of all in the previous group was to get a sense of the history of this place.

Not surprisingly, there are people who have thought about that, so she seconded me to be the group educator for the morning and off we went to 'Genesis Land', to be greeted by 'Eliezer of Damascus', Abraham's loyal servant, who gave us a guided tour of his time and place. The orientation to the time of the arrival of the first Hebrew to this land included riding camels to Abraham's tent, just a few metres away. So we donned the robes and mounted up. The landscape has not changed much and we were delighted that we had sunshine (in an otherwise raining, gray week) for our journey in the
Judean desert.

When we arrived, Abraham himself greeted us. He explained many of the customs of his home, including hospitality, of course, and then used members of the group to help narrate the story of how he came to be the first monotheist.
The psychologists turned out to have a thesbian bent and it was a lot of fun.

Then it was my turn.
We did the time-line game - trying to put the events of Jewish history into chronological order - and then I gave a sketch of some of the main events on the time-line - trying to be true to the sacred narrative, while acknowledging the documentary and archaelogical evidence that might lead to slightly different conclusions. They seemed to really appreciate it.

After the lesson, we sat down (down - on cushions on the ground) for a delicious meal. The group had lots of questions and it was an honour and a pleasure to be with them as they started out their fortnight of exploration and investigation.

The camel ride down to the tent was enough for most of the group. We walked back to the bus and the twenty-first century.

The psychologists went on to the Hebrew University and I went back home to do some other work.

That was not the last time I was to see the group. On Monday evening, in a horrible rainy weather, they joined me at Ecce Homo, the amazing venue where we had held the Pilgrimage conference, for an evening of Bibliodrama.

You never know what you will see when you are in the Old City of Jerusalem. It is Christian Unity week and pilgrims from all over the world are expressing their love for each other and for peace by re-enacting Jesus' final walk in the streets of Jerusalem.

The view from the roof of Ecce Homo was still stunning (see previous post) and the evening was a great success.
Of course, my home is very much in the New City - geographically and psychologically. I love the fact that in this place, 24/7 is not a great advertising slogan - but 24/6 is!

I have to finish with some pictures of Alma on new new bike. We bought it in Australia and Cygal sent it with her shipment. Alma is just big enough to begin to enjoy it. So Aharon assembled it the other day and we gave her her first ride.

Pilgrimage for Peace to Jerusalem

2012-01-08T23:02:00.006+02:00

When 46 Christian pilgrims arrived in Jerusalem on their way to Bethlehem for Christmas, my boss, Alon Goshen-Gottstein, said he had wanted to greet them in the traditional way, with bread and wine, but Shabbat observance made that impossible. However, a few days later, we were all able to welcome them with metaphorical ‘bread and wine ‘ – sharing wisdom and song - at our joint conference on 'Pilgrimage for Peace to Jerusalem'. Here he is with Therese on the roof of Ecce Homo, above the Old City.

The Christian pilgrims, 4 of whom had walked for 7 months from Switzerland to arrive in the Holy City of Jerusalem at the end of their journey, were supported by Lassalle-Haus, the co-sponsor with Elijah of the interreligious conference, ‘Pilgimage of Peace’, held at the beautiful Ecce Homo on Via Dolorosa. The event opened with a capella singing on the roof from the 4 pilgrims who had made the entire journey, followed by Alon's beautiful rendition of Psalm 122. (Here are the pilgrims and Alon in our gorgeous setting.)

In my previous posting I showed pictures of the Old City and said how wonderful it was to work in such a setting. That was the day I first visited Ecce Homo, which we decided to use as the venue for the conference. It is not a very large venue but we were thrilled to fill the available space. Christian tourism, particularly pilgrimage, is a very important source of income for Israel. The conference did look at the economic benefits of pilgrimage but it also looked at the theology and history of pilgrimage to Jerusalem in each of the Abrahamic faiths.

A keynote speaker representing each of the religions for whom Jerusalem is a place of pilgrimage – Professor Uriel Simon from Jerusalem, Abbot Notker Wolf from Rome and Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf from New York – anchored the two day event.

Professor Simon led the 100 participants in a close reading of Psalms 15 and 122. He demonstrated that the emphasis on the Psalmist in the first case was on the ethical values of the pilgrim to Jerusalem: the relationship of person-to-person rather than the relationship with the Almighty. The second case he chose was the Psalm that mentions ‘Peace’ 5 times – as he said, not political peace but a much more spiritual peace that is part of Jerusalem’s nature.

Abbot Notker Wolf explained that pilgrimage was integral to Christianity and that, as a Christian, he feels exhilarated to walk in Jesus’ footstep in the city that was so important to him. He resonates with the vision of Isaiah, when all the nations of the world will come to Jerusalem in peace.

Imam Feisal spoke of his dream of thousands of Muslim pilgrims visiting Jerusalem, boosting Israel’s economy and being messengers of peace. He opened an important discussion about the possibility of interreligious pilgrimage, which explored the question of whether it is possible to share the experience and the holy places of others. This question and others were the subjects of workshops on each day of the conference. I chaired a session which was devoted to the history of pilgrimage to Jerusalem of each of the three faiths and there was another session devoted to existing programs of interreligious pilgrimage to Jerusalem or in other places. It was fascinating to hear how much of this type of activity takes place.

Participants were honoured with the presence of the Custos of the Holy Land, Pierrebattista Pizzaballa, (at the podium here) and the Chief Rabbi of the Western Wall, Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowicz, (seated next to Alon),each of whom spoke about the sanctity of the City and about the expectations for mutual respect that they have from their respective communities.

A highlight of the event was learning about the journey of the 4 pilgrims, 2 men and 2 women, led by Rev. Dr. Christian Rutishauser, who endured physical difficulty but encountered human kindness and much natural beauty on their way. Hundreds of people accompanied them on various legs of their journey and 42 came into Jerusalem from Amman with them. For Christians, the journey to the place of pilgrimage is as important as the place itself. The Conference represented the end of the physical journey but the beginning of reflection on the meaning of what they had accomplished – and, in that sense, it was an inner pilgrimage for all who attended.

On a personal note, one of the sources of pleasure for me was the number of Aussies at the conference. Many of the Sisters of Sion at Ecce Homo are Aussies, there were Christian Aussie tourists there and even Inna, one of the co-authors with me in the book on Australian Jewry, 'New Under the Sun', who happened to be in Jerusalem that week, joined us.

Pieces of Life

2011-12-17T21:54:00.010+02:00

It has been such a long time since I have written and there is so much to say. I can't resist sharing a last few tidbits about Poland - the land of paradox.

The first picture - a vendor on the main thoroughfare of Bielsko-Biala. Only two items available from this stall - shoes and garlic.
If anyone has any ideas about their relationship ...

There is also a state-of-the-art shopping mall a few steps away -
of course, it was already decorated for Christmas.
The Bielso-Biala Jazz Festival is world class. We went to one night and heard (American) greats, the Tom Harrel Ensemble and Pharoah Sanders. The double-bass player for Pharoah Sanders was amazing!!
One wonderful thing in Poland was the technology for pedestrian crossings - you don't press a button; you put your hand up to - but not touching - a sensor and the lights change. I love it!
The final thing I need to mention before returning to describing my life in Israel is the Bibliodrama that we did in Poland. It was a different genre from the one Yael uses in Israel, using a lot more movement and props - particularly scarves - we used coloured scarves a lot and moved around in various ways.
And now I am back in the real world - Jerusalem.

Is there any workplace in the world better than this?
A few days ago, shortly after I returned, I had to walk through the Christian Quarter to book a venue for our forthcoming interfaith conference on Pilgrimage.
It was a beautiful, sunny winter's day. It was so exhilarating to be there.

And last Monday, I spent another few hours in the Old City - this time in the Jewish Quarter - on an 'excursion' to learn about the Qaraites from the local community with my class from the Conservative Centre. I had taught about Saadia Gaon a couple of weeks earlier and the class was very interested to know more.

The Karaite Synagogue is the oldest one in continuous use in the City and even though not all Karaites in the world today are halachically Jewish, the local community is.
We walked from the Conservative Center on Agron, through the Mamilla Mall and into the Jewish Quarter. When we arrived, the Synagogue was clearly indicated by signs but apparently there is some hostility between the Karaites and other residents of the Jewish Quarter.

We learnt a little about why - not to justify vandalism or harrassment, I hasten to add. The Karaites have always posed a problem for the established Jewish community and they are another challenge for the Jewishness of this State. For a brief time, just before the Crusaders came through, the majority of Jews in Jerusalem were Karaites. They had rejected Rabbinic authority (which, at that time, was centered in Babylon) and tried to use the Torah literally. The Crusaders slaughtered many of them and, at the same time, there was an ideological battle against Karaism.
Our instructor was Yehoshua, a Jewish Karaite who is devout in his adherence to the Torah and commitment to his way of life.
He fielded questions about the various practices, including not using electricity at all or lighting candles on Shabbat and the rituals for purification.
He pointed out that the Synagogue is now below ground level because of the way the city has been built up over the centuries but it is still the same synagogue - with these sky-lights to allow natural light in.

The session was wonderful - we had lots of questions -and then we had lunch together in the Jewish Quarter, contemplating how we are part of the 'victorious' branch of Judaism. We accepted Rabbinic authority and it held us together. However, today's Jews are so varied in their levels of commitment, we wonder if, in the past, we would have survived as a people. The Karaites put great emphasis on individuals having to make their own decisions on what the Torah is commanding them. We prefer to make our own decisions - but not necessarily using Torah as our authority!

I walked out alongside the Kotel plaza, knowing that I could visit any time I wanted to. That is the magic of my life now!

But, of course, it is not just about the sanctity and magic, the holiness and history of this city. There is a real need for all of us to be concerned about our future. Amos Oz says we have to dream about the future - not the past. And that means we have to draw people who live here into a sense of common purpose.

When I saw this motorised chair, I thought it was very cute and very patriotic to have so many flags but I really do worry about what this flag stands for sometimes. How are we going to convince all the citizens of the State that we need to have rule of law and that the legal system is there to uphold the law for all of us? How can we move forward as a democracy when a significant number of our elected politicians don't understand the meaning of the term?

Last week, Meirav organised a conference at which one of the keynote speakers was Steven Pinker. (Read about him at http://stevenpinker.com/). It was a thrill to hear such an entertaining and brilliant orator. He believes that the world is moving in a positive direction.
I look at Alma and have to believe it is. After all, we have invested in the future through our children and their children.