Your People shall be my people!

Some of our brothers and sisters in Israel and Palestine.

A young Palestinian who lives in a refugee camp in Jericho.

An Arab boy selling on the roadside of Jericho.

Two fishermen in Tiberias.

This woman is an Eritrean migrant who cares for chldren of migrants in Tel Aviv.

Philippine migrants who come to work for the Israelis.  They are Catholic and we celebrated liturgy with them Tel Aviv.

Coffee at the Sea of Galilee Reflection Day

This morning I sat looking out at the Sea of Galilee. I had a cup of Americano coffee and a small pastry.  The sea was quiet today.  Small ripples disturbed the water on occasion, while the gulls floated without any movement. 

As I sat I recalled the many times Jesus was in a boat on this sea, walked along it, invited people to listen, to change, to follow. 

As well I imagined the many people who gathered to listen, who were amazed, who were able to drop everything and follow.  Somehow the breeze that drifted off of the lake touched more than my skin. It seemed an invitation to listen, be amazed again with Jesus and to cast my  net into the deep. 

You walked and sailed here.

Your presence still permeates.

Lord that I may see.

They followed amazed.

Desiring the gift offered.

Lord that I may yearn.

Instructions for life.

Peace, love generosity,

Lord that I may live.

Shabbat Meal

After prayers we walked to the home of our host family.  Driving is not allowed on the sabbath, so most of the congregation live near the synagogue.

After greeting everyone we began the meal with the blessing of Wine, "Blessed are you Lord God for the fruit of our land....."The father of the home did this.

We passed the cup. 

The mother prayed, "Blessed are you Lord God for the grain of this land....."

She salted the bread and we broke and shared.

It is very clear how connected we are to our Jewish brothers and sisters through this ritual meal.

After this the parents and grandparents blessed all the children, toddlers, teens and those inbetween.

It was very touching to see them lean toward the children, embrace them while praying 

(For boys, the introductory line is:) 

May you be like Efraim and Menashe.

(For girls, the introductory line is:)

May you be like Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, and Leah.

For both boys and girls, the rest of the blessing is:

May God bless you and guard you.

May God show you favor and be gracious to you.

May God show you kindness and grant you peace.

Most parents give each child a kiss after they are blessed.

In traditional homes, a husband may sing Eshet Chayil to his wife. Eshet Chayil is a poem from the book of proverbs extolling the virtues of a good wife and mother.

Then we ritually washed out hands and the meal began.

Below are two pictures of the family. Father, his son and parents.

Wife, sister and husband.  The little kids were dwonstairs by the time I took this and the teen-ager had gone on to another event.  It was a lovely evening.

Shabbat Shalom!

Last Friday evening our group went to Synagogue for Shabbat prayer. As many of you know, Shabbat prayer begins with sundown Friday ,ending at sundown Saturday night.

We went to Kihillet Yedidya synagogue, a reformed Jewish congregation.  This group keeps kosher and the regulations required by Jewish law. The are however, very open to sharing the roles between women and men.  This would be unique to this synagogue.

    The Book we were giving to flowing along in the Hebrew service. Notice it opens on the left.

One of our instructors belongs to this synagogue. When we arrived she took us to a gathering room and gave us instructions to prepare us for service. Women sit on one side men on the other, a curtain divides the room. Pictures were not allowed in the synagogue proper because by the time we went in it was Shabbat and no pictures are allowed.  I took the one below as I had three minutes before Shabbat began.

    The Kingdom of God - mixed medium art.

The service is comprised of singing psalms, reading some parts out loud, but not in unison and a reflection on the law, as the Torah is only read on the Saturday of Shabbat.  

The music was acappella, with the melodies reminding me of The Fiddler on the Roof.  We were invited to hmm, Lye,lyela or deedle deedle along. ( these descriptions were of our teacher when she invited us to sing.)

Bowing and weaving was done at random but as a way of keeping focused on the prayer.  I thought the movement was very reasonable, as it reminded me of Kenya and the movement in liturgy there.  A number of our group found it "too much" or distracting.  I think our experiences of church were revealed in our responses and comments about this.

After service we met our guest family and walked, no driving on Shabbat, to their home for the meal.

I will share about that next time.

Shalom

 

Living Stones Part 2

Notice the words of the UN declaration.  "Refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbors should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date...." This was written 68 years ago.  the difficult is the phrase live at peace with..... The parties involved have different definitions of peace..  In 1950 Jews were granted the"Right to Return" decided by their ancestry.

These two realities, UN Resolution and Law of Return, contribute to the division's today.

Graffiti is abundant. This was written by one of the Arab cartoonists.  The child 's back is always to the viewer. He is a Palestinian with no face.

Streets of the camp. This camp is in Bethlehem.  Most tours go to Bethleham but do not go to this area.

A Palestinian man came out of his house to share his families story. You could hear anger, despair and a sense of resignation.

The faces of the young men killed by the Israeli army. It is obvious, they expect more deaths, there was one yesterday.

      This image depicts the weapons used by either side. Palestinians, Israeli.

During meals at Tantur we discuss these realities over and over.  It is so complicated.

So far there does not seem to be any solutions in sight.

Yet we must never give up.

LIving Stones

"I would like to thank you for coming to visit Israel and Palestine.  Thank you for not only touring the dead stones of, but for engaging the living stones of this land with all that makes up the lives of the people here and their struggle for identity and a state." These were the words of one of our guides Husam Jubran, a Palestinian,

He and Leil Maghen, an Arab Israeli Jew, spent two days with us helping us understand the modern history of the Holy Land and its issues.

Husam and Leil. 

These two men come from completely different backgrounds and experiences and opposites sides of the issues in Israel, but they have found a way to work together and help people understand the depth of the complexity in their home. Husam lives behind the wall, but not Leil.

Husam  spent his childhood going to the check points and throwing stones at Israeli soldiers.  Eventually he was arrested, put in jail only to return to the streets fighting for the rights of the Palestinian people.  In his last protest he was shot and spent a year recovering.  This time allowed him to ponder and realize that there has to be another way to approach the issues of Palsestine.

Leil's heritage comes from Libya and Italy.  His parents came to Israel to help build the Zionist state.  He grew up in a family that would be labeled rightist.  As required of all young adults, he joined the army, an experience which changed him.  He was sent with his gun to guard a prisoner.  When he entered the room, full of fear, he meat an eleven year old child blind-folded with hands tied behind his back.  He could not reconcile his fear of this small boy who he was raised to believe was "the enemy" and would hurt him even kill him. Soon after he and a friend were sent to one of the fronts. His friend went to the front lines first. Leil came later and found his friend sitting on the ground crying hysterically,  this made him more afraid but the fear was not of the enemy but of what was happening to people he knew because of the war with the Palestinians.  When he left the army he decided that there had to be another way to deal with the Palestinian Israel issue.

Today they lead these tours taking people through Israel and Palestine, sharing both views of what history has brought to bear on the present moment.

Although really impossible choose ONE best things in this program, these two men's were living stones for me.  Following are some of the sights we saw and views we heard.

     

Streets of an older Jewish Neighborhood

Tram that runs throughout Jerusalem

Market In Jerusalem

Another market view.

Picture of one of the old families that came to Israel after the Holocaust.   These photos are being it up to help people remember how long ago their families came to Israel and why!

The Original checkpoint gate which marked the entrance of the 1948 UN Refugee camp.

The first thing you see inside is this wall with the key.  It a symbol for all Palestians to remember that they owned  homes in Israel and were not always refugees. Many still have keys to their original homes hoping that one day...........The writing in the middle is the UN Declaration of 1948, which identified this camp for the Palestinians until the time, in the near future, when they would return to their land.

I will continue this story in the next blog. 

 Two peoples whose heritage goes back to Abraham struggling to find the way to live here in peace. An extremely complicated story.

(There are no current pictures of checkpoints, as photos are NOT allowed.)

Visitation

Today we had mass at the site of the Visitation. After walking up many, many steps 

(these are only a few), we were met by a beautiful sculpture of Mary and Elizabeth.

These pictures said so much to me about the meeting of these two women.  Looking out from the sculpture you can see the foothills that Mary travelled over. Having been in Nazareth last week, I realized how long the journey must have been,giving Mary much time to think about her life and her future. Perhaps it was on this journey that she created the Magificat.

After leaving this sight we made our way to the Holocaust museum - Yad Vashem.

(This tall tower symbolizes the chimneys of the ovens which killed so many of Europes' Jews.)

Yad Vashem means  - place to memorialize.  It comes from Is 56:4-5.

This place guards the memory of the past and imparts its meaning to future generations.

Even though I have been to Dauchau and read many books and stories about this time in our history, I was moved to tears a few times as I walked through.  It is a stark building, grey walls whose only adornments were items collected from the pograms, the camps, or the many round-up that occurred during Hilter's era. Along with testimonials of victims who escaped or survived.

 Men and women gave accounts of their fathers and/or mothers taken by soldiers. How they decided to steal and "never be Moral" again, because it did them no good.  These moved me to tears.

As I entered one section, there was a young woman standing looking at the video of Jews being herded together, she was crying.  I paused and wondered, only to see her turn to the corner and begin weeping deeply.  I was moved to tears witnessings her pain.  I walked over and asked if she was all right.  She said, teats streaming down her face, "my grandmother experienced this and she escaped." With that we both wept.

Her name was Seria.  We spoke a little mores then stood together in silence.  She thanked me for coming over and we parted.

Although not a joyful meeting like Mary and Elizabeth, it was a type of Visitation for me - two women standing together wondering how humans can do this to each other.  For one brief moment our meeting allowed us to share an experience that, I believe, will be remembered by both of us.

Hail Mary, "Yes."

This week I have travelled to Galilee, Nazereth, Cana, Tiberias, Capernum, Magdala, Sea of Galilee....the cities that still hold, in faith, the life of Jesus, Mary and the many who followed him.

There is always the question of the archeologists if this is the real place, maybe, maybe not, yet  there is evidence that points to Jesus's life and presence.  More certain evidence for me are the many, many people who come to these sights to pray, to search, to ask.....certainly this is testimony to the fact and the truth we hold.

Narzareth..... 

Mary's Well the Roman Catholic site.

The Greek Orthodox Site -   Water running and very near the Catholic site.

There is an apocryphal story that Mary was at the well when heard the Angel. She rushed home put down her jar of water and there Gabriel appeared to her and she said, "Yes".

Churches depict the story in many beautiful forms.

The Roamn Catholic Church of the Annunciation.

Whatever the place, the reality of Mary's "Yes" to God is a call to reflect on saying "Yes".

Denise Levertov's Poem Annuniciation comes to mind. Here is a part of it.

Annunciation

(Denise Levertov)

‘Hail, space for the uncontained God’ (From the Agathistos Hymn, Greece, VIc)

We know the scene: the room, variously furnished,
almost always a lectern, a book; always
the tall lily.
Arrived on solemn grandeur of great wings,
the angelic ambassador, standing or hovering,
whom she acknowledges, a guest.

But we are told of meek obedience. No one mentions
courage.
The engendering Spirit
did not enter her without consent.
God waited.

She was free
to accept or to refuse, choice
integral to humanness.

You may want to find the pool and read the rest.

Galilee - Caesarea Maritima

Galilee itself stands as significant to Jesus ministry.  It was between here and Jerusalem that we know Jesus lived, preached and died.

The Romans also built a huge port here.  Once again as in other parts of our trip Herod the Great looms large. Great not because of his fine character but for all the building he did.

This port center was significant in the spread of the Christian Faith also. Peter came here to baptize Cornelius, the Deason, and Paul was sent from this port ot Rome to be judged by the emporer.

On top of the amphitheater.

The theater

 

A sarcaphogas of a deacon.

This marks the room where Paul was kept prisoners until he was sent to Rome.

Magnificent aqueduct carrying fresh water.

The Mediterraean Sea

 I found this place intriguing because of the antiquity preserved, the natural beauty and the intersection of Roman life with some of the most famous Christians we read about in Acts of the Apostles.

Standing on the ground where St. Peter and St. Paul walked was inspiring for me.

Jesus Journey to Jerusalem

This was the view Jesus had as he looked over Jerusalem before he started his final journey to the cross.  It is a very sacred moment to know he was mostly likely very near here as he moved toward his death. The walls of the city protecting the city are prominent.

The journey to the garden is clear.

There is a beautiful chapel built over the rock in the garden where Jesus prayed to be released from the cup of suffering.  It is called the Church of all Nations.  Many, many people come here to pray and the amazing thing is the complete silence.

I prayed here for family, friends, the School Sisters of Notre Dame and anyone I promised to pray for.

A very intriguing sight are the ancient olive trees. It is possible that some of them sprouted from the trees that were in the garden where Jesus prayed.

Allahu Akbar - God is most great!

Thursday and Friday we learned about Isalm and went to the Holy Places.  Following tha I cam upon an article from which the following two paragraphs come.

"I learned that Muslims affirm five “pillars” of faith, all of which should sound extremely familiar to Christians: a declaration of faith, daily prayer, fasting, charity, and pilgrimage. Muslims uphold the New Testament and the Hebrew Scriptures as sacred texts, revere Jesus as a great prophet, and his mother, Mary, as a saint. Having learned Arabic, I could read parts of the Qur'an, which says “surely those who believe, and those who are Jews, and Christians … whoever believes in God and the Last Day and does good, they shall have their reward from their Lord.”

Dome of the Rock - built in 688.  In it I the rock from which Mohammed ascended to the heavens.

Some of the beauty seen in the Dome and throughout the Temple Mount.

 

"Islam and Christianity have a complicated, 1400-year history, one all too often marked by profound misunderstanding and violence on both sides. This is an appropriate moment to remember that reconciliation — hanging together in hope, working toward fruitful relationship — is the central work of the Church. We practice reconciliation when we refuse to separate ourselves from others we don’t know or understand; when we insist on a more honest view of the world, even if it’s a more complicated one; when we pray for and move toward forgiving those who have hurt us; when we are kind and merciful toward our neighbors, our colleagues, our friends, and ourselves."

Claire Dietrich Ranna