Day Four - יום רביעי

(updated 6/5; Day 3 is now live.)

Two images remind me perpetually of Israel and Palestine: the ubiquitous stone and the crowd of buildings.
There seems to be more stone than soil.

Ancient and contemporary buildings are crafted out of the same stone, sometimes recycled.

And there is no end to construction even when it seems that there is no room for another building.

And always there is the need for, hope for, cry for, prayer for, peace.
I pray with Zekaryah, the father of Yochannan (John) the Baptizer:

"By the tender mercy of our God,

the dawn from on high will break upon us, 

to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,

to guide our feet into the way of peace."

May our feet walk in the ways of peace,

may our hearts open to receive peace,

may our hands do the work of peace,

may our lips speak the words of peace,

may our eyes see the reign of peace. Amen.

The Dividing Wall

Ephesians 2:14
"For Yeshua himself is our shalom: he has made us both one and has broken down the m’chitzah which divided us." (The Complete Jewish Bible, a Messianic version)
"For Jesus is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us." (The New Revised Standard Version, a widely used academic and congregational translation)
I got a really good look at the Wall today.

Not the Western Wall, bathed in prayer, but the Wall of Separation, the Security Fence, embroiled in different prayers. I saw the olive groves on the Israeli side of the wall.

I asked to whom did they belong. To a number of Christian communities and to some Bethlehemite families. I asked who tended and harvested them. The religious workers tend the trees that belong to their houses. And the families don't tend their trees much any more. For security reasons. In the interest of national security. The wall cut them off from their own land. The security forces assured them that they would be able to pass through the checkpoint "as needed." As the security forces determined. They are not free to visit their trees whenever they wish. There is "no reason" for them to go to their trees apart from harvest time. Not to sit, read, eat or pray under their trees. At harvest time they are regularly denied access to their trees. For security reasons. Their olive trees are untended and we are all the poorer for it.

Walk to Gilo

I set off this morning for an hour's walk. I know that Jerusalem is a city set on a hill whose suburbs and settlements extend to many hills, but ow! And, to return to my Jerusalem home, I have to walk up a steep hill. I am getting my exercise.

Day Two - יום שני

Evening and morning: The sound of the adhan, the call to prayer.
The adhan is both an invitation and a reminder. It is an invitation to pray with the Muslim community here and everywhere. It is an invitation to pray in a mosque or masjid or wherever I am. It is an invitation to pray salat, the Islamic prayer of the hour. And it is an invitation to pray my own prayers at those same hours.
The is a adhan reminder that I have my own tradition of prayer upon the hours: morning prayer, noon prayer, evening prayer and compline. The adhan calls me to the prayers of my church, especially those I so often neglect at home. Some of our prayer times, Muslim, Christian and Jewish overlap. I like to think that we are not in competition for God's ear but a harmony or symphony which if lacking one voice, the voice of one tradition, would leave the composition unfinished and distorted.

Walking in Jerusalem:

My feet have found their path. There is a great hill leading to Tantur. At its base is the Hebron Road with Bethlehem to the south and greater Jerusalem to the north. There are good sidewalks and beautiful flowers. And a steep hill to climb in order to return. My day's exercise is guaranteed. I have always loved the pedestrian crossing signs in Israel. They are a great place to think about the construction of gender and citizenship.
Here are some photos I took on my walk around the Tantur campus:







Library Privileges:
The library here on campus is large - and I have yet to go to École Biblique. There appears to be no computerized record of the library holding here. I had to use a card catalog. There are only two other scholars here. The group taking the June course here (about 20) are off on a day trip. I was the only person in the library. And I found the volume I needed. I look forward to exploring there some more.

יום אחד - Day One

‎‏ And it was evening... ויהי ערב

My first thoughts en route:

The extra security screening for the whole plane at the gate in Philly saddened me.The USB ports on the seats that kept my iPod fully charged for the whole trip gladdened me.

‎‏…and it was morning Day 1 ויהי בקר יום אחד

My first Hebrew conversation:

?זה כולם שער שלך

!יופי 

Is that all your hair? 

Beautiful! 

(Of course she touched it).

Then:

Two little boys discovered each other in the passport line. They were exactly the same height and about 3. (It is almost a cliché, but one was Jewish and one was Muslim.) They fell in like long lost friends and howled when their mothers took them to their respective passport lines. 

At the Tantur Ecumenical Institute:

An amazing group of participants for the formal program here: Anglican, Episcopalian, Roman Catholic, UCC, United Reform, women and men, clergy, seminarians, lay and church educators from the US, New Zealand, Ireland, Australia and Great Britain. The Tantur leader is Orthodox (Christian) from the US.

And boo hiss: My new camera behaved badly and told me the internal memory was full with only six shots on the 2G card. By the time it self-corrected the sun was down and I couldn't take any photos of this beautiful place. Something to look forward to tomorrow on my morning walk.

Evening Prayer:

Holy One of Old,

older than the stones and bones

of this holy city,

gather this city and all who love her

under the shelter of your wings.

Teach us to pray for peace,

teach us to work for peace,

teach of to live for peace.

Grant us that peace that defies human understanding.

May it be so,

soon and in our days.

Amen.