Late Spring – 2006<\/p>\n
Hello from Jerusalem,<\/p>\n
Yesterday, Saturday, my wife and I took an afternoon walk to the Old City.\u00a0 It was surprisingly busy, with Jewish people going to the Western Wall for Sabbath prayers and tourists thronging shops and other holy sites. \u00a0When we first arrived in Jerusalem we couldn\u2019t walk down the narrow shop-lined lanes of the Old City without hearing, \u201cHello friend.\u00a0 See my shop.\u00a0 No need to buy anything. (yeah, right)\u00a0 Hello, Hello!\u00a0 Where are you from?\u201d\u00a0 Yesterday, we got none of that.\u00a0 I think we\u2019re familiar to many locals by now. Not being bugged to buy made the walk more fun.\u00a0 I even dared a few glances into stores!<\/p>\n
Our first stop was the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.\u00a0 A shame it\u2019s been ages since we\u2019ve gone there.\u00a0 We live a 30 minute walk from the holiest shrine in Christendom, yet we seldom visit anymore (we go to church in the Garden of Gethsemane).\u00a0 Of all the local churches, it feels the least church-like, more like a castle or some decrepit old museum.\u00a0 Also, with the politicization of the Jerusalem Patriarchate, and the perpetually rocky relationships between the denominations sharing the building: Greek, Catholic, Armenian, Coptic, Ethiopian, and Assyrian, visiting can be more depressing than inspiring.\u00a0 Yesterday, however, it was fun and upbeat, interesting and humorous, like visiting an aging grandparent, full of interesting stories, but unaware of her foibles and funny habits.\u00a0 <\/p>\n
The place was surprisingly crowded, always nice to see given the sharp drop in tourism over the last five years.\u00a0 We walked toward the tomb but ran into a crowd of worshipers, Catholics gathered all around the tomb singing a hymn, so we went around to the opposite side for a better view.\u00a0 Lovely organ music accompanied a procession winding around the 200 year-old unattractive structure built around the tomb itself.\u00a0 At the head of the procession, Turkish looking men wearing red fezes led the way.\u00a0 Such men have been responsible for leading bishops through the Old City and within the church since the Ottoman Empire ruled.\u00a0 Because of the ongoing Status Quo Agreement imposed on the church in Jerusalem by an Ottoman sultan in the 1850s and continuing even now, everything is the same as it was then.\u00a0 This Agreement was the sultan\u2019s attempt to keep peace between the perpetually bickering Christian groups, all wanting access to the same space.\u00a0 Yes, once again, real estate is at the heart of the matter.\u00a0 Picture a neatly dressed, mustachioed man wearing a red fez on his head, a dark suit, and a long, curved sword dangling from his belt, leading processions of clergy, bishops.\u00a0 You know they\u2019re coming from the loud, intermittent bang of the staffs they carry, smartly striking the stone floor with each step.\u00a0 Next was a cross and a banner, then scores of Franciscan monks singing a hymn, then some priests, and finally, a pink-hatted gentleman who may have been the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem.\u00a0 He smiled and seemed very nice, at least from where I was standing.<\/p>\n
All that alone would have satisfied, but the extra special something that made this a true Jerusalem moment was the fact that the Greek Orthodox and the Armenians were worshiping at the same time in their portions of the large, echoey building!\u00a0 I\u2019ve mentioned the holy cacophony before: it never fails to amaze me and at least sometimes, like yesterday, amuse.\u00a0 Must those services happen at exactly the same time?<\/p>\n
From the church we walked through the Muslim Quarter\u2019s market toward Damascus Gate and on to the Garden Tomb, our next (we thought) stop.\u00a0 While walking along the crowded way I heard someone calling my name. \u00a0One of my employees from work, a late 50ish gentleman named Mousa, was visiting friends of his, a candy shop owner and a few others.\u00a0 He invited us for coffee and while we hated to say no, neither of us wanted a late afternoon buzz from the thick, sweet, strong brew we knew we\u2019d be served.\u00a0 We thought a few friendly words with Mousa would be enough, but soon, he took me by the hand (literally by the hand; in Palestinian culture male\/male touching such as greeting with an embrace or a kiss, is common and accepted), and led us into the candy shop.\u00a0 Since we didn\u2019t want any coffee (would it really have hurt us to drink some?\u00a0 C\u2019mon now!), we accepted glasses of water (Americans!\u00a0 Sheesh!) and chatted with the men gathered in the back of the brightly lit store.\u00a0 After a few minutes, the owner thrust a largish bag of mixed nuts into our hands, plus a smaller bag of candy.\u00a0 We tried to refuse, but the shop owner\u2019s warm, welcoming, very genuine Palestinian hospitality wouldn\u2019t hear of it.<\/p>\n
From there we went to the Garden Tomb, a site not far outside the Old City.\u00a0 A little over 100 years ago, an explorer found a first century tomb set in a garden not far from a rock ledge that looks sort of like a skull.\u00a0 Based on its age, appearance and location, he thought this might be the tomb where Christ was buried.\u00a0 This place is especially popular with Protestant and Evangelical Christians who are not as comfortable with the idea of church tradition and things that are or look ritualistic, even though the Holy Sepulcher site has been venerated as the place of Christ\u2019s burial and resurrection from the first century until now.\u00a0 The Garden Tomb complex is interesting with its many terraces, sheltered places, and benches for impromptu worship services.\u00a0 While we were there, many groups were touring, praying, and singing Christian songs:\u00a0 more worship around a tomb!\u00a0 It’s hard to go far in Jerusalem without seeing some sort of religious behavior or another.\u00a0 It’s also hard to go far without seeing tombs.<\/p>\n
In a simple two hour walk, we went from one tomb site to another, both surrounded by Christian faithful worshiping God.\u00a0 Though I am more comfortable with the Holy Sepulcher as the site of Christ\u2019s resurrection, I have to agree with one statement on the brochure from the Garden Tomb, that the actual place is not as important as the reality that it happened.\u00a0 There is a lot of truth in this, especially seeing how the veneration of the actual piece of turf can lead to such discord.\u00a0 And what serendipitous, unexpected fun we had, sandwiched between the two tomb visits: sweet hospitality at the rear of a candy store in the Old City of Jerusalem.<\/p>\n
Jerusalem Letters Introduction<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Late Spring – 2006 Hello from Jerusalem, Yesterday, Saturday, my wife and I took an afternoon walk to the Old City.\u00a0 It was surprisingly busy, with Jewish people going to the Western Wall for Sabbath prayers and tourists thronging shops … Continue reading