Holy Land Tour Post 4

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Today is our last full day in Jerusalem. It is particularly poignant for me, as I am heading for home tonight. Lots running through my mind about what I have learned and seen, the new friends I have made, and the complex situation in Israel/West Bank.

This was our first time with driving through the ‘fancier’ parts of ‘new Jerusalem’. If ever there was an experience reflecting the disparity of the Jewish people in Jerusalem and the Palestinians, this would be it. First of all, the buildings in this area are very new, very tidy, and there are stand-alone private homes in tree-lined shady streets, with many buildings with names boldly stating the name of the donor. A way, I guess, to be remembered (at least until the next earthquake!) If this was my only experience of Jerusalem, I would never know of the conflict that exists internally, much as going from a wealthier part to a much poorer part of any large city in North America. But, because there is a much longer history, the conflict goes much deeper than that.

Our first stop today was at Yad Vashem, Israel’s memorial to the victims of the Holocaust. I think it was a wise choice the tour leaders made to save this for our last day in Israel. The entire site, made up of many separate buildings , was beautifully done, and had a lot of emotional impact to me, despite the fact that I already knew much of the history. The largest building slits through the earth, for the most part underground, and tells the story of the initial movement of the German government to encourage Jews to emigrate, through the laws creating ghettos and taking away civil liberties, to the enforced work camps and on to the death camps. There were maps showing the steady progression of reduced numbers of Jewish people throughout Europe as the Germans took over other countries during the war, many displays reflecting the propaganda that encouraged the German citizens to blame all their problems on the Jews, videotapes of Jewish people telling their own stories of their experiences at the time in Europe, articles that were taken from the Jewish people when they arrived at the camps, stories of individuals who, at extreme danger of losing their lives (and many who did), assisted Jewish people in escaping from Germany, and many more visuals. To give justice to the Museum, one would have to spend several days there. Other buildings include a huge nearly-dark empty space listing each of the death camps, with a walkway around a recessed area; another large building with a circular room supports layer after layer of books presenting pages telling the stories of hundreds of thousands of Jewish individuals who lost their life during this time (the museum is still encouraging people to tell the stories of their relatives who were sacrificed in the Holocaust, so they can be added to the books) and, most memorable, the Children’s memorial, which is hard to describe, but with candles reflected in many, many mirrors that seemed to go on endlessly, and 24/7 reading of the name, age (at time of death), and nationality of each known child who was murdered during the Holocaust. Although many people on our tour have been to the Holocaust museums in Washington, D.C., in Germany, and in other places, I have not been to a Holocaust museum before, so the impact of Yad Vashem on me was powerful.

Very interestingly, it was hard to ignore the comparison of the beginnings of the Holocaust with what the Jewish government is now doing to the Palestinians, particularly the ‘ghettos’ (in this case, the ‘refugee camps’), the separation of the Jews and Palestinians in Israel (Palestinians not allowed to travel into Jerusalem, Jews not allowed to enter many West Bank areas, as mandated by Israeli law, not Palestinian rules), the confiscation of land and private property of the Palestinians, the restrictions on Palestinians against freedom of travelling throughout Israel, the checkpoints that Palestinians are not allowed to cross, even within the West Bank, which is supposed to be Palestinian land, and so on. It is amazing that the Jewish people cannot see the similarities that their government is imposing on Palestinians, without allowing the two groups to get to know each other in reality. Nothing will ever compare to the Jewish Holocaust (we can only hope), and I pray that people in the world will never forget that we earthlings allowed that to happen, but it is amazing that the Jewish government would turn around and do some of the same things to another group of people. I hope to return to see Yad Vashem again in the future.

Our next stop was at the Israel Museum and Shrine of the Book, where the story of the Dead Sea Scrolls and actual pieces of them, and replicas of them, are found. This was fascinating, since we heard the story earlier in the trip and had been to Qu’umran to see where and how the copies of the original books of the Old Testament/Torah had been copied (as well as how the Essenes, who worked there, lived). Some historians believe that John the Baptist and Jesus, for a time, was part of this group of religious hermits. The Jewish people are known as ‘the people of the Book’.

Then we went back to the Old City area for lunch. Some of our group stayed near the bus, at the fancy shops near the Damascus Gate, while others of us (including me) returned to the old city for a last immersion into the experience of middle-east food from small souk shops.

Finally, we visited the Garden Tomb, outside the city walls. There is a controversy about where exactly the crosses were erected and where Jesus was so briefly buried. The Old City has a massive cathedral (the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which we visited a few days ago) built around the area where some people (including Queen Helen, Alexander the Greta’s mother) strongly believed that Jesus was buried. Another group of people felt that the ‘death on the cross’ area was outside the city gates, in the area of what is called ‘the garden tomb’. This ‘Calvary site’ would have been very visible at the side of the road in the time of Jesus where travellers would see the strength of the Roman power when ‘criminals’ were put to death. A nearby cliff face looks like a ‘skull’ (actually looming over the City Bus terminal area), and Golgotha actually means ‘skull’. The Garden is managed by an organization from Great Britain, and the tour guides are all volunteers from the British Isles who each spend a few months telling about the story. Also within this garden area, beautifully kept and maintained as an oasis within the New City, there is what appears to be a tomb site. Once again, it hits you in the face that no one can actually prove exact sites in this area, but more importantly, it doesn’t really matter, as the story is what is important, and the faith it has created, rather than the proof. We ended our visit to the Garden Tomb with a brief meditation period and communion in the Garden.

At the end of the afternoon we returned to the haven of the Guest House managed by Holy Redeemer Lutheran Church, had a farewell dinner, as 7 of us will not be travelling on the final leg of the trip to Egypt tomorrow. It was wonderful to make new friends, to see the Land of the Bible, the Land of the Koran, and the Land of the Torah. The tour guide, Nahim, was marvelously knowledgeable about everything we saw, and even things we did not see, the Chip did a great job bringing it to life, adding enthusiasm and magic to the stories.

Hate to leave, hope to return.
Nancy McIntyre.