Eucharist in Israel at Eremos
Of all the places in the world, why travel to Israel? This seemed to be the question a friend was asking me when, before my trip, he asked, “what are your expectations for this trip?” Did I have expectations? I have long wanted to travel to Israel since that is where my faith tradition began. I thought for a minute and said, “I don’t have any expectations. I want to be open to whatever happens.” When I thought about it more, deep down I was hoping to have some type of transformative spiritual experience. How could I not? According to scripture, this is where my God walked the earth – how could I physically inhabit the same places that God physically inhabited and NOT be transformed?
In an effort to set myself up for the possibility of having a spiritual transformation, I decided to prepare myself mentally for the tip. I bought the book, “Israel: A Spiritual Travel Guide: A Companion For The Modern Jewish Pilgrim” by Lawrence A. Hoffman. Although I am not Jewish, the roots of my Christian faith are Jewish and I thought it would be interesting to understand the Holy Land from a Jewish perspective. Reading this book taught me the importance of Israel to Jews and I started to see myself as a Pilgrim rather than a tourist. I felt like I was on my way to being in a spiritual frame of mind for my trip.
Okay, I admit that as soon as the plane touched down in Israel, I turned into an excited tourist and was snapping pictures before we even left the airport!
When I left California on my pilgrimage, I felt I was going with an open heart, an open mind, and a fairly good understanding of the political and religious tensions in that area. After all, I come from a progressive Episcopal parish, All Saints Pasadena, and we have a Middle East Ministry and I have been involved with our Peace & Justice work.
Cave at Qumran
I soon learned that I did not know as much as I thought. And now, reflecting on my experience, even my trip preparation was an indication of what I consider to be my unconscious beliefs about Israel and the Middle East. It never occurred to me to spiritually prepare for my trip by looking at a Palestinian or Muslim point of view. Why not? From a historical perspective, Israel is a modern creation; all of that land used to be called Palestine. Jews and Christians are not the only ones who consider the Holy Land holy – it’s holy for Muslims as well.
On my trip, I learned things that touched my heart and broke my heart. But, before I tell you how my pilgrimage to Israel changed me as a human being, I want to share with you one of the most moving experiences I had while there.
Our guide, Iyad Qumri, was amazing! As an Arab, a Palestinian and a Christian who was born in Jerusalem and lived there all his life, he brought a very unique perspective to the holy places, the people, and the political/religious situation in the region. He knows the region and the Bible inside and out, allowing him to connect each of the holy sites we visited to the actual scriptural passages that speak about those sites and the events that took place there. In my opinion, this allowed us to connect to each place on a much deeper spiritual level.
Jesus Star
Guiding pilgrims in the Holy Land and helping them to see through the eyes of the Jews, the Christians AND the Palestinians is Iyad’s ministry. And because this is his ministry, he has forged relationships that enable him to provide experiences that are unique to most pilgrims. One of these once-in-a-lifetime experiences was at Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. The church is built over the site that is still traditionally considered to be located over the cave that marks the birthplace of Jesus. Iyad arranged for our small group of 12 to participate in an Italian Eucharist IN THE CAVE with the priest and nuns! As you can imagine, the birthplace of Jesus is a pretty popular stop for tourists and pilgrims alike. In fact, so many people funnel through this small cave that they are usually only allowed time to briefly touch the star that marks the birth spot and are then ushered along to make way for the next person in line. How special that we not only got an extended time in the cave, but that we also got to celebrate Eucharist. In fact, I was SO moved that I tears streamed down my face through most of it. At one point, even the priest cried – that’s how moving the experience was. To experience a Holy Sacrament in such a holy place was truly a spiritual and transformational experience.
Yes, my deep down hope of having a spiritually transforming experience was realized; in fact, more than once. Reciting The Beatitudes from the very cave where it is said that Jesus did the same when he gave The Sermon on the Mount, was another. Renewing baptismal vows at the Jordan River, taking a boat ride on The Sea of Galilee – the same sea where the disciples fished and Jesus walked on water. Wow! At place after place, I kept thinking, “I can’t believe I’m standing here, touching this, seeing this…” Books, documentaries and other people’s stories are no substitution for experiencing these places first hand.
And now to what broke my heart.
I will be the first to admit that I am not an expert on the Israeli / Palestinian conflict, but I thought I knew the basics on both sides. However, being there in person allowed me to see firsthand how this conflict is impacting everyday people.
One of the walls dividing up the land
I stood right next to a 30-foot concrete wall and heard how it goes through a Palestinian neighborhood and now separates Palestinian families. In the paraphrased words of the Jewish speaker that came to speak to us about the Jewish perspective of the political situation, “while Israel has a right to protect its boarders, the problem is in the implementation”. Standing next to the wall brought up feelings of sadness and injustice.
I saw refugee camps in which no human should have to live, Palestinian, Jew or otherwise. These camps seemed very inhumane to me.
I learned that you could tell a Palestinian house from a Jewish house by the large black container on top of the house. This container is for water and Palestinian houses have one because the Israeli government denies them running water five days per week. Can you imagine living with running water only two days per week? I put myself in their shoes and it brought tears to my eyes; I thought about it and it and the inhumanity of it made me sad and angry.
Water tanks
In the US, our media gives us a biased view of the Middle East. For example, when the events of 9/11 took place, our media showed us news stories of Palestinians cheering; they did not show us that there were also Palestinians holding candlelight vigils in solidarity with us. Like many, I unconsciously took in this information as unbiased news and formed beliefs I didn’t even know I had.
When I returned from my trip, I felt like I had to do something to help the Palestinians get their side of the story out.
Jews should not be defined by their extremist and Palestinians should not be defined by their extremists. Muslims should not be defined by their extremists and Christians should not be defined by their extremists. Muslim, Jews, and Christians have followers who want to do violence in the name of their God, but those people are the minority and should not be taken to represent the entire group. Muslim extremists crashing a plane into a building do not define or represent all Muslims just as child molesting Catholic priests do not define or represent all Catholic priests.
As Christians, Jesus represents the incarnation of our God, but we don’t always follow his example. If we did, we would love the Palestinian as much as we love the Jew. We would advocate for the rights of Palestinians as much as we advocate for the rights of Jews.
I am not advocating hatred of Jew in favor Palestinian; I am advocating love and compassion towards both. I also want to be clear that it is the Israeli government oppressing the Palestinian people, not the Jewish people as a whole.
I am advocating that we start following Jesus and stop taking sides. I am advocating that we treat all humans with dignity and stop supporting the building of settlements and walls and the denial of water. And, although I am not a Bible literalist, I am advocating that you take Matthew 22:39 literally and love your neighbor as yourself.
One morning, after returning from my trip, I was reading “An Altar in the World: A Geography of Faith” by Barbara Brown Taylor and I thought, “Jerusalem, Land of The Holy One, really does not belong to Jew or Muslim or Christian – it belongs to all of God’s creation. God did not create the earth or portions of it only for specific groups of people.” In the words of Barbara Brown Taylor:
Whoever you are, you are human. Wherever you are, you live in the world, which is just waiting for you to notice the holiness in it.
I had forgotten that the whole world is the House of God. Who had persuaded me that God preferred four walls and a roof to wide-open spaces?
I am a guest here, charged with serving other guests – even those who present themselves as my enemies. I am allowed to resist them, but as long as I trust in one God who made us all, I cannot act as if they are no kin to me. There is only one House. Human beings will either learn to live in it together or we will not survive to hear its sigh of relief when our numbered days are done.
There are no easy answers to the complicated situation in the Middle East, but I think there are answers and there is hope. There are good people on all sides who are working for peace in the region in many different and important ways. And in my opinion and their opinions, a solution begins with human dignity.
You should travel to The Holy Land and experience it for yourself – it’s perfectly safe and it’s an experience you will never forget. You may not come back changed in the way I was, but you will come back changed.
Friends
Sister MJ 