As the navel is set
in the center of the human body,
So is the land of
Israel the navel of the world.
Jerusalem is the
center of the land of Israel;
And the sanctuary
in the center of Jerusalem;
And the Holy of Holies
in the center of the sanctuary;
And the ark is in
the center of the Holy of Holies;
And the foundation
stone the center before the holy place.
Because from it the
world was founded.
We stood on the foundation
stone, 12 clergy from the downtown and northside congregations
of Minneapolis in early January. One Jew, one Muslim, one Unitarian,
nine Christians
It was a Thursday
morning, and we listened to the power of that place.
The foundation stone where the Holy of Holies sat;
Where the Temple stood.
Where Abraham set out to sacrifice Isaac.
Where Jacob laid his head upon a rock and had a dream of a ladder.
A holy place from the Jewish perspective.
And for the Christians
this is where Jesus walked and brought a sacrifice for his last
and fateful Passover.
And from the Muslim
perspective; The Dome of the Rock is where Abraham came to sacrifice
Ishmael. Where Mohammed, their great prophet ascended with Gabriel
to heaven and met all the other prophets before him, meeting
Abraham and Moses and Jesus on the way.
I read recently in
the Biblical Archaeology Review (July/August 2006) that when
the Muslims where in control of Jerusalem (638 C.E.) They didn’t
know how to care for the foundation stone so they employed Jews
to clean and oil that holy place.
While there in January,
I longed for that kind of cooperation. Instead no one other
than Muslims are allowed to see that place. Makram El-Amin was
taken into the Dome to see the foundation stone, while the rest
of us stood outside waiting.
Israeli soldiers
are there to make sure there is peace, when 40,000 Muslims come
to pray in that small space, at the Al Aqusa Mosque, on Fridays
at 12:00 – the Muslim Sabbath
But equally, the
soldiers are keeping out the (Baruch Goldsteins) the Jews who
believe it is only a Jewish holy site and will destroy it in
order to make sure that happens. From their perspective, when
a red heifer is born – a pure red heifer – then
it is time to reclaim the Temple Mount. One was recently born
– thank goodness it had three white hairs on it’s
tail.
In this instant we
were confronted with reality. One of the ministers turned to
me and said – “I admire Israel for giving up this
place for peace. Why don’t people acknowledge that sacrifice?”
“Thank you” I said, feeling proud and saddened that
so few see it. We were confronted with the reality and then
it passed.
We are all friends
- knowing one another through the interfaith forums, monthly
breakfast meetings, encounters and projects we have worked on
for the city of Minneapolis.
We took a journey
in order to: deepen our friendships; deepen the connections
of our congregations; and to challenge the one area of the world
there we have strong disagreements.
Israel is the navel
of the world.
Jerusalem the center of the land of Israel,
And the foundation stone is where the world was founded.
The center of our
disagreement is the present situation in Israel: the Palestinian-Israeli
conflict. And I believe it remains so – even after the
trip.
But let’s re-wind
and start at the beginning. This trip had two major goals.
One was to share our historical roots with one another and in
that – Israel is the center. And the second was to engage
in conversations about the present reality in Israel.
And those two goals are what I want to speak about tonight.
The most powerful experience for me was to see the Israel I
never experienced before.
Seeing the Muslim
and Christian sites through the eyes of my colleagues was fascinating
and powerful. Standing on the platform of the Dome of the Rock
and the Al Aqusa Mosque, hearing the story of Muhammad’s
ascension from Imam Makram El-Amin was thrilling and gave this
place I had previously visited more depth and more texture.
Being in the Old
City on Friday afternoon as the Muslim community was gathering
for noon prayers - fathers and sons with grandfathers, mothers
and daughters with grandmothers was exciting. It was their Sabbath
and late that evening, the Old City was crowded with people
rushing toward prayer.
Hearing the traditional
Muslim call to prayer throughout the Old City and in Old Yaffa
five times during the day made me realize how common these sounds
and these Arabic words are to the landscape of the region. It
made me sad and disappointed to hear that the Knesset voted,
while we were there, to renounce Arabic as an official language
in Israel.
Whenever Makram wanted
to pray, there was a mosque nearby – not common in Minneapolis.
I was thrilled to make possible Makram’s opportunity to
pray at the Al Aqusa Mosque on Friday at noon. This was a side
of Israel I had never seen before.
And from the Christian
perspective: We visited Saint Anne’s Church and the double
pool of Bethesda where people with disabilities came to be cured
in the water’s magical powers; stood in the garden of
Gethsemane, touched a 2000 year old tree, a tree that could
have been a sapling at the time Jesus stayed in that very place
the night before his trial. We walked the Stations of the Cross,
visited the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, walked into the room,
with Father O’Connell, where Jesus’ body was taken
after his death, I saw people of strong faith touch the rock
where Jesus’ cross stood. We traveled to Gallilee where
Jesus engaged in his ministry with Simon, John the Baptist,
Andrew and James, his disciples. Being at the Church of Beatitudes
- all gave me insight and respect for my Christian colleagues
and the religious origins of Christianity.
And I proudly shared
my Jewish heritage and history: Kabbalat Shabbat at the Wall,
the steps leading up to the Temple on the southern side, the
excavations underneath the Western Wall, experiencing Yad V’shem
with my colleagues, walking the streets of Safed with a myriad
of young boys with payot and the little girls in their long
skirts singing Hebrew songs. Just being in Israel was an opportunity
to share modern Judaism- to share my pride in the Jewish people.
Israel is the navel
of the world, the foundation stone from where the world was
founded.
The challenge for
me was when we encountered difficulty concerning our visit to
Bethlehem. Having planned much of the itinerary, I was aware
of my colleagues desire to encounter the political reality and
encounter they did.
At 11:30 p.m. the
night before we were to go to Bethlehem, I received a call from
the Israeli Consulate in Chicago warning me that it was unsafe
for a Jew to go to Bethlehem – there was a possibility
of a kidnapping. After many phone calls I decided I was not
going into Bethlehem. I knew that my colleagues would be disappointed
in the fact that they came to Israel but I was not going to
see the other side. I was assured by the Consulate and others
that the group was safe to go. I knew this would disrupt the
group. While my colleagues supported my decision from a personal
perspective, some were critical of the Israeli authorities,
feeling that it was a political move on Israel’s part.
I was not in Bethlehem and have not viewed the tapes of their
experience there (which I plan to do) so I cannot comment on
what was seen. All I know is that the nature of the group changed,
and we have not had a chance to process this part of the trip.
I know that it was upsetting for my colleagues to feel imprisoned
and see others, Palestinians, behind the wall. The separation
barrier around Bethlehem is truly a concrete wall. They knew
that I see the situation differently, that I acknowledge how
horrible the wall around Bethlehem is but that Bethlehem is
a place where terrorism exists and the wall was only put up
after people were blowing themselves up daily in the streets
of Jerusalem. Perhaps our disagreement starts with what one
of my colleagues said in his sermon on the blog:
“The ‘wall’
needs to come down in order for peace.”
I would say:
“Terrorism
needs to stop in order for the wall to come down - in order
for peace to happen”
I don’t believe
the barrier is good for the long term health of the Jewish state.
We need to work towards a two state solution for the long term
hopes and dreams of Israel and for the Palestinian people. I
believe that more today than I did before this trip. My only
question remains: if I work for the creation of a Palestinian
state do the Palestinian leaders want to be Statesmen? I did
feel more alone after the visit to Bethlehem than I did before.
It seemed some of my colleagues felt more justified in their
criticism of Israel.
I felt that they
stopped engaging in a dialogue with me, feeling like they already
knew my point of view. Clearly they felt raw and I felt dismissed.
Now that time has passed I believe we can re-engage. We have
to re-engage in order to move forward. If our small encounter
with the reality put such a ripple into our relationships and
trust – so much the more so for Israelis and Palestinians
who live daily with the mounting tension.
My colleagues and I are planning two forums to reflect on our
journey to Israel – in March one will be on the north
side at Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church where Al Gallmon
is the Senior Pastor and the other forum will be here at Temple
Israel. The dates are still to be determined. Please, I beg
of you to not only come to Temple Israel but attend the forum
on the north side. It is essential to have a Jewish presence
there.
As the navel is set in the center of the human body, Israel
is the navel of the world.
The navel is the remnant of the umbilical cord: the connection
between mother and child, the source of our nutrition in utero
and when we move outside the uterus it is the umbilical cord
that is cut, that is severed, needed no more.
What an interesting metaphor for our interfaith trip to Israel.
Judaism, Christianity and Islam are tied together by our separate
and diverse beginnings. Our histories are inexplicably bound
one to another in Israel, the navel of the world. Our present,
however, when we discuss the conflict seems to focus on the
point where we are severed. At times I feel that my colleagues
feel pressured to be advocates. But I need them to be peacemakers.
From my perspective a much more complicated task.
Throughout our time
we met with many people – Jews, Christians and Muslims,
Israelis and Palestinians. One night we met with Noa, Daniel
and Abed from Shalom Ochshav, Peace Now, in Israel. Noa and
Daniel are Israeli Jews. Abed, a Palestinian living on the West
Bank whose father works for Fatah.
All were in their
early twenties. Each of them explained that it is the mistrust
between Israelis and Palestinians that is the source of the
conflict. Because of extremists on both sides, every Israeli
mistrusts Palestinians and every Palestinian mistrusts Israelis.
Abed was told: when
he asked one of his teachers if he had a Torah so Abed could
read about the Jewish people, “What do you care? They
are the enemy.” So he asked his father who provided him
with a Tanach.
When I asked Noa
and Daniel what they loved about Israel, since they were so
critical of Israeli policies, they said, it is because this
is their home, where they belong. They have studied the Koran
and speak Arabic.
That Noa, Daniel
and Abed are such good friends, that they are working hard to
create trust and learn about one another gave all of us hope
for the future.
So for all the Noas,
the Daniels, the Abeds in this word – for all our children.
I end with a song of peace for the future.
In English it reads “Peace upon us and upon everyone.”
