It is a very Catholic thing to want to go to Jerusalem. The footsteps of Jesus were here, and that we can tread in His footsteps is important to us, because this is the Holy Land, the land made holy by the feet of Him who was Incarnate here. The land itself is a second-class relic, something that Jesus touched; Mount Calvary, the Via Dolorosa, the Holy Sepulchre, Gethsemane, these are the places in which He was, and because of this, here in Jerusalem, the Paschal Mystery can be more keenly appreciated.
That is the rationale of pilgrimage, and I was pleased (and surprised) to meet up with, on my wanderings around Jerusalem, a German Lutheran Bishop, a Finnish Lutheran Bishop, a Swedish Lutheran priest, numerous American evangelicals, a pair of feisty South African evangelicals, as well as a large group from the Church of the Latter-Day Saints. All of these had, one way or another, felt the call of the Holy Land, and the desire to be here for Easter. I seem to remember that Martin Luther and the other Reformers were much set against pilgrimages, and Henry VIII was a despoiler of holy places, but rather than bring this up, I was merely glad that the children of the Reformation seem to have forgotten this particular bit of their heritage.
Apart from lots of our Protestant brethren, I have also had the pleasure of meeting two other groups. The first were our Jewish brethren, who have no doubt in the holiness of the land. For them this sense of holiness become electric at the Western Wall, and one of the most interesting things to do in Jerusalem is to visit the Western Wall tunnels, which take you many feet below modern street level to the level of the Hasmoneans and Herod the Great; you can actually stand on the pavement that Jesus and His disciples must have known. One has to take a guided tour and our guide’s message was a good one: that we all share eternal values of humanity, charity and peace. Things change, but the values endure. A very Jewish message, but a Christian one as well.
Jerusalem is a very Jewish place, visibly so; every day one watches streams of people flowing towards the Wall, and walking around the new city one is struck by the way most of the men are wearing skullcaps, or hats, or have the long ringlets and other signs of ultra-Orthodoxy. All were very friendly. ‘Where are you from?’ they would ask. And many would add: ‘Thank you for coming to Israel.’ (This makes me feel a bit guilty: when was the last time I ever thanked a tourist for coming to the UK?) Most Jews in Jerusalem only have a hazy idea of the Christian calendar and seem unaware of the Christian Holy Places in their midst. But they were all pleased to see visitors. ‘What is happening in England now?’ was another question, this time an anxious one.
Leaving Jerusalem, one went down to En Gedi where King David once took refuge, a place I have always wanted to see, which was delightful but punishingly hot. Then it was on to a resort by the Dead Sea, a place I have always wanted to swim. (It is very similar to Lake Magadi in Kenya, soft and soapy water.) The hotel was very nice, and though not advertised as such (perhaps I did not read the small print) kosher, as was the overwhelming majority of the clientele. The food was abundant and excellent. Then it was on to Beersheba, where Abraham lived and where you can see his well, which has been turned into a sort of Jewish shrine and education centre, as here it was the Abraham, the first monotheist, received the Covenant from God. In other words, this was the place where something we all share began, as the excellent guide made clear.
Despite Abraham, Beersheba is not an old place; there are a few glitzy high rises, and important hospital and university, and a rather dusty low rise original town that reminded me of the less attractive places I have visited in Mexico. It also has a river, a tiny trickle at this time of year, but a mighty torrent sometimes when it rains in the highlands of Judah. Driving up to Beersheba from the Dead Sea, past Mount Sodom, thorough a parched landscape, one constantly noticed dried-out riverbeds, all patiently waiting to spring back into life for a few days a year when the rain comes and when the desert is subjected to flash flooding. That is something I would like to see, but doubt I ever shall.
The other group I have met are those Israelis who have become Christian. You do not hear much about them, but they are a thing, and there are more of them than you may suppose. Given the long history of Christian persecution of Jews, the Church tends to make little of them. The Israeli population is, by and large, not religious, and I write this from perhaps one of the most secular places on earth, Tel Aviv. nevertheless, I am told, when someone becomes a Buddhist, that is shrugged off; if someone becomes a Muslim, it might raise eyebrows, but someone becoming a Christian is ‘the worst’. Alas. Let us remember not just the Christian Arabs of the Holy Land, but the Christian Jews as well, whose situation is probably more awkward.
We are getting such a sense of what it is like to be in and around Isreal and the Holy Land through your observations and your experiences Fr Alexander that no Tourist Information Booklet or Guide Book could ever express to us. I feel like I’m almost experiencing and walking every step with you. Thank you for sharing all that you do with us, and for not being afraid to speak your truth. Remain safe. 🙏