Blog

Sunday, October 18:  Our Last Day - Post by Christina We began the day with worship at St. George's Cathedral, the seat of the diocese that covers Israel, the West Bank, Gaza, Jordan, and Lebanon. The service was a combination of English and Arabic not one  service for each but all together.  The sermon was given in both, the hymns were English but we sang in Arabic as well which was given us to do phonetically. For the two most important prayers, the Lord's Prayer and the Nicene Creed we said them each in our own language, such a joyful noise to the Lord! Except the last few phrases of the Creed which were in English, so the effect was a wash of sound that coalesced into unity in reciting the end. So beautiful. After the service we  met with Dean Hosam Naoum,  (Judy's counterpart), the Rabbi Levi Kelman from Kol HaNeshama, the synagogue we attended Friday night, and the Kaddi, or head magistrate of the Islamic Legal Courts (Sharia court) in Jerusalem. ...

Sat, Oct. 17:  Our day in the West Bank: Three Palestinian cities, Bethleham, Ramallah and Rawabi -  Post by Christina. Today is Shabbat and things are so very quiet. Whether you keep the Sabbath or not, everything slows down and you must alter your behavior. No paper, no cappuccino, different elevators....this is not a complaint, far from it, I wish there was a day with a slower pace in the US, a day when things are different.    No paper, no cappuccino, different elevators....this is not a complaint, far from it, I wish there was a day with a slower pace in the US, a day when things are different. After a quiet breakfast we got on a different bus with a different driver and a new guide to take us to Bethlehem. They are East Jerusalem residents and the bus is not an Israeli Company. Riman, a Palestinian Muslim woman, was our guide for the day. She and the Palestinian driver Khalid were able to just drive us through the check point at the border of Israel and the ...

Friday, Oct. 16:  Post by Christina We started our day with a tour of the 1967 line. The Muslim Brotherhood has called for a day of rage so our drive is altered. We had plann ed to go into East Jerusalem today and we are planning on the West Bank tomorrow, so we are making some changes. They have cancelled the home visits in East Jerusalem. We have now driven the Seam (road that divides East and West Jerusalem) and we head to the Museum of the Se am. The Museum on the Seam is a fringe place, you see the logo they created "Coexist" everywhere. They were established 20 years ago with funding from the municipality and a private German family but that has changed and so they will close in 2 months after this last exhibit which opened when we walked in the door. It is in a building just next to the gate that existed in 1967 between Israel and Jordan, now East Jerusalem.  It is a space for artists to explore the difficulties of coexistence and most of the art i...

October 15th:  Post from Christina Another beautiful day here, but our guide Julian has posed the question: Is a place still beautiful when evil things have happened there, or are happening? The answer for me is clear, God made this world a beautiful place and nothing humans do can take away the intrinsic beauty and holiness of a place.  Zakiya described it as a core of beauty with a crust of ugliness, break through the crust and the beauty is still there. So back to my point, despite the violence and the evil rhetoric and the stupidity, this was a beautiful day. We spent the morning at Yad Vashem. This time I made it through. At our last visit I was unprepared. While I had known the numbers and many of the details, the profundity of the decimation of Poland, Jews, Christians, and Roma overwhelmed me when I saw it in picture after picture, clothing, shoes, books, letters, all attached to people who look like my family and Tom helped me walk through quickly and get out....

October 14th:  Post by Christina  We went to the spot where everyone goes to take photos, and talk about the geography, the walls, the City of David, the water supply, the hills....and the recent bus shooting, which occurred on the road behind us.  We were accompanied by a security guard and he will be on all trips outside the hotel. He is not armed but he is an EMT and is our eyes and ears of caution as we focus on our activities. We spoke of the the meaning of Al-Aqsa Mosque, the Temple Mount, and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. We shared our stories of Abraham, Isaac and Ishmael. We looked at the closeness of the Palestinian and Jewish neighborhoods and the place where there has been so much heartache and death, but also so many moments of transcendence and beauty. We could have stood talking for many hours but there was much more to see. A short bus ride to the top of what turned out to be a pretty hard walk down to the entrance to the archaeological dig around t...

Our arrival in Jerusalem landed us in the midst of a very tense time in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, with spurts of violence breaking out.   This context has made our experiences palpably emotional and real.  Day One:  Abu Gosh and Shorashim Our first destination was Abu Gosh, an Arab village outside of Jerusalem ,  where we enjoyed an abundant lunch of Middle Eastern foods. At the Cultural Center in Abu Gosh, we greeted  Philadelphia musicians Udi Bar-David (Israeli cellist) and Hana Khoury (Palestinian violinist).  We were honored that they  opened their intercultural peace-making journey with us, offering moving pieces that put this region's questions, pain, challenges and hope to music.   We especially appreciated their choice of the piece Istanbul to help us transition to our new context.     After reflecting with Udi and Hana on their "dialogue through music", we were treated to a surprise dance performance by ...

We opened our day at Taksim Square and then walked to St. Antuan Catholic Church for an English language worship service.   The multi-cultural church included refugees from Eritrea and Somalia.   We spent the afternoon touring and exploring the complicated history and wonders of the Topkapi Palace... Hagia Sophia ... The Blue Mosque .... .... and having our daily feasts of wonderful foods, including baklava.

  Heading for a day of dialogue with journalists. Sobering day, learning of bombing in Ankara, joining in the country's days of mourning with our private thoughts and prayers. As Julian, our guide quotes from a Jewish source, "When there is no peace, one must bring peace." Riding by boat along the Bosphorous River, dividing Asia and Europe, we learn about  the history, architecture and culture of this ancient and modern city. A visit to the Spice Market .... awakens all senses (and satisfies some shopping yens). Our day ended with experiences of generous (and delicious) home hospitality and dialogue, thanks to two gracious 'Turkish families.

10/8/15 Departing from Philadelphia -- 19 of us ready for our Dare to Understand Adventure.  10/9/15 Arrival in Istanbul -- our first glimpse of the Blue Mosqu e!   Our leaders guide us in an opening reflection, overlooking Istanbul. Chukri and Foza .... walking back to the Eresin Crown Hotel to  prepare to go to Shabbat eve services at Aitz Chayim synagogue. The hotel is behind the Sultanahmet (Blue Mosque) in the oldest part of the city. Very historic with a lobby filled with bits of history, chunks of columns, statues, and mosaics. It is not American style.  Oooh there is the evening call to prayer!

On October 15, our group will participate in bringing unique blessings of peace through music from Philly. Tomorrow we depart for Istanbul, our first destination.    SPECIAL INVITATION: One of the features of our time in Israel will be two concerts by Philadelphia's musical giants, Udi Bar-David and Hanna Khoury,  Israeli and Palestinian classical musicians who play for peace.   This open concert at the YMCA in Jerusalem, with an Palestinian-Israeli youth chorus is free and open to the public.   Feel free to pass this along to anyone you know in Jerusalem.