Is this the actual place?

The sad news from Jerusalem, which has understandably been overshadowed by the ongoing slaughter in Israel's northern neighbour Syria, is that the Church of the Holy Sepulchre has been closed indefinitely, in protest at changes in Israeli policy that will(intentionally or unintentionally) damage the Christian presence here. Huge claims for tax (arnona, the equivalent of British 'council tax') have been suddenly slapped on the various churches, with some bank accounts being frozen so that the municipality can seize the monies, and then in addition a bill was being proposed that would either enable the government to expropriate some church properties or at least make it more difficult for the churches to sell property in the future (depending on what reports you read).

***UPDATE: The Church of the Holy Sepulchre has now been re-opened, thank God. It seems the Israeli authorities have backed down.***

The closure of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre is a big deal for two reasons:

Don't mess with the beards

1. Several different Christian denominations (Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Armenian Orthodox, Coptic Orthodox...) jointly manage the church, so the decision to close it was an example of concerted Christian action from groups that traditionally have found it hard to agree on anything. So thumbs-up to the Israeli authorities for promoting the cause of Christian unity :-{)}

2. For most Christian pilgrims to Jerusalem, the church is the primary holy place to visit, because it contains both the hill (actually just a big piece of bedrock) of Calvary, where Jesus was crucified, and the place of His tomb, where He was buried and then rose again from the dead.

Many news articles will say something like "the church is considered by many Christians to be the site of Jesus' crucifixion, tomb and resurrection" - and in fact most reports, books, and guides will make similar conditional statements, like "traditionally supposed to be" or "reputed", about sites associated with Jesus' story or other Biblical events. Because in most cases we can't know for sure if it is the actual place, after 2000 years of successive destructions and rebuildings, etc. With regard to Jesus' place of crucifixion and burial, however, we can be as sure as one can ever be that the Church of the Holy Sepulchre is the actual place it purports to be.

The reason for this, ironically, is the Roman empire's attempt to wipe out the Christian faith. When Jerusalem was rebuilt as a Roman city under the Emperor Hadrian, they deliberately built a temple of Jupiter over the place venerated by the Christians as the tomb of Jesus and they likewise set up a statue of Venus on top of Calvary. So, although the first Church of the Holy Sepulchre was built a full three centuries after the death and resurrection of Christ, the places had been conveniently marked by pagan idols. All St Helena (the mother of the Emperor Constantine) had to do was get the temple of Jupiter demolished and the tomb of Jesus was discovered underneath. Some of the basilica that she built still forms parts of the current church.

OK, you might say, but how do we know that the temple of Jupiter was built in the right place? The Emperor Hadrian rebuilt Jerusalem as Aelia Capitolina a full century after the time of Christ, and some people might be sceptical about how the people would still know where Calvary and the tomb were; but that is only a short time in terms of oral tradition.

To use an example from my own life, I know the house in Coventry where my maternal grandmother lived as a girl. I've never been in the house, because the family moved out before I was born; in 40 years time, if I'm still alive and have my memory, I'll be able to point the house out to my sister's and brother's grandchildren and tell them about how Grandma and her family watched the bombing of Coventry during WW2. And that will be over 100 years after the event.

So if that could happen with something as insignificant as one family's house, how much more likely is it that the Christians in Jerusalem would remember a place of such huge significance as the tomb of Jesus? That is why I tend to be fairly accepting of traditional claims about holy sites, so long as the tradition can be traced back to within a couple of hundred years of the actual events.

It's also worth noting that Christianity is an avowedly historical religion, in that it is based on things that actually happened in particular times and places. Even if we can't always find the exact spot of some event (e.g. Emmaus seems to be hard to identify), we know that we at least have some idea and that we're probably pretty close.

The Sea of Galilee

Thanks to the hospitality of the Benedictine sisters in Tabgha, I was able to spend three days by the Sea of Galilee. Some things are obviously different from when Jesus walked around (and on) that lake - such as the banana and mango plantations - but the landscape and climate is otherwise much the same. It was considerably warmer than Jerusalem, being about 1000m lower, and the rains of winter made it much greener than my previous imaginings. In many ways it was reminiscent of Wales or the Lake District in summertime. Apart from the palm trees, etc.

The main purpose, of course, was to visit the sites of the Gospel stories. It was fascinating to be in places where I know that Jesus and His disciples walked, talked, and ate. They've even built a church on top of one of their breakfast tables, as well as building another one over St Peter's house.

This is the aforementioned breakfast table,

where Jesus and the disciples ate some fish and bread (John 21:9-14)

The view outside the church (the water used to come up to the rocks,

but years of low rainfall and increasing use of water mean that the level has dropped significantly)

The church over St Peter's house in Capernaum

This rock marks the place where Jesus fed 5000 with five loaves and two fish (Mark 6:35-44)

Not everything had a church built over it: this is the view from the Eremos,

a small cave where Jesus sometimes prayed

This is one possible site of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7)

No particular connection to Jesus; but this rock hyrax (Proverbs 30:26)

seemed to be posing for a photo, so I duly obliged

J.R.R. Tolkien sings

Not very well, admittedly. But this example of his singing Galadriel's Lament (Namarie) is of geeky interest for something other than its quality.

The other week we had a dinner guest, Fr Guglielmo Spirito OFMConv., who is part of a research project looking at the influence and role of music in Tolkien's work. He has acquired the music sheets used at the various churches in Oxford that Professor Tolkien attended, and was pleased to discover that in this recording he is singing Galadriel's words to the same tune that the Dominicans in Blackfriars used to sing 'The Lamentations of Jeremiah'.

Praying for rain

In Britain we often moan about the rain. We little appreciate the blessing that is frequent and abundant rain. Those few of us who are farmers and gardeners probably appreciate it more, and we would certainly appreciate it more if we ran out of water, as is happening in Cape Town, for example. Here in the Holy Land water is a constant concern, especially for the Palestinians, who usually get less of the water supply than the Israelis.

One recurring theme of my prayers here has therefore been to ask for more rain. But as I have told the brothers, I don't go to the lengths of Honi 'the Circle-Drawer', a first-century-B.C. charismatic Jewish scholar:

Once they said to Honi the Circle-Drawer, "Pray that rain may fall."

    He answered, "Go out and bring in the Passover ovens [made of clay] that they be not softened."

    He prayed, but the rain did not fall. What did he do? He drew a circle and stood within it and said before God, "O Lord of the world, your children have turned their faces to me, for I am like a son of the house before you. I swear by your great name that I will not stir from here until you have pity on your children."

    Rain began falling drop by drop. He said, "Not for such rain have I prayed, but for rain that will fill the cisterns, pits, and caverns."

    It began to rain with violence. He said, "Not for such rain have I prayed, but for rain of goodwill, blessing, and graciousness."

    Then it rained in moderation, until the Israelites had to go up from Jerusalem to the Temple Mount because of the rain. They went to him and said, "Just as you prayed for the rain to come, so pray that it may go away!"

    (Mishnah Taanit 3:8)

Birds of Jerusalem

I'm very much a low-skilled bird-watcher, despite the best efforts of some of my family to educate me in that noble pastime. But at least they've managed to instil in me some awareness of our avian friends and ensured that I can recognise some of the more common species and make good guesses about others.

So here are the bird species I've managed to notice and identify here in Jerusalem and its environs (please note that only one of the photos is mine). I saw a number of other species on my recent trip to Galilee; but this post would become too big if I included them as well.

Palestinian sunbird

(the national bird of Palestine and my personal favourite)

Yellow-vented bulbul

Syrian woodpecker

Laughing dove

(I thought these birds, a common sight, would be turtle doves, which are

frequently mentioned in the Bible. But no. I have yet to spot a turtle dove.)

But I have seen this more classical-looking white dove,

which is apparently a breed of the ringneck dove

(NB. This is the only photo taken by me, appropriately enough close to the place of Jesus' baptism)

Plenty of ordinary feral pigeons

Parakeet

(you get these in London as well)

Hooded crow

Eurasian jay

Starlings

Pied wagtail

Kestrel

(I haven't seen any in Jerusalem itself, but saw one on the way to Bethlehem)

Last, but not least, the humble sparrow - to be seen in numbers everywhere, they are a reminder of the Father's love (Matthew 10:29)

Keeping the LENT in VaLENTine's Day

The coincidence of Ash Wednesday and Valentine's Day called for some Catholic creativity, and Jason Bach has duly obliged with these penitential Valentine's cards.

Allāh our Abba

One of the cutest things I've experienced here, on a couple of occasions while out and about, has been hearing a little girl getting the attention of her father by calling, "Abba!"

For those who don't understand the significance, in the Bible we're told how the Holy Spirit inspires us to call God "Abba" - the Hebrew for "Dad" (e.g. Galatians 4:6). So it helps me to more deeply feel the meaning of the word when I hear it used in its everyday context like that.

The language I'm most likely to hear on the street, in our immediate neighbourhood at least, is Hebrew; but when I go to one of the churches here in Jerusalem, the most likely language I'll hear is Arabic, because most of the local Christians are Arabs. And that means that in church, at Mass and at other times of prayer, you hear the word "Allah" a lot.

That might surprise some people, because the impression is often that "Allah" is a Muslim term for God; but in fact the use of the name for the one true God pre-dates Mohammed, and it was used by Arabic-speaking Jews and Christians before ever Islam was thought of.

So it's quite legit, even if something of a mish-mash of languages, to refer to "Allah our Abba".

Jeru and Salem

In a brief follow-up to my last post about different Jerusalems, there is this one-minute Facebook video from Nas (of Nas Daily). His other stuff is good as well - check out his website if you don't have access to Facebook.

Which Jerusalem are you talking about?

When Donald Trump made his announcement about recognising Jerusalem as Israel's capital and moving the USA embassy here, some commentators made the point that it would help to define more clearly what he meant by 'Jerusalem' and also what other people, such as the Palestinians, mean when they talk about 'Jerusalem' (or 'Al-Quds', as they call it). Calev Ben-Dor, for example, in calling for 'constructive specifity' about Jerusalem, sets out at least three different geographical definitions.

Useful though such distinctions are, I want to write briefly about the religious definitions of Jerusalem, which the political rhetoric often implicitly invoke. When the Israelis, for example, say that Jerusalem is 'the eternal capital of Israel', there is an obvious reference to Biblical ideas of that city. But which Biblical Jerusalem are they talking about? Because even in the Scriptures there are different concepts of the Holy City knocking around.

Are we talking about the militarily-triumphant fortress city?

Within its citadels God has shown Himself a sure defence.
Then the kings assembled, they came on together.
As soon as they saw it they were astounded;
they were in panic, they took to flight...
(Ps 48:3-5)

Or are we talking about the inclusive, multicultural city?

Glorious things are spoken of you, O city of God.
Among those who know me I mention Rahab and Babylon;
behold, Philistia and Tyre, with Ethiopia -
"This one was born there," they say...
The Lord records as He registers the peoples,
"This one was born there."
(Ps 87:3-4,6)

Or maybe we're talking about the city of injustice and oppression?

I see violence and strife in the city.
Day and night they go around it on its walls,
and iniquity and trouble are within it;
ruin is in its midst;
oppression and fraud do not depart from its market-place.
(Ps 55:9-11)

These are but some of the facets of the Biblical Jerusalem. Underlying that multiplicity of images, however, is a more simple duality - the twin reality of the earthly and heavenly Jerusalems. These two cities are apparently recognised in rabbinic literature and hinted at in the current Hebrew name for Jerusalem, which is in the dual form.

I would guess that most rabbis, however, wouldn't go as far as Saul of Tarsus, who puts the distinction between the two Jerusalems thus:

For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave and one by a free woman. But the son of the slave was born according to the flesh, the son of the free woman through promise. Now this is an allegory: these women are two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery; she is Hagar... she corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother.
(Gal 4:22-26)


It is a great privilege to be living here in Jerusalem. But although it is a beautiful city, with many blessings, it is not what my heart longs for. I have wondered whether part of the purpose of Divine Providence in allowing the Jewish conquest of the earthly Jerusalem is to help the Chosen People realise, after centuries of exile, that it still does not satisfy their yearning.

"He is not here. He has risen."

Our friary here in Jerusalem

Another thing that's kept from posting much recently is that I'm now busier with various tasks in the house and garden. Which reminds me that I've not posted anything much about the friary here.

Luckily, someone else has done a lot of the work for me by producing this video:

One thing not mentioned in the video when they look at the church is that the twelve stones set in the front of the altar represent the twelve tribes of Israel, and each stone in fact comes from that part of the Holy Land assigned to one of the tribes.

With regards to the garden, a fascinating thing for me is being able to enjoy fruits from it like grapefruits and oranges.

Japanese oranges - you eat them whole

This one tree brings forth oranges, lemons, and mandarins

(so I've unofficially named it 'The St Clemens Tree')

Although the olive harvest was over before I arrived, I'll still have to wait a little while longer to taste the olives from our garden. I had always thought that olives were put in brine to preserve them; but now I find out that they need to be soaked in brine for at least three months to make them edible. Olives fresh from the tree are very bitter. I had no idea.