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.

Christian Unity Week

It's been a while since I last posted. This is in part because I was extra busy this past week with going to the various ecumenical services here in Jerusalem for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.

St Mark's Syrian Orthodox

(photo taken from my position on the

floor of the aisle - the place was packed!)

How's this for a schedule? Holy Sepulchre Church (Greek Orthodox Compline), Anglican Cathedral of St George, Armenian Cathedral of St James, Lutheran Church of the Redeemer, Latin Patriarchate Church, the Upper Room (site of the Last Supper and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit), St Mark's Syrian Orthodox Church, Ethiopian Orthodox Church, and the Greek Melkite Catholic Church of the Annunciation. It was a great week, going to meet and pray with our brothers and sisters from these various traditions, experiencing different styles of liturgy and hearing good sermons.

One particularly encouraging thing was the observation from the Latin Archbishop that he can feel a good change in the relationship between the Christians since he first arrived in the Holy Land twenty years ago.

Wouldn't it be great if the unity of the Church could begin from here in Jerusalem?

Sadly, church communities like the Russian Orthodox (at one end of the spectrum) and Pentecostals (at the other end) seemed to be absent.

Unsurprisingly, the most profound moment was in the Upper Room, when all the people there were praying the Lord's Prayer in their own languages, thus echoing that time 2000 years ago when in that same place the pilgrims to Jerusalem heard the disciples proclaiming the wonders of God in many languages.

Read more about the week and see more (and better) photos on the Latin Patriarchate website.

Jerusalem: Second Thoughts

Disclaimer: I am not using 'Second Thoughts' in the Pratchett sense.

In my 'Jerusalem: First Impressions' posts (here and here) I was, however, trying to exercise 'First Sight' in the Pratchett sense. Now that I've been here in Jerusalem for nearly two months, I'm revisiting those first impressions and realising that while most of them hold good, some do not correspond to further observations. In the interests of true reporting, therefore, here are some reconsiderations of those points.

Beggars
There are actually plenty of these. My initial impression that there weren't many seems to be because a) I hadn't visited the areas that they tend to frequent more and b) many of them don't fit my expectation of someone sitting on the pavement. They are more likely to be standing or wandering around, accosting likely-looking people - such as friars. So you don't know that they're beggars until they actually come and beg. And many of them seem not to be homeless as such; the rate of homelessness here is relatively low because of a strong family culture among both Jews and Arabs.
Cats
My first impression that there are lots of cats here has in fact turned out to be something of an underestimate. I said that the friary 'has' three cats, whereas the actual number is more like ten! I put 'has' in inverted commas because cats here tend to be semi-wild scavengers and will attach themselves to any household that feeds them. They'll often been seen hanging around bins, waiting for something edible to be dumped.

Cleanliness
Although the touristy areas tend to be kept quite clean, that doesn't necessarily extend to the rest of the city. Arab areas are noticeably more messy, but this might not be entirely their fault. Apparently they get less frequent refuse collections than the Jewish neighbourhoods. When there was a municipal strike for a few days, it didn't take long for the Jewish areas to start looking just as messy as the Arab ones.
Peace
Since my first impressions post things have changed slightly after Donald Trump's 'recognition' of Jerusalem as Israel's capital. The resulting violence wasn't as widespread as the news might give the impression; but there's undeniably been a greater tension in the air. And over time the presence of the army and the police gets more noticeable. I haven't been able to find out how much of the Israeli population belongs to the police force; but I expect it is an unusually large proportion.

Photos from the Baptism pilgrimage

The pilgrimage down to the Jordan for the Baptism of the Lord (see my previous post) included a procession along the last kilometre to the river, Mass at the banks of the river, a trip up to the Mount of Temptation (where Jesus is traditionally supposed to have spent his forty days in the desert, right after his baptism), and lunch at the Franciscan friary in Jericho. Here follow some photos from the day.

The friars are ready to march

Waiting...

Still waiting

Jesus had some serious desert to cross;

but at least he didn't have to contend with barbed wire.

The procession finally arrives at the shrine on the banks of the Jordan

The Eastern Orthodox church on the eastern bank

A rare selfie

More people on the eastern shore went into the water

These Israeli soldiers didn't seem to think us much of a threat:

one was having a snack and the other was checking her phone.

Milling around after the Mass

Another hazard that Jesus didn't have to contend with

Ascending the Mount of Temptation

I thought we were supposed to pray not to be led into Temptation?

A weary friar surveys the view of Jericho

The Greek Orthodox monastery clinging to the slopes of the mountain

Lunch at the friary in Jericho

(paid for by all you Catholics who contributed to the annual collection for the Holy Places)

Thank you!