Praying Together in Jerusalem

We left Tantur Ecumenical Institute in a small bus, headed for the Old City of Jerusalem. At the bottom of the hill, as the gate slid open, we saw two cars perched on the islands between inbound and outbound lanes, each with a wooden platform mounted on its roof, topped by a Jewish man dancing in raucous joy. Aside from the garb that told us they were Orthodox Jews, they would have looked at home in any dance club in London or New York City.

They are members of a sect of Judaism called Nana-Nachman (after their leader Rabbi Nachman), and they believe the Messiah will come sooner if the world has more joy, and so they dance – just one of many varieties of Judaism in this land.

At the Old City, we gathered at the Jaffa Gate, about 20 of us from Tantur, – staff, volunteers, clergy and religious, professors and doctoral students – and we waited while others joined us from many of the dozen or so organizations that participate in “Praying  Together in Jerusalem.

A brochure explains in English, Hebrew and Arabic: “Praying Together in Jerusalem is a movement whose participants believe in the power of side-by-side prayer to bring friendship, respect and, ultimately, peace between people of all faiths. Gatherings have been held since October, 2015 on the last Thursday of every month at sunset, … praying at various venues within and outside the walls. Our hope is to be joined by members of all faiths who wish to show their love of the Holy City and all its inhabitants through a public expression of our faith.”

The leaders were Russ, a Holy Cross priest who is Rector of Tantur, and Pita, a British-born Jewish woman (two of the co-founders), and when the evening advanced enough toward sunset and the group had swelled to a certain size, they organized us to walk through the Old City to the Dormition Abbey (a Christian site) which is also the home of the Tomb of David (a Jewish site).

Then we climbed, up, up, up, stone steps and then wooden steps, to the roof with a magnificent view of Jerusalem at sunset.

The leaders explained the vision, especially for those joining for the first time, and they also explained that while ordinarily Muslims join us, only Christians and Jews were present tonight because of a tense political situation in the city this week. Israeli authorities were clamping down more than usual on freedom of movement for Muslims, especially in the Old City. There had been a killing of three Israelis (one soldier, two border guards) at a checkpoint earlier this week. Jewish High Holy Days were in progress, with Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year for Jews, to begin at sundown on Friday. It had been impossible for the Muslims to get to the Old City for Thursday night’s Praying Together in Jerusalem.

So we gathered all together briefly, then the Jewish participants turned toward the heart of Jerusalem to pray in their tradition, and the Christians formed a circle to pray in our tradition. Fr. Russ led us in a service of Prayer for Peace in Israel and Palestine, a beautiful service that concluded with singing the St. Francis Prayer (“Make Me a Channel for Your Peace”). Finally, we all came together again, reflecting on our common value to find ways to make peace in the face of the relentless and painfully prolonged conflicts of the region.

We dispersed as the last bits of sunlight faded and darkness descended, but with the light of a small seed of hope in each of our hearts. Make no mistake: peace will be hard to accomplish, and will require hard work and measured compromise on all sides, but people of different faiths coming together, sharing our hopes and our commitment, may be the necessary bridge to resolving the conflicts of this troubled land.

Author: kathleenschatzberg

I'm a writer, an educator -- 45 years in education, 35 of them in community colleges -- and a lifelong advocate for justice (community colleges are, in fact, instruments of social justice). I have always been passionate about learning, traveling, and understanding the world's religions and political systems. This "Crossroads" blog offers my reflections on living for 7 months as a volunteer at Tantur Ecumenical Institute. On a hill in Jerusalem, within sight of Bethlehem, Tantur hosts students, scholars, and seeker for interfaith engagement and theological and biblical study. View all posts by kathleenschatzberg