For me it is the day before Pesach, a day for cleaning the cupboards of the last vestiges of bread, cookies, pasta, etc.--anything that may have touched leavening. Tomorrow we start a week of eating matsa, the hard "bread of affliction," instead of soft bread.
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But for Christians, today is Palm Sunday and I wish you all a joyous holy day..
If I were a braver blogger, I would have gone to the Holy Sepulchre to get you fresh photos of the festivities.
I should explain that this ancient church is not your modern orderly type of church. It has no pews or chairs. You do not have your own space.
Instead you have surging masses of pilgrims, the press of bodies, a lack of air.
Last time I was in the huge church for Palm Sunday, I was literally trapped in the crowd and could not force my way to the only door.
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But my pictures from 2007 are basically no different from what is happening this very day and year.
So I invite you to see my previous slideshows, from the comfort of our own homes:
- Morning services for Palm Sunday in the Holy Sepulchre
- Afternoon pilgrimage of the faithful from Mt. of Olives to the Old City
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Dina,
ReplyDeleteThank you for all of these photos. My what you have gone through to bring them to us! Stop by tomorrow for special photos for your celebration.
V
Thanks for the photos, very interesting, but do Christians realize that without Israel, these Christian holy places would not be protected?
ReplyDeleteMoneythoughts, shalom. Probably not. And what you say is true.
ReplyDeleteVirginia, OK, it will be a good trade. :)
I was a few weeks ago with my Finnish friends visiting here in Israel in the Old City,and we visited the Holy Sepuchture.Or they did,I had my tiny dog in his dog carry-bag with me,and they still threw me out of the church's courtryard....Chap Pesach Sameah Dina!
ReplyDeleteThanks Dina for such a sweet reminder of my time there. I was with a friend once in the courtyard to the Sepulchre..she had a tiny poodle. She was asked to leave - no animal. It was the Isaeli guards who did the deed. Who knows what rule(s) there are about dogs.
ReplyDeleteAnywho - Chag Samach!
I enjoyed the set-up you showed here - very delicate and sensitive.
ReplyDeleteSuzanne, I would not want animals in the Holy Sepulchre (although pigeons fly around the rafters). I was surprised they evict pet dogs from the OUTside courtyard. I hope it is out of respect to the Arab sensibilities about dogs.
ReplyDeleteWill try to find out (AFTER Holy Week and Pesach week).
Rune, thank you.
You are a very special lady to me! You write about all kind of religions and give information about all of the religions represented in Jerusalem. Yes we celebrated Palm Sunday in church. Actually a sad occasion in remembrance of a young man who would be excecuted in 5 days in the most cruel way. And that 2000 years later he is still remembered.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the photos. It`s interesting.
ReplyDeleteWish you a great week!:-)
Shalom
Thank you Dina.
ReplyDeleteI have never had the blessing of visiting your city, but I remember always that Yeshua my Lord was crucified on Passover and raised from the dead on Firstfruits. Your pictures brought tears to my eyes.
«Louis» has appreciated this and the two previous posts very much, Dina.
ReplyDeleteShabbat Shalom.
Thanks for mentioning Palm Sunday and sharing your photo! Our oldest daughter celebrated her 1st communion today also and then we enjoyed lunch at "The Lexington" in St. Paul with my twin brother's family.
ReplyDeleteThat's a place I'd like to visit someday, if there's a day when it's not crowded. I don't suppose there is such a day!
ReplyDeleteHow wonderful.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing.
A blessed Holy Week and passover.
Even for regular masses, I prefer tiny churches and congregations, so I can completely understand why you wouldn't want to go through that kind of experience again. Once is enough.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the glimpse into your preparations too.
Thanks for linking to those beautiful photos from 2007 and for including this piece on Palm Sunday.
ReplyDeletemoneythoughts:
Many Christians, not all, do realize this and are very thankful for it.
I wish Bethlehem was back in the control of the Israelis.
Many Christians are very aware that the Christian population of
Bethlehem has dwindled - and we know the reason why.
Many also remember that it was NOT Jews who took over one of the Iconic Christian Churches there and literally fouled that Church.
It was Jews who helped put an end to this disgrace --- this is remembered!
Holy Sepulchre is so a strange place...
ReplyDelete