Entering into Yom Kippur

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In a few hours, just before sunset, Israel's streets will be empty of cars, except for any needed emergency vehicles.
Ben-Gurion Airport is already closed to all air traffic.
Judea and Samaria are under general closure and the Taba crossing into Sinai is closed.
Soon we will have our last meal and last drink of water until Saturday night, when the fast ends.
And soon I will shut down my computer for its yearly day of rest.

Jews will congregate, the religious and the one-time-per-year observant will be praying together in neighborhood synagogues all evening and all day tomorrow until sunset; the seculars will flock to the car-less roads on bicycles or skates or with strollers.

Yom Kippur, the solemn Day of Atonement, God's day of reckoning, our day of introspection and repenting, begins.
This year it falls on the Sabbath, so we get a double dose of holiness.

You can already feel the special hush falling over the land.
This is something you can feel only in Israel.

So I leave you now, until tomorrow night, wishing you all Shabbat shalom and a gmar chatima tova, "a good final sealing," i.e. May you be inscribed (in God's Book of Life) for all good.
May all the world have a peaceful, healthy, and fulfilling new year.
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Sky-watching at Chapel of the Ascension

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Sky-watching did not start with our meme SkyWatch Friday.
The apostles were doing it on this day almost two thousand years ago.
The New Testament book of Acts says

He was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. "Men of Galilee," they said, "why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven."

- Acts 1:9-11

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Ascension Day fell on the same date this year for both Catholics and Orthodox Christians.
I imagine this place, the Chapel of the Ascension, was full of worshiping pilgrims today.
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This is a drive-by shot and I have not yet walked there but apparently, on the other side of the mosque is a chapel, first built around 390.
It was destroyed and rebuilt by various conquerors many times.
A mosque and minaret were added next to the chapel in 1620 and the entire site remains in Muslim possession.
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The main octagonal edicule surrounds the Ascension rock, said to bear the footprint of Jesus as he ascended, forty days after the resurrection.
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It is on the Mount of Olives, in the Arab neighborhood A-Tur.
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More information and interior photos of the Chapel of the Ascension (Kapelat HaAliya) here:
http://www.sacred-destinations.com/israel/jerusalem-chapel-of-ascension
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ascension_of_Jesus
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Binding

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The Western Churches are celebrating Epiphany today in Israel.
I went to Abu Ghosh to observe the beautiful prayer service at Saint Mary of the Resurrection Abbey.
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And guess what!
Their Book of the Gospels (which I showed you last week) now has a new binding.

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But inside, the lovingly illuminated pages painted and written by the freres and the soeurs of the community are still the same.
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Epiphany marks the night when the three Magi arrived at the humble birthplace of Jesus.
This page shows even their camel and horse kneeling before the baby!
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This is my favorite page.

Enlarge the photo and you will see monastic communities from all over the Hills of Jerusalem ( Hills of Judea), actual nuns and monks of our own day and age, 2011, are walking toward the manger.

I know some of the people by name!

What a great idea, to make the Book of the Gospels span two millennia in such a way.

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In previous posts: Epiphany at Abu Ghosh 2007, and T.S. Eliot's poem "The Journey of the Magi".

Gallery images and more about the Gospel Book at the abbey's website.
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The new year dove

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The dove of peace climbs upward into the sky.

The banner on this building at Ben-Gurion Airport proclaims that --
El Al announces "This is going to be a good year."
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Shana tova, may it be so!

We are now near the conclusion of the Days of Awe, those awesome ten days between Rosh Hashana (New Year's day) and Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement) when fateful decisions are made above and below.
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The blue skies, both real and painted, are offered for SkyWatch Friday.
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Holiday flowers

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The seventh and last day of Passover is beginning this evening.
Happy Shevi'i shel Pesach to my family and to my Jewish readers and friends.

And happy Easter Sunday and Easter Monday to the Christian friends.
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For you all, some red wildflowers beneath the old grapevine just outside my window.
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Shalom and peace.
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Try to imagine

The view from inside a tomb, before the stone rolls and seals it.
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Spelling it out

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I have lived as a working volunteer with a wonderful monastic community of contemplative Protestant nuns in Switzerland. During my years with the sisters I have lived their heavy and solemn feeling during the liturgies of Good Friday.
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Still . . . what is a blogging Jew to post on Good Friday?
Relations have improved in our times, and thank God for the State of Israel.
Historically, however, Holy Week has been a dangerous time for us.
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One knight in the First Crusade (1096) wrote, "Behold we journey a long way to seek the idolatrous shrine and to take vengeance upon the Muslims. But here are the Jews dwelling among us, whose ancestors killed him and crucified him groundlessly. Let us take vengeance first upon them. Let us wipe them out as a nation."
These Crusaders on their way to the Holy Land did indeed slaughter entire Jewish communities in Rhineland cities.
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Deicide was not the only charge. As recently as the early 20th century, pogroms erupted during Holy Week in Eastern European and Russia when rumors spread about Jewish "crimes." Inflamed by outlandish accusations such as the claim that Jews killed Christian children and used their blood to make matsa for Passover, unruly gangs searched out Jews to kill and maim.

Two crucifixes that I will never forget are NOT IN ISRAEL but in the Czech Republic.
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This famous statue on the bridge in Prague is topped by Hebrew (!) letters spelling "Kadosh kadosh kadosh Adonai tsevaot," -- "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts."
(Well, this photo is from my second visit in 2006. By then someone had thankfully removed one and a half letters from the name of God, making it no longer his name.)
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I was even more shocked when we found the explanation in the Jewish museum:
A long time ago some Jew was falsely accused of writing something wrong in a letter. He was arrested and as a punishment was made to pay for these gold Hebrew letters on the crucifix.
Normally the sign says INRI.
But not in the medieval cathedral of Nymburk in central Bohemia.
There it was spelled out quite clearly: Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.
And the blood drips.
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Yes, Good Friday is a difficult day for both Christians and Jews.
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Entering Jerusalem on Palm Sunday

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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.
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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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The Fat Tuesday before Ash Wednesday

. Last chance before Lent to enjoy a fondue. Last night my Christian friends cooked the cheese mixture in the Swiss Canton of Neuchatel style. . We all dipped and twirled our bread cubes in the hot cheese.

Being Jewish, I myself will not have to observe the long Lenten "fast," i.e. restriction on certain foods, that lasts until Easter.

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But I wish all who are entering Lent today, on this Ash Wednesday, a meaningful and blessed time of contemplation and repentance and spiritual preparation.

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Simchat Torah

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Today was the festive day called Hoshana Rabba. To see the throngs of worshippers at the Western Wall please see my post from last year.

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Tonight and tomorrow, immediately following the 7-day Sukkot festival, we have Simchat Torah (meaning "Rejoicing of the Torah"). In the synagogue the annual Torah reading cycle is completed and begun anew. The end of the fifth book of Moses is read, the scroll is rewound, and the first part of Genesis is chanted.

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As the Chabad website says, "The event is marked with great rejoicing, especially during the 'hakafot' procession, in which we march, sing and dance with the Torah scrolls around the reading table in the synagogue. 'On Simchat Torah,' goes the chassidic saying, 'we rejoice in the Torah, and the Torah rejoices in us; the Torah, too, wants to dance, so we become the Torah's dancing feet.'"

At Hadassah hospital's synagogue the Torah scrolls stand in this Holy Ark.

The ark doors are covered by a parochet.

This very special ark covering was designed and created by American-Israeli artist Aviva Green in 1981-82.

The stylized Hebrew calligraphy says "Da lifne mi ata omed," the exhortation "Know before whom you stand."

The Torah is opened and read on the reading table in the center of the synagogue. Here, too, the artist created a soft sculpture to cover the table, in wool, cotton, silk, hemp, and metallic thread. It can be seen better, without the glass, in a slideshow at the artist's website.

The artist explains in just a few wonderful paragraphs how she came to the ideas for her Two-Piece Soft Sculpture.

And above it all are the twelve glorious stained glass windows by Marc Chagall!

For more about the vitrage work please see my earlier post.
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Shabbat shalom and happy Simchat Torah!

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Sound the shofar!

OK, in a few minutes we will enter into the Day of Atonement. I will be shutting down the computer until tomorrow night. Israel has closed the border crossings with Jordan and Egypt, the country's airspace is closed to all flights, a closure is imposed on the West Bank. No mode of transportation moves. Nothing is open except the synagogues. It is silent, in expectation of our entering the "gates of repentance" and hopefully being inscribed and sealed in God's Book of Life for the new year.

At the closing prayer service tomorrow night, a blast of the shofar will be heard and will enter the soul of every Jew.

Dean, my dear grandson who lives in Australia, made his very own shofar at a neighborhood Chabad workshop for kids. It is very hard even for an adult to get any sound out of a ram's horn. But Dean has a great gift for blowing the shofar. Listen!

Shalom and gmar chatima tova!

Crocs too comfy?

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Our Ynetnew.com has characteristically taken an old and odd bit of religion news and blown it out of proportion. If you want to read the article, read the talkbacks too; they are the funniest part.
A young yeshiva student asked his elderly ultra-orthodox Jerusalem rabbi if Crocs were OK to wear on Yom Kippur. The rabbi reportedly decided: "It is permissible legalistically, but it is inadvisable."
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To quote Ynet,
"The rabbi further explained his ruling saying that he ruled according to the halachic authorities who believe that the prohibition against 'wearing sandals' refers to not wearing leather shoes.
Despite this, the rabbi added, he took into consideration the interpretation of halachic rulers who see the prohibition against 'wearing sandals' as referring to creating a level of discomfort. As such, any shoe that is not from leather but is comfortable to wear is forbidden on Yom Kippur. "

Well, I have no Crocs and my sandals are of rubber and fabric. Will they be kosher enough for my village synagogue tomorrow night?
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All it stipulates in the Bible (in Leviticus 16:29, 31; 23:26, 29, 32; and Numbers 29:7) is that on Yom Kippur "You shall afflict yourselves,* and shall do no work, either the native or the stranger who sojourns among you: for on this day shall atonement be made for you, to cleanse you . . . ."
*Actually the Hebrew says וְעִנִּיתֶם, אֶת-נַפְשֹׁתֵיכֶם -- You shall afflict your souls.
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The rabbis in ancient times then interpreted this to mean that on Yom Kippur eating and drinking, and washing (with water), and anointing (with oil), and putting on leather sandals, and marital intercourse are forbidden.
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"In the Talmud's terms, for a brief time we elevate ourselves to the status of angels, who have no corporeal needs and whose sole role in the universe is to serve God. (The rabbis also explain that the things we abstain from are all those that make the soul comfortable in the body. By engaging in activities that make it uncomfortable, the soul is more likely to rise up from the body, taking us to a higher spiritual plane.)" -- This is how artist/writer Lesli Koppelman Ross expains it.
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For interesting ideas on the footwear please see her article at MyJewishLearning.com.
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One thing for sure: Life in Israel and in Judaism is never boring!
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Tashlich, 5770 anno mundi

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On the afternoon of Rosh Hashana it is customary to do the Tashlich ceremony.
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In the biblical book of Micah (7:18-19) it says:
"Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of his inheritance? . . . You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea."

So tashlich means "You will cast off."

Having no sea or river or lake, I am fortunate to live near a spring-fed fish pond.
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I read the liturgy and then took the symbolic bread crumbs from my pocket. I named a personal sin and threw a crumb in the water, named a national sin and threw another, a private sin of omission and tossed more bread. On and on.
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The fish gobbled them up.
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Part of the symbolism is this: A fish has no eyelids and cannot close its eyes. So, too, may God always keep his eyes open watching over us.
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Hayoreh--the first rain

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Rain already on Rosh Hashana?! Unheard of!

But this afternoon the sky quickly went from blue to gray.
Rain fell for the first time since last March!!

See the drops falling?!

I took shelter under a metal roof. What a sound, what a smell!

The ten-minute rainfall was enough to make a mud puddle.

Drops in a puddle never looked so good!

What a blessed way to start the new year. Let's pray for a rainy winter that will end our five-year drought.

More rain is predicted for tomorrow. Let's celebrate! Id mubarak to the Muslims ending Ramadan, shana tova to us Jews starting year 5770, and bon dimanche/good Sunday to the Christians.

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A new year opens

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Rosh Hashana began tonight, the first day of the new Jewish year 5770.

Pomegranates are traditionally eaten for the first time at the Rosh Hashana table.
They are said to have 613 seeds, just as the Torah contains 613 mitsvot/commandments.
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My yard is graced with several rimon trees. I picked the big pomegranate, and the little one was stuck to it.
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A blessed new year to you all. Shana tova!

The falling-asleep of Mary

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To the Marys, Marias, and Miriams -- a blessed name day to you.
To Christians who are celebrating the Assumption of Mary, a happy feastday to you.

From the day's liturgy at the Dormition Abbey, in Latin and German, with the lovely traditional Gregorian chant notation. Enlarge the photo and see if you can sing along. :)
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August 15 fell on a Sabbath and since Israel's buses rest on the Sabbath, I could not get into Jerusalem today to observe the celebration of the Assumption of Mary.
You are, however, welcome to see the pictures from my year-ago posts here and here.
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Dancing in the vineyards in the moonlight

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Happy Tu B'Av, the Jewish holiday of love!

Last night the full moon signaled the beginning of the 15th day of the month of Av.
Originally a post-biblical day of joy, Tu B'Av served as a matchmaking day for unmarried women in the second Temple period.

In the glow of a full summer moon, young women, robed in white, would dance in the fields outside the walls of Jerusalem. The men would follow in hopes of finding a bride

(Modern Israel does have vineyards, but I couldn't find any close to Jerusalem; so permit me to post my pictures from Switzerland instead.)

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We read in the Talmud, in Tractate Ta'anit:

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Rabbi Shimon ben Gamliel said "Israel has no days as festive as the 15th of Av and Yom Kippur....," and adds "On these days, the young maidens of Jerusalem would emerge in the streets wearing borrowed white clothing [so as not to embarrass the poor who did not have garments of their own]. They would form a circle (and dance) in the vineyards. What would they say (while they danced)? 'Young man, lift up your eyes and appreciate whom you are selecting (to marry). Don't look at our beauty. Instead, look at the family (from which we descend).'

After the fall of Jerusalem in 70 C.E. this minor festival went almost unnoticed for many centuries.

But in the past few decades the non-religious Jews in the State of Israel have brought Tu B'Av back to life as a time to celebrate love and enjoy music festivals. It is even becoming something like the Valentine's Day known to other countries, red roses, gifts and all.

Or at least so they tell me . . .
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Draped in black for mourning?

A blue sky (for SkyWatch) dawned this morning, the 17th day of Tamuz on our Hebrew calendar.
Devout Jews around the world fast on this day. Here in Jerusalem this "minor fast day" begins at 4:15 am and ends at 8:13 pm.
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All sorts of calamities befell the Jewish people on this date in history. For instance, Moses smashed the twin tablets of the Ten Commandments upon seeing the golden calf.

But Shiv'ah Asar bTamuz also commemorates the First Century breach of the walls of Jerusalem, the first step towards the destruction of the Second Temple on the 9th of Av ( another fast day in three weeks from now).
In this unusual scene, Jerusalem's Old City wall appears to be dressed in black robes of mourning.

But no! Just the opposite. The wall, rebuilt by the Ottoman Turks in 1535-1541, is being patched up and strengthened and beautified. And by whom? The Roman Legion? The Ottomans?

NO! By the ISRAEL Antiquities Authority.

Yes, we are still here, alive and well.

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In fact, here you see the happy crowds who came for the Jerusalem Light Festival a few weeks ago, along that same stretch of wall near Jaffa Gate. Full of life.

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I do not fast on this day. But I do think about the breakage of Moshe's stone tablets and the breaking of my beloved Jerusalem's walls. And about this, Rachel at her wonderful "Velveteen Rabbi" blog has a good message:

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"[If you are fasting today], I hope that your fast is meaningful. May we find a way today to be open to whatever may flow through the places in us which are broken, remembering that our brokenness can be a place where holiness is found."
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Happy birthday St. John

On the Church calendar June 24 marks the Nativity of John the Baptist.
 He was born right here, in the Hills of Judea (aka the Jerusalem Hills), so we have many churches and monasteries with his name within easy walking distance.
You can see young John on the priest's vestments, holding and beholding the lamb.
Two years ago today I walked down to St. John in the Desert convent to see (and photograph) the special prayer service for the feast day.


Afterwards we were invited to the refectory to feast on good food and drink. To celebrate!

Visiting Spanish-speaking Franciscans clapped and sang to the music of the guitar out in the courtyard.
It was a happy time, a real birthday party.
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More about the prayer and the place in my post of last June 24.
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First day of spring is many things

Happy Nowruz to bloggers Sara of Mashhad (Iran) Daily Photos and Meead of Portland (OR) Daily Photos and thanks to you for teaching us the lovely customs that go with this, your spring new year's day.
After Purim, Meead surprised us with amazing pictures of the tombs of Esther and Mordechai and of the Biblical prophets Daniel and Habakuk. Also of Cyrus the Great. All in Iran. I never knew this. Do yourself a favor and click here to see his wonderful post!