Windows 1888

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Welcome to the Ws at ABC Wednesday.

Once I wandered through the Pontifical Institute Notre Dame of Jerusalem Center.
Weird windows inside!
Like this round one in an internal wall.

The top floor is the strangest.
This other interior round window seems to be half covered by a mirror.
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Wherever I wandered I kept wondering, "Where is everyone?"
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The first Babel fish?

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Step through this door and you will find doors to many little translation booths.
Or so I trust.
Alas, I lost my nerve after seeing the sign
TRANSLATION BOOTHS -- AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY.
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Well, I AM (or was) a certified translator, but I was certainly not authorized to be roaming in the big empty convention hall building of The Pontifical Institute Notre Dame of Jerusalem Center.
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The new modern building is on Vatican property near the 19th century Notre Dame pilgrim hostel (see here and here).
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These doors made me think about the Catholic center's need for simultaneous interpreting these days as compared to the Disciples' sudden ability to speak in many languages, a miraculous gift given in Jerusalem's Upper Room on the first Pentecost almost two thousand years ago.
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Today is Pentecost Monday, the Feast of the Holy Spirit.
The dramatic story of the "speaking in tongues" is in Acts 2.
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Some see this as a reversal of the curse of the Tower of Babel, when God confounded the languages.
Acts 2 describes the phenomenon as a miracle of universal translation, enabling people from many parts of the world speaking many different languages to understand the Christian message.
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From the Orthodox Christian liturgy for the day:

Kontakion

When the most High came down and confused the tongues,
He divided the nations;
But when he distributed the tongues of fire
He called all to unity.
Therefore, with one voice, we glorify the All-holy Spirit!

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This post, my last about Pentecost until next year (no, really!), enters into Monday Doorways and That's MyWorld Tuesday.
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Foreign flags fly over the French Hospital

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In the previous post we went inside Jerusalem's French Hospital St. Louis.
Today I want to tell you, for ABC Wednesday, that foreign flags fly over the French Hospital!
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There's the flag of the Vatican.
Enlarge the photo if you don't believe me.

See the tricoleur above St. Louis? It was flown for le 14 juillet, France's Bastille Day.
And sometimes (or so the guides like to tell) you can even see our very own Israeli flag up there.

I'm pretty sure that the French Hospital is the only Vatican property in Jerusalem whose food is certified kosher by the rabbinate.
Jews and Muslims as well as Christians are hospitalized in this hostel for chronically- or terminal-ill patients, so the kosher certificate is important.

Six Sisters of Joseph runs the hospital together with 25 foreign volunteers and 60 staff.
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Sr. Hannah, an Israeli Arab, was very kind in guiding our group from Yad Ben-Zvi.
She even let us see the panoramic view from the roof.

Fortunately we hit the roof AFTER 16.00 hours.

In back of the laundry on the roof you can see another Vatican territory, that of the huge Notre Dame de Jerusalem.
(More about that pilgrim house under my label "Notre Dame.")
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Turning to the south you see the New Gate into the Old City.
The photo below is from 2009, when the tracks for the new light rail were still not complete.
This month the trams are making test runs along the tracks. Progress!

UPDATE Feb. 2014: An excellent little video about the hospice just came out.
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A gift of music

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The That's My World meme, hosted by Klaus and his team, Wren, Sandy, Sylvia, Louise, and Fishing Guy, celebrates two years of blogger-guided tours today!
As a birthday gift I offer not the usual built environment but a joyous cultural event instead.
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No, these are not Muslims at prayer.
They are singers taking their final bow!

While in Jerusalem Saturday night, I quite by accident chanced upon a free concert.

And beautiful and inspiring it was!

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The Ranot Ensemble had come on their bus all the way from the Arava, Israel's southern desert, to perform in the church of Notre Dame de Jerusalem.

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For the past 16 years the group's several dozen members volunteer their voices and hearts to keep alive the most beautiful and moving of Israel's and the world's songs.

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During the day they work as computer scientist and mathematician, veterinary surgeon, librarian, laboratory technician in the dairy farm, tour guide, and farmer as residents of Kibbutzim Ketura, Lotan, Grofit, Yotvata, Samar, and Shaharut village.
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I think the Ranot singers were invited especially for the meeting of the World Union of Catholic Women's Organisations that was taking place at Notre Dame.

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The Jewish singers had no problem singing "Ave Maria"--in Latin--, standing under the big crucifix and the big statue of Mary and child.

(We have come a long way. )

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When the singers moved into Gospel songs in English, women in the audience from Africa in their colorful dresses could not sit still. They stood up and clapped and swayed to the rhythm.

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After many encores, the concert ended.

The Pontifical Institute Notre Dame of Jerusalem Center was beautiful by night.

The singers boarded their bus for the long ride home, home to the desert.

I went home with a song in my heart and I'm sure the hundreds of visitors from abroad did too.

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Thanks to dedicated and idealistic people like the Ranot Ensemble the desert is blooming, not only with agriculture but with culture!

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More about Ranot Vocal Ensemble with videos of their songs.

Ranot on YouTube and Facebook.

Map and website of the Eilot Region communities.

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yes

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Y is for yes at ABC Wednesday today.

Yes started broadcasting in 2000, breaking the cable monopoly in Israel which had lasted more than a decade and ushering in digital broadcasting technology.
Yes is the sole satellite television provider (DBS) in Israel and has 570,000 subscribers (in a country whose population is just over 7 million).

The first two photos show the roof of St. Louis French Hospital, right next to Notre Dame de Jerusalem.

That is Vatican territory (see the flag?).

Sometimes I wonder if the devout Catholics there have a direct channel from Heaven, with all their satellite dishes. I hope the reception is good. :)

Some 65% of Israeli households own subscriptions to multi-channel cable television or satellite service providers.

The photo above shows one of many yes dishes in a Bedouin village in the Negev desert. Darajat village must have its water trucked in and they are not yet connected to the national electric grid. Which shows you that TVs can work even from generators.

The cats in my village seem to like this spot on my next-door neighbor's roof.

You suppose they have a little television up there and watch cat cartoons?

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My TV news comes only through the Internet, on my notebook computer. No television set for me.

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Moses, John Paul, and Benedict on Mt. Nebo

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Pope Benedict XVI arrived in the Kingdom of Jordan yesterday, the first stop on his pilgrimage to the Holy Land(s). This morning he is standing on Mount Nebo.
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This is where Moses, at the end of the 40 years of wandering in the desert, stood and looked longingly across to the Promised Land.

Deuteronomy 34:1-6 says
"And Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which is opposite Jericho. And the Lord showed him all the land, Gilead as far as Dan, all Naphtali, the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the Western Sea, the Negev, and the Plain, that is, the valley of Jericho the city of palm trees, as far as Tsoar. 
And the Lord said to him, 'This is the land of which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, "I will give it to your descendants." I have let you see it with your eyes, but you shall not go over there.'
So Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord, and he buried him in the valley in the land of Moab opposite Bethpeor; but no man knows the place of his burial to this day." 

Once I wandered into Vatican territory--the Pontifical Institute Notre Dame of Jerusalem Center. In a showcase were photos of the last papal visit in 2000.  
Please click to enlarge their photo of the previous Pope, John Paul II, and read the poetic and prophetic words he spoke on Mt. Nebo!
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The remarks made this morning by Pope Benedict at the ancient basilica on Mt. Nebo are already published here.
 He concluded with this wish:

"May our encounter today inspire in us a renewed love for the canon of Sacred Scripture and a desire to overcome all obstacles to the reconciliation of Christians and Jews in mutual respect and cooperation in the service of that peace to which the word of God calls us!"
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Welcome to Jerusalem!

The Vatican flag flies under Jerusalem's sky.
And in May Pope Benedict XVI will be flying to the Holy Land! From Jordan he will arrive in Israel and visit Jerusalem, Bethlehem, and Nazareth. He comes as a pilgrim and not as a head of state; he will try to make it a spiritual journey, not a political one.
We welcome His Holiness.
This big Vatican property is the Notre Dame of Jerusalem Center. (More information at my earlier post.)

The building dates from the 1880s.

Here's the view of Mary and the baby from inside the pilgrim hostel, top floor.

I'll do my best to catch sight of Pope Baruch during his five days with us in the Holy City and, God willing, I'll bring you some once-in-a-lifetime photos.

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Other skies await your visit at the weekly SkyWatch Friday. The blogger sky watchers invite you.

Rome and Jerusalem

Today is the Vatican's 80th birthday.
Yes, really, only 80 years old. It is an official holiday there today. Vatican City became a sovereign state on February 11, 1929 after an agreement between Pope Pius XI and Mussolini led to the signing of the Lateran Treaties.
Enlarge this photo of the Pontifical Institute Notre Dame of Jerusalem Center and you see the Vatican flag flying. Imagine, stepping into Vatican territory in the middle of Jerusalem!
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Notre Dame received its first pilgrims in 1888. The building's history is at their website.
I found this paragraph the most interesting:
"Large groups of pilgrims began coming to the Holy Land in 1882 under the direction of French Assumptionists. . . . Notre Dame de France Pilgrim Center met the requirements for the new types of large pilgrimages in which 500 pilgrims would arrive and depart at the same time on special ships equipped with chapels. At Notre Dame de France, the pilgrims found accommodations commensurate with their numbers. The Assumptionists assisted them spiritually and served as guides as they visited the Holy Places."
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So, happy birthday Vatican City.
Hey bloggers, have you checked out the Vatican's new dedicated channel on YouTube? Click here and see daily videos of what Pope Benedict is up to.