Wednesday PART 1: Bethlehem and the Wall


Haverim-

My travel partner today was Marc Crenshaw. He is someone I have known for quite awhile. He and his wife have been over my house for a Passover Seder. He recently had a son. Marc is the executive director of the Interfaith Disabilities network. He is an incredibly bright, warm and funny guy. He has Cerebal Palsy. It was a powerful day and a wonderful opportunity to get to know him better.

We were sitting on the bus talking on the way to Bethlehem when the Jewish men were asked to take of their yarmulkes before we arrived at the check point. Though I knew somewhere in the back of my mind that we would have to encounter the Wall, I had not been emotionally prepared for it. A huge concrete structure that felt necessary on one hand and fearfully harsh on the other. A Protector of Life-- A Barrier for Living. I expressed this to Marc and he asked me how I felt having to take off my yarmulke. I explained to him on my first trip to Minsk that one of my group members kept insisting that I take off my yarmulke. She was horrified that I did not; especially in the Berlin airport. While couching it the language of fear for my safety, it became apparent that she was concerned for her own. I realized that my actions affected the sense of safety for the whole group so I was fine taking it off. In fact, once I was in Minsk, the body guards that accompanied also would not permit me to wear a yarmulke outside. (The second trip things were much more relaxed and not an issue.) So for the safety and well being in the group, I was ok with removing my yarmulke.

Bethlehem is one of the West Bank cities that is better off than most and still there is great poverty. Bethlehem was home to Naomi before she left for Moab and returned with Ruth. It was home to King David during his shepherding days. And of course the birth place of Jesus. Though no one explicitly made the connection, all 3 of these stories connect in a messianic lineage. We went to the Church of the Nativity, which is shared by three communities: The Catholic Church, the Orthodox Church and the Armenians. It was a cavernous space in which the oldest part the walls were crumbling. We toured the believed spot of Jesus' birth. Services were occurring in 3 separate spaces.

On the way we passed the Grave of Rachel, but were not allowed in as it is a contentious holy site. After we went to a store that I nicknamed "JesusRus", it was a large tchochke shop that had knickknacks of all faiths but predominately Christian carvings. Needless to say, I went back onto the bus for a quick nap.

We passed the Shepherding Fields in the valley on the way to lunch. Then we returned and made our way to Yad Vashem. Yad Vashem, Jerusalem, is the Jewish peopleÂ’s memorial to the murdered Six Million and symbolizes the ongoing confrontation with the rupture engendered by the Holocaust. Containing the worldÂ’s largest repository of information on the Holocaust, Yad Vashem is a leader in Shoah education, commemoration, research and documentation

They have opened up a breathtakingly awesome new museum whic h is architecturally haunting. Marc and I made our way through the burgeoning crowds as we were forced by the design to zigzag through an incredibly detailed account of the vast horrors. At a certain point, due to time constraints, instead of fighting to read every placard, I began to tell him about my trip to Poland. At one point we both became choked up by the entire experience and it was not need to be stated because our awareness was shared that both of us would have been victims by the Nazi's regime.

Each of us is asked to give a reflection during the trip and mine was slotted for Yad Vashem. We made our way to the chapel in Yad Vashem, a beautiful space. As we chanted El Maleh Rachamim, the Jewish mourning prayer that asks for the souls of the departed to be bound with the Divine Presence. I told my stories and a crowd gathered beyond our 39. Many joined us in saying Kaddish. Afterwards, a man in his seventies walked to the wall of the synagogue and began to waiinconsolablyly. Caroline, a Christian pilgrim went to embrace him. He then sought me out and he hugged me tight and began to sob and shake in my arms. "Thank you rabbi, I need this. I needed this prayer." I began to sob with him in this remarkable sense of grace. There are times when a moment justifies one's entire path.

The bus is leaving, but when I return to the blog, I will share with you the challenges of our first real dialogue.