Tel Aviv, Israel -- There are forty-eight of us traversing the Land of Israel, including eight children. We are Jews and Christians on a trip organized by the Sholom Center for Interfaith Learning and Fellowship.
The center was co-founded two years ago by Temple Sholom's Rabbi Mitchell "Mitch" Hurvitz and the Reverend Jim Lemler of Christ Church. It is intended to expand opportunities for those of all faiths to learn, study and socialize in meaningful ways.
Rabbi Mitch describes this trip as an opportunity for Christians and Jews to share each other's narratives. This anchors us in our own faith, while leading to an appreciation of the other. We are each on our own path as we "climb God's Holy Mountain," says Rabbi Mitch. "We can help one another if we stumble."
The Reverend Lemler says that, from his Christian perspective, an interfaith trip is more powerful than a purely Christian Holy Land trip. It provides greater depth and helps non-Jews understand the complexity of the issues Israel faces. It's his hope the center will make this interfaith experience more widely available in the Greenwich community.
A high point in our shared experience was Natalie Lilien's Bat Mitzvah at Masada. By becoming Bat Mitzvah, Natalie strengthened the long chain of Jewish continuity in a setting where that chain could have been broken nearly 2,000 years ago when the Romans crushed the Jewish revolt.
Inspired, I began my column at the spa where we stopped for lunch and a swim following the Bat Mitzvah, before we left the Judean Desert for the Galilee. As I wrote, I looked across the still, mineral-laden, salt-heavy Dead Sea toward the Jordanian shore. This body of water, at 1,368 feet below sea level, is the lowest point on Earth.
The next morning, continuing to write, I watched a sunrise over the gently lapping waters of Lake Kinneret, Israel's only natural freshwater lake and a major water source, also known as the Sea of Galilee.
Now finishing my column, I watch the waters of the Mediterranean break in crashing white waves on the sandy beach below. The sea, in ever-changing shades of green and blue-gray, meets a cloudy sky at the distant horizon. This is the view from my room in the Tel Aviv hotel where we are staying on the last leg of this 10-day journey.
I marvel at the diversity of terrain in this tiny land, barely larger than New Jersey. From the lowest point on Earth to snow-capped mountain peaks, from the Negev Desert to the fertile Jezreel Valley and the Galilee's lush green, from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea, this Promised Land is a special land.
Over the centuries, millions of Christians have flocked here because it's the land of Jesus. One can follow the Christian messiah, or Christ, from cradle to grave. The word "Christ" is simply the Greek translation of the Hebrew "moshiach," or anointed one, which refers to an anointed king.
Jews, on the other hand, are drawn to this land because it's our ancestral homeland, promised by God to Abraham and Abraham's progeny. This eternal homeland is at the core of the Jewish experience across the millennia. The land cannot be separated from the people.
We began our travels together, as Jews and Christians, in Jerusalem experiencing Shabbat at the Western Wall.
We toured the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, which marks the place of Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection. The Reverend Lemler offered an ecumenical prayer, invoking light, life and compassion.
We recited Havdalah at the close of Shabbat, standing in a circle and singing "Elijah the Prophet," arms around one another.
We went to Bethlehem where the Church of the Nativity marks Jesus' birthplace and to Nazareth, where the Church of the Annunciation commemorates the story of Jesus' miraculous conception.
At Capernaum and the Mount of the Beatitudes, we encountered the Jewish Jesus in his original setting and reflected on our common Jewish roots.
I'm thinking, perhaps in some small way, interfaith endeavors like this can help realize Isaiah's prophetic vision in which nation shall no longer lift up sword against nation, nor learn war any more.
But then I remember I'm in the Middle East, and the vision slips away.
Alma Rutgers has served in Greenwich town government for the past 25 years. Her blog is at http://blog.ctnews.com/rutgers/.
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