Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Birthday stroll in the Old City's Armenian Quarter...

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Birthday stroll in the Old City's Armenian Quarter...

    Birthday stroll in the Old City's Armenian Quarter...

    By RUTH WASSERMAN LANDE
    03/01/2015 16:13


    Yesterday, I celebrated my birthday. Having chosen a rather unusual
    way in which to celebrate it, I had a rare, yet intriguing, glimpse
    into the life an Armenian priest, and an even rarer chance to examine,
    from within, the underlying tensions between Armenian, Greek Orthodox
    and Catholic Christians in an already complex Jewish capital...

    We began by entering the usually unyielding Armenian priests' compound
    in the Armenian Quarter in the Old City of Jerusalem. Quite astounded,
    I discovered wide parking lots behind secret gateways, in an area
    where it is barely possibly to pass by, even with a small car.
    Likewise, the living quarters of approximately 100 Armenian monks, as
    well as approximately 150 more Armenians, who live with their families
    within the premises, were wondrously opened to us, a Jewish Israeli
    couple, by our friend, an Armenian

    Lebanese monk, who has been living in Israel for the past 30 years.
    The Armenians follow their own Archbishop and Pope, whose seat is in
    faraway Armenia and provide services and protection to those following
    the Ethiopian and the Coptic Churches in Israel. Their undeclared
    enemies are neither the State of Israel, nor Islam, at least not in
    Israel, yet the Greek Orthodox Church and to a lesser degree, the
    Catholic Church in this country.

    Following a heart-to-heart chat about the complexities of our region,
    I probed deeper into the life experiences of our friend, whose family
    members remain in Lebanon, dreading the likes of ISIS and other evils.
    Once more, it became abundantly clear to me, that despite all
    criticism of- and complexities in the tiny State of Israel, there
    remain certain pillars of virtue which are remarkable, once of which
    is the freedom of religion which is granted in general and to
    Christians in particular.

    I was witness to just how difficult and sensitive my aforementioned
    observation really was, in the following part of the trip: Following a
    group of Armenian monks, my husband and I strolled with them in a
    ceremonious manner, from the Armenian Quarter towards the Church of
    the Holy Sepulchre- a half-an-hour walk , if one is not in a hurry...
    I was a Jewish Israeli woman, strolling with a group of Armenian
    monks, cloaked in black with huge gold crosses on their necks and
    pointed tall caps, in the midst of a Christian pilgrim crowd, Muslim
    local merchants and several, particularly religious, Jewish
    passers-by.

    As if this was not surreal enough, I was both surprised and proud to
    notice several Israeli security personnel securing the monks. When
    asked who they were securing them from, I was answered by one of the
    policemen that it was from several extreme Jewish individuals, who had
    taken the habit to spit at the monks during former such parades...
    During this particular parade, I was spared dubious pleasure of
    experiencing the above... What ensued within the Church itself was even
    more astounding- hordes of visitors, both pilgrims and local clergymen
    were organized in a miraculous fashion, according to a strict
    timetable, which enabled the Armenian followers to perform their
    rituals and ceremonies, then those who follow the Greek Orthodox
    Church and finally the Catholics to carry out their own such
    practices.

    This surprisingly well-ordered, if somewhat tense manifestation of
    internal agreements between the three sects vis-à-vis their holy of
    holies, was not only respected and acknowledged by the State of
    Israel, but kept orderly by Israeli policemen, lest Greek Orthodox
    monks physically abuse those of the Armenian order, or vice versa.
    Quite surreal.

    My birthday gift was clear: yet another astounding reminder and a
    greater clarity of just how complex, potentially explosive and
    wondrously fascinating this city of Jerusalem really is - for all
    people.


    http://www.jpost.com/Blogs/Israel-From-the-Inside-Out/Birthday-stroll-in-the-Old-Citys-Armenian-Quarter-392541

Working...
X