Nazareth and Jerusalem

Dome of the Rock, Jerusalem

Nazareth, the town where the Angel Gabriel announced to Mary that she was to give birth to a baby, is called the Arab capital of Israel with a majority of Arab Israelis living there.  The Old City is worth a visit to wander the alleyways of its bazaar and enjoy some good Arab food.  Obviously, the city is a beacon for Christians anxious to visit the various churches dedicated to Mary and the Annunciation.  One small excavation shows the kind of stone houses that were common 2000 years ago, at the time Mary, Joseph and Jesus lived.

doorway in Nazareth

Continuing on to Jerusalem, we wanted to visit Yad Vashem again, the incredible museum devoted to the Holocaust and the remembrance of the 6 million Jews who died in the Holocaust.  We had a private guided tour, so learned much more than we had during our first visit. 

Nazareth houses from the time of Jesus

Importantly, non-Jews who helped Jews escape the Nazis, called the Righteous of the Nations, are honored here also, with trees planted in their names.  Originally, the planners thought there would be several hundred of these women and men, but there have been 27,000 identified so far.  Their stories testify to individual and communal courage and action to do what is right in a time of terror and hate and total brutality.  There was one town in southern France, with 5000 inhabitants, in which many families hid Jews escaping the Nazis.  Everyone in town knew this and not one person ever betrayed them.  The town and all its people are honored.

Our guide was a settler from New Jersey with 7 children.  She and her family moved to Israel 13 years ago to be part of building a Jewish homeland.  They are Orthodox Jews who believe, as our guide at the kibbutz did, that God gave the Jews this promised land and they must love it and care for it.  Her desire is to live in harmony with the Palestinians, which, she said, is what most Jews and Palestinians.  What she did not say was that a Palestinian state would be part of this peaceful coexistence.  She has a Ph.D in English Literature and teaches in Israel’s equivalent of the community college system which gives her time for her passion—learning the stories of the survivors of the Holocaust.

Yad Vashem, an arrow through the heart of Mt. Herzl

She was exceptional.  She knows the names of each survivor and their stories, and still she is learning more.  The stories are horrific.  Watching the survivors tell their stories on video is wrenching as they struggle 70 years later to recount something so horrible that it defies words. 

sculpture outside Children's Memorial

Early in the War, before the Nazi death camps were built, the Nazis had squads of soldiers whose job was to murder all the Jews the army found as they conquered across Europe.  Initially, this was done by having the Jews dig pits, lining them up along the edges and shooting them so they would fall into the pit.  Wave after wave of men, women and children were murdered this way.  One survivor, in a video, told of being in the line about to be shot.  Just before the shooting began, his grandfather pushed him into the pit on top of all the bodies already lying there so that he would have a chance to live.  After all the killing was done and it was dark, this 16-year-old tried to move.  He felt a hand grab his leg.  There was one other boy who had also survived the slaughter unhurt.  Somehow the 2 of them managed to free themselves from the mass of corpses and escape into the forest.  I do not know the courage it takes to survive such horror and still be able to build a life for yourself, creating a new family when all your original family is dead.

arched passageway, Jerusalem

The Children’s Memorial at Yad Vashem is a quiet place for contemplation.  The architect designed a building that is dark inside except for 5 candles that are always burning, reflected in thousands of mirrors so that it looks like there are thousands of candles honoring the 1.5 million children who were murdered in the Holocaust.  Their photos, or as many as have been found, line the walls while their names, ages and birthplaces are continuously read.  It is a place of such sadness, but also with so much love for the lost children.  Israel is determined that they will be remembered.

Jerusalem is a limestone city, with new buildings required to be built of or faced with limestone.  So, it shimmers, even in the rain, and blends ancient and modern structures.  The Old City has 4 quarters, Jewish, Muslim, Christian and Armenian.  The Western Wall is in the Jewish Quarter, with security checks required to get in.  Above the Wall on the Temple Mount are sites sacred to Jews, Muslims and Christians, with access carefully guarded.  Both Jewish and Muslim quarters have busy bazaars full of souvenir shops and stalls selling produce, meat, and spices.  The city’s layers of history play out even today in religion, politics and, too often, enmity.  But, in the bazaar, everyone mixes, selling, shopping, talking.

Jaffa Gate, Jerusalem