A Proud Procession

If I hadn’t been in Jerusalem, I would have thought there was a big party that we hadn’t been invited to. As Neal, Ruby, Rob and I made our way to the Western Wall, a steady stream of Hasidic Jews passed alongside us and came towards us–men, women, families and babies in strollers. The Western Wall borders the temple mount and is the place Jews have come for centuries to worship. Their dress was as I described in a previous blog but this time I noticed many of the men wearing long, satin coats and big, broad fur hats.

Their gait was brisk and purposeful. Their countenance was serious and sometimes somber. They never made eye contact. If they were looking in my direction, they would avert their eyes. I felt a sense of arrogance, as if we were to be avoided as unclean. It seemed a procession of sorts, a proud procession.

We had to pass through a security checkpoint before entering the area of the Western Wall. No pictures were allowed. Before me now was a sea of black and white. There was about 100 yards partitioned off in front of the wall. This was divided in two. The left side was for men only to approach the wall. The right side was for women. On tippy toes I could see over the mesh partition to see into the men’s’ quarters. They were like busy ants, moving to and from the wall. Some sat in chairs quietly reading the Torah. Others gathered in circled groups singing and dancing.

Ruby and I made our way into the women’s’ side. The scene looked similar although more quiet and contemplative. We made our way to the wall. Women, many very young, were resting their hands on the wall, their eyes tightly shut, muttering prayers, reciting from the Torah, bowing, bobbing. Some with an arm outstretched, laid themselves against the wall, their faces grimaced as if in pain or distress. Thousands of little pieces of paper were stuffed into the crevices of the wall, prayers to God and pleas for the Messiah to come. No one left the wall with their back to it. They all backed up and away from the wall; “never turn your back on the king,” Neal explained.

My thoughts were racing. How do you take this all in? Shabbat for the orthodox Jew was more than a pilgrimage to the Western Wall. Most businesses close on Fridays by 2:00pm. Everything stops. Families gather in their homes. Wives begin preparing a special dinner. The Torah is read. This was all so foreign to me; their dress, the way they eat, their way of life, their worship, day after day, Shabbat after Shabbat, yet all for one who had already come.

I couldn’t help but think if Jesus were there that night and had said some of the things he had said to the teachers of the law in his day–“Have you not read?….” “Woe to you teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices-mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law-justice, mercy and faithfulness.”–there would have been a riot! Suddenly the persecution Jesus suffered broadened in my mind. He was disdained and discounted by those who should have known best it was him that all of the Old Testament pointed to. Those who should have welcomed and adored him I now pictured with their arms folded, sneering and ridiculing the King who had come. I am crushed when I feel the disappointment or disdaining of one person. Jesus-the God man, endured this from those it would have been least expected, his entire three years of ministry. His heart must have weighed heavy with sorrow and pain the cry of these echoing in his ears, “Crucify him!”

My own heart was heavy as my thoughts lingered upon this picture in my mind, even the next day. We ended that day with pizza for dinner and a cappuccino in the courtyard area of Ben Yehudha Street. A Korean group of about 30 were gathered in the middle of the square, singing.

I understood none of the words but recognized one, and the familiar tune that went with it, “Hosanna, Hosanna, Hosanna to the King of Kings!” Their singing was infused with excitement as they smiled, danced and clapped. Their joy for our risen Savior was so evident and a timely reminder that lifted my own spirit -Christ has risen! He has risen indeed

Shalom,
Lisa