2005.04.24

*Pilgrimage Day 15*

Day 15

Church St. Anne / Via Pools of Bethesda

We now went inside Old Jerusalem for our Via Dolorosa, but first we went to The Church of St. Anne, which is said to be one of the churches with the best acoustics. I’d bet the ACS would love to record there – it makes The Church of the Gesu sound like crap.

The Pools of Bethesda was right beside the church; this is where one of Jesus’ miracles (healing of the cripple during the Sabbath) took place.

Via Dolorosa

Of all the 14 stations, only a handful were really significant in terms of location (aside from the obvious events found in the stations of the cross). One of which was the first station which is where the whole Pontius Pilate / Barabas issue occured.

Another was the second station, The Church of Flagellation – which is where the scourging took place. Most of the stations were just markers along a market road… in the Muslim quarters. I distincly remember praying in one station with a stall right adjacent to us playing a beatbox at maximum volume… I swear, some people are really disrespectful. More on this later.

The most significant location is probably The Church of the Holy Sepulcher, where we did the 11th to the last station. The Church was huge, and went high up as well as deep down. This was because it “contained” three important locations: Golgotha (the crucifixion), the slab where Jesus was laid down from the cross (and wrapped in cloth, think of where Michelangelo’s Pieta was set), and lastly – the tomb/crypt of Jesus.

Church of Dormition / Wailing Walls

We started the Via Dolorosa in the Muslim Quarter, and ended in the Christian Quarter. We then visited The Dormition Abbey Church – where Mary slept, and where the Assumption took place I guess.

We then went to the Jewish quarters – to The Wailing Wall. The significance of the wall is that it is the only remaining trace of the Temple during Jesus’ time. Remember that the Muslim’s Dome of the Rock now stands in the place where Abraham offered Isaac (or Ishmael, as the Muslims would claim). So the wall was the retaining wall of the original temple that was destroyed.

Miscellaneous

Tor

This is the only day where I got to get a hold of Tor and take a picture (top left) just to prove that we were there at the same time hehehehe.

Crooks

While doing the Via Dolorosa, one of us fell victim to a pickpocket. 1000USD down the drain. Minutes after, the wallet was retrieved by some person (vigilante?) so well and good – without the dollar bills… fair enough. But what is really suspicious was that when we reached the Holy Sepulcher, police pointed us out and talked to the victim, tellling him that they caught the perpetrator, and asked if he could ID him in the police station… but with no guarantee that the money would be returned. What’s really fishy was that afterwards, authorities, in conjunction with some jewelry told the victim that they could guarantee the money to be retrieved in a different form -that he’d have to purchase merchandise amounting the same value.

Now that’s a straight up jack! They’re saying that they are willing to give 1000USD worth of merchandise, because they can retrieve the money by other means, but can’t give it back plain and simple? Whatever happened to the whole “other means” that could get the MONEY and not VALUE back? I really think its a syndicate.

Why they even suggested that the victim buy 1000USD is beyond me, it may be so that they don’t feel guilty, and that it could be converted to an official purchase – sort of a crude money laundering scheme if you ask me. Or that authorities know the criminals and agree to such a setup – for a cut of the profits. Either way, it’s a jack, plain and simple… disgustingly done during Passover (but then I don’t think they were Jews or Christians to begin with).

Egyptians

Again, the curse of the irritating Egyptians befell us as we we’re doing the Via Dolorosa. There was a tour group trailing us, and seem to not respect at all that we were on a pilgrimage, and not a mere excursion. Even if our guide would tell them to keep quiet, their (naturally) noisy nature just ruined it for the most of us. It’s easy for us to say that they are a disrespectful lot because we ourselves respect other communities that we see praying – we shut up on our own accord because we recognize the need for solemnity during prayer of any belief… apparently that fact is not part of Egyptian culture.

Other Beliefs

During our tour of the Jewish Quarters, I had gained a newfound respect for the Jews. As we walked into the Jewish Quarter, there were a number of Muslim mosques. What is striking is how these mosques are usually right next to or replacing other older Jewish synagogues (of particular note was the main Jewish Synagogue, which is now in ruins… right beside a totally intact Mosque). Our guide says that the Jewish people don’t have the penchant of destroying anything holy (wether they agree with the Religion or not).

This is because of the basic principle of respect for other beliefs. One cannot help but compare the Jews perspective from that of the Islams in Jerusalem (who bombed the Church of the Nativity, disregarded the stations of the Via Dolorosa, and put up a mosque over what was known to be as the main temple of the Jews – even if the religion itself was founded some hundred centuries AFTER Judaism and Christianity)

Now I never claimed Christianity or any other religion is the correct one, since it’s a pointless debate. But for the record, Islam would be last on my list for the sheer arrogance of what their religion claims – and the methods which they try to defend it. Maybe their god is a god of war and conquering, which is contrasting to our suffering and forgiving God. But regardless which interpretation of “god” is right (since I believe all monotheistic religions are ultimately talking about the same entity), you should respect other people as you would yourself, this doctrine is true even in Satanism (although severely limited, google it if you don’t believe me) – that respect should include the recognitions of what any people claim as holy.

I could respect the Muslims beliefs as far as not trying to convince them otherwise, but they’re doing the exact opposite – and when push comes to shove, their religion’s “historicity” can’t hold a candle against Judaism and [the newer] Christianity.