Today we visited the Jerusalem Museum and Yad Vashem. The Jerusalem museum was a fascinating and interesting site. It opened my eyes and helped me to better envision the stories I have read since childhood. The Jerusalem Museum contains a a replica model of Jerusalem as it stood before the destruction of the second temple. I spent the largest portion of my time there gawking over the model and mapping out sites associated with the story. I proceeded into the museum after spending a great deal of my time at the model. The museum contained artifacts and artwork (mostly modern art). My time in seminary has given me a greater appreciation for art but I still have difficulty with appreciating modern art. After touring the museum I returned to the outdoor model to continue my scholarly study of second temple Jerusalem. As I returned I passed a piece of modern art at the museum. It is a permanent display at the museum and after my third pass through the display (one must actually walk through this piece of art to enter the indoor museum or exit the museum). It took three passes in order for me to find my appreciation for modern art. When I found my appreciation for this particular piece it peeled back layers of thought and helped me to process all the events of the day. It revealed something painful that perhaps is the most common and most devastating reality for humanity.
Yad Vashem is a Hebrew term taken from a verse in the Book of Isaiah 56:5: Even unto them will I give in mine house and within my walls a place and a name (yad vashem). It is intriguing to exegete this text in light of the naming of this museum. This passage, found in deutero-Isaiah is an interesting basis for a name on this particular museum. While documenting the atrocities and the systematic slaughter of our Jewish brothers and sisters, the museum makes a distinct and persuasive argument for a Jewish homeland. The suffering of the Jewish people at the hands of the third reich is graphically and honestly detailed in Yad Vashem. Upon exiting the indoor museum a beautiful overlook of a rugged Jerusalem mountainside (incredibly beautiful) with construction of a modern Israel on the horizon. It is impossible to witness the plight and suffering of these people and not be immediately moved with hope for them as this seen rises up before you upon exiting the museum.
As if this was not powerful enough we then enter the outdoor museum. The most powerful section of this outdoor display is the children’s memorial which appears as a maze upon entry. As one enters they are confronted with a haunting image carved in Jerusalem stone of an innocent young boy. As you turn the corner images of other child victims are reflected by mirrors through a window. The maze then turns to the right as you enter a dark room lighted by a single candle that is reflected off so many mirrors that the room feels as if you are walking among the stars in the sky. Each light reflected represents the life of a child killed during the Holocaust (or the Shoah, the “catastrophe”, as the Jewish community calls it) and as one walks through the display the names and ages of the children are read over a speaker. This memorial is indescribable in not only it’s simplicity but it’s beauty. As a father my heart truly ached and as a human being I was outraged and sickened at such a loss. It was powerful and moving. How can one not sympathize with the plight of Israel and the need for a homeland after such a powerful witness? As you exit the museum Joel 1: 2-3 is engraved into a pillar beside the door for all leaving to read and reflect on; Hear this, O elders, give ear, all inhabitants of the land! Has such a thing happened in your days, or in the days of your ancestors? Tell your children of it and let your children tell their children, and their children another generation. This passage when literally read is a reflection on the plight of locusts, drought, and fire upon the nation of Israel but when read in a historical context it is a metaphorical reflection on a military campaign that had encircled Jerusalem (most likely Sennacherib). The passage is used quite effectively to portray the importance of remembering the plight of a suffering people.
After visiting these two museums we met with Professor Mustafa Abu Sway to discuss Palestinian/Israeli relations as well as Christian/Islamic dialogue. During our discourse with Professor Sway he was asked about terrorism and his feelings on violent acts in the name of Islam. It was obvious this question would arise during a discussion with Western Christians, especially Americans. Professor Sway’s response, however, was quite intriguing and unique from what I expected. He informed us that although he doesn’t approve of terrorism it is important to recognize that the worst form of terrorism is the terrorism of the state because of the imbalance of resources. I found myself wondering what would happen if the role was reversed and the Palestinians held the same resources the Israelis held. I wondered what would happen if over time the Israeli settlements became the oppressed isolated areas that the Palestinian controlled territories were. As I wandered through Yad Vashem I saw a parallel between these two situations. Roles had been reversed. It seems that suffering must always be validated and once validated reparations must be made. If other people suffer at the hands of those reparations it is then justified on the basis of the suffering of the individual. Does this mean the Palestinians would act differently if the role was reversed? Does this mean I support Professor Sway’s assessment? I suppose to an extent I understand his view but suffering is suffering and whenever it is at the hands of another it is an injustice.
The situation here is odd. There is no right or wrong, only grey, only a very grey fear. As I wrestled with these thoughts I wrestled with the understanding of good and evil, light and darkness. The passage in Isaiah (Isaiah 56: 1-8) does call for a house and walls but it is an inclusive verse that introduces something new to the Jewish people as they returned from exile. It introduces the importance of righteousness and the inclusion of those from outside the Jewish community, the foreigner and the eunuch (Is. 56: 3) who had previously been excluded (Deut. 23: 1-3). The passage is a call for justice to share as one people of God. The plight of the Jewish community has now been shifted upon the Palestinian community. Not necessarily with malice in the beginning but with fear. Fear of being a victim again, fear of the Shoah, fear of suffering. After my own fear, my own suffering, my own experiences of violence at the hands of war and hate, I thought just maybe that piece of modern art offered something of an explanation.
This piece of art is modeled after a passage from the Dead Sea Scrolls, it is found in what is known as the War Scroll. It describes a battle between the sons of darkness and the sons of light. It introduces a sense of dualism between good and evil, light and darkness. This piece I was walking through has a fountain on one side shaped like one of the clay jars which contained the scrolls. It is a white fountain representing the sons of light with water trickling down the sides of the jar-like structure to signify the purity of the sons of light (good). On the other side is a black wall signifying the sons of darkness (evil). What was so intriguing was on my third pass, the sun had begun to set in the sky. As the sun began to set a shadow was cast and began to creep towards the white fountain. This brought me to the realization that a humanity with the purist intentions can fail to see those intentions fully realized. Perhaps the element that is so consistently missing is reconciliation. Without true forgiveness and reconciliation I am not certain any intention can be purely just and righteous. Without it that wall of darkness within each of us casts a dark shadow on the purist intentions. Those good intentions are no longer light or dark, but grey. Isaiah calls for righteousness in the passage where Yad Vashem gets it’s name. Deliverance is the reward for the righteous. Maybe we should stop seeking deliverance and validation. Maybe, instead, seeking justice and righteousness for each other. If deliverance isn’t in our hands perhaps it’s time we seek something truly in
our power to deliver.
Salām, Peace, and Shalom -
Salām, Peace, and Shalom -
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