Mount Zion

In mid-June, we gathered for our annual summer meeting of representatives from leading organizations on Mount Zion, which includes resident Mount Zion institutions, ranging from religious leaders and stakeholders, including municipal and government officials. The meeting was convened in the context of Window to Mount Zion, a project created and led by JICC in 2015 to promote understanding and collaboration among relevant stakeholders on Mount Zion, in the hope of easing religious tension.

The forum’s diversity reflects its vital importance, enabling all parties to communicate and promote shared interests regarding life on Mount Zion. This year, we were honored to host the St. Savior Armenian Church and Monastery, Dormition Abbey, and Monastery of St. Francis Ad Coenaculum, along with rabbis from the Diaspora Yeshiva and Sephardic Synagogue. Further important stakeholders attended from King David’s Tomb, the Harp of David, Greek Garden, Jerusalem University College, and Dajani family, along with senior police officials responsible for securing Mount Zion.

During the meeting, all participants shared their desire and commitment to further and develop collaboration between all parties, not only for the sake of Mount Zion, but also as an inspirational model for fruitful shared life in this historically complex environment.

The forum expressed deep appreciation to Merav Horowitz-Stein for her dedicated work since 2015, and welcomed Tami Lavie Nissim, the new project manager.

This was a particularly special annual reunion as we reflected on the milestones in our work thus far, and embarked on a hopeful new chapter with renewed energy and leadership.

A significant part of Window to Mount Zion’s activities includes accompanying different Christian religious processions in an about the Old City.

Why do the different religious figures need this? Aren’t the police there to protect them?

Accompanying Armenian processions

Many of the religious rituals include processions through public spaces – from monestaries to the Room of the Last Supper (Cenacle) or to the Church of the Holy Supulchre. During these processions, the religious figures are subject to protests and objections (in the past, sometimes violence) on the part of the general public.

Accompanying another Armenian procession

Of course, police are on hand. But in the six years that this project has operated, we’ve found that our volunteers have been quite effective in diffusing tensions, alongside the police. Because the volunteers are not police, they are not not seen as the ‘establishment.’ And because most, if not all, are also trained tour guides, they are able to describe to passersby what exactly is going on. We’ve found that, with education comes a higher degree of tolerance.

Since May of 2021 we have been accompanying Armenian monks every week on their weekly procession from the Armenian monestary to the Church of the Holy Sepulcre. This came on the heels of an attack of a monk in May, during a procession.

You can read about our accompaniment of Armenian monks here:

Many thanks to the Jerusalem Foundation, the American Center Jeursalem, and Keren Nitzan for their support of Window to Mount Zion.

We’ve the Window to Mount Zion project here, as well as recent efforts to maintain the different sites, here and here.

On July 6, 2021, the Council for Conservation of Heritage Sites in Israel, with funding from the Jerusalem Development Authority, placed an explanatory sign at the Dajani Family Cemetery on Mount Zion. The sign explains the history of the Dajani family cemetery on Mount Zion – the family’s heritage and its members who are buried in the cemetery next to David’s tomb. It is written in Hebrew, Arabic as well as English, shows the uniqueness of Mount Zion as a sacred international heritage site for three religions.

Ms. Dajani in front of the new sign

This sign is a milestone in many ways. First, it shows that public authorities recognized the rich, diverse history of Mount Zion and the numerous narratives of the place, and seek to display this diversity to all. Second, it is yet another step in the Municipality’s (Mayor Lion’s) promise to maintain and upkeep the entire area of Mount Zion. We hope that these trends continue into the future and that Mount Zion receives the resources it deserves.

Here’s the post from the Window to Mount Zion Facebook page:

Many thanks to the Jerusalem Foundation, the Nitzan Fund and the US Embassy’s American Center Jerusalem for their support of Window to Mount Zion.

Window to Mount Zion has been working since 2015 to improve Mount Zion in a number of ways, forming partnerships between the different institutions and organizations and improving communication with the municipality, even on ‘everyday issues’ such as cleaning sidewalks and improving safety.

When we began, the situation was no less that catastrophic. Today, the situation has been transformed for the better. You can read more about what’s been going on on Mount Zion here.

Most recently, we wrote about Mayor Moshe Lion’s recent visit to Mount Zion here. During that visit, we spoke about how COVID-19 has affected Mount Zion, an area normally teeming with pilgrims and tourists. We also spoke about improvements that can and should be made – cleaning the sidewalks, pruning trees, etc.

As a result of that meeting, last week the municipality kept its promise. It cleaned the sidewalks

Cleaning the central plaza at the David’s Tomb complex

pruned trees and bushes

The Dajani Cemetery is now clean

made sure walkways were not slippery, in preparation for winter.

Making sure pedestrians don’t slip

Here’s the post from the Window to Mount Zion Facebook page:

Thank you, Jerusalem Municipality, for your partnership! And many thanks to the Jerusalem Foundation for its ongoing support of the JICC on Mount Zion, and for the Window to Mount Zion project in particular.

We’ve written here and here about the Window to Mount Zion project, which has, since its establishment in 2015, transformed the inter-religious relations between the Jewish, Muslim and Christian organizations on Mount Zion.

Mayor Lion tours all parts of Mount Zion

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Window to Mount Zion has continued to develop, expanding into projects to help residents in the Jewish, Muslim and Christian Quarters in the Old City, as well as bringing the organizations on Mount Zion together on ways to try and advance tourism, especially during the especially challenging time of COVID-19. You can read more about these efforts here.

Expressing solidarity with residents and organizations on Mount Zion

As part of these efforts, Window to Mount Zion hosted Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion on Tuesday, October 27. He came for a tour with the coalition of organizations and residents of Mount Zion. There, we learned that we all believe that Mount Zion is a wonderful place that at once is diverse and unites. We are hopeful that, together with the Jerusalem Municipality we’ll be able to develop Mount Zion has a key way to be introduced to Jerusalem.

Advancing joint work for Jewish, Muslim and Christian organizations and residents

Here’s the Facebook post in Hebrew:

Many thanks to the Jerusalem Foundation for its ongoing support of the JICC on Mount Zion, and for the Window to Mount Zion project in particular.

If this had been any other year, Mount Zion would have been crowded with visitors and tourists from Israel and the world. Many of the organizations and sites on Mount Zion usually host tourists, whether they are pilgrims who come to visit the churches, tourists from abroad or Israelis who come to visit the Chamber of the Holocaust, celebrations and events held at the David’s Harp, and more.

Zoom meeting of Mount Zion organization to discuss tourism

This year, the coronavirus has basically shut down the tourist industry. In an effort to think about future steps, organizations and sites on Mount Zion – initiated a ‘tenants’ meeting to discuss tourism. Especially now that the industry is in nearly complete collapse, it is a good time to think of creative solutions for tourism now, and in the future.

During the meeting, on July 28, 2020,  a number of ideas were raised for improving tourism on Mount Zion, both during the corona and after the crisis.

As follow-up to the meeting, an operative body that will concentrate on tourism on Mount Zion, including organizations whose main focus is tourism, has been established. The Mayor was invited for a tour of Mount Zion, and the group will continue to develop ideas and initiatives.

Many thanks to the Jerusalem Foundation for its ongoing support of the JICC on Mount Zion, and for the Window to Mount Zion project in particular.

Last week was the Jewish holiday of Shavuot. In addition, many Christian denominations celebrated the Pentecost.  Occasionally these holidays coincide on the calendar. On Mount Zion, especially before Window to Mount Zion began operating, these two holidays were also the source of a great deal of tension. Since the beginning of Window to Mount Zion, tensions have substantially subsided. (You can read about that here, here, and here.)

This year, in the wake of the coronavirus crisis, prayer services for Shavuot and the Pentecost were among the first to meet, after more than two months of standstill. However, attendance was extremely limited, mainly to those performing the ceremony.

Preparing to perform the Pentecost ceremony

It was, however, covered in the media. On May 31, 2020, the Davar newspaper wrote about the Window to Mount Zion project. You can read the Hebrew article here.

The article describes both the Shavuot and Pentecost ceremonies, and the place the JICC  – and Window to Mount Zion – has had in ensuring peaceful prayer services over the past few years.

“When we moved here [to Mount Zion, in 2006], the atmosphere was very tense,” describes Merav Horovitz-Stein, Coordinator. “In the beginning, we focused on making connections. Afterward, we organized meetings with all the organizations and institutions on Mount Zion, like a tenants association, where we talked about everyday matters. In 2016 graffiti was sprayed on churches here. For the first time, [in at least hundreds of years] we came out with a joint condemnation of the act, which included all organizations here. Trust began to build between residents. It turned out that there are people on the other side of the wall.

During the Christian Pentecost and the Jewish Shavuot services, [which both take place at the David’s Tomb complex], project volunteers [who’ve undergone special training] join the police and help to keep the peace. “We understood that people are coming from the outside and are trying to interrupt the ceremonies and prayer. Our volunteers speak different languages (English, French, German), and they basically explain what’s going on. This is how they calm the tension. We hold discussions with those who protest. Our presence created a kind of intermediary, independent of any interests, that contributes to keeping peace between communities, and between different communities and the police,” explains Stein.

The most significant thing we learned was that we needed to get to know the area well and to be in continual contact with all the organizations and institutions. You can’t create a positive dynamic if you don’t know their challenges and unique strengths well. There aren’t any steadfast rules. One of the JICC’s principles is that it operates according to the needs that arise from the field. We create connections and respond to the needs that arise. The successes belong to the ‘locals.’ We provide our expertise, the framework. But the success is theirs,” Stein sums up.

May we continue to be able to provide this positive framework for a long time to come.

Many thanks to the Jerusalem Foundation for its ongoing support of the JICC on Mount Zion, and for the Window to Mount Zion project in particular.

Somewhere around 1949, the Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal arrived in Israel with a casket containing filled with vessels of ashes, remains of those who had been incinerated in Europe that he and other survivors had collected from throughout Austria, in an effort to erect a grave and memorial in the young State of Israel.

In those days, Samuel Zangwil (S.Z.) Kahana, Director General of the Ministry of Religion, was developing David’s Tomb and the area of Mount Zion, which, for the first time in history, was in Jewish hands, since at the same time the more traditional holy places (Old City, Western Wall) were on the other side of the border at that time.

On the tenth of Tevet 1950, the coffin containing the ashes was placed on Mount Zion, in a room named the Chamber of the Holocaust. The place quickly began to develop as an unassuming, traditional and religious memorial site that meets the human need for prayer and memory, and doesn’t subject itself to academic standards of historical research.

Chamber of the Holocaust: Zoom Discussion

On April 20, 2020, Israel commemorated Holocaust Memorial Day. This year, because the coronavirus crisis has kept most people at home and people are not allowed to congregate, our program Window to Mount Zion held a special online commemoration event on Holocaust Remembrance Day. The event featured a panel that included: Eli Dan, Director of the Chamber of the Holocaust, Dr. Zohar Maor, Researcher and Lecturer in History at Bar-Ilan University, tour guide Gavri Assouline, and Meirav Horovitz Stein, Coordinator of Window to Mount Zion.

Each of the panelists spoke about different aspects of the Chamber of the Holocaust – from the history of its establishment, to its history since then, to special artifacts that are found there to anecdotes about the unique experience the site provides. Dozens of people participated in the special event. You can watch the entire event here (in Hebrew):

Here is the Facebook post (in Hebrew) about the event, from the Window to Mount Zion Facebook page.

Many thanks to the Jerusalem Foundation and the US Embassy in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv for their support of Window to Mount Zion.

This year, as various Easter, Passover and Ramadan celebrations (began April 23) are not allowed to be held publicly due to restrictions from the Israel Ministry of Health, Window to Mount Zion has taken events online.

Regular Eastern Christian procession

While Sunday, April 12 marks Easter in the Catholic and Protestant churches, in the Eastern Churches, it begins a week later. For them, on April 12 Eastern Orthodox Churches begin a week of prayer, contemplation, and remembrance for the Crucifixion on Friday (17.4) and Resurrection (19.4).

Like previous webinars (here about Catholic / Protestant Holy Week, here about Passover), this webinar was held in cooperation with the Jerusalem Center for Jewish-Christian Relations (JCJC) of the Rossing Center for Education and Dialogue. It featured Archbishop Aristobulus Kirisis of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate and Yisca Harari, an expert on Christianity.

Screen shot of Eastern Easter webinar

Here’s a link to the entire webinar (in Hebrew):

Here’s the Facebook post (in Hebrew) about the webinar:

Many thanks to the Jerusalem Foundation for its continuing support of Window to Mount Zion.

The week of Passover and Easter was supposed to have been a week filled with Jewish tourists to Jerusalem and the Old City. But, because of the COVID-19 crisis, the city was nearly still. So, Window to Mount Zion decided to bring the unique experiences that usually take place on Mount Zion and its environs during this time to you, online, in a series of online meetings featuring different prominent figures from different religions and different denominations.

Virtual Tour of Mount Zion with Mayor Lion, Rabbi Yitzhak Pindrus and Rabbi Yitzhak Goldstein

The week of the Jewish holiday of Passover is usually a busy one. One of the three pilgrimage holidays, when in ancient times Jews would flock to the Holy Temple in Jerusalem, the Old City is usually teeming with people. Instead, Window to Mount Zion featured a virtual tour of the Jewish sites on Mount Zion, on Monday, April 13. Distinguished guests included Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion, who frequents the Sephardic synagogue on Mount Zion, Yitzhak Pindrus, a long-time public figure in Jerusalem Haredi society and a resident of the Jewish Quarter of the Old City, and Head of the Diaspora Yeshiva, Rabbi Yitzhak Goldstein. Project Coordinator Merav Horowitz Stein spoke about the significance of Mount Zion in general, as a place that is holy to Christians and Muslims as well as Jews, and its significance between 1948 and 1967, when it was the point closest to the Western Wall that was under Israeli control. Mayor Lion also spoke about the Sephardic synagogue on Mount Zion, which is small but a significant part of religious life in Jerusalem. Rabbis Pindrus and Goldstein spoke about Mount Zion and the Old City from their perspectives. You can see the entire half-hour panel in Hebrew here:

In closing words, Mayor Lion summed up Mount Zion, “Mount Zion is not well known to Israelis, but every stone and cobblestone is filled with history. You can feel the history everywhere you walk. It’s very exciting.”

There were some 100 people attending the virtual tour, and it was recorded and is now up on Window to Mount Zion’s Facebook page. The tour was also covered on the Haredi web site, Kikar Hashabbat (referencing the major square in Jerusalem’s Meah Shearim neighborhood). Click here to read the Hebrew article.

Headline – “A Special Holiday Virtual Tour of Mount Zion: Join In”

Many thanks to all who participated. Here’s the Facebook post in Hebrew, about the “tour”:

Interested to learn more about Mount Zion? Window to Mount Zion has just launched a new virtual tour. To enjoy the tour in English, click here.

Many thanks to the Jerusalem Foundation for its support of Window to Mount Zion.