Mount Zion

Usually, Holy Week – the week preceding Easter –  is a very busy time for Christians worldwide, and especially on Mount Zion and in the Old City, home of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the Room of the Last  Supper. These days commemorates Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem, including the Last Supper, the washing of the feet, blessing the oil, and walking the via Dolorza. It is a week of contemplation, memory, and anticipation for Easter, which comes on Sunday, April 12.

But this year, in light of the global epidemic, billions of people are cooped up at home and churches are closed. In Jerusalem, Holy Week ceremonies and Easter celebrations will be held only in accordance with the Ministry of Health’s instructions.

Holy Week Seminar

In order to bring the Holy Week to the public, Window to Mount Zion and the Jerusalem Center for Jewish-Christian Relations of the Rossing Center for Education and Dialogue, we held an online webinar on April 5. The webinar included Father Alberto from the Franciscan order and researcher Yisca Harari. Here’s the video (Hebrew) to the whole webinar:

Here’s a post in Hebrew from the Jerusalem Tolerance Facebook page:

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

Every year on January 30, representatives of different Christian denominations meet in the Cenacle – Room of the Last Supper, on Mount Zion. Since the beginning of the Window to Mount Zion project our volunteers have been active in making sure that this special ceremony takes place without any problems. You can read about ceremonies from previous years here, here, and here.

A unique church ceremony

This year, again, our volunteers were there. Here’s a description from one of them:

A Hassidic, Lithuanian, Reform, Conservative, Ashkenazi, Sephardi Jew met in one synagogue for joint prayer.
– Sounds like a joke? or the coming of the Massiah?
It turns out that for Christians it already exists. This week there is an annual ceremony – the Prayer for Church Unity in Jerusalem. Every day of the week there are prayer ceremonies, and all Christian communities pray together – Greek Orthodox, Anglican, Armenian, Lutheran, Latin, Orthodox, Ethiopian. On Thursday, January 30, joint prayer was held at the Cenacle – the  Room of the Last Supper on Mount Zion. Organized prayer is allowed in the Cenacle only five times a year.  Because of the sensitive location, just above King David’s tomb, volunteers from the Window to Mount Zion are there to explain and keep order. Unexpectedly, an ultra-Orthodox man, a doctoral student in philosophy at the Hebrew University, who had heard about the event, came to experience it for himself.

Ceremony open to everyone

Here’s a short video clip of how it looks and sounds:

And here’s her Facebook post, in Hebrew:

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

Part of Window to Mount Zion’s mission is to share and raise awareness about the unique and emotional events that take place on Mount Zion by all different communities. Its Facebook page recently shared the emotional ceremony that took place at the Chamber of the Holocaust, which is operated by the Diaspora Yeshiva.

Holding an annual ceremony at the Chamber of the Holocaust

As a part of our virtual tour of Mount Zion, we have made a clip about the Chamber:

Every year, on the tenth of Tevet on the Hebrew calendar, the Diaspora Yeshiva holds a traditional ceremony in the Chamber of the Holocaust, the first commemoration of the Holocaust that was built after Israel’s War of Independence, soon after the Holocaust. This year, rabbis and yeshiva students gathered and prayed in memory of those who perished in the Holocaust.

Every year, Nechama Cohen, daughter of Rabbi Dr. Samuel Zangvil Kahana, who was Director-General of the Ministry of Religion in the late 1940’s and founded the Chamber of the Holocaust, is invited to the ceremony (she also appears in our clip on David’s Tomb). Nechama gave a heartfelt speech, reminding us of the special context of Mount Zion and its proximity to David’s Tomb. Nechama recounted from her memoirs, as a child in the early 1950s, how Holocaust survivors who immigrated from Europe would visit David’s Tomb, which at that time was the holiest place within the borders of the young State of Israel, and, with the help of her father, created such a touching and human memorial to those who perished.

Nechama Cohen giving an emotional speech

Today the Chamber of the Holocaust holds a double memory – the memory of the six million who died in the Holocaust, as well as the memory of those who remembered – the survivors who arrived in Israel immediately after the war and sought to establish an intimate and traditional monument in memory of their disappeared communities. Thanks to the Diaspora Yeshiva for leading the emotional ceremony.

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

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

Every year hundreds of visitors, most of them Jewish Israelis, come to Dormition Church on Christmas Eve.

Window to Mount Zion – helping the Christmas Eve service

In order to make the service more accessible to visitors, instead of holding the Christmas Eve Mass in German, they held it mostly in English, partly in Hebrew, and even in Arabic. This year, even the sermon was delivered in Hebrew – fluent Hebrew – by Father Daniel.

Delivering the Christmas Eve service

Although the Dormtition Abbey has a large church sanctuary that can hold hundreds of people, the community of monks who live there is very small. And during the ceremony and its preparations, they can’t always make sure the audience is calm or explain where the bathrooms are to everyone who needs them, or just be there as a helping hand. This is already the fourth year that the dedicated volunteers from Window to Mount Zion have helped out at the Christmas Eve service, and we are proud to have a part in helping the service run smoothly and without incident. We were delighted to take part on this special night.

Window to Mount Zion volunteers

Follow this link to read more (in Hebrew) about Christmas Eve, on the Window to Mount Zion  web site. Here’s a short video of the event that was published on Window to Mount Zion’s Facebook page:

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

The Oneg Shabbat blog is a private very popular weekly blog that’s been published since 2007. Authored by Prof. David Assaf, Professor of Jewish History at Tel Aviv University, each week he focuses on different subjects pertaining to Judaism, Israel, humanity.

Oneg Shabbat

In his October 28 edition Prof. Assaf focused on the Window to Mount Zion project, and its new interactive web site.

Jerusalem enthusiasts will be delighted to become acquainted with the Window to Mount Zion web site, which seeks to promote Mount Zion as a common, tolerant and accepting place for the three monotheistic religions. The site is a ‘social tourist guide’ and incorporates texts and videos from the perspective of those who live and work there. For example, Father Corion tells about the Armenian monastery and the cemetery next to it, Rabbi Yitzchak Goldstein tells about the Chamber of the Holocaust and Abdullah Dajani tells about his family’s cemetery next to the David’s Tomb complex. The site also has an illustrated, detailed and interactive map that shows all the sites on Mount Zion in a friendly way.

The post on Oneg Shabbat

Oneg Shabbat is hugely popular, and is distributed throughout the world. Many thanks for the mention!

We’ve often said that Mount Zion, and what we’ve been doing of the past few years with Window to Mount Zion – can truly be an example for the rest of the world.

Thanks to our board member, Sharon Rosen, it’s becoming just that. Sharon is Global Director of Religious Engagement for the international NGO Search for Common Ground, and she recently testified to the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom in late October, about the protection of holy places.

Sharon Rosen testifying at US Commission

Here’s a video of the whole hearing, Sharon’s testimony begins at 1:15. She starts talking about Mount Zion at 1:36 (one hour and 36 minutes in).

She also submitted a written testimony, where Window to Mount Zion and its accomplishments was described in more detail. Here’s that part of her written testimony:

Mount Zion, Jerusalem: In the context of the Arab-Israeli conflict and frequent violence around holy sites, Search’s Jerusalem program, together with the Jerusalem Intercultural Center based on Mount Zion and with the endorsement of the Council of Religious Institutions of the Holy Land, worked to reduce interreligious tensions, build cooperation, protect places of worship, and turn Mount Zion into a center that celebrates the heritages of all three religions attached to it – Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. Just outside Jerusalem’s Old City walls, Mount Zion is the location of a highly sensitive shared holy site for the Abrahamic Faiths – the Tomb of King David/Nabi Daud, the Room of the Last Supper and a Minaret, all in one building. Centuries-long conflict over ownership and religious rights, fueled by rivalry and intolerance, had resulted in an atmosphere of suspicion and violence. This initiative aimed at changing this atmosphere by building trust and cooperation on issues of common interest. Activities included: engaging religious actors with representatives from government ministries, the municipality, and law enforcement agencies to identify shared concerns and find collaborative solutions; establishing a body of volunteers to help maintain a harmonious atmosphere and assist with religious services; and organizing workshops and site visits for Jerusalem Old City’s law enforcement authorities and youth to increase interreligious sensitivity.

The results have been quite spectacular given the initial mistrust and intermittent violent behavior. For the first time ever, a 2016 desecration of the Dormition Abbey, located on Mount Zion,  elicited a joint public condemnation by religious leaders living on the Mount;4 local authorities were enlisted to repair safety hazards; law enforcement improved; and there was a reduction in  violence. Over one thousand Jewish youth and hundreds of Palestinian youth have taken part in tours to expand understanding of the attachments of different religions to their sacred spaces. In one specific example of the project’s influence, an interfaith group of volunteers cleaned up years of garbage and restored tombstones in the famous Muslim Dajani-Daoudi Cemetery on Mount Zion while supplied with refreshments from the local Ultra-Orthodox, politically right-wing Jewish seminary overlooking the cemetery. These types of acts may seem like small steps, but they build trust across hardened divides, foster critical discussions about protecting spaces for all faiths, and promote mutual acceptance that undermines acts of hate in the long run.

Many thanks Sharon, for your words here. Many thanks, too, for your partnership in helping us launch and continue this wonderful project!

We’re happy to announce a new online tour of Mt. Zion, brought to you by Window to Mount Zion.

Online tour of Mount Zion

After many months of work, Mount Zion’s one and only comprehensive guide is now online: https://www.mountzion.org.il/

As you’ll see, this is not your standard tour guide. In recent months we’ve asked people who live and work on Mount Zion to tell us about their point of view, from their perspective. You can get to know the Chamber of the Holocaust from Rabbi Yitzchak Goldstein.

Or about the Muslim history of David’s tomb with Abdullah Dajani.

Or take a look at the Gobat school with Paul Wright,

and more …We collected all the stories and put them on an interactive map (videos above), where you will also find historical and useful information about the various sites on Mount Zion. They enable visitors to get to know Mount Zion through the eyes of the people who live and work there. You can look on mobile, but we really recommend entering the site through a computer or tablet.

Many many thanks to all who took part in making the map such a valuable resource!

Inter-religious relations in the Old City of Jerusalem are often considered “complex,” not only between Jews and Muslims, but also between Jews and the many different Christian denominations.

On Saturday, June 8, 2019, there was an altercation between Jews and Armenians, in the Armenian Quarter of the Old City. The end result – heightened tensions all-around.

Window to Mount Zion was created to decrease inter-religious tensions on Mount Zion, and since its founding in 2015 has expanded its reach to include the Old City as well. Thanks to the relations it has woven with the different religious institutions and leaders, Board member, Rabbi David Rosen, our director Dr. Hagai Agmon-Snir and Window to Mount Zion Coordinator Merav Stein, together with representatives of the Israel Police and Yitzhak Pindrus, current Member of Knesseth and former Jerusalem City Council member, met with Armenian religious leaders after the incident to smooth things over.

During the meeting, they discussed the centuries-old Armenian presence in Jerusalem, and the ongoing harassment that the monks and students endure. Most of those responsible are young Jews who come from outside the city and are unfamiliar with Jerusalem’s unique fabric of life and the delicate neighborly relations between Jews and Christians. Together, we decided to put an end to the humiliating and ugly phenomenon by publicly calling on leaders to avoid harming clergy, as well as by holding education and enforcement activities.

Window to Mount Zion with Armenian Leadership

The meeting was covered in two Armenian web sites, one from the Public Radio of Armenia, and the other from the OCP Media Network. Here’s the article in its entirety:

On Tuesday, July 16, Armenian Patriarch of Jerusalem, His Beatitude Archbishop Nourhan Manougian received a group of people after the incident when three Jews and their dog attacked the Dean and students of the Armenian Theological Seminary.

The group consisted of Mr. Yitzhak Ze’ev Pindrus, Member of Knesset for the United Torah Judaism Party and resident of the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem, Rabbi David Rosen, International Director of Inter-religious Affairs of the American Jewish Committee (AJC) and of the Robert and Harriet Heilbrunn Institute for International Interreligious Understanding, as well as Board Member of the Jerusalem Intercultural Center, of which Center also the Director Dr. Hagai Agmon Snir, and Mrs. Merav Horovitz-Stein, the coordinator of the Window to Mt. Zion, a cross cultural community engagement project, as well as three high ranking-officers representing the Israeli Police District of Jerusalem.

The members of the delegation expressed their concerns about this particular incident as well as other instances of uncivilized behaviour by Jews towards Armenian clergy members.

They stressed the importance of good relations between the various groups in Jerusalem.

The delegation addresses leaders to condemn, end and prevent humiliating and disgracing acts towards Armenian clergy. The group also calls upon the leaders to educate and enforce civilized behavior from the population.

Here’s the Facebook post in Hebrew, from Window to Mount Zion:

We’ve been working with the Benedictine monks at the Dormition Abbey, as part of the Window to Mount Zion project, since the project’s inception.

Father Daniel, telling the Dormition Abbey’s story

On Thursday, February 21, they wanted to say thank you.

View from the Dormition Abbey’s tower

They invited project volunteers for cake, coffee, and a tour of the Dormition Abbey. Led by Father Daniel, who is in charge of relationships with the Israeli community, the 20 participants enjoyed stories from within the Abbey – about the monks’ daily lives, about the artwork that adorns the walls and halls. Father Daniel also told of his experiences as a Polish monk in a German monastery. We also enjoyed the view from the top of the Abbey’s tower.

Telling about the artwork and daily life

It was important for the monks to express their thanks to the hard-won feeling of cooperation and teamwork among volunteers and Mount Zion residents that enables all groups and religions to share Mount Zion in peace.

View of courtyard in David’s Tomb complex, from the Dormition Abbey tower

Thank you Father Daniel – and the rest of the Dormition Abbey community – for opening your home up to us. It was a fascinating visit! Thanks also to all our partners on Mount Zion – it’s amazing to look back and see how far we’ve come!