Mount Zion’s religious ceremonies are the subject of much excitement and attract pilgrims from all over the world. One of the most special times in in the spring, around the Passover and Easter holidays.
The week before Easter is especially busy. On April 13, the Thursday before Easter, the Custos, Guard of the Holy Places for the Catholic Church performs a ceremony in which he washes the feet of 12 excellent students of religion, exactly at the place where Jesus washed the feet of his 12 disciples.
This year, the date was extra special, since it took place both during the Passover holiday, when a large number of Jewish tourists came to Mount Zion, and during the Christian Orthodox Holy Week. Hundreds of tourists from different faiths visited Mount Zion on that day, many of them for the washing of the disciples ceremony.
Window to Mount Zion volunteers were there, as always, helping the Police to help keep order, explain what is happening to all passersby (of all faiths), to contribute to a more tolerant atmosphere during the ceremonies and to make everyone’s visit more pleasant during , and to join in the celebrations. All in all, this year’s ceremony went smoothly and quietly, a stark contrast to last year, when the ceremony coincided with the Jewish festival of Purim, which was quite a noisy affair. Click here to read about last year’s ceremony.
Here’s a short video from the ceremony:
Before Window to Mount Zion was established this and other Christian ceremonies had been the source of a great deal of tension, so we’re grateful for the progress that Window to Mount Zion volunteers have made. They have become such an integral part of ceremonies on Mount Zion, it seemed almost natural (and we were greatly honored) that one of the Window to Mount Zion volunteers was almost part of this important ceremony. A German speaker was needed, and Yael was the only one in the crowd. Similarly, an Arabic reader was also needed, and we called upon Ibrahim, a Muslim worker for our neighbor, the Diaspora Yeshiva. However, in the end neither participated because it was necessary to read part of Christian liturgy and they weren’t Christian. Still, it was an honor to be considered an integral part of the ceremony.
Here’s Yael’s Facebook post (in Hebrew) about the ceremony, and about Window to Mount Zion in general:
Many thanks to the volunteers of the Window to Mount Zion project for their continued dedication. May we have many more peaceful religious ceremonies thanks to your help!
