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.
