Tuesday Morning...

Welcome to Tuesday morning. It's almost 9 am and class with Rabbi Daniel Sinclair is in full swing. Today we will learn about Jewish Law historically as well as at present.

Yesterday was a day to explore the familiar with new eyes. In class, Daniel Rossing introduced us to the various Christian denominations present in Jerusalem and the challenges of resolving disputes among those groups. It was interesting to see the differences in the various groups as well as some of the disputes that had arisen. We had the pleasure of meeting with one of the secretaries to the archbishop of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem. He was able to spend a few minutes speaking with us. It was their December 23rd so he was very busy getting ready for Christmas. I remember what my dad was like getting ready for Christmas and he didnt' have to worry about how to get safe passage for the members of the patriarchate and large groups of pilgrims to safely traverse the West Bank to Bethlehem for services on Christmas.

We then were led to the roof of the Patriarchate building to view Jerusalem. It was an uncommon view of the city. We had the city spread out below us almost like a map. The various church groups with their churches, schools, and other organizations dotted the city. It helped illustrate some of the reasons for the disputes among Christians in Jerusalem. We also visited the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and saw how some of those disputes are dealt with. Daniel Rossing was for many years the person responsible for resolving disputes between Christian groups in Jerusalem. Sometimes the stories were about petty disputes, like changing the light bulb in the Chapel of St. Stephanus to the need to add drapes to the Mormon school. Many of the stories had great situational irony. FOr example, the Mormon school that built their building into the hillside and have great windowed arches in rows on each level facing the Old City. Their class rooms and study areas were on the 2nd level and the stair wells were in the center of the building. The effect after dark was that when the stairwells and classroom level were lit, it formed what looked like a 7 story tall cross. The Jews and the Muslims were very upset. Eventually the resolution was to add curtains to the windows so that it would not look like cross. The irony is that Mormons do not use the cross as a religious symbol, but it did not matter to the Jews or Muslims. It was still a cross!

We were able to do a bit of wandering in the Christian Quarter of the Old City as well as West Jerusalem.