Tuesday, March 06, 2018
Elder of Ziyon
Jerusalem is a city of surprises. You never know what you
will see, who you will meet, what you will witness or experience.
Sometimes it is the smallest incidents that are the most
meaningful.
The last time I was there, it was a child.
It was at the Kotel. Every
time we visit Jerusalem, we go to the Kotel. It’s a ritual. (We would
ascend the Temple Mount but the visiting hours are so restricted that we often
make do with the Kotel instead).
I entered the egalitarian prayer section. There is no
separation between men and women, families can pray together, in any way they
find appropriate. It’s different than the traditional section, in many ways
nicer than the traditional section. There are tables with umbrellas so people
holding ceremonies can stand in the shade rather than the sweltering sun. This
section of the Kotel has a section with archeological artifacts still left in
the places they were found, making it easier to imagine the majesty of what
once was there, when the ancient Jewish Temple was still standing.
Usually the egalitarian section of the Kotel is empty but
this time there was a family there.
I watched the father explain something to his wife and kids.
They were Franco-Moroccan Jews. One of the boys, approximately nine years old
was standing off to the side, with tears in his eyes.
I asked the father what had happened to upset the child,
assuming that there had been a fight and the boy was pouting.
The father answered me with a soft smile: “Nothing happened,
he’s just a little emotional.”
“Why?” I asked.
The father stretched out his hand, with one expansive
gesture including the Kotel, the Temple Mount, the city: “Because, Jerusalem.”
In a heartbeat, the honest emotion of a child wiped away all
the cynicism of daily life. Two words and the tears of a child summarized the
legacy of thousands of years, of trauma and suffering, willpower and hope,
arriving but not yet being there in a way that words never could.
I looked at the boy and back again at the father and there
were tears in my eyes too.
Because, Jerusalem.
