Life In the Holy Land- I Adore People

This study abroad to Israel in a lot of senses has opened up my eyes to the world.  I have always been genuinely curious to what the world holds.  However I do not feel like I have put in sufficient time to really discover the world beyond my sphere of life.  I have read and learned about other people, religions, and countries since I was little. Despite this, things are definitely put in a different context when you are fully immersed in a new world with new cultural norms, and ways of living. This whole new sphere of life that I am in that was, and at times, is so foreign to me, is a reality to many others. This is so exciting to me.

One of my favorite parts by far, is learning and watching other people live their lives.  Something that has been magnified to me while being here is the goodness others possess.  I have had the wonderful opportunity to study specifically about Islam, and Judaism.  These are two religions that I have not had the opportunity of learning a lot about previously.  I live in East Jerusalem.  Around me there are many religions including Muslims.  This was only solidified, when upon my arrival, I heard a man’s voice booming over speakers that could be heard everywhere.  This experience happens five times a day when the Muslim’s call to prayer is being said.  I live by many mosques, and five times a day, a call to prayer will go off which is when many Muslims will pray. On few occasions I got to witness someone, who does not go to a private area to pray, pray. It is such a wonderful thing to see them worship God with such love and devotion.  When they pray they always face Mecca, which is also known as the Qibla, which is a very sacred place for them (In hotels and public places they will have signs or stickers pointing which way Mecca is.)  At the Jerusalem Center, we also had the privilege to have two men who do the call to prayer, recite the call to prayer and parts of the Quran.  They also showed us how they pray. It was very educational. But I really do love when the call to prayer goes off because it reminds me of the goodness and devotion of others.

Living in Jerusalem, you discover really quickly that you are surrounded by many people of different religions which also include Judaism. I have learned in my class that being Jewish can mean very many things, a lot of which doesn’t necessarily regard religion.  However, in this blog post I am referring to Jewish people in a religious context.  A very tender experience I had was visiting the Western Wall. Jewish people believe that this is as close as you can get to the temple mount without trampling sacred ground because they do not know where the Holy of Holies was. 

The first time I went there they were getting ready for their Sabbath.  There were hundreds of people surrounding this wall all worshiping.  Some people were reading the Torah, praying, and writing prayers on papers that they stick in the wall.  There were also people I noticed who singing and dancing in big groups, with elation beaming in their faces.  They separate the men and women, so I was only with the women.  But you could see such love and emotion in their faces as they worshiped. When they are done, a lot of them will walk backwards so they never turn their backs to the wall.  Many of them are dressed in symbolic and religious items as well. It is so fascinating and awe inspiring.

In a lot of ways, my life is very different than those of whom I am surrounded by.  But at the very same time, we have so many things in common.  Obviously we hold some different beliefs, and embrace different ways of worshiping. But that is the thing.  We are all worshiping. We love God, and we are all trying to be the best individuals we can.  That is one reason why it makes me so sad when people are prejudice, judgmental, or when people take it upon themselves to degrade others who are different from them. If they would only take the time to look, they could see how similar we all really are.