I wanted to go to the end of Karen's book...after all the centuries of fighting, struggles, death, restructuring, and rebuilding, chapter 18 offers details that were the most current for her 1996 book. It was touching when she wrote of the Israeli soldiers capturing the Western Wall during the war of 1967, how, though facing possible annihilation, the Israeli soldiers fought to regain the Wall, and how even secular Jewish soldiers cried and clung to the stones in the Wall. The Wall had become a symbol of identity for the Jewish nation, so much more than a symbol or a geographic place. Likened to the survival of the Jews through time, the Wall was also a survivor. "Never again" became the united voice of the Jewish people...
My head swims with information from her book....I have journeyed through Jerusalem's dusty corridors and war torn desolation, relieved to find a few decades of peaceful co-existence amongst its inhabitants. My heart has been saddened by the fighting in the name of religion and the deaths caused by it. I wonder of the many families that lived within the city...did they raise children there? Did they wonder if they would survive to have children of their own? Jerusalem, one city shredded through time by the intensity of power and greed, quietly standing as a memorial to all and willing to flourish at each hint of life within her...does she not deserve peace? How can we ever arrive?
She definitely deserves peace, and hopefully will flourish in it one day. I learned so much about Jerusalem from this book, and have so many more questions than from before I read it. I am interested in seeing more films from the early 1900s and from a more modern date. The maps within the book are great, but physically seeing Jerusalem as it was in the 40s, 50s, and 60s would be a great addition to what we have read thus far.
ReplyDeleteI have had the privilege of going to the Western Wall three different times. I am by no means religious, but believe strongly in the values that Judaism teaches. I have to say, when I visited the wall, I was shocked by my own emotion. After learning about everything the Jewish people have been through in sunday school as a young child, I never truly visualized the history of the religion. Seeing all the different types of stones used from the different points in history when the wall has been built and rebuilt elevated my appreciation to a level it had never been.
One thing that really sticks out to me are the questions that you raise at the end of your post. I have been wondering the same things about the children and how they have lived in the last 20 years or so. It is astonishing to see how Jerusalem has come and gone over the history and the most frustrating part about it is that we have no idea what is coming next. The history continues to write itself and will peace ever be restored?
ReplyDeleteI can relate to your feelings that Karen Armstrong's book really takes the reader on a journey through time and space. She does a great job of putting herself into the past, so it jumps out at the reader. It is definitely one advantage of writing Jerusalem's history as a historical novel as opposed to a textbook or something with more structure.
ReplyDeleteYour commentary about the The Western Wall is spot on. It overcomes sacred geography and truly has a special aura about it. I have had the strongest spiritual and religious connections in my life at the location and it is hard not to feel something as your hand touches the ancient stones. Seeing the tiny slips of paper representative of prayers, hopes, and pleas for a better future imbues the Western Wall with an electricity that is tangible.
Your questions are really interesting because I often wonder how some of the worst atrocities have occurred in one of the holiest cities in the world.
You're right, Zack. Maps of the later times of Jerusalem would be very helpful, I think. I have only been to the Wall one time, but I will never forget it. Rachel, your comment on the wall brought back memories....I too saw so many tiny pieces of papers stuffed in the crevices between the stones...hopes, dreams, miracles, prayers...and to touch the stones for myself was beyond description...you are right...atrocities versus holy...how have they played out? They say history repeats itself. My goodness, if it repeats itself, how can there ever BE peace in Jerusalem, Max...you are so right...we have no idea what's coming next...and the children grow up in spite of the conflict.....they are the key to interrupting the vicious cycle, I think.....
ReplyDeleteI think the concept of the western wall's symbolic significance is very important when understanding this conflict. While a wall like this certainly contains symbols of separation, like Armstrong notes it was, and maybe still does, contain a very powerful symbol of nationalism for Israelis. Not being Israeli myself, it's I'm hesitant to assume its meaning is limited to this one idea, but Armstrong certainly details its significance. A greater theme that arises from this point is that once again, the physical structures of the city have all taken on great symbolic importance, many of which contain a meaning much different than the original use of the structure.
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