Qumran excites the Religious Imagination

In the title of this post "religious" means a member of a religious order. The photo at left is of Cave 4 - the so-called "Cave of the Scrolls." It is 1 of 11 caves that have yielded the so-called "Dead Sea Scrolls" in the 1940s and 50s. I took this picture standing across the Wadi (Canyon) at the site of the Qumran settlement excavations. Although the conventional wisdom that interprets the excavated buildings in light of the scrolls has been challenged it recent years by a multitude of scholars, it is generally held that the scrolls hidden in those 11 caves were produced by a group of Jewish sectarians called the Essenes who lived in Qumran compound between 150 BC and the conquest of Palestine by the Romans in the 70s of the 1st Century AD.

As I wandered through the excavation site (like so many, now a National Park) I saw labels that were very reminiscent to my religious ears: a "scriptorium" and a "refectory." These are European monastic names for a room in which manuscripts are copied and a dining room respectively. One understands this in light of the work of the first excavator of the Qumran site. That work was carried out by Fr. Rolland DeVaux, OP of the Ecole Biblique et Archaeologique Francaise, in whose halls I am currently residing and studying. Following Josephus, the images we get of Essene life sounds remarkably like Western Monastic Life: separation, work, prayer, contemplation, ritual, and a path that leads to sanctification. There is even a "monastic rule" among the Dead Sea Scrolls: the so-called Community Rule (scroll fragment 4Q258).

As is often the case, the Israeli National Park service provides a short video to help visitors understand the archaeological site they are about to enter. The Qumran video featured images of the Essene "monks" busy about their "religious life" clad in white "habits." It is easy to read Western Monasticism into what I saw there - it doesn't take much to excite the imagination of a religious in that direction.

As interesting as this site was and as much as it might be fun to delve into more recent debates about whether of not the Scrolls and the Community Site must be interpreted together, my own reflection have led elsewhere in light of the Gospel study in which I am engaged at present. I am much more interested in the whole concept of Jewish Sectarianism and Separatism in the 1st Century. Indeed, recent Biblical Scholarship is more and more shaped by the understanding of Christianity as primarily a Sect within Judaism.

Based largely on the writings of Josephus scholars can identify at least three sects in Jewish history just prior to the Christian era. Two of the names are familiar to Christian ears: Pharisee, Saducees and Essenes. Later scholarship would say that Saducees and Pharisee are more "parties" than "sects" - the distinguishing feature being that Pharisees and Saducees did not believe that their Jewishness was the only authentic Jewishness - they argued with others but at least recognized that others were Jews in good-standing with God. Sects, on the other hand, tended toward a radicalism that, on some level , rejected other Jews as not truly following path that would lead to righteousness. Sects were separatists who moved away from mainstream Jewish life. In that light, later Sects are identified as Essenes, Christians, and Zealots (of which the Sicarii at Masada are an extreme manifestation).

There are lots of different ways to look at these sects. What is exciting about the Essenes is there austere asceticism. Whether at Qumran or other places they separated themselves from Temple worship because of their extreme love for it and a desire for a purified Temple Worship. They followed a Solar calendar instead of the Jewish Lunar calendar, and they practiced a frequent ritual purification bath that is reminiscent of the baptism of John the Baptist - this frequent washing advocated in Qumran scrolls and the presence of many ritual bathing facilities (typified by a dual staircase - one place for the "impure" to enter, and a separate path for the "purified" to exit) is one of the strongest pieces of corroborating evidence that the community of the scrolls lived in the Qumran buildings.

Why are the Essenes so interesting to me? Because I think they shed light on any study of Early Christianity. One of the emphases of my studies here at the Ecole Biblique is a reinforcement of the idea that Jesus should be interpreted, not as anti-Jewish, anti-priesthood, anti-law, or anti-ritual. But rather, he should be seen as a good 1st Century Jew striving to live a more perfect Jewishness. Christians will, of course, see him as more in light of the Christological claims of the Gospels; but Jesus is not advocating a turn from the faith of his Fathers, in fact a close reading of the Gospels reveals that Jesus calls fora more complete and more rigorous living of the precepts of the Law. Jesus did not come to abolish the Law, but to "fill it up!" Where Pharisees were notorious for their reinterpretations of the law that made up new, easier-to-follow "sub-precepts", Jesus called his followers to ignore that silliness and simply follow the law in all of its richness.

My studies here have challenged me to see Jesus differently. They are giving me new lenses for understanding the Gospels! Yea! That's what I had hoped for and it will definitely be reflected in my preaching.

Back to the Essenes and early Christians for a second: the Essenes, in their attempt to live a more pure Jewishness (I don't use the term "Judaism" because that is a a Post-Temple designation), they eventually have to physically separate from the multitudes of their Jewish brothers and sisters. In the desert, they will find a path to purity and become witnesses to the need for that purity. Their project was interrupted by some outside force (some believe a devastating earthquake, others the tide of Roman legions cleaning up after the fall of Jerusalem). Christianity began in the Holy City, a new sect calling people to live a more complete Jewishness in light of their hyper-Jewish leader who had met his ignominious death because he called everyone to a path of true life and light. Their attempts to live this more perfect Jewishness would eventually lead to their own persecution and scattering outside the Holy City. Unlike the Essenes, Roman legions would not destroy them - their faith was no longer dependent on the Temple and Roman destruction would simple enhance their own eschatological self-understanding. Their adherents, instead of succumbing to Roman Power, would take the message of their leader, their messiah to the heart of the Empire, and 250 years later, would conquer Rome.

it was exciting being at Qumran and it inspired me to learn more about 1st Century Jewish Sectarianism. It has much to do with our history. If you would like to see more photos from Qumran, they are at http://picasaweb.google.com/FrBart/0706Qumran.

I'm just mad about Madaba...

You may or may not have caught this picture among the many I posted from the Jewish Quarter last Thursday.(http://picasaweb.google.com/FrBart/0702JewishQuarter). That's me in front of a mosaic map on the Wall of the Cardo (the remains of the main Byzantine Road through the center of the Old City). The mosaic is a copy of a portion of a map which exists on the floor of an Orthodox Church in Madaba, Jordan. I kept encountering this image when reading in preparation for my trip to the Holy Land and among all the things I have been looking forward to seeing in the Holy Land, the Madaba map is near the top of the list. It is an important artifact for many reasons: it provides details about the Holy Land that are not available in other places. It depicts the Holy Land from Lebanon to the Nile and from the Mediterranean to the East Desert. At it's center (in keeping with the cosmology of its day) is this very detailed artistic representation of Jerusalem. it also gives some details about other cities. Geographically, the mosaic map is fairly accurate. 6th Century Cartographics were pretty amazing.

I will see the real thing in a couple of weeks in Jordan and I am very much looking forward to that. But in the meantime I have become somewhat obsessed with images of the Jerusalem part of the map - depicted here on the wall behind me. I have bought a shirt, several post cards and a magnet with the image on it.

On our way into Jericho yesterday, we stopped at the the Mosaic Center of Jericho, an artists' Cooperative that is teaching and preserving the ancient art of Mosaic. The director gave us a tour of the great works they are doing and there among their completed works, was my beloved Madabe depiction of Jerusalem )It could have been mine for $800, but I am planning to make an offer on the original when we are in Madaba :)

I was in Madaba Map heaven in the Mosaic Co-op, but there was lots and lots of other really remarkable work. You can see lots of photos at: http://picasaweb.google.com/FrBart/0706JerichoMosaicWorkshopZaccheusTreeAndTelExcavations.

I'm sure I will have a lot more to say about the Madaba map when I visit Madaba later this month.

Other Fun Detours on the Pilgrimage Road

We made two other fun detours along the pilgrimage route from Jerusalem to Jericho.

First we turned off at the Wadi Qelt to get a good look at the cliffside Orthodox Monatery of St. George. Such elaborate monasteries, which dot the landscape in this area, find their roots in the eremtical cave dwellers that even pre-date the middle ages. BUildings such as the one in the photos were built near the caves to house Churches and common spaced as the hermits adopted a more cenobitic life. St. George is breath-taking even from a distance.

We also stoppeda t the Sea Level Marker knowing that we would spend Monday night more than 400 meters below sea level. Here we also got up close and personal with a camel. It was fun to get our photo taken with this big guy.

I thought smiling camels were the stuff of cigarette ads, but the camel rubbing his chin on Fr. Carl's head is clearly smiling in this picture. :) After the brief distraction, we were back on our way down and I mean down- to Jericho...

The Inn of the Good Samaritan

In Luke's Parable of the Good Samaritan, we are told that the Good Samaritan took the man who was injured "as he went down from Jerusalem to Jericho" to an inn (Luke 10). Just off the highway between Jerusalem and Jericho (Hiway 1 - as you crest a hill just not far east of Jerusalem), there is a small building identified by signs as the "Inn of the Good Samaritan." Fr. Gregory had never been to this place before. It was a marvelous find for all of us.

The Jerusalem -Jericho road has always been a major pilgrimage route in the Holy Land. Pilgrims need food and lodging; already in antiquity there was such a facility at the site of the present museum. St. Jerome speaks of this lodging place in connection with the Good Samaritan so facily that it can only be assumed that this was a common association by the 4th Century.

What we found was a small museum with outdoor adn indoor exhibits which focused largely on large format mosaics from the floors of synagogues and Churches. These have been repaired are displayed throughout. There are also other decorations of holy buildings from the Byzantine and Crusaders eras.

There is also at this site the footprint of a ruined Byzantine era church called the Church of the Good Samartian. The Museum has left that footprint intact so that one can easily observe what reamins of the Church. Over these ruins, they have erected an attractive wooden shelter, not only to serve a protective covering for the floor mosaics of the old Church, but to serve as a functioning Church now. New wooden benches have been placed on top of the mosaics, giving this new Church functional and attractive seating. The new Church of the Good Samaritan is surrounded by easily identifiable ruins of earlier buildings on this site and the outdoor displays of the modern museum.

Unfortunately the building housing the more delicate of the Museum's collection was not open the day we visited, but we were able to peer into windows at other samller mosaic fragments and inscriptions. If you are as fond of Mosaic as I, the Inn of the Good Samartican Museum is a great little find on your pilgrimage to Jericho or visit to the Dead Sea.

There are lots more photos at http://picasaweb.google.com/FrBart/0706InnOfTheGoodSamaritan, including several of the New Church of the Good Samaritan.

Greetings from Southern Israel!

Sunday at the 'Noble Sanctuary"

According to 2 Samuel 24, King David, when he had united all the tribes of the Lord as one people, was commanded by God to purchase the threshing floor of a man name Araunah the Jebusite (or 'Ornan the Jebusite' according to the same story told in 1 Chronicles 21) and there built an altar of Sacrifice. Biblical tradition equates this site with Mt. Moriah, on which Isaac was nearly sacrificed by Abraham. That altar replaced the Mosaic sanctuary on Mt. Gibeon (1 Chron 21:30). It was over this altar that David's Son, Solomon would build the first Temple of the God of Israel that would become the central focus of all Worship in Judah until the time of Jesus. Historically that site has been considered a site Holy to the One True God for more than 3000 years (and according to Biblical tradition for at least 4500 years). Today, I spent the morning at Araunah's threshing floor - only today it is most properly called the Haram esh-Sharif, which is Arab for "The Noble Sanctuary." It is also called the Temple Mount. This 36 acre platform is the site on which the Altar of David, the Temple of Solomon, the 2nd Temple, A Roman Temple of Jupiter, numerous Christian Churches, and, even until now, some of the most Holy Sites of Islam have all been located.

As a non-Muslim, the times I can visit the Haram is quite brief on certain days of the week and only under the strictest rules. At present, non-Muslims can only enter the esplanade around the Holy Shrines (entirely off limits to non-Muslims) through the gate Known as the Moor's Gate, accessible only by a ramp erected next to the Western Wall and severely guarded by the Israeli Army. Among the limitations: no religious paraphernalia of any religion other than Islam is allowed on the Haram: no Bible, no prayer book, no cross or rosary, no icons or images. The Muslims want no one but Muslims praying here and invite all others to leave their polluted prayers on the outside, thank you very much...

I have wanted to visit the Haram since arriving in Jerusalem. It is a place of great historical and religious import and is considered a Holy piece of real estate by more than 1/2 the inhabitants of the planets. I should want to go there. I was not prepared for the inner-conflict it would cause me.

On the one hand, it is beautiful. The architectural gem of Jerusalem sits dead in the center. There are fewer more magnificent structures in the world than the Dome of the Rock. It is a peaceful place - in fact, by far, the most peaceful place in Jerusalem. It is covered with beautiful structures and even 'forests' of beautiful trees. One could imagine oneself in the most beautiful park in the world. In fact, it resembles nothing so much as a park - at least to me as Christian, excluded from entering the shrines where the "holy stuff" takes place. So it's a nice peaceful place -

But the peace is a lie. That peace is guaranteed by the armed soldiers that guard the entrances. That peace is at the service of a threat of global uprising of Muslims if anyone else tries to stake a claim on this, the third most holy site in Islam. It is Ironic that the prohibition against anyone but Muslims praying on the Haram is enforced by Israeli police and soldiers. What a conflicted assignment that must be for a Jewish soldier - today as I ascended the ramp to the Moor's gate (which faces the Western Wall) there was one of the Israeli soldier guards standing half way up the ramp wearing his phylactery on his head and left arm praying facing the wall. Most Jews will not go on the Mount - forbidden by their own law, but Muslim control of the Mount is deeply saddening for many Jews. There are some who believe that it is okay for Jews to go on certain parts of the Mount. Following most of their medieval teachers, Jews believe that the Glory of God and the Holiness of the Temple Mount is a reality for eternity and that Muslim domination deprives them of access to that Holiness. The site i s Holy to Muslims too... they believe that the Prophet was miraculously transported to Jerusalem and ascended to God from the Temple Mount. When Israel came into full possession of the Mount after the 6-Days War in 1967, they agreed to the status quo that left control of the Mount entirely in Muslim hands and even agreed to use Israeli forces to enforce that religious decision.

As a Christian, I "don't have a dog in this fight." Christians believe that the Glory that once belonged to the Temple belongs now to Jesus alone and that he has shared that Glory with us as we become part of his body. We, blessed by the Holy Spirit in Baptism, have become the new temple. There have been various Christian Churches on the temple mount in the late Byzantine era and during Crusader control - in fact the Dome of the Rock was converted to Christian Worship during the Templar control of the Temple Mount. But the destruction of Christian Churches on that site has not been devastating for the Christian Community. In fact the most famous byzantine Map of Jerusalem, the mosaic map of Madaba, is a very accurate artistic description of Byzantine Jerusalem, but does not even show the temple mount at all. For Christians, the Holy Sepulcher has replaced the Temple as the most sacred site in Jerusalem. So where did my conflict come from?

I think I share the frustration of my Jewish friends that the current situation is so remarkably one-sided. It's not a compromise, it is an out-and-out exclusion. It seems to deny that there is more than one way to look at those sites on that hill, even the sites that are holy to all three religions. Instead of seeking new understanding and creative solutions, it simply ignores the holiness of this site. The Western Wall is something of a compromise, I suppose. But I cannot image what it would be like to only be allowed to pray at the Outside Wall of St. Peter's in Rome, or at the outside wall of the Holy Sepulcher (in fact I was indignant last week when I was excluded from entering the Holy Sepulcher because some crotchety old Greek priest thought my knee-length shorts - the same shorts I was wearing when I entered the mosque in Hebron - were not modest enough :)

So today, while I marveled at the beauty of the architectural gems and the peace of the Mount, I was conflicted. So I said a prayer again for the Peace of Jerusalem and for deeper understanding (don't tell the guards I was praying in Jesus' name up there). I think I would like the opportunity to pray openly on the Temple Mount. I think I would like to pray with Muslims and Jews up there. I'd like there to be some solution that would recognize the pain that exclusion is causing Jewish people, a solution that would allow all who revere the holiness of this site to approach it and give thanks to the God who makes it Holy. For the most part our original understanding of the holiness of this place is rooted in the same reasons - Abrahamic reasons. Some Muslims deny that there was ever a temple there. Some Jews deny that the Prophet was ever there - And again, what should be a place where the three Abrahamic Faiths can find (literally) common ground, becomes a harsh reminder of separation, bitterness, and sadness. This is not the will of God - This is not insha'Allah.

Despite my conflict, I was able to enjoy the beauty of the Haram. I took a lot of picture, some of which are here. I hope you enjoy them. Many others can be seen at: http://picasaweb.google.com/FrBart/0705HaramEshSharif.

Customer Service is Alive and Well... in Arab East Jerusalem

I have often lamented (that's the Biblical word for "complained") about the absolute death of customer service in the United States. I am so tired of being "helped" by young people who have no investment whatsoever in the success of the business for whom they work. Customer service is so generally bad in the United States that when you have a contrary experience it is something to celebrate. So many business act as if they are doing you a favor by providing you with goods or services. What a sad state of affairs (In fact, as much as I despise the kind of business model Starbucks imposes ont he world, I will patronize Starbucks because they are one of the few companies left in the world for whom good customer relations is a guiding principle for the company. )

I have found the Arab community here in East Jerusalem to be counter-experience of American customer service. Whether it is the bus driver making sure I know where to walk when I get off the bus to arrive at my destination, or the man fixing my Arab Coffee, or selling me falafel on the street, for the first time in a long time, I actually feel like these merchants want my business. But good relations goes far beyond that - thay want to personalize the service because it is just the right thing to do. I suppose I could synically say that they just want my return business, but it is clearly more than that - courtesy is an important part of this culture and courtesy to the stranger among us is a remarkably high value.

I had a great experience running some errands on Saturday. All of us decided to get haircuts and we went ot a barber around the corner from St. Stephens. This was two chair barbershop (a lot like old-fashion barber shops in the US) and both barbers were busy when we walked in. We would be the next 4 customers and sat to wait. The older of the two barbers (I assumed corrctly that he was the father of hte younger) called upstairs in Arabic to an even younger son, who descended the steps and served each of us a cup of Arab Coffee. Wow, that's a nice touch! It's also common in barbershops here. Men came and went - turns out this baraber shop is a crossroads in this neighborhood. Each of us got a haircut - the younger barber cut my hair under the watchful eye of his clearly proud father.

In the course of a conversation, another man in the shop mentioned that he was an optician - good, my glasses needed a repair job. I took advantage of his being there and showed him the problem with my glasses - he assured me it was an easy repair and told me of an optician around the corner. The barber told his young son to take me around the corner and show me where it was, which the young boy did gladly. The Father gave him some additional instructions I did not understand, I think it was something like "be sure to tell him I sent this customer..." I was impressed that the little boy was pleased to have been able to help too. My glasses were repaired in minutes and the optician was pleased to have been able to help me... That's the way it is - everybody is glad to help.

I have complained sometimes about the overly eager and aggressive tactics of the merchants in the souks and bazaars around town. But even that is part of what really adds up to great customer servce and a desire to help the stranger...