The Holy Sepulchre in the electronic age

.
Coming out of the Holy Sepulchre this afternoon I was shocked to see this man out on a ledge.

First I thought "Don't jump!" and second I thought "Don't break that ledge!"
Especially since the Crusaders built it a long time ago and because it looks this beautiful when you look up to the sky.
(Enlarge the photo to appreciate the stonework detail.)

Then I saw they were only stringing cable and preparing the church for the widescreen coverage of the many ceremonies to be held tomorrow.

Inside, too, men were putting down little ramps so the thousands of pilgrims will not trip over the cables tomorrow.
With a little LUCK the workers will finish all the preparations in time for the Orthodox Holy Thursday.

In the parvis, the entrance courtyard of the Holy Sepulchre, the dais has already been built.
The Greek Patriarch will rise from the red and gold chair and wash the feet of those seated on the two benches.
This in commemoration of Jesus' washing of his apostles' feet on that first Maundy Thursday.
.
According to the fine Holy Land Calendar of Christian Feasts & Events 2012 published by the Ministry of Tourism (which you can download in PDF !):

"Highlights of the feast in Jerusalem:
Washing of the Feet--
The Greek Patriarch in courtyard of the Holy Sepulchre.
The Head of the Franciscan Order in the Room of the Last Supper and later at the St. Savior Church.
The Latin Patriarch at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
Anglicans, Armenians, Copts, Syrians, and Ethiopians in their respective churches. "

And that is only the morning program!
Go to the calendar to see what will happen in the afternoon, evening and night time.
.
UPDATE: Haaretz now has 7 Reuters photos of the foot washing day at the Holy Sepulchre. Click here to see them.
Greek Orthodox Patriarch Theophilus III did indeed wash the feet of 12 of his clergymen, there on the platform I showed you.
.
UPDATE Oct. 2014: A video clip on the restoration and re-opening of the Chapel of the Franks.
. 

The gathering of the greens

.
Today, the first of the four Sundays of Advent, the Western Church begins a new liturgical year.
My friends went through our forest and in their garden to gather the symbolic greens for the Advent season.

Wishing a blessed Advent, that special time of watchful anticipation and waiting, to all our Christian friends. May it be a peaceful month leading into Christmas.

Happy birthday to the World

Rosh Hashanah is the first day of the new year. We have just entered, by Jewish reckoning, the year 5769. I have seen it written in some scholarly works as 5769 A.M., from the Latin anno mundi, meaning the year of the world, i.e. of the creation of the world.

In the Rosh Hashanah liturgy (the holy day has its own thick prayerbook) we say to God:
"This is the day of the beginning of Your creation, a memorial of the first day ... today is the conception of the world."
I took the photo now of a postcard I carried around the world for several years. It is a painting by the wonderful artist Sieger Köder called "Schöpfung" [Creation], Und Gott sah alles an, was er gemacht hatte, und es war sehr gut" (from Genesis 1).

A new beginning

(To see the details please click on the photo.)

Jewish life in Israel moves forward according to the Hebrew calendar.
The calendar ends abruptly tonight on (coincidentally) both the 29th of Elul and the 29th of September. With the new year starting tomorrow, we need to hang up a new calendar--for a new beginning.
This makes me think of an inspiring song by Naomi Shemer called
"Hakhagiga Nigmeret (Lakum Makhar Baboker)." Here is a translation:


And sometimes, the celebration's over
The lights go out
The trumpet calls
Goodnight to the violins
The last watch welcomes (kisses) the third (one)
To wake tomorrow morning
And begin from the beginning
refrain:
Let's wake tomorrow morning
With a new song in our hearts
And sing it in our strength, and sing it in our pain
To hear the flutes on the fresh, free breeze
And to begin from the beginning [Ulehatkhil mibereshit ].


YouTube has a 1976 video of Hakol Over Habibi group singing the song. Click here to hear it.
Again, a good year to you, Shana tova!

New moon, new month

.

The last Sabbath of each Hebrew month, like today, is called Shabbat Mevarchim HaChodesh, or the Sabbath which blesses the month.
So today liturgically-observant Jews said the special prayer which asks God to "renew it [the coming new month] . . . for life and for peace, for gladness and for joy, for deliverance and for consolation."
.
And tonight already is Rosh Chodesh, the first of the month of Nissan.
In fact, it began at exactly 9:34:23 p.m.
.
How do we know? Well, the Hebrew calendar revolves around the moon, so to speak.
Each month represents one lunar cycle, the time it takes the moon to make one orbit around the earth.
There is a point when the moon is exactly between the earth and the sun, and so, hidden to anyone here on earth.
The molad is the time of the moon’s "birth," when it emerges just enough that a thin crescent of its illuminated surface can first be observed from Jerusalem.
This exact moment signals the beginning of a new Jewish month.

(This photo is just for illustration of a "banana moon."
It actually shows a rare phenomenon called the occultation of Venus which occurred last June 18. But that’s a different story!)
.
Wishing you chodesh tov and shavua tov, a good month and a good week.
.