Two Pregnant Women

This was our last day in Israel. Steve decided to spend this time going back to Bethlehem and saying goodbye to Baseem before we return to New Zealand. In addition he spent time reflecting on our time here in this land with all its contraditions. He lingered around the Palestinian side of the wall and read the stories as well as taking photos. (He didn't see any planes though!). It is our intention to do a number of other posts upon our return to NZ. One will be on our reflections on the Wall. 

The group went to Ein Karem today. It is a suburb of west Jerusalem and has had changes of populations depending on who is in control. It was a Palestinian neighbourhood until 1948 when people had to just leave their house at gunpoint. Many took their keys and still have their keys in the hope that one day they will return. Today it is Jewish and quite a trendy area it seems. It is the only place I saw the cafe culture in evidence around Jerusalem.

Our first stop was the hospital that has Chagall windows in the synagogue there. There are twelve windows and each one represents one of the tribes of Judah.

Next stop was a Russian Orthodox Church which has gold onion shaped domes which are easily seen on the hill. Both the Russian Orthodox and Roman Catholics have churches which are dedicated to the Visitation of Mary to Elizabeth.

We then visited the Roman Catholic Church of this Visitation. There is also an upstairs chapel in this place which is cared for by the Franciscans and is dedicated to women.

Two pregnant women...

In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leapt in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaimed with a loud cry, ‘Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leapt for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.’

Luke 1:39-45  

From there we walked to the Church of John the Baptist. There is a chapel where John the Baptist's birth is acknowledged. From there we drove through the check point towards Bethlehem and went to a place at Shepherd's Field for lunch. We could look across from there and see some of the wall as well as a settlement on land that was once Palestinian, and we could also see Tantur in the distance.

The birth place of John the Baptist