Israel, Part I: Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?

After a year's worth of planning, our interfaith group primarily from Sanibel Congregational UCC and Temple Bat Yam has arrived in Israel.  We didn't all travel here together.  Some came by other routes, but this afternoon all forty of us were present and accounted for.

Our first stop on this day shortened by travel (and general fatigue) was the Tower of David Museum. There we had a magnificent panoramic view of the city.  The Museum is housed in a very old building which sits at the highest point in the city.

From our vantage point we could see a wide array of churches, mosques and synagogues.  And as we gazed out over the city, we were reminded of its rich and complicated history as a place revered by all three of the so-called Abrahamic faiths, Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Despite many occasions of violence and intolerance over the centuries, the three traditions have all managed to keep a foothold in this mystical city. Sometimes through violence, sometimes not.

The New York Times Book Review Section runs an interview every Sunday with one author or another.  Often they ask "If you could hold a dinner party and invite any three authors--living or not--who would you  include."  OK, so Jesus probably didn't write anything, and Muhammad may have been illiterate (the Qu'ran was delivered to him orally according to tradition, memorized and only later written down by others) and as for Moses, maybe he wrote something, but certainly not anything on stone tablets.  Still, those are the three guys I'd like to have over for dinner.  I wonder what they'd have to say about Jerusalem?  Somehow, I suspect, and hope, it wouldn't result in a food fight, but rather agreement, that all God's children be invited to pray for the peace of Jerusalem, and then work to make it happen.  And then, over dessert, I imagine they'd say, "And not just Jerusalem, folks!"