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January 02, 2007

A tense and delicate variety of peace

Crash-shatter. The groom breaks the glass.

Mazal tov!!

I am at a wedding in the Old City of Jerusalem, not far from the Western Wall.

I do not visit the Old City often; because of this, it never becomes routine. I always feel I have entered another era, an exotic place. If I never read the newspapers or if I lived as a recluse, I might observe that Jerusalem is a city where people of different religions and political beliefs live together peacefully. It is relatively peaceful. It just happens to be a tense and delicate variety of peace.

Teddy Kollek died today at age 95. He was mayor of Jerusalem from 1965 to 1993, when Ehud Omert (current prime minister) won the mayoral election. To this day, Kollek is credited with establishing Jerusalem as a cultural center. He is also praised for maintaining a fragile balance in Jerusalem between Jews, Moslems, and Christians; between citizens who are secular or religious, between those who are politically left or right, and extreme or moderate in either direction.

We wish the bride and groom well. I hear a moaning chant from just blocks away. It is the muezzin calling Muslims to prayer.

Driving towards the Western Wall with a view of
Dome of the Rock

Posted by Ilene Weismehl  at 1:31 PM | Permalink

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Posted by: odile mattiauda at January 18, 2007 05:46 PM

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