quarterly angst

the old city of Jerusalem is divided into "quarters" or neighborhoods, the Christian Quarter, the Muslim or Arab Quarter, the Jewish Quarter and the Armenian Quarter. in the center is the Temple Mount or Haram al-Sharif holy to Muslims, and the Western Wall or Wailing Wall holy to Jews and Christians. I spent about an hour praying at the wall, and decided to wander around the Jewish Quarter to see if there were any open Passover meals happening. I ran into a guy I knew from a while back, named Ellie. He asked me where I was staying and I told him the Hebron Hostel. He said, aghast, "that's no place for Jews!" I told him "Im not Jewish". He appeared even more aghast. I said, "well I have Jewish lineage, but Im a Christian." He invited me to a Jewish Rabbi's house for dinner, and I accepted.

As we were walking from the Old City to the ultra orthodox Jewish neighborhood, I thought it appropriate to make small talk about my day. I told him that just before I saw him, I had already been at the wall for about an hour praying, and that God was doing some pretty amazing things in my life. He said "please don't talk about that, when we get to the Rabbi's house, and don't say anything about being a Christian". This time I was the one aghast. I told him that this was important to me, and if I were not permitted to speak about something most important in my life, then I would not speak at all. He said not to say anything at all about Jesus or Christianity because the Jews dont believe that. I said, "ok, before we get there, what do YOU believe? Do you believe Jesus was a prophet? Do you believe he healed people and performed miracles?" I also threw Mohammed in there. He became angry. He wanted nothing to do with the topic, and could not even answer the questions. I mentioned that it seemed appropriate to at least acknowledge Jesus and Mohammed as Prophets, especially here in this Holy City where there are so many different beliefs.

A short while later i mentioned I did not feel comfortable going somewhere where I knew I would not be able to talk, and would feel awkward, so I turned to leave. He (and the 3 others) strongly encouraged against it. Just then my friend Jack called and told me he was just leaving the Christian Quarter. I remembered that we had tentative plans and pried my way out of the Jewish angst. I headed over to the Arab Quarter where my hostel was located, met Jack and we went for Arab pizza (made with EGG as a topping)! then we walked over to the Christian Quarter where we met some of his friends. They were so friendly and happy to meet me. One guy said "welcome to our country, the Christian Quarter! It is the BEST Quarter in the Old City!" I enjoyed my time with them, and was free to talk about whatever I chose. After all, if you have a light to share with the world, why hide it? Even the rocks will cry out... I WILL NOT BE SILENT!