Stella Maris Monastery, Haifa, Israel
He said, “Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.” Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind, and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake, and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire, and after the fire a sound of sheer silence.
1 Kings 19:11-12 NRSVue
When we were in Israel for 16 days during April we ventured off on day trips, including one to the city of Haifa for the day. One of our stops was Stella Maris, the Carmelite Christian monastery at one of the highest points of the city with a wonderful view out to the Mediterranean Sea. There is a grotto inside the main worship space which is supposedly the cave where the prophet Elijah had his "still small voice" (KJV) epiphany, although so many sites in Israel are dubious, to be generous. I m fascinated by the story of Elijah, or at least portions of it (some are repellent!), so we went in, were aware of the devotion of many Roman Catholic pilgrims, and got on our way.
Since our return to Canada we have been attuned to stories from what is unfortunately an Unholy Land, with all its tensions, including between religions. Following the election which brought a coalition government to power under Benjamin Netanyahu there has been an increasing anti-Christian sentiment in the country, largely because several of the partner parties are ultra-Orthodox Jewish and are open and agressive about their disdain for other religions. Since Israel came into being in 1948 there has been a policy of religious freedom and tolerance but that has been strained to the limit recently.
We heard in July that there was an incident at Stella Maris when at least 30 Hasidic Jews arrived to reclaim what they say is the burial place of Elijah, something which hasn't been a point of contention in the past. There was a violent confrontation and now there are fences and security to protect the monastery.
Israel's President Isaac Herzog and Police Chief Kobi Shabtai on Wednesday visited the Stella Maris Church and Monastery in Haifa. Photo by Kobi Gideon (GPO)
A couple of weeks later officials visited the monastery to reiterate that recent violence against Christians in Israel as unacceptable.While this is reassuring to a degree, the reality is that aggressive incidents toward the small Christian population (less than 2 percent) is on the rise. The majority of Israeli Jews are secular and among observant Jews most are tolerant but a minority are not.
It's not just a matter of verbal and physical aggression. Last week the Interior Ministry, headed by a rather militant rabbi, arbitrarily halted new visas for those who work for certain Christian organizations. Our family members have been in Israel as Christian workers for more than 30 years, on visas, and we wonder how this will affect their ministry and whether they will be able to remain there. At the same time Netanyahu is claiming that Christians are welcome as tourists and that Israel and evangelical Christians are partners. What's the real story? This government is a hot mess and it just seems to be getting worse.
This is the land in which Jesus was born, fulfilled his ministry, died, and in our Christian faith was raised from the dead. Yes, there is an often confusing mixture of Arab and Palestinian Christians, evangelicals, Orthodox and Roman Catholics, and it's a challenge to understand how they relate to one another, let alone other religions. Still, they all deserve to be treated with respect and without fear in their day to day lives. It seems as though there needs to be much more listening for the voice of God in the midst of turmoil.
Stella Maris Church and Cave
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