On The Road To Jerusalem
Baptism in the Jordan, 'sermon on the mount' and delivery of a gift as journey winds down
By BETHE DUFRESNE
General Assignment Reporter/Columnist
Published on 4/22/2005
Galilee, West Bank –– Apologies and baptisms, along with camel rides and Dead Sea swims, were the order of the day Thursday as an Old Lyme group made its way from Galilee to Jerusalem for the final days of a trip to Israel and the occupied West Bank.
“Who wants to be baptized?” asked trip leader David Good, senior minister at the First Congregational Church of Old Lyme, of a group that includes two Muslims, one Jew, one Lakota Sioux Indian, one teenager leaning toward Buddhism and an assortment of Christians and undecideds.
Three answered yes, two Christians renewing their baptisms and one, 14-year-old Eliza Nguyen of East Lyme, who was baptized for the first time in the Jordan River as a caravan of Holy Land tourists looked on.
When the ceremonies were over, the sound of Native American singing and drumming descended from on high, where Ira Bluecoat of the Cheyenne River Sioux reservation was perched on an overlook above the river.
The baptisms were preceded by a distinctly multifaith service on the Mount of Beatitudes, where Jesus is said to have delivered what's known as the Sermon on the Mount. Good explained that the sermon as we know it is probably a compilation, a kind of “Best of Jesus,” but that should only increase our awe.
During a week in which much has been said and heard about wrongs committed against Israelis and Palestinians, Good found it opportune to apologize to the Jewish, Muslim and Native American members of the group for historic transgressions against them by white Europeans professing to be Christians.
Although genuinely sincere, Good was clearly aware of the pitfalls of too much contrition. “Is there anybody else I should apologize to?” he asked with a humorous nod back at himself.
Recalling the words of Elias Chacour, a Melkite Christian priest the group met earlier in Galilee, Good noted that he wasn't taking on guilt for something he didn't do but taking responsibility to see that it didn't happen again.
On the way to Jerusalem, Good, on a mission for a friend, took the group to Afula for a visit to the Ethiopian Absorption Center at Kibbutz Merhavya. The center receives support from a consortium of 13 New England Jewish Federations, including the Jewish Federation of Eastern Connecticut.
On behalf of Jerry Fischer and Harry Leiser, executive director and president of the eastern Connecticut federation, respectively, Good presented a check to the kibbutz for $2,500 to celebrate the Passover Seder. Last month, while traveling with U.S. Rep. Rob Simmons, R-2nd District, Fischer had delivered a gift for Bethlehem University on behalf of Good.
About 200 Ethiopian families are living at the absorption center. Staff said the center is full and as soon as a family leaves, within days another takes its place.
There are about 23,000 Ethiopians waiting in their homeland to emigrate to Israel, said center director Eshel Fram, a native Israeli. He did not know what percentage they represent of total annual immigration, but said Russian Jews are by far the majority.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, who recently visited Israel, has admitted that anti-Semitism is a resurgent problem in Russia.
This absorption center is only for Ethiopians, who, unlike Europeans, generally come from rural backgrounds and don't know Hebrew or how to read and write, staff said.
The absorption center has low buildings and lots of trees and open space, designed to minimize the culture shock.
Those allowed to emigrate must provide proof of Jewish ancestry, said Fram. He said families generally stay at least a year at the absorption center, perhaps more, before they move into Israel. They go to school, learn about their new country, and convert to Judaism. Rina Mafzir, who helps families with personal matters, said most Ethiopian Jews converted to Christianity three or four generations ago to avoid persecution.
Mafzir said persecution is not a big problem for Jews in Ethiopia today, but poverty is. In Israel they receive substantial help with employment and housing, he said.
Like children everywhere, Ethiopian children learn quickly, said Mafzir, and often wind up better versed in Hebrew than their parents.
Jiries Atrash, a Palestinian Authority official who is hosting the Old Lyme group, asked if the Ethiopians are briefed on the conflict over Israeli occupation of the West Bank. Palestinians who lost their homes in Israel and can't return or visit resent Israel's policy of unlimited immigration for Jews.
But Fram did not want to get into politics.
