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Today's blog is written by William Ury
Today is our last full day of walking to Hebron -- al Khalil -- the City of the Friend. After eleven days for many of us, four days for others of us, we are arriving...
We rose early, had breakfast prepared by our hosts Mohammed and Ibrahim, and set out with blue skies and the bright sun to climb the last stretch up to the distant hill line where the village of Beni Naim sits. It is steep but we set our backs to it. After an hour, we see our first destination in the distance, a simple ancient brown building set off from the village and commanding the heights. It is the maqam of Ibrahim, the place where Abraham is believed to have witnessed from afar the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah far below in the Jordan River valley. It is the perfect destination for a pilgrimage -- simple and beautiful. The view from the top is breathtaking -- looking over the rolling spring green hills down to the desert wadis -- valleys -- all the way to the lowest point on earth -- the Dead Sea -- and in the distance faintly the mountains of Jordan -- of biblical Moab and Edom.
As we stand outside the shrine, taking in the views, George Rishawi, our friend, colleague, and guide, explains to us that this village is the first place on the Masar (the path) where he heard the words: "We have been waiting for you." Beni Naim is indeed the place of Ibrahim, a beautiful bead on the necklace of Abrahamic sites that stretches from Mesopotamia to Hebron and, eventually, onto Mecca. George also explains how Abraham was known as a peacemaker among the four Canaanite kingdoms that constituted ancient Hebron -- and it was for this work that they willingly agreed to his request to buy an ancient cave in which to bury his beloved Sarah.
I feel deeply moved, recalling the ancient story of how, as the Bible describes, Abraham negotiates with God, challenging him about the justice of the destruction. "If I can find fifty good people, would you still destroy it?" "What about forty-five?" And so on, until the number is ten. Sadly, Abraham cannot find even ten. So I can imagine what a heavy heart, filled with compassion, he must have had as he witnessed the destruction. A human being negotiating with the most powerful on behalf of human life -- this may be the earliest such story in the ancient scriptures. To challenge the all mighty might normally mean risking death and worse but Abraham is the friend, after all. And in my book, this story makes him the father of human rights and the father of negotiation. And in this time, in this place, where there is so much conflict and injustice, what more important values to invoke and walk into life than the values of Abraham -- of justice and peace, of human rights and negotiation?
The maqam, mentioned in old pilgrims accounts from a thousand years ago, could not be simpler. There is no one but us to visit. Inside there is a little enclosed section with a piece of rock with two footprints, two handprints, and the print of a forehead -- the place where Abraham is believed to have prostrated himself. It is a place of humility and awe.
From the maqam, we set out for Hebron along such a lovely little valley with blossoming almond trees, olive trees, oak trees, stone fences, the green fields of spring, flocks of sheep, and ancient ruins and caves where people once lived.... We had a picnic lunch under an old oak tree, reminding us of course of Abraham and how he sat under a spreading oak and received the three divine visitors with such hospitality, washing their feet. We looked for acorns, which have become the symbol of the Masar Ibrahim, Abraham's Path and found a few at last that had been eaten by the goats.
After lunch, we walk into the town another hour or two, reaching the city streets. George leads us to a place where we take in the vista of the old city and its ancient stone buildings nestled in between four hills. Prominently standing out is our destination -- the ancient tomb of Abraham/Ibrahim and Sarah, of Isaac and Rebecca, of Jacob and Leah, encircled by huge stone walls erected two thousand years ago.
As we wait outside the Tomb for a service to end, a large group of young school girls emerges, smiling and asking questions of us, practicing their English. Not long after we find ourselves inside the Tomb, a place of awe, honoring its three generations of men and women. It is an ancient tradition that here in the cave below lies the entrance to the Garden of Eden. Adam discovered it by its sweet fragrance and here he buried Eve. Generations later, the story is repeated with Abraham and Sarah. And then when Abraham is laid to rest here, his sons Ishmael and Isaac come together, a hint of the potential for reconciliation.
May it be so! And may the travelers and pilgrims who follow this ancient path each contribute to the remembrance of common humanity, to the urgent need for justice and peace, each in their own small way! Step by step..... may we all get there!
PS Beautiful photos and blogs of other days may be be found at http://www.offexploring.com/ibrahim/albums
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