The light from Jerusalem

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Saturday before Easter Sunday is called Sabt en-Nur (Saturday of Light/Fire) by Christian Palestinians. According to Orthodox tradition a holy fire is lit without any human intervention in the Holy Sepulcher (the church held to stand on the place of Golgatha as well as the grave of Jesus). The lighting of the fire has taken place at least since 1066, maybe even centuries before that. The fire is thought to be the flame of the resurrection power, and also the fire of the burning bush that Moses encountered at Mount Sinai. It is brought from Jerusalem by special flights to many Orthodox countries, such as Russia, Serbia, Greece, Belarus, Georgia, Armenia, Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine, Syria and Lebanon, and welcomed on the airports by state leaders.

The fire also travels through the Wall to the Christian communities at the West Bank. I was at the reception in Beit Sahour. It was a great party, people had dressed up and were crowding the streets, scouts were marching and playing drums and bagpipes. The sound of at least 40 bagpipes playing in unison is pretty intense! I recognized a few of the tunes, the "Symphony of Joy" by Beethoven and then -of course- "My Heart will go on" from Titanic. It was an impressive celebration.


Scouts marching.


More scouts marching.

After speeches, music and marching, at last the light came, the holy light of the resurrection -in a taxi! After it came the prime minister of the Palestinian authority, Salam Fayyad. People surrounded the two cars, out stepped the patriark with the lantern, to the flashing of cameras and the smell of incense. Then we all started a procession through the streets of the Old City. On the balconies more people were watching, some throwing candy down at us. We arrived one of the many churches in Beit Sahour. There was a stage filled with scouts, and people could go into the church to light their own lanterns with the holy fire.


The patriarch stepping out of the car.

With my Lutheran background, Sabt en-Nur reminded me more of the Norwegian constitution day than Norwegian Easter. Still I see that there is no intrinsic link between Christian celebrations and organs. And there was something about this celebration that made sense, even to a Norwergian Protestant. Maybe it was the life and joy of the event. It seemed to suit a resurrection. There was a nationalistic touch to the celebration as well, with the prime minister present and kufiyyes and flags on the bagpipes. But for Christians struggling to stay in the land of the resurrection, as it is called in the Kairos document, I suppose your religion is also about your geografical roots.

But the strongest impression was maybe to see a celebration of a light coming from a city inaccessible to most of the Christians in Beit Sahour. In general, Palestinians are not allowed to go to Jerusalem (East Jerusalem was occupied by Israel in 1967, and is being separated from the West Bank more and more). During religious holidays, people can apply for a permission to go, but many don't get it. Some object to the whole system of permissions. Why should they apply for traveling in their own land? On Palm Sunday there was a demonstration where 100 people managed to pass the checkpoint between Bethlehem and Jerusalem before they were stopped by police on the other side. This was part of an annual procession that used to go between the Church of Nativity in Bethlehem and the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem every Easter Sunday. It's so sad to talk to people about their holiday plans, knowing that they can't go to the city where Easter started, in order to go to the Holy Sepulcher, or to see friends and family. But the light of the resurrection crosses the Wall. Maybe it will someday also tear it down.
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