Neve Shalom/Wahaat al-salaam

My dear Friends

One of the Dominicans in Isaiah House was Fr Bruno Hussar, a priest of Egyptian Jewish parents. Fr Bruno wrote an autobiography called 'When the cloud rises.' Well apparently one day the cloud rose and God said: 'Bruno, I want you to found a community of Israelis and Palestinians living together.'

Bruno thought this was a tall order but set about his task. For a shekel he purchased some land from the Latrun monastery, about 30 miles from Jerusalem and in the Ayalon valley, famous for the sun and moon standing still in the battle with Joshua and the scene of bloody fighting in the 1948 War of Independence. For a year he laboured to build, with a few hippies helping him. One day he said to God:'If you don't send me an Israeli and a Palestinian family within a week, I'm quitting!'

But they came. When I visited in 1989 there were 75 people living in the community and there was a School for Peace, where all the children learned Hebrew and Arabic together. Teenagers from the local Israeli and Palestinian schools come to workshops to meet the 'Other' and the encounters are often facilitated through music.

I had the privilege of meeting Fr Bruno there and he took me down to 'Dumiyah' which means deep silence and is a big white Dome where the people can pray. As I faced him in this place, I felt I had 'come home.'

Shalom from

Sister Gila

The summer of '89

My dear Friends

In 1989 I went back to Israel after a break of 21 years. It was a momentous time for me-I had just been received into the Catholic Church and I was in the second year of my Hebrew degree. Now I was on a three-month study course at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. I was keen to make new Christian, as well as Jewish friends, and someone told me about the House of Isaiah.

This was where some Dominican priests lived but it was also the Mass centre for a group of Hebrew Catholics-Jews who had become Catholics and who sometimes, rather poignantly, had to hide their conversion from their families. The Mass, which was in Hebrew and which was attended by French and other Catholics, was full of JOY and was held in the crypt under the house. I was to make a lot of friends there, including Rivka, a Hebrew Catholic who lent me her apartment over the summer.

To be contd
Shalom from
Sister Gila

Final part of Paris

My dear Friends

I only had twenty four hours left in Paris. Basically I swanned around but ate in my hotel that evening. I went down to my hotel Cosy cafe, where I had a nice coffee and greeted a nice man I had seen in the bar near the Church that morning. The Mass that morning had been very lively and the Church was full. Now I was nearing the end of the trip. The next morning I had breakfast in the Cosy cafe and said goodbye to a nice couple from Australia, who had survived the floods in Brisbane. Then I packed my stuff and set off for the Gare du Nord. Alexia had told me about the Canal St Martin, so I got off the Metro and went in sight of it.

It was raining so not the best day to wander round the canals, so I had a quick look and found a nice bar. I decided to walk to the Gare du Nord, which took me about half an hour. I sat in the station for a short while and several poor and homeless people came up to me and asked me for money. I gave each one a small amount and listened to their stories, some were living in tents in the city, one had nowhere but the street to sleep in. It reminded me of Cambridge, where we have the most homeless people in Europe.

I had enough money for an omelette so I went across the street and sat beside a nice businessman from Belgium. I still had two hours before the Eurostar and I met a nice lady in the station with whom I shared my trip.

Bye for now
Shalom from
Sister Gila

More Paris

My dear Friends

I ended my day with an Italian meal in a local restaurant and had my first glass of wine for 2 Euros. Then I went up the street to my favourite cafe and had a coffee at the bar. This is cheaper and meant I got talking to a young guy, rather down on his luck, who ad mired my Russian style hat.(It was very cold in Paris.)

The next day was special-my friend was coming. She arrived at ten thirty, looking the same as ever, if a bit tired-she works forty miles outside the city. We hopped on the Metro and went to the Louvre. In the courtyard there is a pyramid and underneath there are shops and restaurants, so we dined in Starbucks and had a good chat, catching up on the last 18 months. Afterwards we walked on the streets and crossed several bridges, it was cold but fine. We ended up at Notre Dame and sat in silence for a while.We looked for another famous church in the vicinity but couldn't find it. So we came back to Picpus where the hotel was and said our goodbyes till the morrow.

The next day Alexia brought Christophe, her boyfriend, along and I was pleased to see him as the last time had been a while. We went to the Place des Voges, with the beautiful buildings, and the lovely galleries (and expensive!). We wandered along and ended up in the Rue des Rosiers, the Jewish quarter and nearly ate felafel but decided on a Parisian restaurant a little further along. They left me in Picpus and a little later on I went to the Place d'Italie to have a wander and a beer-absolutely delicious!

final part next time
Shalom from
Sister Gila

Paris in the winter (contd)

My dear Friends
Both the Rodin and the Henry Moore exhibitions were great-Rodin had the edge on spirituality, with a fine bust of The Kiss and John the Baptist. I felt that Henry Moore's figures were strange and rather lifeless. But it kept me busy for quite a while until I wandered outside to have a coffee and a little walk.

I came across a nice American Jewish lady who was a Quaker and cared a lot about Peace. Her son, who was with her lived in Toulouse, my favourite French city because of the light. They call it 'La ville rose.'After this conversation I headed for Monmartre and Sacre Coeur.

I got out at Pigalle, where Edith Piaf was reputed to have been born in the street. Not a very nice neighbourhood by night, it was very lively and interesting by day and I had a good walk along the shops, stopping now and then to have coffee in one of the nice coffee shops. Then I turned left and could see the dome of Sacre Coeur rising above the landscape and the place milling with tourists and pilgrims. I felt lazy and took the funicular lift to almost the top. Inside a Mass was going on-I had been earlier in the day but shook hands with a bunch of folk and said Shalom at the peace. I prayed a while and walked all around, sitting from time to time in one of the side chapels.

To be continued
Shalom from
Sister Gila

Paris in the winter

My dear Friends

I have a habit of going to Paris in the winter, where it is really cold. But I have a close friend there and so I was particularly looking forward to it. I met Alexia when she was working in a cafe in Cambridge, to earn money for her studies at Anglia Ruskin university- this was back in 2006.

This time I took the Eurostar last Monday, to arrive in Paris at around 5,30pm and I would have the first 36 hours alone. I booked into the Hotel , where I had been two or three times before and climbed up to my little room on the top floor.It was warm and cosy. There was only a bed, a wash hand basin and table in the room but it was opposite the loo and shower.

After resting a little i took a stroll in the cold night air and decided on a meal in the local Chinese restaurant, where they remembered me from previous years. I had a delicious chicken soup and chicken for the main course and then went a little further afield to have a coffee in my favourite bustling bar where they also remembered from previous years.

I had a good night's sleep and in the morning, hearing the bells ring, went to Mass in the Iocal Church. I had planned to go to the Rodin museum and when I arrived, there was a Henry Moore exhibition on as well.

To be continued

Shalom from

Sister Gila

Shoah

My dear Friends

Today is Holocaust Memorial Day. Many years ago, I went into a church on this day and said(to God): 'I know you won't tell me why, but just tell me it had meaning.' And the immediate response seemed to say: 'Yes, it had meaning.'

It seems very hard to feel there is meaning when 6 million Jews, 6 million of my people, perished in such horrific circumstances. To say nothing of the gypsies, homosexuals and disabled people who perished too. It is said that some Jews died with the Hear o Israel prayer on their lips,as if they knew they were part of a higher destiny. Some survivors lost their faith in God and some committed suicide.

I believe there is no evil, however great, without redemption. This is what I was brought up to believe as a child and what I believe more fully as a Christian. In the last 60 years we have seen the emergence of the State of Israel, with all its failings and we have seen the survivors of the Holocuast either live in Israel or spread out with all their extended families to all parts of the world.Despite the terrible things that go on, we still see even more acts of heroism and of love, and that, of course, is the key.

Shalom from
Sister Gila