These and Those

Musings from Students of the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem

Heartache

Posted on October 31, 2014 by Jenn Mager

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From my blog:

jenmag

Last Wednesday a man drove a car into a crowd of people waiting at the Ammunition Hill light rail station, killing a three month old baby girl and wounding 8 others.  A newspaper reported that evening “Israeli police shoot man in East Jerusalem”.  I read that the family was on their way back from the Kotel, after bringing their daughter there for the first time.

One of the people injured in the attack was a 22 year old Ecuadorian woman who had come to Jerusalem to study.  She died on Sunday from her injuries.
May their memories be for a blessing.

I think about their families and try to imagine what they are feeling and how they will find the strength to go on with their lives.  I am feeling a great deal of sadness about the attack, the hateful responses, and the violence of this past week.  It feels too easy on this side of town, where life goes on as usual, to ignore what is happening a few miles away.  I don’t want to close myself off from it.  I don’t want to immerse myself in classes and reading and avoid thinking about it.
Riots broke out in several locations in East Jerusalem over the days that followed.  A Palestinian teenager was shot and killed on Friday while preparing to throw a firebomb into traffic on the highway.  I continue to see news reports of protests and youths throwing rocks and firebombs.
Falling in love with Jerusalem involves grieving for the potential of what could be against the backdrop of current reality.  It’s painful at times holding the wonderful and the hateful simultaneously.  Is it possible to work towards a peaceful co-existence?  Maybe it’s the heart that chooses to remain open through so much brokenness that has the greatest potential for hope and change.