Exactly What Will I Be Doing In Jerusalem?

I am enrolled in the sabbatical program at the Tantur Ecumenical Institute For Theological Studies in Jerusalem. This is a six day a week program of study and renewal.

What characterizes this program of continuing education and spiritual renewal is the context of the Holy Land—"the fifth gospel." To read the story of Jesus and the first Christians in the context of this "fifth gospel" shapes not only our understanding of the Scriptures and their history of salvation, but also of how our Christian faith is embodied in concrete, complex reality. While we do many guided excursions (among them, a five-day trip to Galilee) to get to know the land where this faith originated, we focus not only on the stones of archeological remains, but also on the "living stones," the local Christian communities We study Eastern and Western churches in their difficult situation as minorities in the Holy Land. They share land and life with the Jewish and Muslim communities, whose faith and spirituality are also part of our study.

Specifically, the program examines....

• Ecumenism and the biblical foundations for Christian unity work, the development of the ecumenical movement, and where it is now.
• Local Churches where ecumenism is rooted in the local reality, which leads to a study of the Church’s history in the Holy Land, and of differing Eastern and Western spiritualities. This course also includes contact with the local Christian communities.
• Biblical Geography concentrates on the guided field trips, prepared by lectures, with maps and diagrams. Starting with Jerusalem and Bethlehem and their environs, we visit also the Negev and the Judean Deserts and the Dead Sea area. We also devote detailed attention to the Jerusalem of Jesus, as well as a five-day trip to the Galilee of the gospels. The study combines geography and archaeology with the biblical texts, aiming at a deeper understanding of their message.
• Scripture with a focus on "Jesus in his Cultural Milieu," reviews the concrete realities of family life, honour-and-shame culture and other dimensions of Jewish life and Middle Eastern life at the time of Jesus.
• Judaism in a study that presents the fundamental tenets of Jewish faith and Jewish living, its Covenant, Torah, Talmud; family and gender relations; prayer life, the role of the great festivals, the Land; Jewish-Christian dialogue.
• Islam through an examination that offers the faith and history of Islam, its encounters with the West, its social organization (family, gender relations), how it faces modernity and change.

Waiting for Sabbatical to Start 

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Kim is going with you, isn't she?
A: Well, actually, no Kim is not going with me on my sabbatical. As Kim and I planned for my sabbatical we discovered that this was not the best situation for Kim. Why? My sabbatical program will have me involved six mornings every week in lectures and presentations and each evening in worship. This means Kim would be doing a lot of "waiting" for me to be available in order to go any where. We are not convinced that Kim would feel comfortable moving about Jerusalem and Israel as a lone female. Therefore, Kim decided early on that she would be quite content to remain in London and plan for a two week visit sometime around the March Break.

Q: Do you feel it is safe to travel to Israel?
A: Yes, I do feel it is safe. I have been advised by the director of my sabbatical program that if we follow his experienced advice, I will have a great experience and a safe sabbatical. It helps that I visited the Holy land briefly in 1993. At that time I experienced the high security levels and alerts that are a normal part of Israeli life. I have learned to carefully measure what I see in the media. When a terrorist strikes (and we know that can happen anywhere) the entire country is not in turmoil. The terrorist's action is confined to a small portion of one street in one village. Having said this, safety is on my mind and I plan to follow the good advice and common sense that is offered by those who live in the Holy Land each and every day.

December 7th Update From Israel

7 December, 2005

Dear Friends:

This is the 74 th of our ongoing “Updates” for those who have applied for Tantur’s Program: the Scholars Program and the Winter/Spring Continuing Education. So, on their behalf, I want to thank you all for continuing to commit yourselves to coming to Tantur. (We Send an “update” about every three or four weeks both to let you know that we eagerly look forward to you arrival and to allay misgivings some may have in face of media reports about the Middle East or concerns worried friends and relatives might have). Your coming to Tantur is a sign of life and Faith and a support to others who have made the same decision. (Some of this update repeats thoughts both from previous and from the “generic Safety Letter” on our website
< www.come.to/tantur>

After three months of learning about, and exploring, the Holy land, our Three-Month (September - December) Continuing Education Participants have mostly left this last weekend. Some have jokingly said that I must enjoy the quiet after a group leaves. On the contrary. With few exceptions, one guest used to, and enjoys, the presence of wonderful people at the different meals and in our home. When they leave, there is certain emptiness. One can hardly sit across the table from someone for a number of months and than not miss when they go home!

But we eagerly look forward to the small group that will be joining us for the Christmas Laity Enrichment Program which begins on the 15th of this month. To be sure, it is a special blessing to be within walking distance of Bethlehem and a little farther – from the bustle of the Old City Jerusalem t the Christmas season. The Weather has been unusually warm and so we are grateful as cold days are in the offing. Our Christmas program includes many of the field trips which you will experience around the birth of Jesus. Right after Christmas, we will travel up to the Galilee for four days, always a blessing.


Over the last few months, our participants have had a wonderful time. At the same time, our participants’ presence has been an important support to the local Christian community. Support for the local communities means being with them in difficult times. While these are indeed not easy times, we feel that it is safe here provided that one is prudent and takes the advice of our experienced staff.

You are welcome at Tantur!

Fr. Michael McGarry, C.S.P
Rector, Tantur Ecumenical Institute, Jerusalem