Dear Friends,
L’Shana Haba’ah B’Yerushalayim! Next year in Jerusalem!
The ancient Jewish refrain at the end of the Passover Seder is a wistful prayer of hope – a hope to return to the place of our shared scriptural history, and for the peace and flourishing of that holy city. It is a refrain appropriate for Christian pilgrims who might be anticipating a trip to the Land of the Holy One and the sites of the events of the Gospels, or who just long for the welfare of that sacred place.
As you know, late last year I participated in a special visit to Israel and Palestine, and it had an amazing impact on me. Some of my reflections have been shared already in other Friday letters and in my online Lenten study with Dr. Sylvia Keesmaat. I continue to process the sights, sounds, smells and stories that affected me deeply while I was there.
As I consider the ongoing war and violence, however, especially as we mark Jerusalem and the Holy Land Sunday this weekend, I wonder if, in addition to your prayers for peace, you might consider a financial gift.
“Light for St. Luke’s” is a joint project of Alongside Hope (formerly PWRDF) and the Diocese of Jerusalem. The plan is to purchase and install 407 solar panels for St. Luke’s Hospital in the West Bank. This hospital serves a large population: over 455,000 people in 57 villages and four refugee camps. The unreliable availability of costly electrical power makes health care extremely difficult – at times impossible – and solar panels would ensure self-sufficiency and consistency of critical care and compassion.
My friend the Most Rev. Hosam Naoum, Archbishop of Jerusalem, has written, “I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Alongside Hope for supporting this vital project. It represents a transformative step in strengthening the hospital’s resilience and ensuring the continuity of life-saving services, especially in times of emergency when electricity cuts and fuel shortages are frequent and often prolonged.”
The project costs $352,000. A generous donor has offered to match, dollar for dollar, gifts to “Light for St. Luke’s.” This Jerusalem Sunday, can you help provide light, shelter and health care to the sick and injured of the West Bank? Please visit Alongside Hope for more information, or to make a gift: alongsidehope.org/light-for-st-lukes
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
“May they prosper who love you.
Peace be within your walls
and quietness within your towers.
For my siblings and companions’ sake,
I pray for your prosperity.
Because of the house of the Lord our God,
I will seek to do you good.”
– Psalm 122:6-9
Yours in Christ,
The Right Reverend Andrew Asbil
Bishop of Toronto
