Effects on Baha'i pilgrimage:
The missle attacks on northern Israel are also in areas of pilgrimage for Baha'is and so I thought I would share this story. Baha'is who want to go on pilgrimage are placed on a waiting list and many have to wait some years to be allowed to go... Pilgrimage is an obligation if it is possible at least once in one's lifetime as a Baha'i and there is a standard route and routine that is usually followed from visiting the world headquarters of the Faith in Haifa to visiting sites where Baha'u'llah lived or was imprisoned in and around the Akka area which was the old penal colony of the Ottoman Empire and under the control of the Sultans. Here is the article:
Bringing honey to Haifa: Baha'i pilgrims arrive as missile attacks
begin
Posted : August 9, 2006
In the last two weeks of July, as half of Haifa's population was
fleeing the besieged city in the north of Israel, 171 members of the
Baha'i Faith arrived from all over the globe to take part in a nine-
day pilgrimage to the Faith's most sacred shrines, historical sites
and world administrative center.
The pilgrims had eagerly anticipated this day, after being on a
waiting list for up to six years. So although the timing seemed
wrong, they proceeded with their plans after receiving approval from
the Baha'i World Center in Haifa.
"Many of our friends and family said `Are you nuts?'," admits Mary
Hansen, a Baha'i from Northbrook, Ill. "They said, `Do you have to
go there now?' But I had a dream right before we left that felt
significant to me. In the dream, I was bringing honey to Haifa. I
now believe that the honey was our presence there."
"Our choice to go on pilgrimage at this time had nothing to do with
being a hero, but rather with being at the place of your heart's
desire," says Scott Jaenicke, a Baha'i from Camarillo, Calif., who
was accompanied by his wife, Renee, and their 20-year-old son, Shea.
That feeling is hard to convey to others, says Larisa Cortes, who,
with her husband, Cesar, and sons Jacob, 12, and Sean, 14, traveled
to Haifa from Chicago. "Even if our lives ended there, it would be
the best place to be in the world. We were there to pray for peace."
That's not to say the pilgrims didn't take precautions. They adhered
to the security procedures recommended for the general population by
Israel's civil authorities. They stayed away from the center of
town, and when the sirens went off, they went into bomb shelters. On
one particularly dangerous day they were told to stay in their
hotels the entire time.
"Even though every day the city was being attacked, I didn't have a
sense of fear," says Cesar Cortes. "We knew the situation was
dangerous but there was something about the prayers of the Baha'is
from all over the world that gave a sense of peace and security.
Many of us were in touch by email with our families and friends at
home. We felt that spiritual protection removed the fear of losing
our lives."
Of course, because of the missile attacks, the pilgrims' experience
differed from the normal pilgrimage program. They weren't allowed to
see certain sites that were in precarious locations. For example,
the Shrine of Baha'u'llah, the Founder of the Baha'i Faith, is
located between Akka and Nahariya, a city that received multiple
missile attacks. Although a visit to the Shrine is generally the
high point of the pilgrimage program, the pilgrims in this group
were all but certain that they would not be permitted to go there.
Then, on the last evening of their stay in Haifa, they were summoned
to the Seat of the Universal House of Justice, the governing body of
the worldwide Baha'i community, and were informed they would be
taken to the Shrine of Baha'u'llah for a one-hour visit under cover
of darkness.
Renee Jaenicke wrote about this event in her diary: "As long as I
live, I hope to never forget this night. [A member of the Universal
House of Justice] said `It is with great joy ...' and then he could
not continue. Both men had to stop to wipe their eyes. The room was
filled with laughter and tears at the same time!
"The bus picked us up from our hotel at midnight. When we arrived,
we were instructed to observe strict silence and move quickly. It
was inside the [Shrine] that all of a sudden I knew. All the
sacrifices I had made to get here, to bring my son here, all the
hardships I had endured (which were really nothing) in the Path,
every struggle, had led me to this moment. And the Blessed Beauty
[Baha'u'llah] had accepted this sacrifice. I cried tears of joy and
gratitude and could not stop."
While the pilgrims have returned to their homes, Baha'is around the
world are mindful of the danger that still threatens the world
center of their faith, and even more importantly, the well-being of
people throughout the region.
"I am worried for those who are still there and continue to pray for
their safety," says Cesar Cortes. "We pray for the benefit of all of
humanity. We take no sides. The Baha'i writings state that world
peace is not only possible but inevitable, even if the path is
difficult at times."
