The stone in this picture is a piece of Jerusalem stone, a form of limestone used for centuries in the construction of walls and buildings in Jerusalem and the Holy Land. It is found everywhere and was used by everyone: the ancient Israelites, the Greeks, the Romans, the early Christians, the Byzantines, the Arabs, the Crusaders and the Turks. It is also used in modern Israel and Palestine. Jerusalem stone is so common that a small piece would hardly be noticed. Chaim Be’er, an Israeli novelist, said, “The Jerusalem stone, so resilient and supple, bows to the transient follies of humankind bearing testimony like a hundred witnesses and yet remains silent.” Even so, the stone in this picture tells at least two stories.
I found the stone on Friday, May 12, 2006 in Jerusalem at the Valley of the Communities. The Valley of the Communities is a site in Jerusalem that commemorates the European Jewish communities destroyed by the Nazis and their collaborators during the Second World War. Located at the western edge of the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial (named in reference to Isaiah 56.5: “and I will give them… a monument and a name”), the Valley of the Communities is made up of over one hundred open-air areas separated from each other by walls of Jerusalem stone. Seen from above, the site looks like a maze of ruins, reflecting a world that has all but disappeared. At the entrance to the valley is the inscription: “This memorial commemorates the Jewish communities destroyed by Nazi Germany and its collaborators.” The names of over five thousand communities are engraved in the large slabs of Jerusalem stone. This small stone is a stone of remembrance, recalling a dark chapter in human history that we all too often at least partially re-enact in smaller ways, sometimes unknowingly, even with our families, friends, and co-workers.
The stone is small, yet it was selected. Why? Stones in the Holy Land reflect both history and mystery, as do stones anywhere for those willing to notice. Almost every building in Israel is constructed using stones that represent the remnants of previous structures. This stone had a past. It also has a future. Small as it is, the stone also represents an important metaphor for learning. What questions does it raise? What future is suggested? Will it be thrown away and forgotten? Or make its way into some new structure or understanding? Stones like this are hard and enduring, yet broken with rough edges– mirroring the complexities of life. Stones, like one’s life, invite touch, offer opportunity for reflection, and suggest the virtue of patience and persistence. Archaeologists would tell us that clues for understanding are there if one observes closely. Stones also have thin places mirroring opportunities for grace in life, encountered many times in unexpected ways. In Revelation 2:17 the Holy Spirit promises, “I will give some hidden manna and a white stone, with a new name written on it, known only to the person who receives it.” Stones can be large or small, but even a small stone, whether from Israel, or something we find in our shoe, can remind us of the greater context of our unfolding life journey. As Jesus said in Luke 19:40, “Stones speak.”
– Dent Davis