Holy Places from Different Perspectives

In the poem “Jerusalem is Full of Used Jews” by Yehudah Amichai, the words “Zion” and “goaded” stood out for me the most. Zion is the hill of Jerusalem on which the city of David was built. Goaded coming from the word “to goad” means to motivate/to force. In the context of the poem, when it said “And the eye yearns towards Zion” (Amichai 3), I believe it’s referring to people looking for approval from the holy city. Almost as a means of guidance through hard times, the Jews would look at Zion for further instructions. When “the eye yearns toward Zion, and weeps” (Amichai 17), I believe that this is a reference to a miscommunication between the Jews and Jerusalem in a sense that they are taking a path that is not destined for them. The “eye” could also refer to God as viewing his creation, both Jerusalem and the Jews, and trying to help them make the city of Jerusalem the holy place it was meant to be; to “make the city puff up rich and fat” (Amichai 5). When the poem states that jews were “always goaded on again for holidays, for memorial days” (Amichai 8), I think that this is an illustration of all the Jews had to overcome in the past and how they are viewed in the present after overcoming those hardships. Most of the holidays were created as a reminder of the escape from Egypt and/or of general persecution. These events that led to the creation of their holidays were memorable enough to become an annual tradition, however they were also exhausting to practice as illustrated in the phrase “Jerusalem is full of tired Jews” (Amichai 7).

The novel “sacred and profane” by Mircea Eliade is able to illustrate what a holy site means to religious and nonreligious people. For religious people, a holy site is the place where a break in the plane of reality forms and the cosmos appear on earth. Everything surrounding the site is profane and not apart of this heavenly world (Eliade 23). For nonreligious people, a place of birth is an example of a holy site as it marks an important location in their life and causes them to view it differently than other locations (Eliade 24). The center of the world was also mentioned as a place that is closest to the heavens. Palestine is considered a holy place because it did not submerge during the flood, indicating that it was higher in altitude than the rest of the world, making it the prime spot for connecting with the heavens (Eliade 38). I found it interesting that the novel claims that the world is renewed each passing year as if it had just been established by the creator (Eliade 73). For me it correlates with new year's resolutions in that people try to do better in the upcoming year and forgive themselves for past mistakes since they are getting a second chance when the world is remade. They could use that second chance to find new or remember old meanings of why their chosen location is holy to them through different perspectives.

Both the poem “Jerusalem is Full of Used Jews” by Yehudah Amichai and the novel “sacred and profane” by Mircea Eliade convey the essence of sacred and holy sites. In the poem, Jerusalem, being the holy city, is used as a refuge for the Jews in times of need. In the novel, a holy site can take the form of any memorable location where an individual feels safe or at ease. It could also be the place that is considered closest to the heavens or one that has been associated with biblical references. Sometimes the people residing in what they believe is their holy site may not coincide in their reasonings for it being sacred. However, having a place that gives people hope and comfort should not instigate a degradation of that personal belief.