Christmas and CHANUKKA: Music combines in Jerusalem despite disorders

Christmas and CHANUKKA: Music combines in Jerusalem despite disorders

In a moving musical event, a special “Christmas concert” took place on December 21, 2024 in the Benedictine Abbey Dormitio in Jerusalem, to which both Christians and Jews were invited. Despite the continuing conflict in the Holy Land, the abbey offered a necessary space for cultural exchange and celebrations together. The concerts, which the Austrian musicians Johanna Gossner and Damian Keller presented as "Duo Minerva", included works by well-known composers such as George Gershwin and Gustav Mahler as well as the Jewish-Polish poet murdered in Krakow. Abbot Nikodemus Schnabel emphasized the grown role of the abbey as a cultural site, which brings people together, especially in times of crisis in which many other cultural events in the country were canceled, such as kathpress.at reported.

cultural bridge in conflict

The importance of Jerusalem extends far beyond cultural borders, since the city has an immense religious symbolic power for Jews, Christians and Muslims. Laut focus.de beanspruchen alle drei Glaubensgemeinschaften den Ort für sich, was Konfliktpotential birgt. With over 1200 synagogues, 158 churches and 73 mosques, Jerusalem is a real melting pot of religions. This cultural diversity is also evident in the Dormitio Abbey, which contributes to promoting interreligious dialogue and enables us to donate hope and light even in dark times.

The concerts in the Dormitio Abbey are an important gesture of unity and show how art and music can beat bridges between the different groups, even if they are under the shadow of an ongoing conflict.