Dear friends:
This is for your interest and pleasure. I got it from Nancy.
Sergei
=========================================================
Jerusalem Post, 31, August 2000
Beauty born of faith
By Haim Shapiro
(August 31) - You may think that you have
seen the Baha'i Gardens in Haifa
-
but unless you've seen them recently, you are in for a wonderful
surprise.
To begin with, you should have a look at the
gardens from downtown Haifa,
at the
foot of Sderot Ben-Gurion. The wide avenue, with its handsome stone
buildings on either side, forms a sort of
introduction to the terraces
themselves; these stretch all the way up Mount Carmel, forming a swath
of
green punctuated by patches of
color.
The terraces, developed over the past 10
years at a reported cost of some
$250
million - paid for entirely by contributions from members of the
Baha'i faith - are a testimony to the
deep dedication of its followers to
the beautification of their world center and one of their major
shrines.
Baha'i, a religion which emerged in mid-19th
century Persia, is today a
world
faith with more than five million adherents.
Among the principles of its belief is that
religious truth is not absolute
but
relative, that revelation is continuous and progressive, that all great
religions are divine in origin, and that
they represent stages in the
spiritual evolution of human society, which will eventually emerge into
a
universal civilization.
Beliefs include the complete unity and
equality of all races, classes,
creeds, and nations, and belief in the total equality of men and
women.
The Baha'i connection to Haifa is a result of
the fact that Baha'u'llah,
founder of
the Baha'i religion, was exiled from his native Persia and
incarcerated by the Ottoman authorities in Acre, where
he made his home.
Baha'is, who regard
Baha'u'llah as the most recent in a line of messengers
of God that includes Abraham, Moses, Krishna, Buddha,
Zoroaster, Jesus, and
Mohammed,
consider his shrine, which is also surrounded by gardens and
located north of Acre, as the most sacred spot in the
world.
The Haifa shrine is the resting place of the
remains of Siyyid
Ali-Mohammed, whom
Baha'is revere as the Bab, the forerunner of
Baha'u'llah. The Bab was executed in Persia and his remains were
later
brought to Haifa, where they
were buried at a spot indicated by Baha'u'llah
in a building which is now topped by a golden
dome.
The Baha'i World Center in Haifa is staffed
by some 700 volunteers from
around
the world. There is no local Baha'i community. Although they are
eager to share their message with anyone who
expresses an interest - and
theirs is
among the fastest growing religions in the world - Baha'is are
forbidden to engage in aggressive
proselytizing.
This principle, combined with the fact that
their shrine contains no
religious
symbolism or images of any kind, might account for the fact that
the gardens and shrine are a very popular
place to visit for Israelis,
religious as well as secular.
On a weekday a short time ago, they were so
packed that the volunteers who
welcomed the visitors could barely cope. The volunteers explained that
the
shrine was a holy place, asked
the visitors to remove their shoes as a sign
of respect, and asked them to remain quiet, turn off cellular
telephones,
and refrain from
photography inside the building.
Asked if the volunteers ever had trouble with
unruly visitors, Ann Wong,
director
of public relations for the Baha'i World Center, admitted that
sometimes it was hard to make people understand why
they had to be quiet.
But she added
that most of those who came to the shrine were respectful.
"I think that when people see beauty and
harmony they have respect," said
Wong.
The shrine, with Persian carpets, urns, lamps
and a large crystal
chandelier, does
indeed evoke a feeling of quiet and respect. On the wall
is a prayer which relates to the concept of beauty as
a religious
commitment. The
creation of beauty as an expression of reverence is almost
breathtaking.
The formal gardens, with their carefully
manicured shrubs, profusion of
flowers, and elegant trees, would be outstanding anywhere in the world;
but
in Israel, where desert
conditions combine with a general indifference to
aesthetic values, they are so exceptional as to be
unreal.
There is not a leaf out of place, much less a
bit of scrap paper. One could
not
even imagine an empty soda bottle lying about in this environment. A
staff of 200 is employed full-time to care
for the gardens in Haifa, as
well as those that surround the shrine in Acre.
What is new is that these gardens have now
been extended to 19 terraces, a
kilometer of greenery, from high up on Mount Carmel to the bottom, with
the
same care extended throughout the
site. The project, Wong said, took over
10 years, with the Baha'i World Center slowly buying up the property
and
developing it. The number 19, she
said, is symbolic in the Baha'i faith of
completeness, perfection, and unity.
According to another source, the project
involved not only the purchase of
undeveloped land but buying large buildings, apartment by apartment,
in
order to tear them down to make
way for the terraces.
The terraces are mostly green, with lawns so
steep they must be cut by a
team of
three gardeners: two to pull the lawnmower up, while the third
pushes it. In some spots, there are walls of ivy,
while both lawns and ivy
are offset
by rows of flowers.
The flowers themselves are changed by color
according to season. A system
of
fountains and water channels runs down the entire length of the
terraces, which are lit up at night.
Where the paths are not paved, they are lined
with pieces of burnt red
broken roof
tiles, which also serve to camouflage drainage channels. In the
center, running up the length of the mountain, are a
series of stone
stairways, with
elegantly carved stone balustrades.
Wong noted that in planning the terraces the
Baha'i designers consulted
Israeli
irrigation experts so as to use water as sparingly as possible. The
watering of all the terraces is controlled
by computer.
In their center, just above the shrine, is a
large stone bridge which goes
over
Rehov Hatzionut. The bridge itself forms one of the terraces, and when
you stand on it you can hardly notice that
there is a busy thoroughfare
underneath. At the top, a wide tunnel leads under Rehov Yefe Nof.
What makes the project even more stunning is
the fact that Sderot
Ben-Gurion, the
old German Colony of Haifa, has been redeveloped to
coordinate with it.
Daphna Greenstein, who designed this project
together with Gil Har-Gil,
explained
that the axis of the avenue was actually shifted slightly to
accomplish this coordination. Like similar areas in
Jerusalem and Tel Aviv,
the German
Colony in Haifa was established by Templers in the mid-19th
century. Sderot Ben-Gurion was its main street.
The original houses, now fronted by large
paved pedestrian spaces and
magnolia
trees, are quickly turning into an area attracting visitors from
Haifa and further afield with many
restaurants and cafes. In between are
informal gardens with olive and citrus trees, and pergolas with
jasmine.
In May, when the entire length of terraces is
opened, it will be possible
to walk
down all 19 of them and continue down to the German Colony. At
present, only the terraces immediately adjacent to the
shrine and the top
two terraces
adjoining Rehov Yefe Nof are open to the public.
The gardens are open daily from 9 a.m. to 5
p.m and the shrine is open from
9
a.m. to noon. There is no admission fee, but visitors should keep in mind
that modest dress is required, especially
for the shrine - a rule that
could
mean some visitors, men as well as women, might be turned away if
they are wearing shorts.