By Jude Zoho
A group of self-sponsored Nigerian pilgrims in Israel on Monday joined Christian pilgrims from other parts of the world to celebrate with Jews on the occasion of Bor Metzva Festival.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the pilgrims joined many young Jews at the Wailing Wall in the old city of Jerusalem to mark the day.
NAN also reports that Bor Metzva is an initiation festival that holds on special Mondays and Thursdays. It involves young Jews, particularly those who have attained the age of 13.
During the ceremony, those to be initiated are accompanied by their friends and relations to the Wailing Wall, where special prayers are offered on their behalf amid fanfare.
The festival coincided with the visit of the Nigerian pilgrims to the Wailing Wall in the old city of Jerusalem on the 8th day of their visit to the Holy Land.
Both the pilgrims and the Jewish people at the Wailing Wall offered prayers for peace around the world and for God’s blessings.
The group of Nigerian pilgrims had earlier visited holy sites on Mount Olives in continuation of their pilgrimage in Jerusalem.
The pilgrims first visited the point of the ascension of Jesus Christ on the summit of Mount Olives and walked down the mountain to the Gethsemane garden, where Jesus was believed to have said his last prayers.
At the upper room on Mount Zion, the pilgrims held several sessions of prayers amid praises for God’s mercies on mankind through the death of Jesus Christ.
The pilgrims ended the day’s visit at a chapel near Cephas’ house at the foot of Mount Zion, where Jesus was believed to have been arrested and jailed in a cave under Cephas’ house.
The climax of the group’s pilgrimage to Israel would be the investiture of the Jerusalem Pilgrim (JP) title on pilgrims in Jerusalem on Nov. 26.
