Le défi de Jerusalem by Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt

 

It´s vacation time and I am in the mood for more travel-related content, both in terms of social media and reading resources. But my heart beats differently in different places and a book about Jerusalem, in French, sounded very interesting, although not sure what to expect.

Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt is a French-Belgian writer I was familiar with, but not acquainted with the religious, Christian writings. After being atheist for a long time, he had a revelation while in the Sahara desert. During his Christian pilgrimage accounted in Le défi de Jerusalem/The challenge of Jerusalem that I already finished, he had another revelation, more of material nature, bridging for him the spiritual and carnal of his religion.

I know Israel and spent long amounts of time in Jerusalem. It is a small country and space after all, and I used to know with all my senses. However, the Israel and Jerusalem from this book is foreign to me, both in geographic and mental terms. It´s a world I never visited, never been interested to, but would be curious one day to explore in a different way. 

I am not a religious voyeurist therefore I am taking a step back when I feel I am an intruder in other people´s religion. Schmitt, whose trip was encouraged by the late Pope Francisc, is bridging a gap of knowledge, sharing the intellectual experience of his religion, connected to the places associated with it. It re-wires places and histories, re-writing them.

Indeed, one can live comfortably without the weight of religious practice and outside of the belief restrictions, but our worlds do have religious remnants and symbols. Even without being religious we need to understand the religious eco-system surrounding us. 

And as any respectable French intellectual, Schmitt is generously sharing his after thoughts and intellectual sources of his thoughts. Even when religious, a French writer will always have first an inner debate reflecting about their decisions. 

It was a book that made me curious and the fact that I´ve read it in French presented more interest for me. It definitely convinced that I need to make more practical space for different knowledge about different cultural and religious roots into my life.

Rating: 3 stars