We were pleased to be entertained by Sheila Pepper, at this time almost one of our own
We were pleased to be entertained by Sheila Pepper, at this time almost one of our own. She and Ken, her learned husband, are departing our fine climate for their home in Ottawa (where it snowed the day before Sheila spoke to us). She addressed the topic of her visit to Israel, a visit apparently on behalf of her Church, her great-grandfather having provided all of the cachet required for her representation, he having been the archbishop of Toronto many years ago. (This visit was also one of some moment, Ken and Sheila having just celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary.)
Her pilgrimage to Jerusalem was somewhat singular however, Israel and Jerusalem being the most sacred of places to all of the monotheistic religions. She showed us pictures of Haifa and Nazareth, of many churches, mosques and synagogues, and of the Wailing Wall, divided into the small area set aside for women and the larger area for men. In fact we had quite a talk about the discriminatory nature of these religions, some attention being given to the distinction given to women being prohibited from wearing culottes as opposed to skirts. Rather depressing actually, leavened only by the ingenious overcoming of copyright by the coffee shop “Star & Bucks”.