Last week the Jewish community read the biblical story of Balaam and his ass. Balaam is asked to curse the Jewish people, but on the way to his destination, his she-ass behaves in strange and unconventional ways and Balaam ends up praising Israel.
The story is found in Numbers 22: 25:9. Balaam comes to curse and ends up praising. Based on a previous story in Numbers, Balaam turns from being a spy into acting as if he were a pilgrim.
In Hebrew, only one Hebrew letter separates the pilgrim from the spy. It takes such a small step to go either way and to end up cursing rather than blessing.
The story of Balaam and his she-ass coincided with the visit of Prince William to Israel.
President Rivlin addressed William as such. 'You are a pilgrim,' he said. The implication was clear. Other princes (whether secular or religious) who have visited Israel have normally come to curse and not to praise.
The ultimate pilgrim in Judaism is the Moabite princess, Ruth. Ruth's negative beginnings end in adherence to the 'people who will continuously dwell alone' and who 'will not be accounted among the nations', as Balaam proclaims against his will, urged on by his she-ass.
Yes, Israelis certainly do things differently. And judging from William's encounters in Tel Aviv, it might be easy to assume that life's a beach in the Holy Land, where the beautiful people (average age 34) all excel at hi-tech, when they're not taking time off for their daily swim in the sea, that is, or swelling the throngs in Rothschild Boulevard to view William accompanied by Eurovision Song contest winner, Netta, on his impromptu stroll down their main street.
As it happens I received a phone call from my daughter who told me that she had met William. She later sent me a video of the encounter. William was thrilled to meet a Scouser in Tel Aviv, even though, as he said, her accent was not really as Scouse as he had expected.
William praised Tel Aviv for its flair and diversity – 'a beautiful city' he said. He predicted a 'bright future' for Israel, a country of 'innovation, talent and excellence'. At the British ambassador's residence, he hailed the country's 'revival of Hebrew as a living modern language'. If only he knew the struggles that went into Hebrew becoming the language of choice rather than German!
Professor Sam Lehman-Wilzig of Bar Ilan University's School of Communication commented: 'The Tel Aviv part of his trip was certainly successful. The fact that William walked around so freely and talked to Israelis without worrying about security is the one thing that almost all first-time tourists remark on about Israel: "It's so much safer than I thought!"'
As well as being a 'fun' city, Tel Aviv is home to over 500 Orthodox synagogues.
Jerusalem is of course also home to a number of synagogues, churches and mosques.
Jerusalem also happens to be the capital of the State of Israel.
For me in this country there's no choice: Greater Manchester is my home; Liverpool is my favourite city, but whenever I visit London I know that it is the capital – there's something about it.
In Israel, I regard Haifa as the most beautiful city, Tel Aviv as the city of youth, but Jerusalem is Israel's capital – no question about that.
And church people might like to ponder the following words of the rabbi chosen by the State of Israel to represent their country in the first bilateral dialogue encounters with the Vatican, the Muslim world, and most recently with the Church of England when Rowan Williams was Archbishop of Canterbury.
Chief Rabbi of Haifa, Shear Yashuv Cohen (also deputy mayor of reunited Jerusalem from 1967) said this: 'Jerusalem, our great, united and perfect city, is not up for division.... Can a heart be divided? You can't subdivide a heart; you cannot form a partnership in a heart, or slice it into half, thirds or quarters.... '
Another William put it best: Professor William David Davies (1911-2001), a Welsh minister, theologian and historian in his ground-breaking book, The Terrritorial Dimension in Judaism, written in 1982 – the year of Prince William's birth, and recently recommended to me by Rowan Williams.
Davies states categorically that the relationship of the Jews to the Land (and especially to Jerusalem) has always been, since Bible times, the same kind of relationship as that between the Christian communities and the person of Jesus Christ.
No doubt Prince William conveyed President Rivlin's message of peace to the leader of the Palestinians. Who knows whether his visit will have the positive repercussions that all people of good will desire.
A few years ago the then British Consul General to the State of Israel bumped into me in Tel Aviv. She had been in post for three years and informed me that Foreign Office training for diplomatic postings to the State of Israel was 'inadequate' to say the least. 'The Jewish aspect of the country is completely played down', she added.
No wonder that on the same day that my younger daughter (who emigrated to Israel two years ago), encountered Prince William, The Times published a Comment article entitled: 'William's visit is a snub to the camel corps: A royal trip to Israel sends a message to Foreign Office Arabists that their moment has passed.'
I do hope that this is true and that these words are heeded by all those visitors to Israel who prefer playing the spy rather than embark on a true pilgrimage.
It is a great privilege to be able to visit Israel. This was recognised by no less a figure than the Dalai Lama, who, in 2004, announced to a gathering of the great and the good in Liverpool's Anglican Cathedral that the best way to bring peace to the world is to embark on pilgrimage with people from other religions. And he added with a twinkle: 'I have done just this with Jewish, Christian and Buddhist friends, to Jerusalem.'
Last week Jewish people all over the world also read these famous lines from Micah 6: 8: 'What does the Lord require of you but to behave justly, love acts of kindness and walk humbly with your G-d?'
It's all about humility: William gave of himself and received the same in kind – a true pilgrim, unlike the Balaams of this world who have to be taught what to do by an ass.
Dr Irene Lancaster is a Jewish academic, author and translator who has established university courses on Jewish history, Jewish studies and the Hebrew Bible.
