The Portion of my Inheritance

On our last day in Ujfeherto Hungary, they took us to some kind of horse and carriage festival (I’ll write about that later).  As we approached the festival I caught a glimpse of an old cemetery.  

I asked what it was and they told me it was an old Jewish cemetery.   

So after we spent a couple of hours at the festival we took a trail the short distance back to the cemetery.      

We walked slowly and talked as we went along. We asked questions about the sights we saw, trying to soak in every aspect of the moment and making the connections between the visual and history of this land.

We passed a field of sweet corn that soon would be harvested . . .

Another old cemetery that stood on the top of a small hill . . . 

We passed Hungarian people, both on foot and riding bikes . . .     

Then, we arrived at our desired destination.

The cemetery stood on the top of a hill, enclosed with a tall concrete fence. The fence was layered with wide, flat cement post that were rounded at the top and stood about six foot tall, a fortress for the graves.

It seemed so grand and majestic standing on that hill and I felt so lowly and insignificant. I had the sense that I was intruding upon this scared ground.

The entrance  was gated and the great doors were locked.    

Our guide told us that there was a caretaker of the cemetery but he was not around on this day.  

So I climbed the stairs to the gate and held my camera over the top of the fence to get some pictures.    

Here I was, in the midst of my Lord’s beloved people and my heart beat unworthy within my chest.  I felt a sense of awe and reverence here in this sacred place and I did not want to leave.

My desire in that moment was to be able to read the head markers of these chosen people and to have more of a understanding of the history of the cemetery.

Most of the headstones looked ancient and had a pristine presence about it that hung in the air against the backdrop of the overcast day.

It was breathtakingly beautiful and I considered this moment to be one of the most treasured of my trip.

“For you are a holy people to the Lord your God, and the Lord has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.”  Deuteronomy 14:2