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Following the successful international seminar with the Japanese delegation of the Rissho Kosei-Kai organization, which funds the program, the local 'Between Memory and Reconciliation' group has continued its monthly meetings. The participants formed sub-groups dedicated to special topics of interest. Each of these sub-groups, in its turn, is responsible for planning and coordinating an encounter of the full group, revolving around its topic of interest. One such meeting took place in Kfar Etzion, and dealt with the events of 1948 in Kfar Etzion, in which the surrendering defenders of the Jewish village were massacred by the soldiers of the Jordanian legions. The meeting included an encounter with the granddaughter of one of the defenders of the kibbutz and a visit to an exhibition. A second meeting took place in Lod, and revolved around the role of religion in the conflict and in daily co-existence in a mixed city, including visits to religious sites and meetings with religious leaders. |
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A special international Between Memory and Reconciliation seminar took place in Jerusalem on December 3-8, 2009. The program participants from Israel—Jewish and Palestinian (Christian and Muslim)—were joined for the duration of the seminar by a delegation of Japanese Buddhist students, organized by Rissho Kosei-Kai of Japan. The seminar was organized and implemented by Ms. Avigail Moshe, ICCI's Director of Youth and Young Adult Programs, and her co-facilitator in this program, Mr. Wasim Biroumi. A longer, more detailed report about this event is forthcoming.
In addition, the seminar participants and the general audience had the privilege of listening to a special lecture by Dr. Michio Tomonobu Shinozaki, President of Rissho Kosei-Kai's Gakurin Seminary, on December 6, 2009, at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The lecture, which revealed a Buddhist approach to peace, focused on the Lotus Sutra as a philosophy of diversity and integration.
A day on "Interreligious Relations in Israel" held for students at the Hebrew Union College in Jerusalem was organized and implemented on December 23rd by ICCI. Following an introduction by ICCI director, Rabbi Dr. Ron Kronish, these 40 rabbinic and cantorial students from North America and Europe, currently studying at the Hebrew Union College, walked to the Armenian Patriarchate, where they met with Archbishop Aris Shirvanian of the Armenian Patriarchate, Sr. Trudy Nabuurs of the Sisters of Sion and Rev. Dr. Martin Vahrenhost, Director of "Studium in Israel" on behalf of the Protestant Church in Germany, for a discussion about Jewish-Christian dialogue in Israel. In addition, the group was privileged to visit the St. James Cathedral and to observe afternoon prayers led by the students of the Armenian seminary. Following this, the students returned to the Hebrew Union College campus for a panel discussion on Jewish-Muslim dialogue in Israel today, with Prof. Muhammed Dajani of Wasatia and Sheikh Ghassan Manasra of the Anwar il-Salaam Sufi center in Nazareth. The day was concluded with a moving panel discussion with young adult graduates of ICCI's youth and young adult programs about the achievements, challenges and obstacles in genuine interreligious dialogue in the context of the conflict in Jerusalem in recent years. Gratitude is hereby expressed to ICCI interns Brandon Bernstein and Bethie Miller, who are rabbinic students at HUC this year, for helping to organize this special program.
On Sunday, December 27th, ICCI leaders Rabbi Dr. Ron Kronish (Director) and Issa Jaber (co-chairperson of the board of Directors) met with a group of 60 men, women and children who were on a Family study tour to Israel from Westchester Reform Temple (Scarsdale, New York), led by Rabbi Jonathan Blake. The session took place at the community center in Abu Ghosh, an Israeli Arab town just west of Jerusalem. They were also joined by Haya Abdulrachman, the director of the community center and by Salem Abdulrachman, a graduate of ICCI's youth and young adult programs, for a lively discussion on Israeli–Arab-Muslim-Palestinian identity in Israel. ICCI has a long-standing special relationship with Westchester Reform Temple, led by Rabbi Richard Jacobs, who has visited Abu Ghosh often and who has invited people from Abu Ghosh to visit his community in Scarsdale, New York, just north of New York City.
An interreligious delegation of American Jewish, Christian and Muslim Religious Leaders travelled to Jordan and Israel to meet Jordanians, Israelis and Palestinians on the ground who are working for peace. As part of their program, they heard from Rabbi Dr. Ron Kronish of ICCI and Rabbi David Forman of Rabbis for Human Rights about grass-roots peace-building programs on a special panel. This panel took place on the campus of the Hebrew Union College in Jerusalem on December 21st, where they were welcomed by the new dean, Rabbi Naama Kelman, an activist in interreligious dialogue in Israel and abroad.
A group of public school teachers from Los Angeles who were in Israel on a study tour in late December under the auspices of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Los Angeles met with ICCI director Dr. Ron Kronish for a session on Educating for Peace via interreligious dialogue in Israel on December 29th. The group was accompanied by Dr. David Zissenwine, professor of Education (retired) at Tel Aviv University.
A congregational study tour from Temple Sinai of Brookline, Mass., led by Rabbi Andrew Vogel, visited ICCI on December 30th for two presentations on “Interreligious Relations in Israel"—one by Rabbi Ron Kronish and the other by Professor Muhammed Dajani, who teaches American Studies at Al Quds University in Jerusalem and is the founder and leader of Wasatia (http://www.wasatia.info), a new movement for religious moderation in Palestine.
ICCI hosted a very special interreligious study tour sponsored by the Forum for Discussion of Israel and Palestine (FODIP), entitled ‘QUESTIONS WITHOUT BORDERS’ from 27th December 2009 – 5th January 2010. The group, comprised of Muslims, Christians and Jews from various cities in the UK, was led by FODIP director Ms. Jane Clements and coordinated by ICCI’s Director of the Center for Interreligious Encounter with Israel, Mr. Ophir Yarden. Among the many intensive and interesting encounters the group had in Israel were sessions with women of ICCI’s Women as Catalysts for Peace program and with young adults who are graduates of ICCI’s youth and young adult dialogue groups with Jews and Palestinians. A full report of this special seminar will appear in next month’s newsletter.
As you can see from the above, ICCI is doing more and more programs for visiting groups from abroad. You too can be involved in such a program when you come to Israel. For more information about ICCI Center for Interreligious Encounter with Israel, please contact Ophir Yarden,
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On Monday, November 16, 2009, fifteen members of the Jerusalem community—among them students, Imams and leaders and members of Jerusalem organizations—met at the American Center, which is the Jerusalem affiliate of the American Embassy in Tel Aviv, for a conversation on "Jewish-Muslim Youth Dialogue in the U.S.A. and Its Implications for Israel". Dr. Eboo Patel, the founder and Executive Director of the Interfaith Youth Core, a Chicago-based institution building the global interfaith youth movement, and Rabbi Or Rose, Associate Dean and Director of Informal Education at the Rabbinical School of the Hebrew College in Newton, MA, joined the group via videoconference to share insights from their experiences in the field. The discussion was the 3rd in a in a series of videoconferences co-sponsored by ICCI and the American Center in Jerusalem.
On November 19-20, 2009, the opening seminar of the Between Memory and Reconciliation program took place at the Tantur Ecumenical Institute in Southern Jerusalem. During this seminar, the participants became acquainted with one another through various social activities, and a sense of being a group was developed. Additionally, the participants prepared for their joint seminar in December with the Japanese students from Rissho Kosei-Kai by learning about the culture, history and society of Japan, and acquiring relevant skills for dialogue.
The Jerusalem Interreligious Young Adult Forum inaugurated its new program cycle for 2009-2010 by traveling to the Nes Ammim village in the Northern Galilee on November 13th-15th, for the program's opening weekend seminar. The fifteen participants-- Jews, Muslims and Christians-- met one another in this special, intensive seminar, in order to build the foundation for this year-long program. Weekend activities included observing and discussing the prayers of all three Abrahamic faiths, a discussion regarding the Nes Ammim community, and meetings with Rabbi Yosef Yashar, the Chief Rabbi of Acre, and Sheikh Samir Assi, Imam of Al Jazaar mosque in Acre. This program is currently funded by grants from the World Conference of Religions for Peace, the Pontifical Mission and the Embassy of the U.S.A. to Israel.
The world-wide Face to Face / Faith to Faith held its third annual benefit dinner on November 9, 2009, in New York City. The event, which went extremely well, featured Face to Face participants from the four regions of the program, including Gedalia Gillis and Sireen Tutunji from ICCI, who spoke about their experiences throughout the year and what the program has given them. Sireen and Gedalia spent five days in NYC, during which they received media training and spoke to various religious congregations in the region.
Mr. Ophir Yarden, ICCI's Director of Educational Initiatives and Director of our Center for Interreligious Encounter with Israel, conducted a speaking tour in New England during November. Ophir met with Jewish and Christian clergy groups from Lexington and Boston Massachusetts (in cooperation with the Boston Jewish Community Relations Council) and with students at the following colleges: Bowdoin, Middlebury, Williams and Bard. He also met with Jewish and Protestant seminarians at Boston's Hebrew College and the Andover Newton Theological School.
Dr. Debbie Weissman, co-chairperson of ICCI and president of ICCJ, was in the UK from November 12-25, 2009, for Interfaith Week and related activities. Dr. Weissman gave many talks, both to Jewish and interfaith groups. Additionally, she met with representatives of the Tony Blair Foundation, to continue the budding relationship we began when they visited the ICCI office in Jerusalem, as well as with representatives of the Church of England, Orthodox, Liberal and Reform Jewish movements, the Councils of Christians and Jews and the Three Faiths Forum. She also visited a Muslim College and the Woolf Institute for Abrahamic Faiths at Cambridge University, in addition to attending a reception at Lambeth Palace, sponsored by the Archbishop of Canterbury, a meeting at the House of Lords, with the first Muslim M.P., Mr. Shahid Malek, and meetings with rabbinical students at Leo Baeck College and students of the London School of Jewish Studies.
On November 3-11, 2009, ICCI hosted a special seminar of the International Council of Christians and Jews (ICCJ), on the topic of "From Two Narratives to Building a Culture of Peace". Ten Jewish and Christian representatives from six different countries participated in this seminar, arranged by Dr. Debbie Weissman. Dr. Ron Kronish gave a lecture at the seminar, and Mr. Ophir Yarden was one of the tour guides for this group, which visited, among other places, Neveh Shalom/Wahat al-Salam, Nes Ammim and the Center for Humanistic Education at Ghetto Fighters' House, all institutions that are members of ICCI. ICCJ would like to thank Mr. Issa Jaber for his generous help and hospitality.
On November Nov. 22, 2009, twenty-five students from the Institute for Youth Leaders from Abroad's English Speaking Program attended a special panel discussion with Israeli and Palestinian participants in the Jerusalem Interreligious Young Adult Forum (JIYAF) and Face to Face/Faith to Faith (F2F) programs. Seven alumni of these programs participated in this panel on the challenges faced when dealing with interreligious dialogue in the midst of conflict and the relationships formed within their respective programs. Afterward, the students from abroad got the opportunity to sit down and have in-depth personal discussions with each of the panel members over pizza and ice-cream, in an informal atmosphere. To read more about this event, please click the following link: http://icci.org.il/Nov22nd.pdf
On December 1, 2009, ICCI director Rabbi Dr. Ron Kronish spoke on a panel with Mr. Abdelsalaam Najjar of Neveh Shalom/Wahat al-Salam and Dr. Bernard Sabella of Bethlehem University about "Interreligious Dialogue for Peace in Israel and in Palestine". This panel was organized by the Tantur Ecumenical Institute for visiting Lutheran Bishops from the U.S.A. and their spouses, who were visiting in Israel and Palestine as part of their "Bishops Academy". In addition, Rabbi Kronish welcomed the group to Shabbat worship services at Congregation Kol HaNeshama on Friday night, December 4th, and gave them a briefing about Reform/Progressive Judaism in Israel.
On October 27, 2009, ICCI representatives Dr. Debbie Weissman, Ms. Avigail Moshe and Mr. Ophir Yarden met with representatives of the Tony Blair Foundation. One of the many initiatives of the Tony Blair Foundation has to do with connecting between schools both nationally and internationally, via a joint curriculum that involves learning about the Other and via videoconferences between students and staff members of these schools. Given ICCI's long experience in interreligious and intercultural dialogue, the representatives discussed the possibility of ICCI's participation in this project.
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An ICCI delegation of religious leaders visited Poland (Warsaw, Lublin and Kielce) for a reciprocal visit hosted by the Polish Council of Christians and Jews during October 14-18, 2009. The delegation included ICCI Director, Rabbi Dr. Ron Kronish, ICCI's Director of Youth and Young Adult Programs, Ms. Avigail Moshe, Rabbi Prof. Yehoyada Amir, of the Hebrew Union College, Rabbi Shlomo Brin of Yeshivat Har Etzion and the Yaacov Herzog Teachers' College, Rabbi Yehuda Gilad, the Founder and Head of Ma'ale Gilboa Yeshiva and Rabbi of Kibbutz Lavi, and Ms. Zuzanna Radzik, a Polish-Catholic student intern with ICCI.
On October 16-17, 2009, the delegation members took part in a special Shabbaton in the city of Kielce, in which there was an anti-Jewish pogrom in 1946. This was an extraordinary religious and cultural event, which included prayer in the old synagogue of the Jewish Community, in which no Jews have prayed since the Second World War. During this Shabbaton, Kielce became a place of prayer, discussion, exhibitions, concerts and plays dedicated to Jewish culture. The event was made possible thanks to the patronage of Mr. Michael Traison and the dedication of Mr. Bogdan Białek, and other Christian members of the Jan Karski Society.
Two of the participants in the ICCI delegation, Rabbi Prof. Yehoyada Amir and Rabbi Yehuda Gilad, have shared with us some of their experiences and impressions of this visit:
On 21-29 October, 2009, Rabbi Dr. Ron Kronish and Kadi Mohammad Zibdeh, the Kadi (Islamic judge) of Jaffa Jerusalem, visited the U.S. and Canada for a special lecture tour (photograph by Bruno Schlumberger, The Ottawa Citizen).
The purpose of this tour was to discuss issues, challenges and achievements relating to "The Other Peace Process: Interreligious Dialogue in Israel in the Service of Peace." Dr. Kronish and Kadi Zibdeh addressed together Jewish, Muslim and mixed audiences in Ottawa, Canada, hosted by Rabbi Steve Garten/Temple Israel and funded by the Danbe Foundation, at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, at the Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI), Indianapolis, Indiana, sponsored by the Muslim Alliance of Indiana, and at the Westchester Reform Temple, Scarsdale, New York, hosted by Rabbi Richard Jacobs.
Rabbi Kronish and Kadi Zibdeh were also hosted for two lunch-seminars—one at the Institute of International Education in New York City, where they met with key professional staff of the IIE and with leading members of their board, including Mr. S.A. Ibrahim and Mr. Victor Goldberg, and the other at the office of S.A. Ibrahim in Philadelphia, for business, religious and educational leaders in the community. Gratitude is hereby expressed to Mr. S.A. Ibrahim, Chief Executive of Radian Group, Inc., for hosting both of these meetings.
After Kadi Zibdeh returned to Israel, Dr. Kronish traveled to Chicago for three events:
- the Fall Shapiro Lecture on the topic "The Other Peace Process – Interreligious Dialogue in Israel", at the Catholic Theological Union's Bernadin Center for Theology and Ministry, hosted by Prof. John Pawlikowski.
- a “Lunch and Learn” seminar on the topic of "Israeli-Palestinian Conflict’s Impact on Jewish-Christian Dialogue", hosted by Rabbi Michael Zedek at the Emanuel Congregation in Chicago. Respondents were the Rev. John M. Buchanan, Pastor of the Fourth Presbyterian Church and Editor/Publisher of “The Christian Century” and Sister Joan McGuire, O. P., Director for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs for the Archdiocese of Chicago.
- a workshop at the conference of the Interfaith Youth Core in Chicago.
On October 6, 2009, during the Jewish festival of Sukkot, 25 religious leaders from the Galilee – Jews, Druze, Christians & Muslims – met at Kibbutz Lavi in the Lower Galilee for a 'Sukkat Shalom' gathering. The participants learned about Sukkot from Rabbi Yehuda Gilad, rabbi of Kibbutz Lavi and one of the heads of Yeshivat Ma'aleh Gilboa, and enjoyed a tour of the kibbutz led by Rabbi Meir Rubinstein. In addition, many practical ideas for cooperation among religious leaders in the Galilee were brought up in group discussions with grass-roots religious leaders from the region. ICCI expresses gratitude to Mr. Yakub Salame and the staff of the Division of Religious Communities of Israel’s Ministry of Interior for their partnership with us in this program and to Rabbi Yehuda Gilad for hosting the event.
ICCI's special course about "Encountering Poland: Relations between Jews and Poles – Religious, Historical and Social Dimensions" opened on October 26th, 2009, with a lecture by the ambassador of Poland to Israel, Her Excellency Mrs. Agnieszka Magdziak-Miszewska. The course, which is a collaboration between ICCI and the Polish Institute, deals with the Polish internal debates about Jewish history in Poland, the living Jewish community in today's Poland, and current Polish-Jewish / Catholic-Jewish relations. This innovative and contemporary new course is aimed at Israeli educators who are involved in teaching these issues both in the formal and informal educational systems.
On October 19, 2009, a group of Dutch theology students visited ICCI to meet with Dr. Debbie Weissman, ICCJ president and ICCI co-chairperson, and with Eli Brom and Tareq Samman, alumni of the Jerusalem Interreligious Young Adult Forum. Also present was Raphaela Khurgin, a student participating in the Nir project, aimed at students from Israel, the West Bank and Jordan who are interested in medicine. The Dutch group numbered some 15 Christian students (20-25 years old) and their teachers, all from the Christian University in Ede. During their two-week stay in Israel, these students' main goal is to gain a better understanding on the reality of Israel and Jewish-Christian relations, past and present. Their meeting with ICCI representatives revolved around ICCI's interreligious work and interreligious dialogue in general as a path to creating a culture of peace.
On October 20, 2009, ICCI co-chairperson Dr. Debbie Weissman and ICCI women's program alumnus, Ms. Rula Shubeita, met with a delegation from Germany. This delegation numbered 11 leaders of the Rhineland Church, including a bishop and several priests. Dr. Weissman and Ms. Shubeita, who recently returned from a tour of Australia on behalf of ICCI, spoke to the delegation members about ICCI's work and the importance of interreligious dialogue in the service of peace.
On October 25, 2009, Dr. Debbie Weissman, along with ICCI's Director of Youth and Young Adult Programs, Ms. Avigail Moshe, met with a group of six Australian psychologists, invited to the country by the Israel-Australia Chamber of Commerce. Dr. Weissman and Ms. Moshe spoke to the group about the educational and psychological aspects of the conflict in our region, ICCI's youth and young adult programs and ICCI's joint projects with Japanese and Polish organizations.
On October 6, 2009, a group of some 25 foreign students currently participating in the Israel Experience's "Experience Bezalel" and "Rimon Music Experience" programs visited ICCI. These 18-27 year old students have come from Europe, the U.S., Canada, Australia, South America and South Africa to study for a year at the Rimon or Bezalel schools in Israel, to both study art or music and to learn about Israeli society and culture. The group met with ICCJ president and ICCI co-chairperson, Dr. Debbie Weissman, ICCI's Director of Youth and Young Adult Programs, Ms. Avigail Moshe, and alumni of our Face to Face / Faith to Faith program: Mustafa Ghanem, Salem Abdelrahman, David Djemal, Avital Djemal, Shaked Green, Hiba Alayan, Bushra Abdelrahman and Plia Gillis. Dr. Weissman spoke to the group about interreligious dialogue in Israel, followed by joint musical improvisations led by Salem Abdelrahman. Later, the discussion revolved around the ways in which the situation in Israel affects these foreign students' lives both abroad and during their stay in the country, and about the reasons that led them to join the Israel Experience programs.
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