New Years’ Eve Prayers For Peace
With:
Rabbi David Rosen, Anat Lev Or, Deacon Jiries Mansour, Siham Halabi, Rabbi Dalia Shakham, Sheikh Najah Kabaha, Rev. David Grishaw-Jones, Lujin Waken, & Music from Abed & Israa Manasra
Hosted by David Less & Sheikh Ghassan Manasra
New Years’ Eve!
December 31st, 11am EDT, 4pm London, 6pm Israel Time
The Holy Land is no stranger to all manner of suffering. In response to this particularly difficult time, the Abrahamic Reunion will be drawing together—virtually—those women and men who have dedicated their lives to creating peace and understanding in their homeland.
Even when group prayer is virtual, people who pray together have a powerful effect. This is true not only for Israel and Palestine, but throughout the world. Many people think there will never be peace in the Holy Land, just as many believe we will never have peace throughout the world. But communal prayer and meditation, with a focus on the common good, can create the shift in consciousness that we all seek.
At each Online Unity Prayer for the Holy Land, religious leaders and holy peacemakers in Israel and Palestine will join together on zoom and lead 30 minutes of prayer.
These meetings will begin at 6:00 pm in the Holy Land, which is 4 pm in London, and 11 am EDT.
David Less, AR Board Chairman, and Sheikh Ghassan Manasra, AR International Director, will virtually host on-site Muslim, Jewish, Christian, and Druze prayer leaders as well as one spiritual musician in the Holy Land.
Please join us. The addition of your prayer energy will help build the change we all seek.
Peace, Salaam, Shalom
Please RSVP at the link above with your name, email, location, religious/spiritual identification, and number of people attending.
Bios
Rabbi David Rosen
Rabbi David Rosen is the former Chief Rabbi of Ireland. He is International Director of Interreligious Affairs for the AJC (American Jewish Committee), and is a member of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel’s Committee for Interreligious Dialogue.
He is an International President of the World Conference on Religion and Peace (www.religionsforpeace.org), Honorary President of the International Council of Christians and Jews(www.iccj.org), and the only Jewish member of the Board of Directors of the King Abdullah International Center for Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue (www.kaiciid.org) , established in 2012 by the King of Saudi Arabia together with the governments of Austria and Spain with the support of the Holy See.
In 2005, Rabbi Rosen received a knighthood from the Pope in recognition of his contribution to promoting Catholic-Jewish reconciliation and in 2010 he was awarded a CBE (Commander of the British Empire) by Queen Elizabeth II. In 2016 He was awarded the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Hubert Walter Award for Reconciliation and Interfaith Cooperation.
Siham Halabi
Siham Halabi is a Druze leader and the Director of the Women’s Program and Adult Education at the Daliat Al Carmel Community Center providing courses in women’s economic empowerment, home management, drivers education, Hebrew and Arabic languages, social activism, and interfaith understanding. She is a Coordinator of the TRUST WIN, a member of the Women’s Parliament and various orgaizations for dialogue and understanding between the cultures, and for the advancement of women and social issues affecting women. She is a Druze spokeswoman representing Druze women in national forums.
Lujin Waked
5 Years Old from Nazareth, part of the AR peacebuilding Family!
Umm Bra’a Najah Kabaha
Najah Kabaha is a leader in the Muslim community in Israel, working for interfaith connection for many years through the Qadri Sufi Peace Order. She teaches young children.
Deacon Jiries Mansour
Deacon Jiries Mansour is a Christian Arab, deacon in the Greek Catholic Church, and principal of St Anthony’s middle school in the town of Rama (Rame) in the Galilee. Under Jiries’ leadership, a new school has been developed in Rama promoting interfaith tolerance. He has also organized numerous youth interfaith projects and events. Jiries is currently finishing his doctorate on the role of Christians in peace in the Middle East.
Rabbi Dahlia Shaham,
Rabbi Dahlia Shaham born and raised in Haifa, has grown with Hebrew, Arabic and English intertwined in her blood, mind and heart. Graduate of Hebrew University Law School and the Fletcher School for Law and Diplomacy, Dahlia has worked in policy research, strategic planning and programming for civil society organizations working to promote a shared, peaceful society in Israel and the Middle East. The understanding that music and spirituality are as important to peace as justice and agreements has guided her to the rabbinic path. She was ordained at Hebrew Union College in 2019 and serves as Rabbi for the Or Hadash (New Light) Congregation in Haifa.
Yasmin Taha
Yasmin Taha, From Sarta village district of Salfit, 19 years old, Studying English language in Najah University, She is active in peace in Palestine.
Sheikh Khalid Abu Ras PhD
AL-IMAN Mosque, Kefar Eillut – Nazareth.
Sheikh Khalid Abu Ras serves as Imam of AL-IMAN Mosque at Kefar Eillut-Nazareth since 2005. He has worked in interfaith dialogue and relations for decades in the Holy Land with Yakar and YESODOT in Jerusalem, Herbew University, as a Co-Founder and Co-Director of Anwar Al-Salaam Lights of Peace Society in Nazareth, and in many programs with the Abrahamic Reunion, hosting the 2017 Multifaith Iftar Dinner. He teaches Arabic Language & Literature formerly at Beit Safafa High School, and currently at Kefar Eillut Secondary School.
Anat Lev Or
Anat Lev Or from Israel, is a mother and spiritual teacher and companion for over 30 years. Anat accompanies people in the process of growth and change, as well as businessmen through spiritual, practical, and business aspects. Anat has been Ghassan Manasra’s partner for 25 years in building projects that are shared by all religions, working as peacemakers and establishing study groups such as a program for teachers and school executives from all religions, Muslims, Christians, and Jews. She helps organized also family encounters so different religious groups can recognize one another and that their children will meet and recognize a different culture. She has taught groups the Sufi way through peace and love including poetry, philosophy, etc.
Rev. David Grishaw-Jones
The Rev. Dave Grishaw-Jones is the Pastor of the Community Church of Durham, New Hampshire, a congregation of the United Church of Christ. He serves on the Steering Committee of the UCC’s Palestine Israel Network and on the New Hampshire Conference’s Peace With Justice Advocate Team. Dave and his wife Kate have three daughters.
David Less
Abrahamic Reunion US Board Chair
David Less is a global teacher of meditation and interfaith dialog of over forty years. For over a decade he was the Global Dean of the Universal Worship, an organization in over thirty countries,that honors the commonality in all religions and appreciates and respects the differences. He started promoting understanding rather than blame as a path to peace in the Holy Land in 2000 and was one of the founders of the Abrahamic Reunion shortly thereafter. To contact, reach out to info@abrahamicreunion.org
Sheikh Ghassan Manasra
Abrahamic Reunion International Director
Sheikh Ghassan Manasra was one of the Abrahamic Reunion’s Co-Coordinators in the Holy Land until moving to the US in 2015, and has been an active contributing Peacemaker with the AR for more than a decade. He is an ordained Sheikh in the Qadiri Sufi Order in the Holy Land, and son of Sheikh Abdel Salaam Manasra – head of the Qadiri Sufi Order in the Holy Land. He is the founder of Anwar-Il-Salaam, the Lights of Peace Center in Nazareth, and is Director, Islamic Cultural Center in Nazareth. Ghassan is an expert and lectures in Islam, Islamic history, Sufism, and contemporary Muslim issues in the Middle East, Europe, and the USA. Ghassan@abrahamicreunion.org