The Abrahamic Reunion hosted an interfaith journey on TuBishvat, Wednesday, Feb. 4th. We came from all over the country, 100 of us on three buses, from East and West Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Hebron, Husan, Bethlehem, Gush Etzion, Nablus, the Galilee, Jews, Christians and Muslims.
An Orthodox Jewish Yeshiva student pours wine for Palestinian Muslims at the TuBishvat Seder
At the Ma’ale Gilboa Yeshiva, Rabbi Mordechai Zeller, with Sheikh Ghassan Manasra translating, led us in a TuBishvat Seder. Reb Mordechai said, “Though we all praise ‘our father in heaven’, TuBishvat reminds us of our need to honor the land, which is like our mother. Instead of fighting over who this lands belongs to, our responsibility is to the land, to heal the earth”.
Muslims fulfill their prayer duties on the grounds of the Orthodox Jewish Yeshiva at Gilboa
Rev.Wolfgang Schmidt, Propst (provost) of the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer in Jerusalem said this holiday reminds him of the trials, sufferings in the body of Jesus, how they are transformed to lessons for spiritual growth. “We of the monotheistic faiths, we all connect to this sacred time…continue this important work.”
We then ascended to the summit of Mount Tabor, with stunning views of the Galilee and northern Samaria mountains. Near the church we did a prayer circle for peace in Arabic and Hebrew.
Inside the Church of the Transfiguration
At the nearby Kfar Kamma, we were welcomed by the Circassian Muslim community at their Circassian Heritage Museum. We had guided tours in Arabic and English, about their fascinating warrior culture and history. These formally Christian warriors, now practicing Muslims, they fled Czarist persecution in their ancient homeland, ending up in a diaspora all over the Middle East, including a few villages in Israel.
To close an amazing day, we ended up in Tiberius for a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee. Under a full moon. cruising through shimmering water on a large wood-decked boat. At the closing prayer circle we chanted, in the spirit of the late Rabbi Menachem Froman, zt”l, “Allah-hu Akbar”, and “HaShalom Tenatzeach”- ‘Peace will Prevail’.
Sheikh Jamal al-Din from Beit Haninah closed saying, “Thank Allah for creating us, for sending Muhammad, and the prophets, to guide us on the right path, the path to peace. Let us purify ourselves to serve his will. We gather for hope, for tranquility, for a life without danger, or wars, a good future for all in this region.”
