Over 135 people joined the May 13th Unity Prayer, which featured prayers from some of the most prominent religious leaders from the Holy Land.
Sheikh Ghassan Manasrsa, AR International Director, introduced the event, welcoming everyone in the name of Shalom, Salaam, and Peace, then introduced David Less, AR Co-Founder.
David Less had a beginning suggestion for everyone gathered on Zoom to pray together:
I hope that instead of just listening to the beautiful prayers that will hear different languages from different traditions we make sure each one of us to prays with each person who is voicing the prayer. We’re all praying to the same God, so instead of just listening and receiving let’s actively pray with each other as each prayer is said so that we can really bring power, heart power, spiritual power, to every word of prayer that’s uttered from an open heart in the name of God.
Rabbi David Rosen, former Chief Rabbi of Ireland, read from Psalm 91 in Hebrew and English, which invokes God’s love and angels in protection from pestilence, plague, violence, and harm, and then offered his own prayer to the world at this time, asking, “
“Our Father in heaven who we would refer to as the Merciful One, send a full recovery to all who are suffering from the coronavirus, and protect us all from plague, threat, and violence. As we pray now together, on the eve of a world day of prayer in the face of this pandemic, seeking protection and fraternity, among religions and peoples, We ask you to send your guidance to the leaders of the world’s nations, that they may walk in justice, righteousness, kindness, and mercy, so that we may all behave with love towards one another, advance peace between peoples and nations. May you fulfill our prayers for blessing, and for good, amen.”
Psalm 91:
He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. [1]
I will say [2] of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”
Surely he will save you from the fowler’s snare and from the deadly pestilence.
He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.
You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day,6nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday.
A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you.
You will only observe with your eyes and see the punishment of the wicked.
If you make the Most High your dwelling– even the LORD, who is my refuge–
then no harm will befall you, no disaster will come near your tent.
For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways;
they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.
You will tread upon the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpent.
“Because he loves me,” says the LORD, “I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.
He will call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him.
With long life will I satisfy him and show him my salvation.”
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Sheikh Moafaq Tarif followed next, sharing prayers in Arabic translated by Sheikh Ghassan Manasra:
Nothing will happen to us except what God wants to send to us, and we trust God,
We pray for God to clear all the pandemic and all the virus disease,
To meet together, face to face, and to pray together, and we will be in the best situation all of us together,
God, all of my peace to you, I pray to you, and I ask you with the deep intention, to accept my prayer,
God, let us succeed in this prayer, and give us comfort,
And for each sad person, send joy, and for each sick person send healing,
God, save all the human beings, all the people around the world from this disease, and save all the nations,
God, look at us and see what happened to us, we trust you from the depth of our hearts,
God, we ask you to send us safety, mercy, and connection after division, make all of us one family together,
God, send mercy to heal the heart of the faithful people and for all of these afraid people send them health,
God, we see all of your houses, mosques, synagogues, churches, they’re closed now, and the voices stopped to come to you from those places, God, help us open those places,
God, we ask you to help us again, and God you are the peace, from you will come the peace, to you will return the peace, please help us and make the world so clear,
Amin, Amin, O Lord, Amin.
After Sheikh Tarif, Sheikh Muhammad Isaid, the Mufti of the Palestinian Defense Forces, shared a prayer:
In the name of God, and Prophet Mohamad, PBUH,
Thank God for creating us and brought us to this earth to worship him,
Peace upon you all, and God Bless you,
Thanks for this meeting that can introduce all of us together as one family on this Earth.
Sheikh Isaid recited the last verses of Sura Al-Baqara, about not differentiating between any of the world’s prophets or holy books, and that quoted the scripture “All people, we created you from male and from female, we made you nations and tribes to know one another, and best among you is is the one worshiping God.” He spoke that one of the holy Names of God in Islam is Peace, also in Judaism, and prayed for peace in the Holy Land.
God sent us a test this time, it’s called the pandemic, the coronavirus, this virus entered into all the houses, anywhere and nowhere, this virus came to check us to see our faith and our belief in God.”
God you are the god of everything, the clouds the wind and everything in this earth, we ask you to clear all of these punishments and diseases from all around.
God we ask you from our hearts to make this pandemic very weak and all this virus very weak and god protect all the people around the world not only us as Muslims but all the families all around the world, because you are the greatest and you are the merciful
God, we ask you to heal all the sick people and to send love to the healthy people and to clean their hearts and to make them the best people all around the world because you can change everything in this world.
Blessings to all of you here, happy holidays, and soon we will have the holiday, and pray for the peace to come and cover all the world around the world.
Following Sheikh Isaid’s prayer, Father Thaljieh from Bethlehem prayed:
As we know that Jesus Christ was in Bethlehem, was born in Bethlehem, and traveled all over the place in the Holy Land.
So we ask Jesus Christ, you traveled through towns and villages curing every disease.
At your command the sick were made well, come to our aid now in the midst of the global spread of the coronavirus that we may experience your healing love. Heal those who are in sick with virus, may they regain their strength and heal through quality medical care.
Heal us from our fear, which prevents nations from working together and neighbors from helping one another.
Heal us from our pride which can make us claim invulnerability to a disease that knows no borders.
Jesus Christ healer of all, stay by our side in this time of uncertainty and sorrow.
Be with those who have died from the virus, may they be at rest with you in your eternal peace.
Be with the families of those who are sick or have died as they worry and grief, defend them from illness and despair, may they know your peace.
Be with the doctors and the nurses, researchers and all medical professionals who seek to heal and help those affected and who put themselves at risk in the process, may they know your protection and peace.
Be with the leaders of all nations, give them the foresight to act with charity and true concern for the wellbeing of the people who they are meant to serve.
Give them the wisdom to invest in long-term solutions that will help prepare for the prevent future outbreaks.
May they know your peace as they work to together achieve it on Earth.
Whether at home or abroad, surrounded by many people suffering from this illness or only a few, O Lord stay with us as we endured and mourn, persist and prepare in place of our anxiety give us your peace and heal us.
So this is my prayers to all this is my prayers to reach each of you to reach your homes to reach your place reach all your people, and this is actually is just stay together and be connected to each other with love.
Rabbi Ariella Graetz Bartuv brought a chanted prayer for healing, the Mi Shebeirach, from Debbie Friedman.
She sang it and then shared with everyone that,
In these times of tremendous uncertainty when so many are feeling anxiety and stress, the comfort and sense of peace that prayer actually brings is really a wonderful thing, and I want to conclude with some of the words that Debbie Friedman said, and she said,” We are powerful, it is hard to remember that. Sometimes life takes its turns into the unknown, and presents us with challenges that we would preferred not to have encountered under any circumstances. Suddenly we are confronted with our pain. It is a strange thing that pain creates beauty, and potential for healing. It’s hard to imagine that it could provide a foundation for beautiful moments to arise, we attempt to find a way to manage survival from one minute to the next, as pain becomes the overreading force. When we are experiencing emotional discomfort, we need to find a safe place to express our grief and loss. It is with this concept in mind, that we recite the Mi Shebeirach, the prayer for healing, which is a English translation of the original prayer. With this prayer, you become the messenger, we are not just the receivers of blessings, but the messengers of blessings as well. Out of what emerges from life’s painful challenges we come to our healing, and ultimately our greatest healing will come when we use our suffering to heal another’s pain.
To release another from their confinement, it’s necessary that we celebrate what humanity share’s in common, not its differences. Debbie mentioned that both the Talmud and the Quran embody the philosophy “save a life, and you will save the world,” so friends all over the world, we are all messengers in our prayers, pray for people to be healed, pray for the healing of the world, and let us say, “Amen.”
Finally, David Less, AR Co-Founder, shared his prayer for unity in the world:
We’re always being asked, by God, make a sign, so I can know you, and in the past, in all our traditions, the sign has been a sacrifice, it could have been a sacrifice of an animal, even in the most primitive of religions there was always a sacrifice, this is my prayer.
We sacrifice today all of us the selfish limited points of view that keep us separate from the other, and we don’t just say “my sister my brother is like me or is even me” but we lose the feeling of our limited self, so that we become each person that we see and know and love and in that way we are making a sign as the totality of humanity, a sign to God, we hear you, we know you, we know you are as strong within as you are without, and we are listening, we are healing, we are using this virus to unify us, to awaken us, and I pray whatever limitations we have towards the other, towards another faith another culture, that they’re gone, and we recognize that behind all the different parts there is one heart beating, the heart of the infinite, the heart of the infinite. Amein, amen, amin.
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.
Sheikh Muhammad Salah Isaid
Sheikh Isaid is the Mufti of the Palestinian Security Forces. He holds an MA in Interpretation from the University of Khartoum, is a member of the Palestinian Higher Fatwa Council, and a member of the Supreme National Committee to Combat Violence Against Women. He has previously participated in several Abrahamic Reunion events, including AR Palestine’s Second Annual Interfaith Iftar in Jericho (July 2019) and the Interfaith March for Peace & Justice in Bethlehem (October 2019).
Father Issa Thaljieh
Father Issa is a Prist of the Greek Orthodox Parish in Bethlehem and Vice President of the Orthodox Association in Bethlehem. He is known as a model of love, peace, and generosity in Palestine in general, and Bethlehem in particular, and has participated in multiple Abrahamic Reunion Palestine events including “Religions Under Fire” in Bethlehem last June of 2019, and both AR Palestine Interfaith Christmas Celebrations (2018, 2019 in Bethlehem).
Rabbi Ariella Graetz Bartuv
Rabbi Ariella Graetz Bartuv was ordained at the Hebrew Union College in Jerusalem, in the Israeli rabbinical program.
Rabbi Ariella leads the Emmet VeShalom Reform congregation in Nahariya, bringing alternative liberal Judaism to Israel’s periphery, and she is involved with other rabbinical, educational and communal projects in conjunction with her leadership – serving hundreds of families in the area each year.
Rabbi Ariella was born in Israel, she is married to Menashe and has 3 children (son 23, son 20, and daughter 15). She is the daughter of a Conservative rabbi; her parents are some of the founders of Conservative Judaism in Israel. Rabbi Ariella defines herself as an Israeli product of liberal Judaism. Rabbi Ariella strives for connections among Jews and Arabs in Israel and in the galilee in particular.
Sheikh Mowafaq Tarif
Shaykh Mowafaq Tarīf is the current spiritual leader of the Druze community in Israel. Tarif was born in 1963 in the city of Julis. Since 1753, his family has been leading the Druze community in Mandatory Palestine and then Israel. In 1993, he inherited the position of spiritual leader from his grandfather, Shaykh Amin Tarif.
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
