The Interfaith Encounter Association wishes to all our Muslim friends: Happy Eid el-Fitr Kul Am Wantum Bekheir ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Another group of the Interfaith Encounter association that continued to meet despite the challenges of the situation, as well as despite the challenges to get away from family during the month of Ramadan, is our group of Rabbis and Sheikhs. Here is the update from their encounter last week, as well as updates from two previous encounters. July 20th, 2014 Even though a conversation theme was prepared by the coordinators of the group, the conversation was influenced by the events around us and focused on understanding the situation inside the Palestinian society. There are two main streams within the Palestinian society – those who wish to live in peace and quiet and develop, as people and as a society, and those who wish to hold violent resistance. An important element in increasing the numbers of those who support peace is through the exposure of Palestinians to the real image of the Israelis, helping them realized they are not all supporters of Kahana, as they many times believe. Some participants suggested spreading the letter of the Rabbis condemning the murder of Muhammad Abu Khadeir and connecting to Palestinian journalists who will interview the Rabbis and other leaders of the Interfaith Encounter association. As some of the people were new and we had several guests, we held a round of self-introduction. The Sheikh who co-coordinates the group shared that he found three schools that properly combine submission and obedience to God on the one hand and correct conduct of their way in the world on the other hand. The three are: the Sufis – who focus on the personal worship of God, the Knowledge-based Salafis – who focus on study of texts, and the Tabligh – who combine both of them. Unlike these groups, the groups of political Islam misuse Islam for their own interests. These three groups call upon the political Islam to come back to the right way, but so far their call is not accepted. The Tabligh way can especially build a leverage to good relations between Jews and Muslims, as well as build a solid foundation for peace. June 12th, 2014 Rabbi Kook in Nevuchei Hador writes that other religions do have prophets. One of the problems with idol worshiping is that it diminished the human: since the human is in the image of his God, if their god is an idol – they are also smaller. Believers in one God can follow their tradition and each one according to their deeds – receives the divine spirit. There are leaders who nourish one type of students. The really big ones nourish a variety of students. Similarly, each idol is of a family or one nation while God is for everybody. Then we held a short conversation about the way to peace and the importance of our approach. In order to solve the conflict it is essential to bring Muslims and Jews closer together and cultivate their neighbors relations, and the best way to do that is through the religion. We should build a joint place, accessible for all, with worship places for all religions and place for their encounter. We will make efforts to recruit the support of Palestinian, Israeli and other leaders for this vision. April 27th, 2014 We started with free conversation on various subjects. Then we turned to focus on the encounters theme – charity. First we focused on Islam. Charity is the third of the five pillars of Islam. In the Islamic state it is obligatory on the Muslim to pay it, like a tax. They can pay it directly to the poor or through a central authority that takes care of it. All the aspects have very clear definitions. There are two types of charity in Islam: Zakat – obligatory, 2.5% of the persons money or crops, one of forty out of his sheep; Sadaqa – voluntary, beyond the obligatory and out of the sense of social responsibility for the weak in the society. A non-Muslim in the Islamic state should also pay, but only if they have the money, a 10% tax for protection and other services of the state. This is paid out of the profits of the year. In addition: further charity should be given on Eid el-Fitr: 3 Kg of flower or dates or raisons. In the Jewish tradition God chose Abraham due to the fact that he was educating his sons to charity. Maimonides says that Jews should be more committed to charity since this is a sign for their being descendants of Abraham. As the society was agricultural, most of the forms of charity are coming from the crops: leaving uncut corner of each field for the poor (around 2%), leaving stalks that fall while picking and bundles that are forgotten and similar. A better way to support the poor than gifts of money is the providing of loans. Once every seven years all debts are dropped and the person should not feel bad about it since it is all Gods anyway. Reported: Yehuda Stolov (* The work of this group is partially supported by the International Association for Religious Freedom) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Interfaith Encounter Association P.O.Box 3814, Jerusalem 91037, Israel Phone: +972-2-6510520 Fax: +972-2-6510557 Website: interfaith-encounter.org Board: Ms. Yael Gidanyan (Chair) Mr. Morad Muna Mr. Moshe Jacobs Mr. Imad Abu Hassan Rabbi Bob Carroll Mr. Ibrahim Mustafa Dr. Yehuda Stolov, Executive Director E-mail: [email protected] Mr. Salah Alladin, Assistant Director You and others are welcome to join our e-mailing lists by sending a blank message to: · In Israel (gets also invitations): iea-announcements-subscribe@yahoogroups · Abroad (gets reports only): iea-reports-subscribe@yahoogroups Please note that the reports we send out do not necessarily represent the views of the Interfaith Encounter Association or even of the people who wrote them. The reports represent the views of the people who attended an encounter and their primary purpose is to give you a glimpse of what happened in the encounter. Groups listed from north to south: · Maalot · Acre · Karmiel-Majd el-Krum · Restaurant · Sakhnin College · Mghar – Sawa Rabina · Mghar – Shibolot · Mghar – Bridging · Mghar – Lana · Mghar – Green Light · Galilee Womens Interfaith Encounter (WIE) · Jordan Valley College (YIE) · Haifa · Haifa WIE · Haifa University Youth Interfaith Encounter (YIE) · Gordon College I YIE · Gordon College II YIE · Gordon College III YIE · Gordon College IV YIE · Gordon College V YIE · Carmel City · Wadi Ara WIE · Living Together in Wadi Ara · Nablus Area · Netania-Qalansawa · Non-Violent Communication · Tel Aviv University YIE · Petach Tikva – Kfar Kasem · Tel Aviv-Jaffa · A/Nahnu – Mt. Scopus YIE · Mt. Scopus Language Exchange I · Mt. Scopus Language Exchange II · Haredi-Muslim · East of Jerusalem · Abu Dis And Maaleh Adumim · Interfaith Encounter Tours · Prayer focused · IEA Reut-Sadaqa · Philosophy · Study and Dialogue · Jerusalem WIE · Jerusalem YIE · Yellin College Language Exchange YIE · Yellin College YIE · Jewish-Christian study of the Gospel of Mathew · Ein Karem – Health Equity for all People in Israel · Jerusalem Arabic Speaking group · Bibliodrama · The Future – Mothers and Daughters · Interfaith Visits · Hebrew U.-Bethlehem U. YIE · Teens YIE · Womens Empowerment · East of Jerusalem · Gush Etzion · Siach Yeshiva – Hebron Students YIE · Circle of Light and Hope · South of Jerusalem · Midwives · Jerusalem-Hebron Religious Leaders · Jerusalem-Hebron YIE · Jerusalem-Yata YIE · South of Hebron YIE · Eilat
Posted on: Sun, 27 Jul 2014 12:17:33 +0000
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