The Parliament of World Religions
Barcelona, Spain
July 2004
We gathered in Barcelona July 7th-13th. I was honored to bring a special group of Jewish, Christian, Muslim and Druze religious leaders from the Land of the Prophets to the Parliament of the World's Religions in Barcelona, Spain. This was made possible through the support of the Rising Tide Int'l Sufi community in the US.
At the Parliament there were 8000 people from 73 countries and 350 programs including workshops, speeches, films, dialogue sessions, public conversations, spiritual practices and prayers, regional gatherings, and other events. There were Hindus, Jains, Sikhs, Buddhists, Muslims, Bahais, Christians, Native Americans, Jews, Zoroastrians, shamans and people from every possible religion there.
Over the years of my work in the Holy Land I have come to know some religious peacemakers that I invited to join us. In our group were Rabbi Menachem Froman from Tekoa and his wife Hadassah, Imam Khalil Albaz, a Bedouin Imam from Tel Sheva, Jiries Mansur, a Greek Catholic Deacon from Rama in the Galilee. Also joining from Jerusalem were Sufi Sheikh Abdul Aziz Bukhari and his son Izzedin, Ibrahim Abuelhawa from the Mt. of Olives, Elana Rozenmann of the Women's Interfaith Encounter and Emuna Witt from the Nachlaot community.
Also Ibtisam Mahamid, a religious Muslim woman working for peace was with us. After a few days, Elias Jabbour, the director of the House of Hope and his wife Hiyam and Sheikh Hussein Abu Rukkun, a Druze sheikh from Isfiya and his wife Dalilah joined our group.
We were a colorful group, with kippot and peyot, jalabiyas, a Druze headress and Sufi robes. Everywhere we went in the Parliament we were a big presence. Many media interviewed us. 'Kul al-Arab' the largest Arab newspaper in Israel wrote an article of our visit there.
The most special time of our group being together was when we would sit and meditate together in the lobby of our hotel every morning. It was amazing to see a group of Jewish, Christian, Muslim and Druze religious leaders, men and women be so comfortable together. Every morning, Shahabuddin Less, a Sufi teacher, led us in a shared silent meditation for unity.
On Friday morning I was invited by the Interfaith Education Symposium to lead a morning observance called 'Jewish meditation'. A small circle grew to over 200 people who joined me, including Christian and Buddhist nuns, Muslims and Sikhs in headdress, Jews and others. We formed a Hasidic-Sufi style dance circle, chanted the 'Shma Yisrael' prayer and sang for the peace of Jerusalem. By the time I closed the circle with a spiral dance to welcome the Shabbat by chanting 'Boi Kala, Shekhina', everyone was flying high. Throughout the week many folks said this session was the highlight of their time at the Parliament.
On Friday evening I welcomed the Shabbat in an ancient synagogue in the Old city of Barcelona. This synagogue was only recently discovered and was dug out and preserved by an Argentinian Jew living in Barcelona. This underground synagogue, with its stone curved ceiling and walls has the feel of the Old City of Jerusalem. There we had a magical Carlebach style prayer with a diverse group of Jews led by a rabbi from the CLAL center for Jewish education in New York.
On Shabbat morning Rabbi Froman, Rabbi Gavriel Vaknin from Karmiel and I prayed together in the lobby of our hotel. Over Shabbat lunch we had a big circle sharing the meal and singing Shabbat songs. Joining us were our Muslim, Christian and Druze friends from Israel - Ibtisam Mahamid, Deacon Jiries Mansur, Father Alario, Imam Khalil Albaz, Sheikh Hussein Aburukkun. Elana Rozenmann commented that there was a very special feeling of family between our group from the Holy Land.
Each day at the Parliament the Sikh community, with their guru Bhai Sahib-Ji, hosted huge meals for thousands of Parliament goers in a big tent on the beach. That tent was a gathering place to meet old and new friends from all over the world. The Sikh guru and his followers were excited to meet our group from Israel. They so want to come with a big delegation next year to Jerusalem. Everyone I spoke with, the Bahais, a Guatamalan elder, the Vietnamese, all want to come to Jerusalem. In the hearts of many I met, Jerusalem is indeed the heart of the world.
One of the more interesting seminars I attended was with Rav Froman and was called 'A Dialogue of Civilizations', a forum for dialogue between the West and the Muslim world. There were lots of Christians and also Muslims from places like England, Pakistan and even Iran. Rav Menachem Froman spoke there about his recent initiative which has the blessings of Presidents Katsav and Arafat, to convene a committee of the top Imams and Rabbis to work together to help bring peace to the Land. The delegation of mullahs from Iran responded warmly in meeting with Rabbi Froman.
The Parliament took place in one main building within the Forum, a large outdoor venue on the coast of Barcelona. In the Speakers Corner outside several hundred local residents from Barcelona gathered to hear our group speak about peace in Jerusalem and the Holy Land. The vision of Jews, Christians, Muslims and Druze sitting side by side holding hands in a loving state aroused awe and hope in the crowd. Many commented on just how different this experience was different from what is being shown in the media. The gathering ended with the audience of 300 holding hands and singing with us 'shalom salaam hu hu'.
We closed our time at the Parliament with a one day symposium called the 'Abrahamic Reunion: Peacemaking in the Holy Land. Awakening to Oneness through Prayer and Practice.' Our symposium – in Hebrew, Arabic, English and Spanish inspired many. I spoke on a panel moderated by Andy Blanch with Elias Jabbour, Sheikh Hussein Abu Rukkun and Sheikh Abdul Aziz il-Bukhari. The best part was when we all gathered in a circle and prayers were offered from each of our traditions. In the afternoon we broke up into small groups, one of the other sessions focused on religious women working for peace. In my room Jiries Mansur, Ibrahim, Sheikh Aziz and I led more prayers together.
It was awesome to show the world a vision of how the Children of Abraham can live as one family. Reb Shlomo Carlebach taught me that we should always wear our moshiach (messiah) lenses. There in Barcelona I could see a vision of what the coming of moshiach might look like.
Shalom, Salaam
Eliyahu McLean
Rodef Shalom, Pursuer of Peace
Eliyahu McLean |
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