Mosques, synagogues "twin"  (and)  

Palestinian-Jewish Dialogue in Houston

Friday, 28 November 2008

 

     This season of Thanksgiving 2008, we can be grateful for...well, today.
     Friday, 28 November 2006, is the first annual NATIONAL DAY OF LISTENING, brought to life by StoryCorps and National Public Radio (NPR).

                http://www.nationaldayoflistening.org/

     "This holiday season, ask the people around you about their lives it could be your grandmother, a teacher, or someone from the neighborhood."
     It could be your adversary - someone you don't get along with, you fear, you don't know well enough.
     "By listening to their stories, you will be telling them that they matter and they wont ever be forgotten.
     "It may be the most meaningful time you spend this year."

     "Every story matters" said the front page headline of today's San Francisco Chronicle print edition.
                http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/11/28/MNOC14C67K.DTL&hw=every+story+matters&sn=001&sc=1000
     More and more around Earth is this tradition of listening to life stories -- the great healer of people and relationships, and source of wisdom to invent our future.
    Here are living examples.


SIXTY YEARS SIXTY VOICES
     SIXTY YEAR SIXTY VOICES: Israeli and Palestinian Women - http://60voices.org/ - is a new book publication giving voice to Holy Land women who know war and know peace.
     It is another great contribution to life by PEACE X PEACE: Connecting women for peace - http://peacexpeace.org/content/ .
     Between June 2007 to June 2008, PEACE X PEACE brought together Palestinian and Israeli women from a variety of backgrounds to share their wisdom, experiences, points of view, wounds and joys in relation to their daily realities.
     HEAR the voices, SEE the videos, ORDER the book:
                http://60voices.org/


NORTH AMERICAN MOSQUES & SYNAGOGUES "TWIN"
     WEEKEND OF TWINNING is a new Muslim-Jewish tradition birthed last weekend in North America.
     The seed was planted by The Foundation for Ethnic Understanding -     https://ffeu.org/article_twinning.htm .
     During November 21-23, 2008, over 40 mosques and synagogues "twinned" to share spiritual traditions and exchange food and various social activities together.
     READ who they are and their inspiring list of initiatives:
                https://ffeu.org/twinnings_participants.doc

     One inspired rabbi e-mailed:
     "We (Beth Shir Sholom of Santa Monica) were one of the 50 synagogues that twinned with a Mosque (the Islamic Center of Southern California) this past weekend. 
     "It was a marvelous experience with people from the Mosque invited to our Shabbat celebration on Friday (including Muslim call to worship, Muslim prayers, Muslim teachings and a symbolic spiritual exchange in which we took responsibility for the welfare of each others children!). 
     "On Sunday we were invited to the Islamic Center for prayer (in which many Jews, including me, participated), a meal and discussion about Islamophobia and anti-Semitism.
     "We intend to continue our relationship with a Muslim-Jewish Chavurah, a multi-religious exchange program in our Religious School, an exchange with the local Muslim preschool, a blog and a musical event."
     For more information about the Santa Monica twinning, contact Rabbi Neil Comess-Daniels ( RabbiNeil.Comess-Daniels@bethshirsholom.org ) or Jihad Turk ( Jihad_Turk@yahoo.com ) Director of Religious Affairs for the Islamic Center.

     WATCH Canadian television coverage (8-1/2 min.:

        Weekend of Twinning: Muslims and Jews come together in Toronto
        Interview of Samira Kanji and Rabbi Debra Landsberg
        http://ca.video.yahoo.com/watch/3987929/10806647

     And matching news comes from the Holy Land:

Published in the Jerusalem Post - 26 November 2008

Jews, Muslims band together to fight ignorance of each other's religion

http://jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1227702334530&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull


JEWISH-PALESTINIAN DIALOGUE TOUCHES HOUSTON
     A week in November, 2008, four participants from the Jewish-Palestinian Living Room Dialogue in northern California flew to Houston, Texas.
     After 16 years and 199 meetings together, it was another of their several hundred outward endeavors to expand the citizen, face-to-face public peace process.
                http://traubman.igc.org/dg-prog.htm

     During the week in Houston, the four Dialogue activists:

1.  Engaged hundreds of U.S. social studies educators at the 2009 annual convention of the National Council for the Social Studies - NCSS.

2.  Met with the 3-year-old Houston Palestinian-Jewish Living Room Dialogue, to help plan their first public outreach event.

3.  Facilitated a public Dialogue workshop - CROSSING LINES - for Houston's diverse adults and youth, sponsored by church participants and the Center for Healing Racism.

http://traubman.igc.org/houstonnight.htm

4.  Conducted a large, public event - A CALL TO DIALOGUE - sponsored by the city's first Palestinian-Jewish Living Room Dialogue.

http://traubman.igc.org/houstonevening.htm

5.  Provided an interview for a local journalist:

Published in the Jewish Herald-Voice - Houston, TX - 28 November 2008

Jewish-Palestinian Dialogue Group: Listening In the Midst of the Storm

http://jhvonline.com/default.asp?sourceid=&smenu=164&twindow=Default&mad=No&sdetail=5771&wpage=1&skeyword=&sidate=&ccat=&ccatm=&restate=&restatus=&reoption=&retype=&repmin=&repmax=&rebed=&rebath=&subname=&pform=&sc=1291&hn=jhvonline&he=.com

 

     SEE PHOTOS of each event at the bottom of http://traubman.igc.org/dg-prog.htm
     Or simply Google "Jewish Palestinian Progress"

     These and hundreds of other stories of human success are preserved at http://traubman.igc.org/messages.htm .
     Or Google "Jewish Palestinian Success"