New book:
The WISDOM of Women Creating Alliances
+
Earth Day
Wednesday, 21 April 2010
"When
understanding the other
becomes more
important than controlling the other
we will have
peace."
--Brenda Naomi
Rosenberg
WOMEN MATTER
A
new April 2010 book
welcomes women to "an adventure in making friends."
Thirty women from seven different faith groups
-- Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Bahai, Sikh, Buddhist and Hindu -- spent a year
writing a book about how they crossed religious, cultural, and racial divides, willing
to risk extending a hand in friendship to build meaningful connections.
FRIENDSHIP
& FAITH:
The
WISDOM of women creating alliances for peace
Published by David Crumm
Media, March 2010, 186 pages
http://readthespirit.squarespace.com/friendship-and-faith/
Rich in stories of Muslim and Jewish women, the volume is reviewed this
month in newspapers of the two communities.
Stories of
Friendship & Faith:
The Wisdom of
Women Creating Alliances for Peace
The Muslim Observer -- April
8, 2010
http://muslimmedianetwork.com/mmn/?p=6048
Seeking Wisdom:
New book explores
stories of friendship and faith
The Detroit Jewish News --
April 15, 2010
Part 1
http://www.interfaithwisdom.org/storage/Jewish%20News%20article%20about%20WISbook.pdf
Part 2
http://www.interfaithwisdom.org/storage/Jewish%20News%202.pdf
Brenda Naomi Rosenberg ( Pathways2Peace@comcast.net ) was an initiator of the
book, with journalist David Crumm ( ReadTheSpirit@gmail.com ).
Rosenberg's own story includes her powerful
experiences championing Jewish-Muslim relationships in Detroit and beyond.
Her sources of inspiration included the 2004 First
Midwest Palestinian-Jewish Dialogue Weekend -- http://traubman.igc.org/duluth.htm
-- which was enriched by the theatrical performance Brenda authored and
sponsored, The Children of Abraham Project.
The book continues to be animated by Brenda and
increasing numbers of interfaith sisters in Michigan with their ongoing
collaboration.
WISDOM
( Women's
Interfaith Solutions for Dialogue and Outreach in MetroDetroit )
http://www.interfaithwisdom.org/media/
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One Holy Land woman who has successfully transformed
Palestinian and Jewish teens into creative partners is honored in this week's
Jerusalem Post.
A
change of heart
The
story of Melisse Lewine Boskovich and Peace Child
The Jerusalem Post - 17 April
2010
http://www.jpost.com/Home/Article.aspx?id=173359
Holy Land younger women of excellence are fast-becoming the source of
wisdom in Israel and Palestine, too.
WATCH and HEAR their articulate,
passionate, insightful vision of their future together.
Creativity for
Peace Camp Young Women
4-minute video
http://www.creativityforpeace.com/mediagallery/videos.html
"If we have
no peace, it is because
we have forgotten
we belong to each other."
--Mother Teresa
EARTH MATTERS
April 22nd is Earth Day.
Earth's story -- epoch to epoch -- is humankind moving
from competition to cooperation, step by step.
April 12th, 1962 -- 48 years ago -- marked history in
human space flight, when Soviet Yuri Gagarin became the first person to orbit
Earth.
July 20, 1969, American Apollo astronauts landed on
the moon.
November 10, 1967 we saw the first photo of our
whole Earth from space -- one.
Today in 2010, 13 humans are currently in
low-Earth orbit, aboard the International Space Station (ISS).
Russian cosmonauts and American astronauts now share
their genius and space aboard the International Space Station (ISS).
The global team includes a fresh April 2nd crew from
the Baikonur Cosmodrome brought by a Soyuz TMA-18, later joined by the crew of
the Space Shuttle Discovery on the 131st shuttle mission.
Once-intractable "enemies" who threatened
humankind with nuclear catastrophe now demonstrate the waste of
disengagement and how cooperation creates security.
SEE PHOTOS of their achievements by
working together.
Journeys
to the International Space Station (38 photos)
http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/04/journeys_to_the_international.html
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We interdependent humans DO have the genius to solve our
problems -- communicate and cooperate very, very well.
In the Holy Land, too, business entrepreneurs remind
us that it's always the time for citizen cooperation.
Palestinian Sam Bahour ( SBahour@palnet.com ) and
Israeli Bernard Avishai together prescribe creative, cooperative business
activity without delay.
"The parties to this conflict must recognise that
their futures are inevitably linked. . ."
"They already can establish cooperation as equals
under international law, with international partners, without forgoing national
sovereignty. "
Support of regional cooperative business is how
outside nations can accelerate confidence building.
Independent
and interdependent
by Sam Bahour and Bernard
Avishai
Common Ground News - 08 April
2010
http://www.commongroundnews.org/article.php?id=27577&lan=en&sid=0&sp=0&isNew=1
LANGUAGE MATTERS
During the Cold War of the 1980s, Soviet and Western citizens -- without and in
spite of governments -- became closer by learning each others languages.
Before e--mail and the Web, worldwide citizen
communication was by short wave "ham" radio.
READ and HEAR one citizen initiative to help
Westerners bridge to Soviet women, men, and youth amateur radio operators and
change the atmosphere within each nation.
Russian Phrases
for Amateur Radio
http://traubman.igc.org/russian.htm
LISTEN TO HOLY LAND YOUTH AND TEACHERS describe why learning one
another's language helps close distances and build trust between people.
Arabic Language
as a cultural bridge
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hMciO2fTtw
Language matters!!!
Yet in Israel few Jews are fluent in Arabic,
while all Arabs are fluent in Hebrew.
The two peoples almost never engage in any
depth, and most feel quite separate from the "other."
And knowledge of the Arabic language and culture is
largely missing in Jewish education and life experience.
LANGUAGE AS A CULTURAL BRIDGE is the response of The
Abraham Fund because language both (1) expresses identity, culture and
tradition, and (2) is a means of needed communication.
Begun in 2005 in a few schools, it first included
about 800 5th and 6th grade students.
In 2010, now 11,000 students in 100 Jewish
elementary schools are now involved.
More information is available from Nate Geller (
NGeller@abrahamfund.org ).
Increase of
several hundred percent in the
number of Jewish
pupils who study Arabic language
31 August 2009
http://www.abrahamfund.org/main/siteNew/?page=52&action=sidLink&stId=2115
Equality-based Dialogue is now more possible, with increased language skills
and understanding of the others' heritage.
Jewish students increasingly learn about the culture and
Arabic language of the Palestinian citizens of Israeli.
Previously-skeptical Jewish families are changing, as
students return home with enthusiasm from their YA SALAM school curriculum.
Planners are hoping for 150 new schools in
northern Israel to soon become involved, envisioning eventual nationwide
implementation.
Understanding and empathy are growing, step by step.
Ya Salam: Arabic
Language as a cultural bridge
http://www.abrahamfund.org/main/siteNew/index.php?page=42&action=sidLink&stId=882
Ya Salam website
for the youth and students
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These and hundreds of other success stories are preserved at http://traubman.igc.org/messages.htm