Center for Interfaith Dialogue: Hope, Friendship and Peace-building in the Galilee

After Saturday services conclude, join us for a catered lunch and workshop on peaceable co-existence Galilee, brought to you by Rabbi Sarah H. Reines, the Center for Interfaith Dialogue and Spirit of the Galilee.

A Priest and a Rabbi share their experience in Interfaith Dialogue, faith and hope through war and hardship.

Rabbi Leora Ezrachi-Vered (HUC graduate) and Abuna (Father) Saba Haj, the leader of the Greek Orthodox Church in Iblin, a Jew and an Arab, are co-leaders of Spirit of the Galilee. For the past two years, despite the war and tensions, they have grown an Interfaith forum of over 30 religious leaders- Jews, Christians, Muslims, Druze, Buddhists and Bahai, who meet monthly to study and promote peace and equality for all. They will share their experiences from the past two years, showing how the Galilee in Israel is a model for a peaceful Middle East. This will be held in Room 405.

Rabbi Leora Ezrachi-Vered was born in Jerusalem a third generation interfaith activist, and was brought up in a religious, liberal, and Zionist home. Seven years ago, after being ordained as a rabbi by the Hebrew Union College in Jerusalem, she became the rabbi of Nigun Halev, a liberal Jewish congregation in the Jezreel Valley. After serving her community, she is now the Director of Spirit of the Galilee, an Interfaith and Shared society NGO dedicated to promoting peace, understanding and equality between all religions and faiths that live on the Galilee.

Father (Abuna) Saba Haj: Born in the Galilean town of Iblin, Father Haj is the spiritual leader of the Greek Orthodox Church of Iblin. A former lawyer and graduate of Hebrew University, he serves a small parish of 5000. He is the co-director of the interfaith leadership group.