Haifa University Interfaith Encounter Hits the Road... - July 2007:

After un-simple pregnancy (of many months) and some false contractions (students' strike) finally the first interfaith encounter of Haifa University was born.

The first encounter took place on July 4th, in the dormitory club of Haifa University, in a warm and relaxed atmosphere.

A combination of fascinating people and deep conversations, together with food for the body and smiles for the spirit.

Five young women and four young men came to the encounter. They were of a variety of fields and religions. We had Jewish, Christian and Muslim representatives (and we expect people of other religions to join in the future).

We started by getting acquainted with each other and were privileged to hear about the spectacular inter-cultural experiences some of the people were exposed to, and about the curiosity that prevails in others.

A question came up whether the definition of "Inter-cultural Encounter" will be more suitable than that of "Interfaith Encounter"?

A question that led to a discussion about what is the role of religion for us today? And what influence does religion have on our lives? And what is the value of inter-religious dialogue for secular people?

We agreed that in order to engage in dialogue with 'the other' we should first know the self. An idea was raised that through an encounter with others you can get to know yourself in a deeper way.

We discussed the different values of interfaith encounter and its significance.

We wondered whether the source of our local conflict is a religious conflict or a dispute over territories? And how can we maintain inter-religious dialogue without politics?

We determined the group's principles and agreed that it is open for all the variety of the political spectrum, to all religions and all peoples. We stressed the importance of freedom of speech and of not imposing your opinion on others. The issue of the unease with both religious coercion and conversion came up. The Haifa University Interfaith Encounter opposes both of them.

Dialogue has to take place out of mutual respect and in order to accept the different and the unique of every human being.

As a follow-up on the question of whether the source of the conflict is religious or geographical, we watched the funny parody "West Bank Story" – a short musical about a love story between an Israeli soldier and a Palestinian woman in the West Bank, on the background of a conflict between two competing Hummus places: Hummus Hut and Kosher King.

Finally, we shred ideas for possible contents of future encounters.

The most popular suggestion was an excursion in the footsteps of religions in Haifa, in order to get acquainted with the uniqueness of this city and its inter-cultural richness.

SO: get equipped with water, a hat and lots of openness and good spirit, for the interfaith journey we start soon.

Bon Voyage!

The excursion is planned for the first week of September, please let us know if you are interested.  Details will follow…

Organized and Reported by Lilach Ben Shitrit

 

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