They are all wearing a kippa, some of them live in settlements near Jerusalem; many are rabbis, others teach at a Yeshiva school. They speak Hebrew, but the meeting will be held in English. We are 18 people all together. I am not Jewish; I am attending the meeting with two of my fellows EAs. At the other end of the table, a Sheikh and one of his students. Unexpected group of people! As we go around the table to hear everyone’s name and brief background, each of us says something about his/her spiritual journey. Prayer is what brings this group together: how does everyone pray? What are the distinctive elements of each tradition? What words? What history? What narrative?The Interfaith Encounter Association (IEA: http://www.interfaith-encounter.org/) “is dedicated to promoting peace in the Middle East through interfaith dialogue and cross-cultural study…. religion can and should be a source of the solution for conflicts that exist in the region and beyond.” Founded by Yehuda Stolov right before the second Intifada, the association seeks to promote peace and justice through interfaith dialogues and an understanding of religious identities. As such, the IEA is a grass-root movement that encourages people in various communities to meet their neighbors and share with them their beliefs and traditions. Many groups meet all over Israel/Palestine (and the Middle East), some of them gathering Jewish settlers and Palestinian villagers. The IEA has been recognized by the UNESCO has an important organization contributing to the culture of peace.
Clearly, I am not wearing a kippa and I don’t know how to pray in Hebrew or in Arabic; I am Christian and I am asked to talk about my own tradition. At the same time, I am wondering how much of this exchange will have an impact on the broader picture. Why does it matter that these people, just 18 of us, are sitting together around the same table and speaking about the role of prayer in each tradition? Does it matter? We’re discussing the power of prayer: do prayers have any power or is it just always up to God to decide what comes next? No matter how you answer this question, you are left with a puzzle. Leaving the meeting knowing that I will not be here to attend the next one, I am carrying this puzzle with me. And I am thinking: how we pray ultimately is not so important; however Whom we pray to is crucial; and we still have a lot to talk about.
I sometimes worry that the idea of prayer creates rifts in the world. It's a direct relationship with God, which people need to have, but that might also make some feel connected to the divine in a privileged way. And what if we pray for others but don't see, hear, and accept them? It's always been a complicated concept for me. Very interesting that in this land of religious stife, prayer turns out to be the thing everyone has in common.
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