Art & Culture

Bishops, Rabbis, Sheikhs, and religious leaders from numerous religions met at the David Citadel hotel in Jerusalem on Tuesday morning for the Roundtable on Interreligious Dialogue and Cooperation. The conference, supported by the International Cultural Centre of Natives from Central Asia, continued the path set at the Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions, established in 2003 in Astana, Kazakhstan and held every three years.

The first panel, titled “Interfaith Dialogue: Promoting Understanding and Cooperation”, was opened by Mr. Mordechai Kimyagarov, Chairman of the International Cultural Centre of Natives from Central Asia, and Mr. Bulat Sarsenbayev, Commissioner for the Promotion of the Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions. Mr. Sarsenbayev mentioned the importance of understanding one another, and described the growth of the Congress, reaching over 100 delegations from 50 countries at the most recent conference held in September 2022 in Astana. Mr. Kimyagarov added that there was a moral obligation to take action to promote understanding for the sake of future generations.

His Beatitude Theophilos III, Patriarch of Jerusalem, noted that true peace requires a foundation of mutual respect and understanding. Dr. Iyad Zahalka, General Director of the Sharia Courts in Israel and a judge (qadi) on the Sharia High Court of Appeals, quoted from the Quran, reading the verse that says that God deliberately created human diversity “so that we could come to know one another”, in a holy call for tolerance. Rabbi Yitzchak Elefant, Chief Rabbi of Dimona and representative of the Ashkenazi chief rabbi, read a verse from the Torah “The ways of the Torah are pleasant, and all of its branches are peace”.

Bishop Dr. Giacinto-Boulos Marcuzzo, the Latin Patriarchal Vicar in Jerusalem and representative of the Roman Catholic Church, highlighted the importance of education in promoting tolerance and understanding, while Dr. David Rustein, Secretary General of the Baha’i International Community, stated that although religion is the source of truth, misappropriation of religious symbols has caused great harm and must be addressed by religious leadership.

Rabbi Eliezer Simcha Weisz, a member of the Chief Rabbinical Council of Israel, changed the tone of the meeting by opening with a song, “We brought upon you”, which the audience quickly joined in singing. Rabbi Weisz then noted that we must “lead by example”, and that the Talmud begins and ends with a call for peace, considered the greatest blessing. Sheikh Muwafak Tarif, spiritual leader of the Druze community in Israel, commended the hosts and organizers, pointing out that few have the courage to host such an important discussion as the Congress held in Kazakhstan does. Sheikh Tarif stressed that Druze schools in Israel include tolerance as part of the curriculum.

Mrs. Tania Berg-Refaeli, Director of the Department of World Religions at the Israeli Foreign Ministry discussed the important role of faith-based diplomacy, and its potential for helping to tackle some of the most challenging global issues.

A second panel featured Bishop Dr. Munib Younan from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land; Rabbi Dr. Yaakov Nagen, head of Ohr Torah Stone’s Blickle Institute for Interfaith Dialogue; Father Igumen Nikon Golovko, representative of the Russian Spiritual Mission in Jerusalem; Hana Bendcowsky, Program Director of the Jerusalem Center for Jewish-Christian relations at the Rossing Center for Education and Dialogue; Professor Mohammad Dajani, founder of the Wasatia organization; Dr. Alon Goshen Gotstein, Director of the Elijah Interfaith Institute; Professor Zeev Khanin, professor of political science at Bar Ilan university and Academic Chairman of the Institute for Euro-Asian Jewish Studies, and Dr. Yehuda Stolov, Director of the Interfaith Encounter Association.

The conference brought a diverse group of religious leaders, and the coffee break between the panels, as well as a formal lunch following the panels, allowed for further networking.