Dedication of renovated Haifa center to John the Baptist

Over the past few months, the members of the Haifa kehilla gathered to pray in the home of the Shalom Community as their habitual gathering place underwent extensive renovations. Father Roman, responsible for the Haifa kehilla, welcomed the members of the kehilla and the many guests to the renovated center on June 28, 2014.

Father David, responsible for the kehillot, was there and celebrated the mass of the Feast of the Nativity of John the Baptist and on this occasion blessed the renovated center and consecrated it to John the Baptist. Concelebrating were Father Roman and Father Piotr, responsible for the kehilla in Jerusalem. At the beginning of the mass, Father David gave thanks for the renovated house and remembered the founder of the Haifa kehilla, Father Daniel Rufeisen, who had arrived in Haifa in 1959, and his faithful assistant Elisheva, who together had bought the house for the Haifa kehilla, thanks to the generosity of Anna Dobrusca. He also thanked the contractor, who had carried out the magnificent renovations, Dariusz, who attended the mass together with his wife and two children, and Father Piotr, who had helped Father Roman oversee the project. He underlined the presence of some of the faithful attending having been in the first generation of those who pioneered the founding of the kehilla in Haifa, mention the presence of Theodora and Stella.

The mass was celebrated in joy and thanksgiving. In his homily, Father David underlined the importance of the act of naming the renovated center and asked the faithful to reflect on the meaning of naming the center for John the Baptist. A short time of sharing on this theme began with Father Roman giving two reasons for this choice: the importance of Elijah for Haifa and John the Baptist being the new Elijah and the role of the new Elijah in reconciling the “the hearts of parents to their children and the hearts of children to their parents” (Malachi 3:24). Other members of the Haifa kehilla proposed the importance of John as related to repentance and conversion as well as the exemplarity of the one who ran before the Lord, announcing His coming. Father David continued and stressed two other elements in the life of John:

- his joy and enthusiasm at the coming of Christ as he danced in the womb of his mother when Mary, and in her womb Christ, came to visit Elizabeth. The Haifa kehilla should be the place of a similar joy.

- his vocation to make a way for the Lord, removing all obstacles in His path. The Lord is on His way into the hearts of the faithful. Here too the Haifa kehilla should help in making this way.

After mass, a reception was held in the courtyard and the celebration continued.