Yom Kippur with the Desert Flower youth group


Kirill from the Desert Flower youth group reports on Yom Kippur spent by the members of the group together in the village of Isfiyah.

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Yom Kippur, the reality of life in the midst of the Jewish people, gives us a wonderful opportunity to stop and consecrate a whole day to prayer, without daily noises intruding and interfering in the listening to the voice of God. Of course, if one is looking for a little silence one can go down into the desert or penetrate the local forest and spend a night in the embrace of nature. However, Yom Kippur gives us the opportunity of silence and prayer as a community. Certainly there are those that will choose to exploit the time for other activities: I doubt whether there is an experience that equals riding down road number 1 between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv on a bicycle, faster than most cars. Or to glide down the Menachem Begin Boulevard and marvel at the skyscrapers that characterize the Tel Aviv skyline. For the youth of “Desert Flower”, like in previous years, there is the chance to choose a different experience rather than staying at home or wandering the neighborhood. This is the third year in a row that our young people take the wonderful occasion of Yom Kippur and invest in holding a special encounter, characterized by prayer and tranquility, soul searching and coming together, activities that solidify the group and help to develop the capacity to listen to the Word of God and to that of our friends and brothers.

This year, the youth of “Desert Flower” spent the day of Yom Kippur in an old people’s home in the village of Isfiya, next to Haifa. A part of the building was given over to them by Viviani, from the Shalom Community, who prays in the Haifa kehilla. The place is magical, with a magnificent view from which one can see the Carmel Mountains, the Krayot (northern Haifa neighborhoods) and as far as Acre. The home houses nine residents who have reached the golden years of their life, as human nature would have it, and five members of the Shalom Community, who look after them with great devotion. Most of the residents are Greek Catholic and therefore the house’s little chapel is different from what most of the youth are used to. Father Roman took time before mass to explain the differences and their meaning to the youth.

The young people participated in two major activities with a spiritual message. One was based on a story of two jugs by an Italian author and priest, Bruno Ferrero (the story can be read here). The aim of the other activity was mainly to share what was in the heart of each one at this period of time, about the year that has passed, about the future, fears, expectations, and whatever else came to mind. In both activities many expressed themselves openly and honestly and then prayed spontaneously. The spirit of unity in prayer was palpable, as it was in the songs and general atmosphere. We were together like a family. In addition to these activities, the young people also had free time to be spent as each one saw fit. Games, sleep, personal prayer, and simple quality time together which helps form the group and strengthens the experience of free time, getting out of routine and exploiting well the special time conceded us by Yom Kippur.

However, the spirit of youth also had its way and we could not sit at home all day. Therefore, a group went out to visit the village in the morning after a meeting with the residents of the house. It was a very moving meeting as the young people sang and danced with the old folk and brought them a different light into their lives, a younger light. During the trip around town, the young people could get an impression of the atmosphere of the village where Druze, Christians, Muslims and even a few Jews live together. This is another example of being together under the open sky as one big family.

In short, one can say that the young people are always happy to be together and spend quality time with one another. We learn that our unity is not only in Sunday liturgy but also beyond that. The true community of God is one in which its members perceive the spark of love and concern for the other. Accepting the other as he or she is, without criticizing, without trying to change him or her against their will, this is a community. And beyond this, our young people are learning to listen to the Word of God through the other, through their environment and they are learning to know the fruit of the action of God and they are beginning to appreciate it!

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