Meeting of the "Interfaith Initiative in the Negev"

Few days ago, together with friends of "Inter-Religious Initiative in the Negev", we participated in a meeting with the students of a comprehensive school in Be'er Sheva.

It was the third time that I have participated in such a meeting, since I moved to the capital of the Negev. The first two places where the meetings took place already gave me the impression that I was participating in a special initiative. For the first time I was invited to Kibbutz Shoval, where we talked to Jewish youth, open and interested in the approach of three religions to various social issues. The second time the road led me to a Bedouin village, Segev Shalom, to a meeting with Arab youth who are also open and interested in the views of believers belonging to Jewish and Christian religions.

This time I did not even have to take the vehicle. Comprehensive School Alef is located a few hundred meters from our community center in Be'er Sheva. Together with a representative of Judaism and two Muslim sheikhs, we attended the inauguration of a "beit midrash" at the same school. It was a nice surprise. In Jerusalem, I had a special experience in an interfaith "beit midrash", where friends of the Jewish community and the Christian community were meeting. And here in Be'er Sheva I discovered that there is also a place for a "beit midrash" in a regular school, where girls and boys want to deepen their minds about Talmud and religious tradition.

In our meeting, of course, we did not talk about the Talmud and this time we hardly touched on the religions of the Jews and the Christians at all. Most of the students' questions were directed to the two Bedouin sheikhs who in turn tried to explain how important it is to have reconciliation, peace and equality between the residents of the country belonging to different religions. I emphasized how important and still new it is for me to participate in an interfaith initiative in the Negev.

Until now I have participated in very interesting interfaith meetings whose purpose was to study together Christians, Jews and Muslims on different religions, beliefs and cultures.

An interfaith initiative in the Negev, apart from the internal meetings that help to get to know another person and another religion, has another goal: to give evidence that despite the differences, the religions also have common values ​​that can help build a society friendly for all its residents.