interfaith mission \ The details

The Rev. Lewis Macklin and Bruce Lev of the Mahoning Valley were among representatives from communities across the United States who traveled to Israel from Sept. 17-25 on an Israel Institute hosted by the Israel Advocacy Initiative, a joint project of the United Jewish Communities and the Jewish Council for Public Affairs. The group, accompanied by Jewish leaders, explored Israel’s religious and ethnic diversity and the challenges of attaining security and peace.

Participants

Byrd L. Bonner: Executive director of United Methodist Church Foundation in San Antonio, Texas.

Jeffrey Feld: Executive director of Memphis Jewish Federation in Memphis, Tenn.; Lynn Gefsky, community relations coordinator of Israel Advocacy Initiative in New York, N.Y.

Rev. Dr. Christopher Kurien: District superintendent and dean of the cabinet of the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference of United Methodist Church in Philadelphia, Pa.

Rev. Dr. Stephen R. Montgomery: Pastor of Idlewild Presbyterian Church in Memphis.

Rabbi Yehiel Poupko: Judaic scholar with the Jewish United Fund/Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago.

Rev. Esequiel Sanchez: Pastor of Mary Queen of Heaven Church in Chicago; Burt Siegel, director of Jewish Community Relations Council, Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia.

Sister Donna Wilhelm: Executive director of InterReligious Partners in Action of Greater Cleveland and a member of the congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph of the Third Order of St. Francis in Cleveland.

Itinerary

Scholars from many fields made presentations to the tour group on visits to the sites of religious and historical significance. “As a pastor ... to hear scholars’ insights was remarkable," said the Rev. Mr. Macklin. “There is a better understanding of the overt and the subtle.” Mr. Macklins said he thought participants would read the Bible and Torah with a new “sense of enlightment.”

“We didn’t hear ‘puff pieces.’ There were honest assessments from Israeli and Palestinian leaders,” Lev said.

“We had 12-hour days there,” Lev said. “We were up at 6 or 7 a.m. and our days ended sometimes at 9:30 p.m. It was engaging and challenging. There was time for reflection but not so much relaxation.”

Sept. 18: Arrival at Ben Gurion International Airport, overview of Jerusalem from the Haas Promenade, visit to the Old City and pilgrimage at the Western Wall then dinner with journalist Bradley Burston, Ha’Aretz Newspaper.

Sept. 19: Tour of the City of David with scholar Eli Shukrun of Israel Antiquities Authority; visit to the Southern Wall Archaeological Park with scholar Jon Seligman, Israel Antiquities Authority; tour of Christian sites in the Old City with scholar Daniel Rossing, director of the Jerusalem Center for Jewish-Christian Relations, including the Church of the Holy Sepulcher on the hill called Golgotha or Calvary, which contains the last five Stations of the Cross including the sites of Jesus’ crucifixion and burial; visit to the Coenaculum, where Jesus and his disciples celebrated the Passover Seder, the meal that was to be called “the Last Supper;” walk of the path of the Mount of Olives between churches and the world’s largest Jewish cemetery that dates from biblical times; and visit to the Western Wall where Jewish communities gathered for Shabbat.

Sept. 20: Shabbat morning services at Hebrew Union College and study of the traditional Torah portion from Jewish and a Christian perspectives with Rabbi Yehiel Poupko; meeting with Franciscan Brother Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Vatican custodian of the Holy Land at St. Saviours Monastery; and participation in Havdalah prayers marking the end of Shabbat.

Sept. 21: Tour Yad Vashem, Israel’s national Holocaust museum and memorial, with scholar Avinoam Sharon; visit to Ein Karem, a village famous in the Gospels for the episode of the Visitation of Mary to Elisabeth and for the birth of John the Baptist; meeting at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with David Roet, department director at the North America Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; visit to the Atzmaut Project in Neve Yaacov, supported by the Memphis Jewish Federation, which helps Ethiopian-Israeli; and dinner with attorney Ori Stendel, former adviser to the prime minister on Arab affairs.

Sept. 22: Meeting with Israeli-Palestinian journalist Khaled Abu Toameh; discussion with Dr. Nazmi Al-Ju ¥beh, professor of history and archeology and co-director of Riwaq (Center for Architectural Conservation and Restoration); tour with Col. Danny Tirza, senior adviser to the minister of foreign affairs, of “seam-line,” the neighborhoods where Jews and Arabs reside side by side, and visit to the security fence; lunch with professor David Satran, the Department of Comparative Religions, Hebrew University of Jerusalem; and dinner with Kibbutz Lavi member Rabbi Yehuda Gilad with discussion of religious vs. secular in Israeli society.

Sept. 23: View of Sea of Galilee from the Mount of Beatitudes, where Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount, and Jewish and Christian study of the sermon; visit to Kfar Nahum, a fishing village in the days of the Second Temple, where a well-preserved synagogue is located; visit to Tabgha, traditional site of the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes; ascent to the Golan Heights, one of Israel’s most beautiful, controversial and strategic regions; visit to Mount Ben Tal, near Kibbutz Merom Golan for panoramic view of Syria, Lebanon and northeastern Israel and security briefing by Elliott Choddof, security analyst.

Sept. 24: In Nazareth, visit to the Church of the Annunciation, where Christian tradition relates that the angel appeared before Mary to announce the birth of Jesus; meeting with the Rev. Emil Shoufany, head of the St. Joseph Seminary and High School in Nazareth and recipient of the Mount Zion Award for Reconciliation in 2001; visit to Tzippori, the most important city in the Galilee in the first four centuries Common Era, a spiritual center, seat of the Hebrew academies and home of Talmudic scholars; visit to Megiddo, one of King Solomon’s main military centers in the Galilee; visit to Caesarea, the Roman capital of Palestine for nearly 600 years; farewell dinner with Dr. Devorah Weissman, president of the International Conference of Christians and Jews.

Sept. 25: Return to USA.