United in Drought: Jews, Muslims, and Christians Pray for Rain

Today began with errands for work with Sarah, the other counselor staying back from the trip. However, immediately after arriving in Talpiot, a Jerusalem suburb, I got a call from a frantic Batya, our Israel Coordinator, about an exciting event taking place in two hours. An inter-faith gathering was to take place just south of Jerusalem at a spring called Ein Haniyya, including an appearance by Rabbi Fruman, a very unique leader who lives in the settlement of Tekoa near Herodion, but has conversed with Hamas and PLO representatives. The reason for the gathering of Jews, Muslims, and Christians was to pray together for rain.

Along with Jonah Geffen, our co-existence and conflict resolution expert, We arrived so early that the majority in attendance were media personell. Lots of Arab and Palestinian stations were present, as well as Reuters. I was a little unsure as to why there was so many media here, but they asked really poignant questions, like "What are you doing here?"



Eventually, Rabbi Fruman showed up, followed by an Imam, a Christian leader, and the governor of Bethlehem. The media flocked to Fruman, but, as I find in religious discourse like this, language is very simple. You may not even need to know Hebrew to understand what he's saying. He came to pray for rain because it's dry and people need rain to live.



About this time, two Israeli soldiers arrived, asking for identity cards. One Arab then threw a fit, because these soldiers recognized him from the local Arab village, Walaja, which has been in the news because Israel is building a fence, basically 360 degrees around it. Apparently he was the head of the village council.





The commotion calmed down, and the Imam arrived, as a Jewish settler prepared to begin the event...



Finally, the settler addressed the group, discussing a shared God and a shared drought going on now for seven years. He also told the media to go away, which they did for about two minutes...



Following were some politically charged words by the Governor of Bethlehem (I believe Salah al-Tamari). Note that he rules a Governance, or region, not at a municipal level. The mayor of Bethlehem is by law Christian, but as you will see later during the rain prayer (Salat al-Matar), he is Muslim. After he spoke, the Walaja resident talked again about losing land in his village.





The Jews broke to pray, and by pray, they handed out a xerox of a few Psalms, and recited a special prayer for Rain. I realized half-way through that I was standing for the duration of the ceremony next to the Governor. Then we climbed a little higher on the mountain witness the Muslim prayer for rain (Salat al-Matar). Note the tall Governor in the front row. Also note the white-robed Rabbi, and his participation, even if isolated, on the right side of the screen. He really stands for shared values and reverence for the same God. Also note how inappropriate the media are, with their phones ringing, and often getting in the face of those in prayer. Many of the cameramen were Arab as well...



We left before some seeds were planted together. Here are my PICTURES. Also, I only found a few stories online about the event,  so I started searching in Arabic and Hebrew, and found a few more. This is the product of the excessive media coverage...

English:
The Media Line- "Middle East News Source"

France 24- International News 24/7

Translated from Arabic:
Ma'an News Agency

Raddar

Sama- Independent Palestinian News Agency

Shabab (looks like a forum)

Alwatan (the second to last photo has me in blue in the middle with Jonah!)

Translated from Hebrew:
Ma'ariv

Nana 10 (with video)

Ladaat- Haredi Portal (with video with me and Jonah praying)

So think about the implications of a religious gathering by religious Jews, Muslims, and Christians, with the additional presence of political leaders. It was something I'd never seen before, or could expect in a place like this, with the realities of such hostilities. Of all people, a religious Rabbi in a settlement, a zionist as well, is deeply embedded and respected by the Palestinian leadership. Maybe he should meet Kivunim.


UPDATE: Apparently the overflow of the press resulted in MSNBC covering the story: