Jerusalem
Jerusalem
Israel
- Democracy and community development
The Three Faiths Forum Middle East offers bespoke educational programmes to Jews, Christians and Muslims in Jerusalem who would otherwise never meet, let alone interact.
The programmes we run encourage young people to learn about each other recognising faith as the key component to religious identity. Our two main programmes seek to engage young Jews, Christians and Muslims by giving them the opportunity to explore questions of faiths and identities together.
These programmes aim to foster positive dialogue encounters which participants will draw upon for a lifetime.
Hospitals Programme:
Over one hundred Israeli and Palestinian students studying medicine and nursing in Israeli hospitals took part in Three Faiths Forum Middle East programmes this year. A study session entitled ‘Healing and Suffering’ was developed specifically for the Hospitals Programme which encourages dialogue from a faith perspective on issues of illness, health, miracles and belief in God. Texts are presented from the Tanakh, New Testament and Qur’an on the theme by the students, and the session is a facilitated in a particular manner that encourages both specific comments on the text as well as references to personal identity.
Study sessions are run at Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem, Herzog Psychiatric Hospital in Jerusalem, and Kaplan Hospital in Rehovot. Sessions are facilitated in Hebrew and/or Arabic and texts are presented in both languages.
Seminars for Visiting Groups
Three Faiths Forum Middle East organises interreligious seminars for groups visiting from abroad. Bringing Jews, Christians and Muslims together to present ideas on their identity and faith to visitors binds them together in an unique way. Additionally, their dialogue serves as a fascinating encounter for visiting groups representing the greater possibility of encounter between the faiths in this troubled region.
Recently the Three Faiths Forum Middle East ran an interreligious seminar for an Italian pilgrimage group of thirty-six participants last week on the scenic Mount of Olives, Jerusalem. The group had expressed a desire to learn about Jews and Muslims on their trip to the Holy Land, as well as to participate in bespoke 3FFME study sessions. The theme of this particular study session was Prayer, and the three different traditions of prayer – Jewish, Christian and Muslim, were presented and discussed by the group’s participants.