After a year full of difficult challenges, the most prominent of which was the global Covid-19 virus, which threatened the future of many peace making organizations, the Abrahamic Reunion sponsored its first youth meeting on January 28th, 2021, with the hope that this year, would be a year of goodness, love and peace, and the end of this pandemic.
The Zoom meeting started at 7:30 pm, under the title, “The Story of Our Master Moses – Exodus and Liberation from Egypt.”
There were thirty five participants, fourteen Jews, thirteen Muslims, and eight Christians. Nine of the participants were women and twenty four were men.The meeting took place under the supervision of the Abrahamic Reunion’s International Director: Sheikh Ghassan Manasrah.
The main speakers were:
- Father Issa Thaljieh – A Greek Orthodox parish priest from Bethlehem
- Rabbi Yakov Nagan – The director of Blickle Institute for Interfaith
- Dr. Khaled Abu Ras – Philosophy Faculty Member from Bar-Ilian University
- Rabbinit Hadassah Froman – an Orthodox Jewish peacemaker, from the West Bank settlement of Tekoa
Abdul Salam Manasra and I opened the meeting and welcomed all the participants. Then we all prayed to God that this year would be a year of stability and peace.
We talked about the importance of offering multi-religious Zoom programs that enable youth from diverse backgrounds to study, learn and contemplate texts together.
The main speakers impressed everyone with their in-depth understanding of the story of Moses from the perspectives of the Qur’an, the Torah, and the Bible.
After the presenters finished speaking, Sheikh Ghassan opened the floor for dialogue and discussion among the young participants who had been astonished by the depth of the session.
The meeting ended at nine o’clock and we hope to meet again next month for a new story, and a new topic.
