Jerusalem, Israel - On the morning of April 28, 2013, an interfaith forum with 22 academics, religious leaders, and peace activists, took place at the Synagogue of the Har-El Jewish Reform Community, located in the center of Jerusalem. The topic was prayer.
In accordance with the spirit of the community, which encourages equality for men and women – we can happily report that an equal number of women as men participated in the forum.
Rabbi Adda Zavidov, the woman rabbi of the synagogue, opened with welcoming remarks by explaining the main values of their community. Emphasizing the idea that God has created all human beings equally, certainly as men and women, and that should include Jews, Christians, Muslims, and people of all religions. As such, the Har-El Community encourages interfaith cooperation and continues to invest much effort in interfaith activities.
This current forum was dedicated to the subject of prayer. The session started with major prayers from each religion: the synagogue’s cantor Even Cohen sang the Hebrew prayer known as the "Shema,” while the Muslin "Al Fatihah" was recited by Imam Halil Elbaz, and the Catholic nun, Sister Gemma, shared the Pater Noster (Lord's Prayer) in Latin. A Druze prayer was read as well by Sheik Ali Birani. All of the participants then sang a song which Reform Jews sing as part of their Friday night prayer service that expresses good wishes for all the people of the world.
As the words and melodies of the prayers from four religions in their respective languages were held at a synagogue in the center of Jerusalem, it felt as if the words of the prophet Isaiah were being fulfilled: "For My House shall be called a house of prayer for all people" (Isaiah 56:7).
After a short explanation of the purpose and the meaning of the prayers, Mrs. Miri Kamar read an excerpt about prayer from the teachings of the Rev. Sun Myung Moon. A discussion followed which focused on the question: Why does a person of faith need to pray?
Sheik Halil Elbaz from Tel Sheva, a Bedouin city in the southern part of Israel, said that it is an order of God; therefore, we are obliged to pray. “Prayer is the main obligation because it is the strong connection to God. But still it is the choice of each and every person as to whether they fulfill this order from God or not.”
Professor Ephraim Meir, head of the department of Jewish philosophy in Bar-Ilan University, said that prayer helps an individual become attuned to God, but the fact that a person is praying does not automatically make him or her a better person. Prayer is a time of self-reflection. "Usually we think of ourselves as the subjects, this is why I think it is good to be in the position of an object when we are praying to God as the subject. Through prayer, human beings are trying to reach the sublime."
Professor Meir also explained that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., in his speeches often used the idea of “Exodus,” and the liberation from slavery to freedom, which Meir believes he understood from his Jewish friend, the philosopher Abraham Joshua Heschel.
Meir mentioned the cooperation between the Christian preacher and the Jewish philosopher in order to highlight his argument that to be a religious person means to be an interreligious person.
He concluded his remarks by quoting Heschel, who, while marching with Martin Luther King from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, said: "My legs are praying." Through that expression Heschel confirmed his religious obligation to moral and ethical values, which to him represented a higher standard than religious rituals.
Rabbi Reuven Haskin from Jerusalem shared honestly his struggles with the religious obligation to pray and his natural desire to experience God through other activities such as reading a book. "It is much easier to feel closer to God while reading an inspiring book than through prayer,” he said. Haskin pointed to a profound question that he knows many religious people deal with on a daily basis: “How can we pray from an internal, honest place, to create a true and personal relationship with God?”
Dr. Or Margalit from Levinski College said that he feels the same struggle. Many times he reads a particular prayer only to experience some difficulty connecting to it, because certain things he believes should be included in the prayer may be missing; on the other hand, the prayer might include ideas that he thinks should not appear there.
Mr. Zvi Rosenthal, the chairman of the host Har-El Community, expressed similar thoughts. He sees prayer as a personal moment of communion, and thus the words of the written prayers do not necessarily fit every person.
Sheik Halil's wife, Mrs. Sana Elbaz, shared her personal path in prayer. She said that she struggled a lot with many of the questions that had been expressed: “How to pray a meaningful prayer?” and “How to pray honestly and not out of obligation?"
"After a while I realized that I want to make God part of my life, therefore I tell Him about everything that is happening; I share my thoughts with Him. Just as a child who, even while playing in the yard out of sight from his mother, enters every now and again to report about his activity. This is how I see my personal relationship with God. He knows all my difficulties and my struggles. I also thank Him for everything that is happening. This gratitude makes Him present in my life. So I could reach the point where I pray happily. I don't pray because my religion orders me to do so."
Dr. Rabbinith Bianka Zavi from the Har-El community said that for each person there is an internal need to reach God that has nothing to do with religion. It is a natural need between people and God, just like a child who naturally seeks his mother.
Sister Gemma said that through prayer we can change ourselves and realize it is us who need to be changed, not God.
Mr. Kobi Nehoshtan, a Kabala scholar, said that he learned how to pray from King David, who said in the Bible: "I am my prayer." "We shouldn't pray as a negotiation with God," he said. "I am the incarnation of my prayer; the way I live my life as a moral and good person is my prayer."
Sheik Halil Elbaz and Mr. Fuad Yosef agreed that it is also important for each person to study, learn about other religions, and become more educated in general as a way to become a better person.
Sheik Ali Birani from the Druze village of Dalyet El-Carmel concluded the discussion by sharing his experience from the first time he participated in an international interfaith conference in Washington DC which was sponsored by Rev. Moon. He saw many rabbis, imams, and priests and had a deep realization: "What is common to all of them?" he asked himself. "They are all human beings. All are under one God. This experience changed my life and my attitude toward other people, and especially toward God and toward other religions."