Vol. 1 No. 23, March 2025, Adar 5785

Spirit of the Galilee
Apr 1
15 min read

PRAYING FOR PEACE

On March 18, when the hostage-ceasefire agreement collapsed, we at Spirit of the Galilee issued the following statement:

Today the citizens of Israel and the region awoke to the disintegration of the ceasefire and the end to the hostages returning. We are worried and concerned, and call for negotiations and talks of agreements and an end to the fighting.

We will not stop praying for peace and human dignity, and raising our voices sanctifying life above all.

We are sharing our prayer for peace that is sadly still relevant.

Please consider donating to SOG so we can continue to raise a religious and spiritual voice of peace in our war-torn land

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A MONTH OF FASTS AND FASTING

This month, Ramadan (the month of fasting in Islam), the Fast of Esther (the fast on the day before Purim, when Esther asked the Jews of Persia to fast for her before she went to meet King Achashverosh to plead for their lives), and the Great Lent (40 days of not eating meat or animal products) coincided.

We at Spirit of the Galilee (SOG) pray this is a sign that we are entering a period of increasing faith, hope, and peace in our country and throughout the world.

Amen. Inshallah.

SOG Monthly Meeting: A Tasty and Meaningful Iftar

Our group of interfaith spiritual leaders met this month for an interesting, heart-opening, fun, and tasty Iftar gathering, where we shared a sacred meal together and discussed the topic of fasting in different faith traditions.

We found that in all faiths represented in our gathering (Buddhism, Bahai, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and Druze), fasting of some sort is part of the tradition. In Buddhism, there are no set fast days, but one is encouraged to eat little as a way to enhance one’s meditation practice. Some people do not eat after noon at all.

In the Bahai tradition, prayer and fasting are considered the sun and the moon of the religion. There is a three-week fasting period in March, which includes no food, drink, or smoking. In the Druze faith, there is a tradition to fast ten days before Eid al-Adha, from sunrise to sunset, in solidarity with the poor.

In the Muslim tradition, fasting is a crucial part of the religion. It is not just about not eating; it is also about not doing bad deeds. It is about becoming elevated above the physical, material realm, to become closer to Allah – like angels. Ramadan is a whole month of fasting from sunrise to sunset, and the last ten days of the month are most important. There is also a tradition to fast every Monday and Thursday throughout the year, and on the 13th, 14th, and 15th days of each month, when Satan’s power is considered strongest. Another fast is “The 10th Day”, when God saved Moses from Pharoah.

In the Jewish tradition, there are set fast days throughout the year – major fasts and minor fasts – that serve a variety of purposes. Some are of a more spiritual nature, like Yom Kippur, which is a day of repentance and reflection. Others are to commemorate historical events, like the 9th of Av, which commemorates the destruction of the Temple. Still others are meant to have an influence on reality (like the Fast of Esther or fasts to bring rain). People have added modern fasts, too, such as on the day Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated.

In the Christian faith, fasting is an integral part of life – not a complete fast of no eating or drinking, but rather of refraining from eating meat and other animal products. There is Lent, forty days before Easter. And in the Greek Orthodox tradition, there is a forty-day fast before Christmas as well. Other than that, there are no set fast days, but one can choose to fast whenever one wants, for personal spiritual reasons. Although one should not announce they are fasting; it should be a private fast between the person and God.

By the end of our discussion, it became clear that along with the variety of traditions represented, an underlying theme emerged. In all religions, fasting (or refraining from certain foods), is not viewed as an end in itself, but rather a means to rise above everyday physical existence and reach a more elevated spiritual level of closeness to the Divine or connection to the past or the collective.

Our hostess, Maryam Elk, then told us the history of "Jasmine House," the place where we were eating – a 400-year-old Ottoman home in Akko, which she renovated and where she now hosts groups for tasty meals. It is also what she calls a "homestel" – a hostel where she also lives, and which has a beautiful honeymoon suite.

About the gathering, Raefa Hakroush, one of our new members, a Muslim woman activist from Haifa, said: “When hearts open and souls meet, renewed hope is born. May our prayers soar to heaven and open gates of mercy during these blessed holy days. Thank you to our organizers for creating this space where humanity and deep partnership meet spirituality and the sacred."

SOG Joins the Abraham Reunion for Iftar in Nazareth

Rabbis Leora and Sigalit, with Achlas and Anat Lev Or, director of the Abraham Reunion, at the event

This year, SOG was invited to partner in the Abraham Reunion’s Iftar event in Nazareth. Members Rabbi Leora Ezrachi Vered, Muslim activist Achlas Zavit, and Rabbi Sigalit Or spoke at the event.

Rabbi Sigalit reminded those present that the Fast of Esther this year falls during Ramadan. She explained how the Fast of Esther is a day when Esther called upon the people to fast with her in solidarity and support for the great mission she had before her, to change the fate of the Jewish people of Persia. “We have no greater mission today than to bring peace to our region. Leaders cannot do it alone. We all have to let go of feeling helpless. We must understand that even if it does not appear to be so, our fate is in our own hands and we can make a difference. We, the public, can act and empower our leaders for good.”

Rabbi Leora quoted the midrash on Bamidbar: "Peace is so great, that even in times of war, peace is needed."

"We meet today in a time of war, when agreements and ceasefires have been broken, and we are once again worrying about our loved ones and families, everywhere," she said. "Our sages, may their memory be blessed, remind us that the path of peace is the most important one, and we should strive for it at all times, even during times of war. This is what drives SOG. We insist on meeting, talking, and creating a dialogue of peace inspired by our sacred texts. We read from various holy books—the Bible, Christian scriptures, the Quran, the wisdom of Buddha, and more. We search for words of truth and peace. Our traditions teach us that every person has a mother and father, and we were all created in the image of God. Life is sacred…

“I want to bless everyone here today, for blessed are the peacemakers. We give each other strength to continue to believe in peace and goodness, even in dark times. In the name of Spirit of the Galilee, I want to spread the message that we can create a dialogue of peace and respect for all the inhabitants of this land. Our future will be better when all of us—Jews, Arabs, people of different faiths and traditions—live in equality, respect, peace, welfare, and security.

“My dream is that my children, Achlas's children, the children of Israel, and the children of Gaza will be neighbors and even friends…

“Isaiah prayed for the end of days, and I pray for these days. May the strength we receive from one another help us bring peace, friendship, and good neighborly relations. For although it is written that the Torah will come forth from Zion, in my opinion, Galilee also has a Torah—a Torah of shared society, a fascinating multicultural society that knows how to live together.”

Achlas added:

“The heavenly religions have a clear message: the message of mercy and love among people, and to abolish violence and killing. They all come with the message of peace…All Abrahamic religions spread goodness among people and shun violence and injustice. From here, it is the responsibility of all of us, to be advocates of peace, to reject all forms of violence and hatred, because differences among people are not a cause for conflict, but a call for cooperation and coexistence.

“We meet today in a difficult time, in a time of war, where all innocents suffer, and the right is lost in the midst of violence and hatred. But amidst this darkness, the call for peace remains the light that illuminates humanity's way, the hope we must all hold onto.

“Peace is not just an absence of war, it is a way of life, based on tolerance, justice and understanding. It protects lives, gives us an opportunity to grow and develop, and creates a world dominated by stability and love. War brings only destruction, and leaves deep wounds in hearts and communities.

“In the midst of these wars raging around the world, we must all – as individuals and groups – be ambassadors of peace, call for dialogue instead of conflict, build bridges instead of walls, and spread a culture of coexistence instead of a culture of hate.

“The world needs the voice of reason, those who raise the banner of peace, those who work to end wars not provoke them. Let each of us be an advocate of peace, in word, in attitude, and in actions, for peace is the only way to a secure and stable future for us and for generations to come.

“Let us remember that humanity is greater than any disagreement, and that peace is the only way to build a better world for ourselves and for future generations. Let our message always be: tolerance, love and peace.”

Making Music Together

This month, a special concert took place in the St. Elias Catholic Church in Iblin. The "Kolot Sheluvim" choir from Misgav joined the "El Karuan" choir from Iblin, singing classical music and songs in multiple languages.

The event was made possible through the matchmaking work of SOG's own Abuna Saba Haj, who introduced the choirs and helped organize the concert.

The Bishop of the church blessed the event and said: "We have not risen to the heavens, but brought the heavens down to us." He also warmly invited all participants to visit his church whenever they would like. "You are always welcome," he said.

The program closed with singing a song of peace from the Psalms in both Hebrew and in Arabic: "Who is the one who desires peace, loves life, and does good? guard your tongue from speaking evil and deception, seek peace and pursue it."

Women Writing Hope

Ghadir Hani and Dror Rubin with the book

We are proud of our member Muslim activist Ghadir Hani, who just came out with a book, a joint effort with her partner Dror Rubin an Professor and author Amia Leiblich, titled Women Write Hope. The book is dedicated to peace activist Vivian Silver, who was murdered on October 7th in her home in Kibbutz Be’eri in the Gaza Envelope. It is a collection of essays by Israeli Jewish and Arab women peace activists. The book is in Hebrew, but they are raising money to have it translated into English and Arabic.

Says Ghadir: “I am so moved. Especially in these times, with all of the chaos around us, I say – Now is the time when we most need hope. Hope will come from us. We can’t wait for it to come from others.”

From the opening of the book:

The brutal terror attack on October 7th, and the horrific war which has been ongoing for nearly a year, have left countless casualties, victims who have suffered both physically and emotionally, amongst both peoples—Israelis and Palestinians. We, the peace activists, have lost many friends. One of them is Vivian Silver, may she rest in peace, to whom we wish to dedicate this book. Vivian, who lived for many years in Kibbutz Be’eri, adjacent to the Gaza border, said on every possible occasion that the conflict between Israel and the residents of Gaza must be resolved through peaceful means. Vivian did not just talk—she initiated, led, and was a partner in significant acts of dialogue, cooperation, and assistance between the Jewish and Arab populations in general, and between the residents of Gaza and the communities near the Gaza border in particular.

Vivian's murder in such tragic circumstances has left us all with broken hearts. However, for us, the tragedy is not a cause for revenge. The difficult questions we have been asking since, have led us to reflect on the fact that in the many years since the collapse of the peace negotiations in the early 2000s, we have lived under the assumption that the conflict could be managed. Today, it is clear to us that one of the central lessons from this catastrophe is that the only path to a secure life is the path of peace. In the face of this immense tragedy, we chose not to sink into despair, into a cycle of revenge, but to take action and strengthen the voices calling for peace. As part of our desire to continue Vivian's legacy, we formed a group of women—Jewish and Arab—who would write a book together about the commitment by women from across the country, of different ages and backgrounds, to promote peace. We listened to the life stories of many women who dedicate their lives to peace, with its diverse interpretations and perspectives,

As part of our desire to continue Vivian's legacy, we formed a group of women—Jewish and Arab—who would write a book together about the commitment by women from across the country, of different ages and backgrounds, to promote peace. We listened to the life stories of many women who dedicate their lives to peace, with its diverse interpretations and perspectives, both social and political…

For us, the initiative to write a book that tells the life stories of women working for peace was also a form of healing—a small comfort during these unceasingly painful days. We will continue along Vivian's path and hope that this book will serve as a platform for dialogue in different communities in Israel and the Palestinian Authority, about hope, women's leadership for peace, and the possibility that out of this disaster, we will learn to walk a different path—one of justice, equality, and peace. With a blessing and prayer for peace.

Member Spotlight: Rabbi Haviva Ner-David

Haviva Ner-David is both an author and a rabbi. She grew up in a modern Orthodox Zionist home in suburban New York and moved to Israel in her twenties, already married to her life partner, Jacob, and with two kids. They lived in Jerusalem for thirteen years, where three more children were born, and where they adopted their sixth child. Then they moved to Kibbutz Hannaton in the Galilee, where their seventh child was born.

Rabbi Haviva knew she wanted to be a writer from a young age, as she started writing poetry and thinking about books she wanted to write already in elementary school. “Books were a huge part of my childhood. Going to the library each week, returning a book and looking for a new one. Each one was a whole world. I wanted to create that experience for others.”

Her desire to become a rabbi developed more slowly. She was always a person who asked bigger questions about life, especially when she read the Diary of Anne Frank and other Holocaust literature. Growing up in a modern Orthodox home, she studied Jewish subjects, even Talmud, with her male peers, but in the synagogue, she had to sit behind the mehitzah. She was the first girl in her synagogue to have a bat mitzvah in the synagogue building, but she was not allowed to read Torah or lead services; rather, she was allowed only to deliver a sermon, and not in the sanctuary, only in the social hall at the kiddush after services.

Rabbi Haviva continued to be active in Orthodox Feminist circles and causes, such as Women of the Wall (a group of women coming to the Western Wall each month to pray in full voice and read from the Torah with prayer shawls and tefillin). She was also one of the founders of Shira Hadasha, the first Orthodox congregation where women read Torah and lead services, and an active member of Mavoi Satum, an organization helping women whose husbands refuse to grant them a religious divorce.

After running the mikveh in Adas Israel Synagogue in Washington, D.C. while studying for her MFA in Creative Writing at the University of Maryland, she decided she wanted to be a rabbi. She applied to Yeshiva University Rabbinical School in New York (an Orthodox institution, only for men), and did not even receive an answer. So she studied in the scholar's circle program at the Drisha Institute, also in NYC, where she studied the same material she would have studied at YU, but where she received a certificate but not ordination.

In Jerusalem, Rabbi Haviva studied for ten years with Rabbi Aryeh Strikovsky z"l, an Orthodox rabbi, who granted her his private ordination. Although at that point she no longer identified as Orthodox, so she called herself a post-denominational rabbi. In parallel, she wrote her doctorate at Bar Ilan University, on the subject of mikveh. It was her dream to open a mikveh in Israel that would not be under the auspices of the Orthodox Chief Rabbinate of Israel and would be open to all humans to immerse as they choose. So when she heard about a new community forming at the struggling Kibbutz Hannaton, where there was an old mikveh hardly in use, she grabbed the opportunity to fulfill this dream.

That is how Shmaya: A Mikveh for Mind, Body, and Soul, was born sixteen years ago. There, Rabbi Haviva officiates a wide range of immersion ceremonies and runs mikveh workshops. The mikveh is open to all to immerse as they choose, as per her dream. It is the only Israeli mikveh that is part of the Rising Ride Mikveh Network, an international network of what they call “open” mikvaot.

Rabbi Haviva is also a spiritual companion, a field she entered after studying in an online program for four years at the One Spirit Interfaith-Interspiritual Seminary. There she received a second ordination and certification in spiritual companioning. Today, Rabbi Haviva works with four rabbinical schools in the U.S. doing spiritual companionship for their rabbinical students, as well as with a wide range of other clients, including clergy and laypeople of both the Jewish and other faith traditions.

“It was after my studies at One Spirit that I heard about Spirit of the Galilee. It was important to me to learn about other faith traditions and get interfaith ordination, because living in Israel, I felt I had to understand if religion could be part of the solution to the conflict and not part of the problem. I did come to the conclusion that it could be, that there is a common mystical core to all faith traditions, and if we focus on that, on what unites us as humans, and not what divides us, we can live together in peace.”

Since then, Rabbi Haviva has been an active member of SOG and considers the group a vital part of her life in the Galilee. She is also very active in Standing Together, an activist grassroots movement based on the principle of Arab-Jewish partnership to work together for social change. Her activism focus has shifted from Orthodox feminist causes to Arab-Jewish partnership causes. She is also an active member of Rabbis for Human Rights, as well as the resistance movement against the current extreme right-wing Israeli government.

“There is so much to fix in this country and in the world,” Rabbi Haviva says. “And right now, especially, it feels overwhelming. But I try not to lose hope. Where there is struggle there is hope. Being active in tikkun olam helps me not fall into despair.”

Rabbi Haviva’s first novel, in fact, is titled Hope Valley, and is about the friendship between a Palestinian-Israeli and a Jewish-Israeli woman. She later came out with a second novel, To Die in Secret, which takes place in the Salem, MA area. All her books, including all three of her memoirs, have strong spiritual themes. Her latest memoir, Dreaming Against the Current: A Rabbi’s Soul Journey, takes place during the four years she studied at One Spirit and includes many of her sleeping dreams and her understanding of their messages.

While at One Spirit, she also became a certified dreamworker, which she uses in her work as a spiritual companion and as one of her own main spiritual practices. And most recently, she received certification as a death-awareness teacher and companion, through another program at One Spirit in conjunction with the Art of Dying Institute. She felt called to this work as she is aging and working with clients who are as well. The course began a few days after October 7th, although when she registered for the course she had no idea how extremely relevant it would be, with death such an overwhelming presence since that day.

Rabbi Haviva also co-authored along with Cantor Rachel Stock Spilker the first and only children’s book on mikveh, Yonah and the Mikveh Fish. All her books are available online at Amazon and other booksellers. She is working now on a third memoir, about her experiences since October 7th.

“This has been a very challenging time, to say the least. It’s especially sad for me as someone who chose to come live in this country, to see what is happening here,” she says. “Those of us who want to live together in peace are being hijacked by the extremists on both sides, who, unfortunately, are also influencing the next generation. It is important to me in our home to be an example of someone who believes in partnership and peace and chooses to live her life that way. Not only through building friendships and trust with my Palestinian-Israeli neighbors, but through going out into the streets to demonstrate and be a voice for this ideal.”

With her sixth child starting the army soon, and probably being a combat soldier, she also must be practical. “Israel does need an army, but my hope was that we would need it less by the time he would need to serve. We talk about the possibilities for peace and the responsibility to act morally even when at war. It’s all very complicated, especially since October 7th.”

Rabbi Haviva was born with a degenerative form of muscular dystrophy that has been both the biggest challenge and teacher of her life. “I am used to living life one day at a time, with the future unknown. That spiritual practice has come in handy now. As they say, the only constant is change. I only hope the change from now on will be for better not worse. Because unfortunately, as bad as it is now, I can imagine it getting much worse. And that does seem to be where we are headed. Unless this crisis will be the thing that will lead us to drastic change, like ending the occupation and reaching a diplomatic solution. That is my hope.”

Please donate to Spirit of the Galilee so we can continue our important work bringing an interfaith voice of justice, equality, and peace to the Galilee.