Project Report
| Jul 16, 2018
Annual IEA Iftar dinner
By Dr. Yehuda Stolov | Executive Director
![Eating]()
Eating
Nearly 70 people came to the joint annual Iftar of the Interfaith Encounter Association took, on Tuesday, 12.6.18, at the Felm Center in Jerusalem.
People came from near and far – Jews, Muslims and Christians members of the various encounter groups. We were privileged to have also guests from abroad: Indonesia, Morocco and Kuwait. The food was donated and brought by Fahed and Jihad from Hebron.
We slowly gathered for half an hour, catching up with old friends and meeting new ones. When sunset approached, a bit before 8pm, we sat down and ate together the delicious food, while continuing to chat with the people we eat with.
![Guests table]()
Guests table
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Apr 23, 2018
Science and Spirituality
By Dr. Yehuda Stolov | Executive Director
![Some participants]()
Some participants
We were fortunate to host Dr. Mitchell Abrams, a Canadian radiologist and an associate professor at Michael G DeGroot medical school, who led us through a very special workshop, combining his passion for music and medicine.
After singing a song with his guitar, Dr. Mitch presented academic studies that explain the convergence of the Western hard sciences with the soft science of spirituality, allowing us to reconcile our individuality with our inherent connectedness. By bridging this gap, a new frontier in healthcare, community engagement and our collective evolution is quickly emerging. Dr. Mitch quoted academic papers that present the interconnectedness of all people and the ability to use it to support the emerging global community.
Following the presentation we turned to an experiential activity of coloring mandalas to the sounds of Mitch's music. We ended with sticking the mandalas on Mitch's guitar.
![Several mandalas]()
Several mandalas
![Sticking mandala on the guitar]()
Sticking mandala on the guitar
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Jan 26, 2018
Poetry to Heal a Split Society
By Dr. Yehuda Stolov | Executive Director
![Hadassah opens]()
Hadassah opens
Nearly thirty people came on an early summer evening to this very special event of public poem reading and dialogue, in English, Hebrew and Arabic, jointly organized by Jerusalem YMCA and the Interfaith Encounter Association.
The event was the realization of a two-year vision of Hadassa – a poet herself and a very long-term participant in IEA groups. It opened with a welcome and introduction by Hadassah and an opening poem “Nowhere to Stand/Or?”, written by Hadassah, read in the three languages.
The reading part of the event included ten carefully selected poem from the anthology "Before There is Nowhere to Stand" of Israeli and Palestinian poets who respond to the conflict. The poems were divided into three parts: what unites us, what divides us and to what we aspire. Each of the poems was read in English, Arabic and Hebrew and after each part there was a pause and time was given to participants to write down their impressions and thoughts.
Finally participants divided into small groups where they shared their reflections and connected.
![Hadassah]()
Hadassah
![Reading poetry]()
Reading poetry
![Small groups conversations]()
Small groups conversations
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