Drought brings three faiths together in prayer

December 4, 2008 - 10:47 AM by

There were three men standing beside the Kinneret, a rabbi, a priest and an imam. Sounds like the start of a joke, but you can be sure it wasn’t a laughing matter for any of the three. They were praying for rain.

And when you look at the state of the Kinneret, you can’t blame them. I was there for the round the Kinneret cycle ride just a few weeks ago, and the water had receded an alarming distance from the shore. People were sitting close to the water’s edge, next to signs hammered into the ground reading Deep Water.

Where has the water gone?

Where has the water gone?

And it’s not that we’re seeing any signs of a wet winter to come. On the contrary, the weather in Israel right now resembles, well, a desert. Hot and dry during the day, cold during the night. Lips are chapped, skin is dry and itchy, and who knows what’s happening to agriculture – it’s horrible.

So that’s why Rabbi Shlomo Didi of the Jordan Valley, Ian Clark – the priest of the Scottish church, and Muhammad Dahamshe, the Imam of Kfar Kana, got together to try to ease the situation with a little combined prayer and a whole lot of artwork from the dozens of artists who came to paint the service.

“A joint prayer does not consider differences of religion,” Didi told a reporter from an Israeli newspaper. “There is one god, we are all human beings and are all praying to the same god.”

“The dismal condition of the Kinneret threatens each and every one of us,” added Shimon Kipnis, general manager of the Scots Hotel, which offered up its beach for the prayer service.

“We see how the shoreline is receding and that the water level is nearing the ‘black line.’ The purpose of this event was to unite all the religions and offer a joint prayer to the creator of the universe, that he bless us with a rainy season.”

Well, let’s hope their prayers are answered. It sure doesn’t seem that way right now. The forecast for the next few days according to Israel’s Meteorological Service: Warmer and drier than usual.

Tags: , , • Category: Environment, General, Life, Religion 

Comments

2 Comments on Drought brings three faiths together in prayer

  1. Moshe Pupick on Wed, Dec 10th 2008 9:13 PM

    2. I thought that Halakha forbids Jews praying with Gentiles. Isn’t this practice avodah zara for a Jew?

  2. Global Voices dalam bahasa Indonesia » Israel: Doa Bersama Memohon Hujan on Tue, Feb 24th 2009 4:29 PM

    3. [...] telah menyusut drastis. Danau Kinneret merupakan sumber air minum terbesar warga Israel. Blackburn mengatakan: “Kemana perginya air disini? Dan sepertinya tanda-tanda musim dingin yang basah tidak muncul. [...]

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