reGeneration announces the Interfaith Pilgrimage for Possibility

September 14, 2012

The Rev. Canon Dr. Gwynne Guibord, Imam Jihad Turk, Rabbis Victor and Nadya Gross and Shepha Schneirsohn Vainstein, LMFT invite you to join us on this historic interfaith journey to the Holy Land. In addition to focusing on the sacred sites of Islam, Christianity, and Judaism, we will visit visionary educational communities in Israel and the West Bank.

We will celebrate Shabbat in Jerusalem, share a Eucharist Mass at the historic Synagogue Church, break bread at the home of a local Palestinian and picnic in an ancient olive grove. We will be inspired by hope-filled visits to Israeli and Palestinian communities who are committed to educating children to cultivate a new generation in the Middle East who will have the means to work towards a better tomorrow.

This pilgrimage will bring together people of different backgrounds and provide a unique opportunity to experience sacred space and sacred ritual through the lens of all three great montheistic faiths. We welcome those exploring the Holy Land for the first time as well as experienced travelers.

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Uniting Communities

With reGeneration, we created a Waldorf School based on the beauty of Arab culture and language, which also teaches Hebrew and English. It is a school where all the different religions and cultures of Arab people are represented and work together: Muslims, Christians, Druze, and Bedouins. The idea of bringing all these children together in one school is not the norm...but it is a model for how to integrate Waldorf education into the Arab culture.”

– Lana Nasrallah, cofounding teacher of reGeneration partner school Tamrat El Zeitoun
Lana
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Encountering the Other

reGeneration brought The Way of Council to our bilingual Arabic Hebrew school. The Way of Council is a way to become aware that the person sitting across from me is a person just like me, who was born an empty vessel, and whom life has filled with different content, which is not necessarily the ultimate truth. I could have been born as Muhammed or Fatma, and I would then think as they do. So I think that within me I am actually a little bit Muhammed and a little bit Fatma, a little bit Amir or Rachel. And a little bit Gidi.”

– Gidi Hyman, a teacher at reGeneration partner school Ein Bustan
Gidi
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Transforming the Holy Land

Fear presents a choice whether we recognize it or not: to love or to hate. If we choose to love, we have sparked the first flame of creation. We are propelled into right action. House of Hope is honored to partner with reGeneration to continue our right action and bring transformational healing through holistic education to children in the Holy Land.”

– Milad Vosgueritchian, co-founder and Chairman of reGeneration partner school House of Hope
Milad
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Training Crisis-Zone Ready Teachers

Before I became a Waldorf teacher, I taught in public schools where the children rarely leave their desks. The Arab children especially have problems holding their pencils because they move their bodies so little…Thanks to my reGeneration scholarship, I became more sensitive about the need for children to be held in a protected space. Upon my return to school, I plan to find a way to build a separate area for our young children, so they have a more sheltered space than what they have now.”

– Aida Awad, a founding teacher at reGeneration partner school Tamrat El Zeitoun
Aida
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Two Peoples, One School

At Ein Bustan we are two peoples, two languages, two different cultures. Yet when I bring my children to the kindergarten in the morning and see the children sitting, playing, building, singing, hiking, eating and working together, they are equal, and it’s not make-believe. This togetherness and the mutual wish to create a joint reality is what brought my family to the kindergarten. At school, we are all equal, and we all have a heart that can speak, listen, and be compassionate.”

– Ester Springut, a parent at reGeneration partner school Ein Bustan
Ester