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The program will consist of six weeks of training: two-week long sessions, twice a year, held over a period of three years. Two successful one-week trainings which included Rabbis, religious leaders, college students, artists and musicians-- have already taken place at Elat Chayyim. The full training program will include a practicum in Israel, to offer hands-on training in interfaith peace building. Graduates of the School: Rodfei Shalom/Jewish peace builders will be equipped to work in many types of communities as activists, facilitators, and spiritual leaders.
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 Israel Director: |
Eliyahu McLean |
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North American Director: |
Ruth Broyde-Sharone |
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Eliyahu McLean |
Eliyahu McLean is one of the foremost interfaith peace builders in Israel and is the Director of Jerusalem Peacemakers, a network of religious leaders dedicated to encouraging understanding and reconciliation between Arabs and Jews.
Eliyahu has facilitated many grassroots projects between Israelis and Palestinians, including the Old City Peace Vigil, Jewish-Sufi dialogue, the Abrahamic Reunion (Jewish, Christian, Muslim and Druze leaders meeting for peace), and the Sulha Peace Project.
In addition, Eliyahu has traveled widely with Muslim partners, indicating how religion is being used for peacemaking in the Holy Land. His recent travels have included a training in peace building at the United Nations University in Amman, Jordan, a symposium at the Fez Sacred Music Festival in Morocco, and an active role at the World Congress of Imams and Rabbis for Peace in Seville, Spain.
The Rodef Shalom School for Peace had its genesis in 2003 when Rabbi Zalman Schacter-Shalomi ordained Eliyahu McLean as the first Rodef Shalom, Pursuer of Peace. |
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Ruth Broyde-Sharone |
Ruth Broyde-Sharone is an international public speaker and documentary filmmaker who teaches the "art of interfaith" and is a leader in dialogue with American Muslims.
She is co-founder of the Festival of Freedom, a series of interfaith and interracial peace pilgrimages that has led groups from Egypt to Jerusalem. Broyde-Sharone has served as a delegate to the UN Commission on Human Rights in Geneva, and is the 2000 recipient of the gold medal from Fete d'Excellence for promoting interfaith dialogue and multicultural education.
She produced and directed the post-9/11 documentary, God and Allah Need to Talk, an acclaimed interfaith film, and travels to university campuses, mosques, churches, and synagogues across America to screen the film and promote grassroots interfaith activity. Recently she organized a citywide interfaith event in Washington, DC, hosted by the Embassy of Bangladesh. |
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| The Rodef Shalom School for Peace was founded to address a number of current problems facing the international Jewish community. The Israeli Palestinian conflict is still a burning issue that polarizes Jewish communities and causes tensions with between Jewish communities and other communities worldwide. As a result, many Jewish religious and community leaders find themselves needing tools to respond to these conflicts and to build constructive relationships with people of other faiths, especially in Muslim communities. Unfortunately, many of these leaders lack the skills and knowledge they need to approach this difficult situation constructively. |
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The events of 9/11 created a huge communication gap between Muslims and Americans of other religious communities. The lack of trust and the lack of ability to dialogue for non-Muslilms with Muslims has alienated these groups from each other. It is critical to strengthen and support moderate Muslims in American society to help them find the courage to repudiate extremists who threaten their own well-being as well as the rest of American society.
Another important issue is that Jewish peace activists often feel alienated from Judaism and their Jewish identities, and many Jewish peace activists do not know how to incorporate Judaism into their bridge-building work. They lack sufficient knowledge and access to the universal voice within in Judaism that can enable them to affirm their identities as both Jews and peacebuilders. |
Peace Building Class and Teachers,
Elat Chayyim, 2006 |
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The Rodef Shalom Training Program meets these important needs in the Jewish community and more. Jewish community and religious leaders, educators, peace activists and artists can all benefit from the Rodef Shalom Training Program.
Ruth Broyde-Sharone, (North American Director and contact person)
4219 Vinton Ave.
Culver City, CA 90232
Tel & Fax: (310) 837-2294
| To view a .pdf file of the bookcover for Peace Building as an Art and a Practice, Reflections by Rabbi Mayer Schiller, click here. |
Photo credit: Joy Krauthammer |
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