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Reflections on our
Interfaith "Journey of the Heart" to Israel

Below is a message from Yehoshua Rubin about our evening in the desert.

Eight years ago I imagined my future self. It was during a guided imagery that our graduate professor led us in regarding career counseling. The professor asked us to close our eyes, look five years into the future and imagine our future selves. Imagining how we would look; our body weight, hair length, type of clothing and our physical surroundings. A very clear picture came to my mind. It was of me with long hair, wearing all white, sitting in the desert surrounded by people.

It took eight years yet that vision, last night, became a reality.

I now own a white Jalabiyah which is Arabic traditional attire. It is a long sleeve to the floor robe (most people would call it a dress). I put on a pair of white pants, a white t-shirt, the Jalabiyah on top and a purple Kepa for the contrast.

White flowing clothing. I feel so much lighter when I wear them.

White in the desert night. The desert at night is a place of healing. Its quiet is soothing, calming and relaxing and the open vistas makes one feel wide, expansive and free.

As we walk away from the paved road we enter a different reality. Twenty minutes later we begin to be swallowed by the desert's aura.

I ask everyone to stand in a circle and hold hands.

This is a very special group of people, comprised of Jews, Christians and Moslems. We chant together one word –Shalom.

Holding their hands in the desert you can actually believe that there can be peace.

All religions make the same promise that if you believe you won't be alone. Isn't that what you want?

But we want more. The Kabbalistic meditation before any Jewish act is "May this be for the Unification of God and the Shechena" i.e. may this act create a unity in this world. It is sad when people are alone. Much better to have friends but it is tragic that we don't yearn for the unification of all people and of God and all his children.

Let us pray that our hearts should be broken because our world is not one and let us visit those spaces that God created as a reminder of the possibility and the dream of unifying all his children.

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