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Jerusalem
On December 30, 2004, the Women's Inter faith Encounter groups from all over the country were invited to a women's retreat in the Beduin Tent in Kfar Shibli. The study theme was “Women's Leadership” from the point of view of Islam, Judaism, Christianity, and the Druze religion and the programme included planning for the future. Sixty Muslim, Christian, Jewish, and Druze women gathered together and studied and learned from each other, ate delicious Beduin food together, sat in small groups and shared their personal experiences. It was a beautiful day and the bus from Jerusalem, after picking up some of the women on French Hill, drove down towards the Dead Sea bypassing Jericho and through the Jordan Valley, turning off near Bet Shean towards Afula. We soon passed Nai'n , the place mentioned in the Bible where Jesus performed one of his miracles.
JEWISH: Dina said how difficult it was for her to choose from among the many women in the Hebrew Bible who took leadership into their own hands. Whether to talk about Sara, Rebecca, Lea, Rachel, or about Deborah who fought the battle in this very place, but no, she decided to share with us the story of two non-Jewish women in the Bible, the story of two Egyptian midwifes (Exodus 1:15 - 20). These, fearing God, disobeyed the order of the Pharoah of Egypt to kill all sons born to Hebrew women, while allowing the daughters to live. They told the angry Pharoah that the Hebrew women gave birth so quickly they could not able to get there in time to carry out his decree. “Therefore God dealt well with the midwives and the people multiplied, and waxed very mighty.” Dina pointed out how when women, non-Jewish and Jewish women, cooperate and take the lead, disaster can be prevented.
MUSLIM: Abir brought three examples of Muslim women who demonstrated leadership. The first one was Khadija bint Khowaiiled who was the first women who joined Islam and she was the first wife of the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH). Hadija was a very famous merchant which was very unusual at that time. She fell in love with the Prophet for his qualities. She was twenty years older and she asked him to marry her! When she died, the Prophet called that year the grief year because he had lost both her and his uncle. Another example was Alkansaa who was a very famous poet who encouraged people to join Islam. Although Alkansa lost her three children at one time, she never lost hope and kept going in her life and giving. She was not only a great leader among Muslim women but a very respected poet.
DRUZE: In the absence of the Druze teacher, there was a spontaneous and interesting rendering on the subject of women's leadership presented by two Druze women from Daliat Hacarmel - Hediya and Anune. They told the story of a Druze woman, Shachwama, living 500 years ago who wanted to study so she dressed and lived like a man. They also spoke about current leadership among Druze women who are going to university and becoming professionals.
CHRISTIAN: Carmella spoke about women leaders and empowered women from the Christian perspective. She pointed out that since Christians share the same Hebrew Bible for our sources, we too share the same women leaders as our Jewish counterparts. She built on this and talked of Mary. As a devout Jew, Mary listened to God's voice, discerning His will for her. Her openness, love for God and courage to endure misunderstanding, led this young woman to take a great risk and change the course of human history. Her strength came from the core of her being.
The meeting then broke up into four small groups for further discussion and the session ended with music and dancing. The women formed a circle and gathered around the beautiful Peace Patchwork Quilt and admired the creation, worked on jointly by women of all faiths under the guidance of several artists.
Before making their way to the buses, there was a lot of hugging and well-wishing and appreciation at the opportunity of sharing experience and insights into women of different faiths.
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