Three Faiths Forum Middle East

National Network
Israel
Address

Jerusalem
Jerusalem
Israel

Telephone
077 511 6533
E-Mail
miriam@threefaithsforum.org.uk
Organisation Type
Public/Private Non-Profit Foundation
Fields of Activity
  1. Democracy and community development
General Information
The Three Faiths Forum Middle East brings together Israeli Jews, Christians and Muslims who would otherwise not have come into contact with one another. The programmes we run are of an educational nature, based on learning about the identity of the other through faith and texts. Based in Jerusalem, we run our programme in different educational settings. Our three main projects seek to engage young Jews, Christians and Muslims, who never before had the opportunity to explore faith and identity together. These encounters encourage people to interact in a positive way with each other who might never before have looked each other in the eye. Our particular niche lies in the value that faith provides the deepest talking point there is: it informs our society, our community, our culture, our religion, our family and our day-to-day life. There is no other aspect of life, here, based in Jerusalem, that provides a starting conversation point for all these areas of life. This value is transformed into practice through our day-to-day activities where workshops are designed and run in conjunction with other organisations in the field, to fulfil the aim of involving Jews, Christians and Muslims in bespoke faith-based workshops. Working closely with other interfaith organisations in the region, who welcome our particular focus on education and young people in the greater realm of coexistence work, we run programmes in conjunction with the Israel Encounter Association, Interreligious Coordinating Council of Israel and the Jerusalem Inter Cultural Centre to name just three of our partners. Our work combines the dynamism of a tried and tested educational programme, the challenge of the Israeli-Palestinian setting and the prestige (and funding until Dec 2010)of the Three Faiths Forum.
Mission and Objectives

The Three Faiths Forum Middle East offers bespoke educational programmes to Jews, Christians and Muslims in Jerusalem who would otherwise never meet, let alone interact.
The programmes we run encourage young people to learn about each other recognising faith as the key component to religious identity. Our two main programmes seek to engage young Jews, Christians and Muslims by giving them the opportunity to explore questions of faiths and identities together.
These programmes aim to foster positive dialogue encounters which participants will draw upon for a lifetime.

Main Projects / Activities

Hospitals Programme:
Over one hundred Israeli and Palestinian students studying medicine and nursing in Israeli hospitals took part in Three Faiths Forum Middle East programmes this year. A study session entitled ‘Healing and Suffering’ was developed specifically for the Hospitals Programme which encourages dialogue from a faith perspective on issues of illness, health, miracles and belief in God. Texts are presented from the Tanakh, New Testament and Qur’an on the theme by the students, and the session is a facilitated in a particular manner that encourages both specific comments on the text as well as references to personal identity.
Study sessions are run at Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem, Herzog Psychiatric Hospital in Jerusalem, and Kaplan Hospital in Rehovot. Sessions are facilitated in Hebrew and/or Arabic and texts are presented in both languages.
Seminars for Visiting Groups
Three Faiths Forum Middle East organises interreligious seminars for groups visiting from abroad. Bringing Jews, Christians and Muslims together to present ideas on their identity and faith to visitors binds them together in an unique way. Additionally, their dialogue serves as a fascinating encounter for visiting groups representing the greater possibility of encounter between the faiths in this troubled region.
Recently the Three Faiths Forum Middle East ran an interreligious seminar for an Italian pilgrimage group of thirty-six participants last week on the scenic Mount of Olives, Jerusalem. The group had expressed a desire to learn about Jews and Muslims on their trip to the Holy Land, as well as to participate in bespoke 3FFME study sessions. The theme of this particular study session was Prayer, and the three different traditions of prayer – Jewish, Christian and Muslim, were presented and discussed by the group’s participants.

Contact (1) Full Name
Miriam Feldmann Kaye
Head of the organisation
Miriam Feldmann Kaye