Israel
Holy Land Holy People
Saturday October 11th through Thursday October 23rd, 2008
with Anna and Shahabuddin David Less
As proclaimed by Isaiah "My house shall be a house of prayer for all people." This journey to the Holy Land brings people from America and Europe to meet and experience and enjoy some of the people in the Holy Land who live this credo. Many people visit Israel just for the beautiful and spiritually magnetic sites, and we will too, but this adventure is also an opportunity to meet some of the great spiritual beings living there today and receive the blessing of their presence.
We also will give as well as receive. By simply showing up at their homes and witnessing their lives and efforts we are supporting these Holy men and women of the 4 major faiths of the Holy Land, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and the Druze religion.
All travelers in our past journeys to the Holy Land have been transformed by this trip. As you read the following personal descriptions of some of the people we will visit we know that your heart will clearly proclaim the need for you to journey there and support these friends who are embodying the principles of love and peace.
We will visit Jerusalem, Haifa, Tsvat, the Dead Sea, the Sea of Galilee, Mount Carmel and more.
The cost of the trip is $3350 if a $1000 deposit is received by August 1. After August 1 the cost of the trip will be $3650. The full balance is due by September 1. This includes all domestic travel, breakfast, dinner, admission fees, and hotels - double occupancy (single rooms are available for an additional $650) Cost does not include internatinoal airfare, lunches, drinks at meals and personal items (laundry, etc...) The tour begins in Israel on October 11th. Participants traveling from the U.S. will need to depart on October 10th. Departing flights from Israel should be booked for October 23rd departure. Please call our office before booking your flight in order to insure correct dates.
This tour is limited in size, space is available on a first-come-first-serve basis.
If you have questions or would like to register call our office at 941-993-9994 or email info@davidlesstours.com
Eliyahu McLean. An observant Jew living in Jerusalem, Eliyahu will share stories of hope from the Holy Land. Some of these projects include the Jerusalem Circle, the weekly Old City Peace Vigil, Jewish-Sufi prayer gatherings and the Sulha: Healing Abrahams family. These projects integrate spiritual principles found in the Jewish tradition and in ancient Arab culture. Eliyahu McLean was ordained by Reb Zalman Schacter as a "Rodef Shalom," "Peace Pursuer."
Sheikh Abdul Aziz il-Bukhari. Sheikh of the Naqshbandia Religious Method (Sufi) and Head of the Uzbeke Community of Jerusalem, where he lives now in the Old City, where his ancestors have lived for 400 years. Sheikh Bukhari has lived abroad as well as in Israel, and is a recognized religious leader in the Islamic community in Jerusalem. Among the activities of his center are: Sufi meditation, assisting foreign travelers, and holding interfatih dialogue and prayer.
Ibtisam Mahmid. Ibtisam is a deeply religious Palestinain Muslim woman from the city of Faradis, near Haifa, Israel. She has been active for 20 years in the field of Arab-Jewish co-existence, heading projects such as "Peace Begins With Me" and serving as 
Muslim coordinator of the Women's Interfaith Encounter. She works to foster relations between Arabs and Jews and to improve the status of women in both Arab and Jewish society
Elana Rozenman is co-founder of the Women's Interfaith Encounter, a program of the Interfaith Encounter Association in Israel, which she created when she decided to do peace-building as a response to the severe wounding of her son in a terrorist suicide bombing in Jerusalem. Other activities include creating an initiative to bring former US Peace Corps Volunteers to do peace-building work in Israel- Palestine, being co-director of WIMENA Women's Interfaith of the Middle East and North Africa, and a participant in the Women's Partnership for Peace in the Middle East, a program of of the Global Peace Initiative.
Rabbi Menachem Froman. Known throughout Israel as the "Peace Rabbi," Rabbi Froman lives in the West Bank settlement of Tekoa with his wife Haddassah. Rabbi Froman, the maverick Jewish religious peacemaker, has pioneered religious dialogue between Jews and Muslims, meeting with moderate and radical Muslim sheikhs in an effort to find solutions to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict from a basis of Jewish-Islamic understanding. Although some label him as the Rabbi to an illegal settlement in the West Bank, his openess and depth of understanding has made him friends with many Palestinians, including Abu Mazen, Yasser Arafat, and the late Hamas leader Sheikh Yassin.
Ibrahim Abu El-Hawa. Born on the Mount of Olives, Ibrahim Abu El-Hawa has been active for 30 years in Arab-Jewish reconciliation and is involved in many humanitarian missions. He maintains a home that is open to all peoples of all faiths and is truly the host of Jerusalem. It is not unusual to find a Zen monk, a Native American heraler, Rabbinical students and Hindu swamis all visiting Ibrahim and his family. His door and his heart are always open.
Elias Jabbour. An Israeli-Palestinian-Christian-Arab whose family traces its Christian heritage in the Galilee to biblical times. For centuries his ancestral village Shefar'Am (where we will visit him at his home) had been inhabited by families of four faiths: Christian, Muslim, Jewish, and Druze who lived peaceably together as neighbors. Elias Jabbour, like his father before him, is a respected practitioner of "sulha," a traditional Palestinian peacemaking process, and a leader of interfaith dialogue and reconciliation in Israel. Elias is the founder of the House of Hope. He and his wife Heyam have received several international awards for promoting interfaith dialogue.
Rabbi Yosef Hadane. Cheif Rabbi of the Ethiopian Jews in Israel, embodies the deep wisdom found in the people of the desert, the light found in the people of themountains, and the humility found in the great souls. Spending time with him is a gift for all who appreciate depth and peace.
Sheikh Hussein Abu Rukun. An elder and recognized spokesperson for the Mowahhidoon (Druze) faith, Sheikh Hussein Abu Rukkun has traveled widely in efforts to build bridges with other religions, including Hinduism and Tibetan Buddhism. He embodies the essence of the Druze tradition, embracing the principles and the Holy books of the three more widely known Abrahamic religions, while also integrating the Druze belief in reincarnation.
Imam Khalil Al-Baz is a key spokesperson for the Bedouin population of Israel. He is passionate about peace
and committed to expressing the message of the unity of all the children of Abraham. There are approximately 170,000 Bedouin in all of Israel and their communities are known for their tolerance and openess.
Deacon Jiries Mansour Deacon Mansur represents the Greek Catholic Church and is on the Board of the Interfaith Encounter Association. He has been active in convening religious leaders in interfaith dialogue to reduce local youth violence.
