A man explaining to a group about the place they are in

ADAShA:  The Jerusalem Center for Interreligious Encounter

About the program

ADAShA: The Jerusalem Center for Interreligious Encounter provides groups which are interreligious in their composition or in their areas of interest with a serious, systematic and balanced educational experience in Israel. The Project’s innovative programs encourage personal discovery through firsthand experience. Site visits, text-study, lectures, meetings with local religious leaders and visits to local organizations serve as stimuli for far-ranging theological, historical and contemporary discussions amongst the participants. 

ADAShA (Hebrew and Arabic for “lens”) allows participants to explore their own Christian, Muslim or Jewish roots and gain a deeper understanding of key religious, cultural, spiritual and educational issues in Israeli and Palestinian society. This, along with confronting serious questions about faith, people and nationality in the context of complex regional problems. As part of ADAShA’s work, we engage with international communities and individuals who are passionate and active with regards to interfaith dialogue and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.    

Activities of ADAShA

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ADAShA Target Audience

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ADAShA creates programs for communities, universities, religious groups, inter-religious groups and others from abroad that want to experience a unique, nuanced, and sensitively multi-narrated visit in Israel/Palestine.

Programs range from in-depth seminar-tours (10-18 days) to short (half-day) workshops, and are designed for groups of first-timers or for returning visitors.

Seminars are tailored to the needs and interests of our partnering institutions (both universities and community groups).

Staff

Ophir Yarden, Program Director
ophir@rossingcenter.org

  • Religion and Politics » Hearing Two Narratives – and how not to export the conflict along religious lines » Understanding the Israel – Palestine Conflict and Interreligious initiatives for amelioration
  • The Faiths of the Holy Land » Commonalities and Differences between Jews, Christians, Muslims and Druze
  • Sacred Text and Archaeology » Jewish, Christian and Muslim Education: Teaching about ourselves and the other »
  • The Parting of the Ways: Christian-Jewish Relations over the ages » Study the origins and development of the troubled relationship and learn about its rehabilitation in recent times.
  • History of the Holy Land » Exploring aspects of the vast history packed into very little geography.
  • Religion and Spirituality » Investigate the diverse spiritualties of the land which inspires so many and to which so many dream of journeying to on pilgrimage
  • Religious Education in the Holy Land » How is religion taught and passed on amongst Christians, Muslims and Jews in Israel/Palestine? What are the advantages of working in the land of history?

All Programs include:

  • Exploration of sites sacred to Judaism, Christianity and Islam from both spiritual and historical perspectives.
  • Study of sacred text, often in situ
  • Meetings with religious leaders and activists
  • Encounters with political and civil society activists on the ground
  • Home hospitality
  • Visits to sites of religious and political tension
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From the Participants

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Ophir Yarden - ADAShA Program Director

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Ophir YardenOphir is a senior lecturer in Jewish and Israel studies at Brigham Young University’s Jerusalem Center and teaches in several other universities, colleges and seminaries in Jerusalem.  He is a licensed Tour Educator and has trained Tour Educators and Guides in Judaism and Islam since the 1990s.  Ophir has rich experience in interreligious work having coordinated and facilitated many engagement programs and has recently begun to teach courses on religion and conflict transformation. He serves on the Executive Board of the International Council of Christians and Jews (ICCJ) and is vice-president of the Jerusalem Rainbow Group for Jewish-Christian Encounter and Dialogue.  Ophir was born in the U.S.A and has been living in Jerusalem since 1978.

Global Calendar of Online Interreligious Events

Please submit your online events to: info@rossingcenter.org

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Among ADAShA’s Partners...

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Rossing Center partners
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Articles and More

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James Walters

Evaluating Interfaith Encounters: A Decade of Student Engagement with Israel and Palestine – Artical bu James Walters, London School of Economics. (2024)

We must treat other (religions) as we would like to be treated  Article by Ophir Yarden, Director of ADAShA. In The Times of Israel. (2022)

The Balfour Declaration: From Imagining a State to Re-imagining Majority-Minority Relations in Jewish Thought and the Jewish State – Article by Ophir Yarden, Director of ADAShA. In: Walters, James (ed.), Religious Imaginations: How Narratives of Faith are Shaping Today’s World. (2018)

Covering Religion in Israel and Palestine: Columbia school of Journalism reporters, articles and daily dispatches from ADAShA study tour. (2019)

In Tel Aviv, Jews join with Muslims in vigil mourning New Zealand dead: Article by Jonathan Harounoff, Columbia Journalism School Participant, written during ADAShA study tour (2019)

The Subjectiveness of Seeing:  Reflections from Jessica Foster, after participating in an intensive ADAShA seminar (2018)

Godland: A Reporting Journey to Israel and Palestine. Columbia school of Journalism articles and daily dispatches from ADAShA study tour. (2018)

The Land: Covering Religion in Israel and Palestine. Columbia school of Journalism articles and daily dispatches from ADAShA study tour (2014)

Covering Sacred Ground. Columbia school of Journalism articles and daily dispatches from ADAShA  study tour (2011)

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Target Audience and Program Length

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ADAShA creates programs for communities, universities, religious groups, inter-religious groups and others from abroad that want to experience a unique, nuanced, and sensitively multi-narrated visit in Israel/Palestine.

Programs range from in-depth seminar-tours (10-18 days) to short (half-day) workshops, and are designed for groups of first-timers or for returning visitors.

Seminars are tailored to the needs and interests of our partnering institutions (both universities and community groups).

Staff

Ophir Yarden, Program Director
ophir@rossingcenter.org