Earlier this week we had the opportunity at Or Shalom Synagogue to host Eliyahu McLean and Sheikh Ghassan Manasra speaking about their work with Jerusalem Peacemakers. Jerusalem Peacemakers brings together spiritual leaders from different faith traditions for “spiritually-based discussions about peace.”

I came to the evening with one question in mind: “What do you mean by ‘spiritually based’ peacemaking?” But I did not have to articulate the question aloud. During the course of the evening, the speakers offered four pieces of the answer: Building friendship, sharing music, speaking compassionately, knowing oneself.

1. Building Friendship: Eliyahu showed slides of two very different events involving Jerusalem Peacemakers. Each event had only one goal: to create and celebrate friendship and co-existence.

At the  World Congress of Rabbis and Imams for Peace, rabbis and imams told stories of earlier eras of collegiality between religious leaders in North Africa and the Middle East. “My rabbi grandfather consulted with the chief imam on certain questions.” “My imam grandfather studied Talmud with the chief rabbi.” People reached into the past to create a hope for the future. They reclaimed a legacy of friendship from their family histories.

During the  Jerusalem Hug outdoor picnic and festival, residents of this multicultural city gathered at the Jaffa Gate, sharing a picnic and listening to music. As the afternoon continued, passers-by of various ages, ethnicities, and religious traditions joined the circle, holding hands and singing. Religious Muslim and Jewish women stepped up to make women-only circles. Everyone came together to celebrate the diverse city they love. Some recognized neighbours; others made new connections.

2. Sharing Music: Eliyahu described a tense moment during a session of the World Congress. Through the discomfort, a Sufi sheikh began singing a beautiful chant. When he was done, a rabbi began a niggun. Soon everyone was singing along with familiar middle eastern modes that touched their hearts, and the tension was broken.

3. Speaking compassionately: Eliyahu explained the need to use language that calms emotion and invites conversation. If you frame a discussion as being about “Zionism” or “Palestine,” everyone who feels they have been harmed by one or the other entity becomes nervous. Feeling threatened, they become angry, and avoid reaching out in relationship. But if you say, “We are all the children of Abraham, looking for a way to live together in our Holy Land,” everyone feels invited into the conversation.

4. Knowing Oneself: Sheikh Ghassan reminded us that knowledge has many dimensions, including knowledge of facts and ideas gained at school, and knowledge of human psychology gained through self-reflection. He explored the truism, “The Other is Me.” If it is true, then in order to understand anyone, we must understand ourselves first. But how do we come to understand ourselves? In relationship with others, we gain insights into their nature, and use the insights to inquire into ourselves.

Why inquire into ourselves as a means of spiritual growth? Because God’s true “house” is in people’s hearts.