Reiki for Peace
Why Reiki for Peace?
Reiki energy
leads to individual healing, and Reiki
for Peace activities
lead to reduced tensions and the development of open communication, trust,
and friendship. Later, as more
students are trained, informal Reiki clinics will be set up with easy access
for all those living in this area -- making Reiki available as a treatment method and a healing path
for everyone.
The principal
participants in Reiki for Peace are Israelis and Palestinians. They learn Reiki, meet in mixed groups to
work together, sharing Reiki treatments, and then participating in
conversations, sometimes guided by a trained tri-lingual moderator, about
their reactions to this close physical and spiritual contact with those who,
under other circumstances, might be considered their adversaries. By working together in this way, students
learn to trust each other at a level far deeper than words can effect. Thus, Reiki Sharing leads to healing for each individual and to healing for
the group as a whole.
Where
and How was Reiki
for Peace Born?
In the region between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean
Sea, there live Arabs and Jews. For many years, and still today, there has
been distrust and fear between these two peoples. There is a great need to develop positive
opportunities for Jews and Arabs to meet, so that they can learn to
communicate effectively, and build a basis for trusting each other. Moreover, it seems that the entire region
suffers from strife and violence and that people living in the area are in
need of healing. Indeed, the region
itself needs healing!
Reiki for Peace was born of a
desire to address both of the need for personal healing and the need to heal
the region. The idea of Reiki
for Peace was inspired by conversations between the organization's
founder, Reiki Master Rahel Warshaw-Dadon, and
Palestinians about how to make peaceful co-existence possible.
History
of Reiki for Peace
Creation of the organization
2001-2003: New
beginnings
>>>
Under construction <<<
2003-2004: Reiki for
Peace is born!
2004-2006: First Steps
2007- : and the Sparks for the future….
Who are
we?
Board Members,
past and present (March 2007) and other active members….
Rahel Warshaw-Dadon - Founding Member,
Board Member, and Director
Rahel
Warshaw-Dadon emigrated from the United States to Jerusalem, Israel in 1979. She has a B.A. in Physics and the
Philosophy of Science (Boston University, 1971), an M.Sc. in Biophysics and
Molecular Genetics (M.I.T., 1976); she continued her studies towards a PhD
and conducted research in Molecular Biology (Hebrew University Medical
School, Jerusalem). For many years, Rahel
also worked as a music teacher.
Years ago, at
the urging of her physician, Rahel sought alternative treatments for severe
chronic asthma. In 1995, Rahel found
Reiki and started on her own healing path.
Soon after, she learned first and second degree Reiki, and started
working as a Reiki practitioner. In
August 2000, she was initiated as a Traditional Reiki Master. Rahel now spends most of the year in Israel and part of the year in the US (and sometimes Europe) teaching Reiki, treating Reiki
clients, and directing Reiki for Peace.
Founding Member and Board Member Elik
Yaari
Elik Yaari was
born in Jerusalem, Palestine (!) in June 1942 (before the
state of Israel was founded). He has B.A. in Political Sciences and
International Relations; and cooperated in the organizational development of
the Open University. He is a high
ranking Officer in the Israeli Police Force.
Presently, Elik serves as
a volunteer representing the public at the Jerusalem Area Labor Court. Elik's connection with the Arab population in Israel started when he served as a police
officer in Ramle, and continues to until today. He believes that beyond the complicated
political situation, personal connections lead to mutual understanding and an
improvement in the atmosphere and feeling between the two peoples.
Founding Member and former Board Member Beverly
Seligson
Coming soon!
Founding Member Naazem Shredi Jabari
Originally from Umm alFahem, Naazem Shredi
presently lives in Haifa. He studied television communication and
theater arts in Czechoslovakia. Trained as a Reiki Master, he works for
Israeli Television as a producer and director. He met Rahel at a meeting of Reiki Unity in
Israel, and
immediately offered to help found Reiki for Peace.
Founding Member and former Board Member
Carol Glass
Rabbi Carol Glass (USA) has a BA in Religion (Barnard College, 1975), an
MA in Jewish Education (The Jewish Theological Seminary, 1977), and Rabbinic
Ordination (Hebrew Union College, 1984).
In 2001-2003, Carol was on sabbatical in Jerusalem. She was an
active participant in MachsomWatch, an Israeli women’s volunteer organization
that observes at checkpoints/roadblocks outside of Jerusalem.
Carol also studied Jewish
hands-on energy healing and first degree Traditional Reiki. She joined Rahel in writing and editing
explanatory texts and grant proposals for Reiki for Peace, and
in doing so added her own energy and highly valued contribution to building Reiki
for Peace as a functioning not-for-profit organization.
Founding Member Aida Shibli
When we founded Reiki
for Peace, Aida Shibli was 30 years old and the mother of Neel, then
18 months old. Aida is a Muslim
Beduin, born in Shibli village in the north of Israel. At that
time she worked in Ein Kerem, Jerusalem, at the Hadassah Medical Center in the Intensive Cardiac Care Unit, and studied at
the School of Nursing of the Hebrew University. Aida has
since remarried (Mabruk!), and is presently working with other organizations
that further peace and co-existence in Israel/Palestine.
Founding Member and Board Member Eliyahu
McLean
Eliyahu grew up in Hawaii and studied at UC Berkeley. He currently lives in Jerusalem and is the director of Jerusalem
Peacemakers. One of the projects is
the Abrahamic Reunion, a group of Christian, Jewish, Muslim and Druze
religious leaders working together. Eliyahu
also is advisor to the Sulha Peace Project.
Eliyahu was
initiated as a 'Rodef Shalom' ('Pursuer of Peace') by Reb Zalman Schachter
Shalomi. Eliyahu's work is described
in the book At the Entrance to the Garden of Eden: A Jew's Search for God
with the Christians and Muslims in the Holy Land by Yossi Klein Halevi.
Eliyahu has Second
Degree Reiki training. He believes
that to do outer peace work one must also increase our inner peace, for
example through the practice of Reiki.
Members of the
Committee for Quality Control
Mufida Abd elRahamin
Mufida lives in Abu Ghosh, not far from Jerusalem.
She has a BA in English and Arabic Literature
(Hebrew University),
and is trained as an Insurance Agent and as a Travel Expert. She is especially interested in Children's Literature,
and is a serious Yoga student. Mufida first
"tasted" Reiki in 2004, and was immediately convinced that she wanted
Reiki in her life. She continues to give
herself Reiki regularly.
One of our dreams is that Mufida will create
organized tours in which participants will come from abroad to learn Reiki in
Jerusalem, and participate in Reiki
for Peace.
Tal Pinkerfeld
Tal was born in Israel
on Kibbutz Revadim. She has learned several
'alternative' treatment methods, including Shiatsu and the Elbaum Method, and
has mostly treated children with learning disabilities. Today, Tal works in Jerusalem
as a teacher in a Waldorf kindergarten, part of the Anthroposophic
Educational Movement. For a few years,
Tal and Rahel were neighbors, and it seemed natural for Tal to come to learn Reiki
and to join Reiki for Peace.
Tal believes that creating real, deep meetings between individuals is
the key to change and growth at both the personal level and the human level.
Some of our other
active members:
Mohamad Abed Fatiha
Mohamad has lived all of his life in Jabel
alMukaber, near southwestern Jerusalem. He is trained as an electrical engineer (in
particular in Program Logic Control) and has worked as a free lance
electrician in the Jerusalem
area. He has also taught Hebrew to
Arabic speakers. He writes poetry in
Arabic. Mohamad came to Reiki because he was curious, and stayed because
he got hooked. He is presently working
in a hospice for retarded adults. He frequently
gives Reiki treatments to his colleagues at work, and encourages them to get
Reiki training themselves.
Eli Binyamin
Eli lives in Jerusalem and has a B.A. in French
Literature and Psychology (Hebrew University, 2006). While looking for the right job, he is
spending large amounts of time making sure that this web site will be
created.
Yeshai Dadon
Yeshai, Rahel's son, now 24, has had Reiki
training since he was 13. Music,
sculpture, carpentry, fine cooking, and gardening are all important parts of
his life. He is presently living in San Francisco, and has sought out many people in the
large Palestinian community there who will join in us in our work.
Gary Weissman
We thank Gary for generously agreeing to put our site on the web.
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Picture to come
Cofr Jayous: Rahel + Girls
Rahel's Radio Interview
about Reiki and Reiki
for Peace
"The People's
Pharmacy, #608, 10/21/2006"
www.peoplespharmacy.com
National Public Radio
North
Carolina, USA
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