 Eliyahu with Ibrahim Abu el-Hawa and a Japanese monk  Friday Peace Vigil, Wailing Wall, 2001 |
It Takes Two Wings to Fly
An article from
Jerusalem Post Magazine,
8 February 2002
Continued through the next four pages
Walk along Rehov HaTamid in the Jewish Quarter, overlooking the Kotel on a Friday between 12:00 and 1:30 noon. You will see the pious hurrying to pray at the Kotel. You will hear the imam in the mosque on the Temple Mount preaching to the faithful.
And you will see a small group sitting in a circle on the ground in the open area facing the Western Wall and the Temple Mount. Maybe you'll see a Japanese Buddhist priest among them. Maybe you'll see a Sufi sheikh in the circle of Jews and non-Jews. One face you'll see there regularly is Eliyahu Charanamarit McLean.
"We gather here every Friday at this hour since the outbreak of violence in September 2000," 33-year-old McLean says. "We started then with a three-day fast and prayer vigil for healing and mourning the loss of life on every side and we study the holy books of all wisdom traditions.
"We pray for understanding, tolerance and reconciliation between Palestinians and Israelis. Come and join us," he adds with a broad, guileless smile.