Haifa

The whole program went to Haifa yesterday. Haifa is Israel's third largest city. Situated in a broad natural bay between the beautiful Mediterranean Sea and the inspiring Carmel Mountain, the city's terraced landscape offers a rich variety of breathtaking panoramas. Haifa is home to 250,000 inhabitants, members of five different religions, living side by side in harmony, peace and mutual respect. Secular, Religious and Ultra-Orthodox Jews live side by side with Christians, Muslims, Bahai and Druze. It's really remarkable and being there one can't help but wish that the rest of Israel and the Palestinian territories (and of course the surrounding Arab countries) had this mentality. We started the day off in a beautiful monastery with gorgeous views of the sea. We then went to the Ba'hai gardens. The garden consists of 18 absolutely breathtaking terraced gardens with another beautiful view of the sea. The Ba'hai temple is situated in the middle of the terraces. The gardens are meticulously taken care of--beautiful grass, flowers, fountains, running water going alongside all the stairs (dozens of them connecting each terrace). The Bahá'í Faith is a monotheistic religion founded by Bahá'u'lláh in nineteenth-century Persia, emphasizing the spiritual unity of all humankind. There are an estimated five to six million Bahá'ís around the world in more than 200 countries and territories. Religious history is seen to have unfolded through a series of divine messengers, each of whom established a religion that was suited to the needs of the time and the capacity of the people. These messengers have included Krishna, Abraham, the Buddha, Jesus, Muhammad and others, including most recently Bahá'u'lláh. In Bahá'í belief, each messenger taught of the next, and Bahá'u'lláh's life and teachings fulfill the end-time promises of previous scriptures. Humanity is understood to be involved in a process of collective evolution, and the need of the present time is for the gradual establishment of peace, justice and unity on a global scale. Mount Carmel, sacred to Jews and Christians alike, is also well known for its significant importance to the Bahá'ís, and serves as their spiritual and administrative centre. I think it's a pretty cool faith. We then hiking a short ways to Elijah's cave. According to tradition, Prophet Elijah resided in this cave while running from the wrath of Ahab, king of Israel. We then went to an Achmedim mosque.The Achmedim is a sect of Islam that rejects all forms of violence. An Achmedim Muslim spoke to us about how Islam has been perverted by radical Muslims, and reiterated to us the fact that that is not what Islam is about. Everything he said was dead on in my opinion. He told us that he would not die for land or for stones, or kill for land or for stones. Religion and faith are more than just land and stones.
Work started to get better this past week. I think I'm becoming more comfortable with the staff. Except for the CEO and CFO, I think the entire staff is in their 20s! So that's pretty neat. They have been giving me a lot of responsibilities and work to do, but have also been giving me some very positive feedback, which is always nice to hear! I only have 3 days of work this week before Pesach break. :)