Topics of relevance to the promotion of intercultural and interfaith programs and issues occuring around the world will be presented by scholars, religious, spiritual leaders and special articles.
The Bubble Nebula, also known as NGC 7653, is an emission nebula located 11,000 light-years away. This stunning new image was observed by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope to celebrate its 26th year in space. Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble Heritage Team
ABOUT EMBRACE & SOME OF ITS’ REMARKABLE FOUNDING RABBIS, REBS
For 35 years Embrace has worked with open-hearted, open-minded Rabbis and Rebs and looks
forward to doing so for many years to come.
Founding Rabbis, like the close personal friend of the Embrace Founders, Rabbi Gelberman, were
raised in the Hasidic tradition and were even Hasidic Rabbis in Europe, before deciding to become
what might be termed “interfaith - spiritual.” This change came partially because of their desire to
share mystical Jewish teachings with interested gentiles and their determination to reach out to
people who were not Jewish to create better understanding between communities.
Rabbi Gelberman however, is one who despite losing his wife and children in the holocaust,
decided to “Embrace” love and goodness and to look forward with hope to a new kind of world with
the enthusiasm of the Besht. He was almost always cheerful. Of the Jewish Rabbis and Rebs doing
intensive interfaith work in the 1960’s and 1970’s Rabbi Gelberman and Rabbi Carlbach were
among the first and foremost. They both, especially Rabbi Gelberman contributed greatly to
Embrace. It should also be noted that these Rabbis were recommended to us early on by members
in the Sufi community who had already been doing interfaith programs with them before Embrace
was founded in 1982.
(A Note: Of all the early Religious, Spiritual leaders and Scholars working with Embrace, four were
deeply involved with interfaith work in the United States long before we were founded and all of
them were a strong foundation for our organization to build upon. - They were: Pir Vilayat Inayat
Khan (Sufi), Swami Satchidananda (Yoga, Hindu), Rabbi Joseph Gelberman (Judaism & the
Interfaith Seminary) and Rabbi Carlbach.) Also, these men were doing a lot of their work on the
East Coast of the United States, so they were easy to call upon and meet with. They all knew each
other for years and had collaborated with each other before Embrace was founded.)
It should also be noted that for many years Embrace had offices in two buildings in Manhattan, New
York where a large number of tenants were Torah Jews, (members of the Jewish Hasidic & Litvak
communities.) We grew to greatly respect and admire their unremitting adherence to “Truth” and to
their devotion to the Divine despite much unkind discrimination. The Litvak community regularly
demonstrates on behalf of Palestinian Human Rights in front of the United Nations and other
locations. All Hasidim and Litvak are peace oriented and try hard to adhere to the 10
Commandments, which the Government in the Holy Land perpetually violates especially
commandments 6, 8,9 & 10 without compunction.
To Learn More About Spiritual Judaism and Hasidic/ Litvak Judaism:
See: Ushpizin (The Guests) DVD - A Touching Story about Faith and Trying to Do the Right Thing
- All people can relate to it
Kabbalah -The Way of The Mystic, by Perle Epstein - Inspiring (Good for Beginner with Basics)
Sacred Treasure - The Cairo Genziah - By Rabbi Mark Glickman - The Embrace Founders visited
the Ben Ezra Synagogue where the Genziah is upstairs. As Rabbi Glickman muses, this is a long
period when Jews and Muslims were just normal neighbors and friends. Kept documents in the
Genziah give reference to these years. (Fine for Introduction)
The Tales of the Hasidim - Later Masters - Martin Buber - (Excellent for Introduction)
Zohar (Their are other translations) -Daniel Matt (Skylight Illuminations, Series Editor Andrew
Harvey)
The Essential Kabbalah - (Also other Translations) Daniel C. Matt - Intro. - Huston Smith
Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism - Gershom G. Scholem - (Scholarly)
Tree of Life - Zev Ben Shimon Halevi
Judaism - Edited by Arthur Hertzberg - George Braziller Publishers, (The Braziller family were
neighbors of the Embrace Founders for many years) (Excellent Book for Everyone) part of a series
of volumes on Buddhism, Christianity (Protestant & Catholic volumes), Hinduism, Islam & Judaism
These are just a very few we’ve pulled from our shelves.
International Repatriation of Sacred Objects for Indigenous People
Above talented young people demonstrated the difficult and fascinating Hoop Dance at the
International Repatriation Conference organized by the Association of American Indian
Affairs in New Mexico, USA.
Around the world sacred objects belonging to Indigenous People are put up for auction to non-
indigenous people to whom the ownership of First Peoples belongings is merely a status symbol to
be put on a shelf or hung on a wall. For indigenous people, these objects have an active and
important place in their cultural life.
The event honored the Honorable Kurt Riley, Governor of the Acoma Pueblo for his work in
repatriation - in particular an Acoma sacred shield from a Paris auction. The attorneys who work
closely for the Native American (First American) community also need to be acknowledged for their
determination, hard work and commitment to this cause.
The Lightening Boy Foundation, Youth Hoop Dancers and the Tesuque Pueblo Youth Dancers
demonstrated the complex Hoop Dance at the event.
As our friend Leo Cortez from the Santa Domingo Pueblo once said,”Dancing is the Indians way of
prayer...our feet pray.”
The Demographic and Ecological Situation in the Holy Land
Embrace has researched some information and percentages regarding the population in the Holy
Land. For those not familiar with the history of the Holy Land since WW II, we would like to explain
that there are Palestinians that agreed to become citizens of the government now controlling the
Holy Land, (hoping not to lose family homes, property and businesses - never-the-less, many lost
their homes, lands and businesses anyway.) Other Palestinians refused to become citizens and
lost all of their property, family heirlooms and businesses. These Palestinians live in the West Bank
and Gaza.
Dual Citizenship
One of the reasons for the discrepancy in population accounts of the Jewish population in the Holy
Land is that a vast number of Jewish people with citizenship in the Holy Land actually have dual
citizenship in the United States, Britain, the British Commonwealth Nations and Europe. Some
*Russian Jews also have dual citizenship although dual citizenship seems to be phasing out. A very
substantial number of these dual-citizens live outside of the Holy Land.
Our estimates from information gathered is that Palestinians living as citizens under the
current Holy Land government already outnumber the Jewish population living in the Holy
Land (not counting dual citizens) at approximately 53% or perhaps more.
(This is why when the Pentagon decides it isn’t going to fight a war for the Holy Land, amidst
threats of lobbying groups and media controlled by Holy Land government interests they must call
up Jewish people living in the countries listed above to serve in their armed forces.)
Having millions of Palestinians whose parents or grandparents were driven from their ancestral
homes living in Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon and Syria as well as the Gulf States is the reason the Holy
Land government has been tirelessly lobbying politically and through the media to get the U.S.
military to bomb Palestinians particularly in Syria and their neighbors, so they don’t have to call up
quasi-citizens living in Western nations to fight.
(*Russian Jews - It should be noted that due to very different outlooks on life and two world wars,
secular German Jews who run the Holy Land government and Russian Jews, as well as Torah
Jews rarely see eye to eye. That is why large numbers of Russian Jews returned to Russia from
the Holy Land. Also, some religious Jews notably the Litvak have given testimony that secular
German Jews who historically formed (and whose current adherents) run the Holy Land
government collaborated with the Nazis, sometimes turning-in religious Jews who died in the
concentration camps so that they could escape themselves.)
Ecological Damage
We are not going to reiterate what Aytzim.Org in the Holy Land has already honestly and concisely
outlined as to the ecologically toxic environment of the Holy Land. Every single part of nature has
been destroyed, air, land, water, animals, flora except to also mention the destruction of all the coral
reefs off the Coast of the Holy Land which are largely dead.
Unbridled greed, total lack of respect for the planet and overpopulation are the major causes.