About

Praying Together in Jerusalem is a movement whose participants believe in the power of side-by-side prayer to bring friendship, respect and, ultimately, peace between people of all faiths. Gatherings have been held since October 2015 on the last Thursday of every month at sunset, meeting at the Jaffa Gate of the Old City of Jerusalem and praying at various venues within and outside the walls.

Our hope is to be joined by members of all faiths who wish to show their love of the Holy City and all of its inhabitants through a public expression of their faith.

In addition to our regular gatherings, PTIJ organizes occasional events to provide opportunities for people of diverse faiths to meet, pray alongside each other and share wisdom from their various sacred texts.

PTIJ emerged out of the Visioning Interfaith Activism in the Holy Land Conference held at the Tantur Ecumenical Institute in June of 2015.  It was the initiative of Peta Jones Pellach & Fr. Russ McDougall, residents of Jerusalem. Eliyahu McLean became the third founding partner.  The coordinator of the Visioning Interfaith Activism in the Holy Land Conference, Raanan Mallek, has continued in this capacity for Praying Together in Jerusalem since its inception. The movement has grown, and in addition to individuals, many organizations committed to interfaith dialogue and peace have given their support. The list of participating organizations includes:

Sponsoring Organizations: Tantur Ecumenical Institute and the Elijah Interfaith Institute.

Supporting Organizations: Jerusalem Peacemakers, Interfaith Encounter Association, Palestine Peace Society, Kids4Peace, the Sisters of Sion, Dibbur Hadash, Microphones for Peace, Pardes Center for Judaism and Conflict Resolution, ADAShA The Jerusalem Center for Interreligious Encounter and Dibbur Hadash.

Steering Committee: Peta Jones Pelach, Fr. Russ McDougall, R. Eliyahu McLean, Taleb Al-Harithi, Yehuda Stolov and Reuven Hanan Stone (coordinator).

Any questions can be directed to the project coordinator, Reuven Hanan Stone – Email: stone.reuven@gmail.com – Phone: 0586151906

Our Prayer Gatherings

Each gathering of PTIJ begins with a welcoming circle to celebrate our coming together as friends of diverse faiths. The welcome is followed by a brief teaching on a theme relevant to all.

The heart of our gatherings is side-by-side prayer. Each religious group prays in its own authentic fashion, Muslims facing Mecca, Jews turning towards the heart of Jerusalem and Christians pray in a circle. Visually, this is a powerful image. Once the prayers begin, the mingling of voices, the sounds of different languages, the harmony of melodies, the moments of silence all combine to create a sense of sanctity. We pray differently, but not to compete with one another, rather, to support and enhance each other. Our prayers blend, in harmony.

Our gatherings conclude with coming together again in one circle, where we share two or three melodies coming from different traditions together and then have a moment of silence, to reflect on the significance of our having prayed together in Jerusalem.

The whole gathering usually lasts for 45 minutes.

Any questions can be directed to the project coordinator, Reuven Hanan Stone – Email: stone.reuven@gmail.com – Phone: 0586151906