Peace Through Music

What do you imagine would happen if you put thirty five religious and secular Jews, Christians, Muslims and Druze in an ancient building in an ancient center of Jewish Mysticism in Northern Israel?

They create harmony, that's what.

Sometimes difficult situations birth the mothers of invention.
And many mothers there are. Dr. Essica Marks, who you will see at the end of this video, along with Vered Yaakovich, two forward thinking, open minded women, one a kibbutz dweller, the other a religious Jew, co-direct the new three year academy which combines a unique blend of ethnic music: from Klezmer and Hasidic music to classical Arabic and Turkish Maqam with other mediterranean, Irish, Gospel, and Accappella music thrown in to round out the multi-cultural repertoire.

I am fortunate to lead the singing department of the college. This video begins with one of my students Lubna Salame, joined by other students as they warm up for the concert given on Thursday evening at Bet Hadassah in the ancient city of Safed.



Leading other departments are Yair Dallal, who leads the Jewish Arab music section who you can see in the following video, leading the orchestra in the opening piece:



Eyal Sela, who heads the Mediteranean Music and Wind Department, and Eyal Shiloach who heads the Hasidic Music and Violin Department followed with a wonderful blend of Hasidic and Klezmer music. Following was a traditional Arabic composition conducted by Emad Dallal, who heads the classical Arabic Music Department:



Unfortunately the battery of my phone cum video ran out, preventing me from recording the beautiful performances of the singers. Fortunately I was able to get a short clip of Shira Yaari singing a beautiful classic Israeli folk tune:


Every person involved in this school, from the administrators, to the teachers to the students to the audience who came to listen to our first concert are to be commended for contributing to a very constructive program.

Please pass it on. If you would like to learn more about the many faceted directions of Israeli music, check out wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_of_Israel#Music_education

To hear more music peace: www.cdbaby.com/all/musicpeace

Female Singers and the Prophetess Miriam

It's a trend with me. Female singers. Druze, Christian, Jewish. They come wanting to connect with a deeper voice inside. They are already beautiful singers in their own right. Many of them earn their living from the art.

Yesterday, I received yet another new client. She is Druze from the village of Magd Al Shams on the Syrian Border. Five minutes from her village is Berekhat Ram,



the lake where the Archeulian Goddess (shown above) was recently found. This stone figurine,is dated between 50-80,000 years old.

The soft power of the feminine, is rock solid.



The prophetess Miriam, led the Hebrews in celebration upon their successful crossing of the Red Sea to freedom from slavery in Egypt. She was a powerful leader in her own right. I suspect that she was most likely a highly regarded priestess in the Eypgtian temple of Hathor. Since her baby brother Moses, whom she guarded in the bulrushes, convincing the pharoahs daughter to adopt him, ended up a prince, Miriam too was inside the court.

We have Miriam to thank for quietly leading behind the scenes and for saving the ancient powerful techniques of voice and rhythm for sound health and happiness. I have made a commitment to serve as a modern midwife bridging the ancient technologies for modern use.

The Druze, are a sect whose ties are also in Egypt. They fled persecution as well, and settled in the high places of Northern Israel, Syria and Lebanon. I don't think it is by happenstance that all of the wonderful women singers are coming to me to connect more deeply with their voice. Their culture has a strong base founded in the reverence of the feminine divine.

Miriam's power is most definately coming back.

Hebrew Goddess - Tree Ceremony

This is a lovely Hebrew Tree Ceremonial Dance choreographed by
Bosmat Carmeli who worked with the girls of my Galilee community, according to the ancient nature tradition.

Note the natural instruments, frame drum and violin, all played by women, supporting the ancient Hebrew tradition.

Galilee Dressed in White

It is so unusual for it to snow in Israel. This morning I woke up to a beautiful suprise.

Baby Music Research & Dr. Emoto Water Crystal Video

Healing Music Research, Eliana Gilad & Dr. Masaru Emoto

Add to My Profile | More Videos It is an interview with Rivka Michaeli, (the Israeli Barbara Walters), myself and Dr. Arnon, who conducted the first research upon Voices of Eden music in a neonatal ward at Meir Hospital which serves a 50/50% Jewish and Arab population. There is a cool clip of healing harpist Sunita Staneslow and I performing in the intensive care unit for an Arab couple and their baby. The research, which continued for three years, shows that live Voices of Eden music lowers blood pressure, heart rate , increases focus and quality of sleep. The results were published in the June 2006 American medical journal BIRTH - Issues in Perinatal Care. In November of 2006 another research project based upon ours, was begun in eight neonatal wards across the United States. Joanne Loewy of Beth Israel Hospital in New York City is involved in the project.

Christmas is Different in the Holyland

Isn't this sunset beautiful! I shot it last week from the window of our Jewish-Arab msic program at Safed College. The weather was cold, yet the beauty warmed our hearts.

Birds are singing in the background as I post this blog. Winter rays filter through the blinds of myh living room window warming my fingers as they type these words.
IT is Christmas eve in Galilee. I can sense the Christ spirit through the quiet, through the soft quality of silent reflection which accompanies my morning meditation.

I am not a Christian. My spiritual proclivities are committed to a relationship with what I call the "Source of all". This includes all. How could there be anything separate from the Divine Source? There is a soft and supple quality to this Source, a roundness that continually beckons me to dull my own rough, sharp edges.

I experience the Christ spirit with the soft energy expressed through the Shechina - connected to the mystic Jewish tradition of Kabbalah founded in Safed, twenty minutes up the road from my home. You can see it in the picture.

Because Israel is a Jewish state, there are no huge Christmas sales, or commercial hype which bombards the Western world. In the Christian villages of Galilee, there will be family meals and services in the churches. But there is little hype, allowing for the true Christ spirit to get through. There is something special in the air here in Galilee. If you want to experience it first hand, the Sacred Peace tour set for March is just for this reason.

Someone suggested I rent the DVD Goya's Ghosts about the historic period of the Inquisition. It too me only five to ten minutes to decide that this was NOT the movie for me. I have been on the stretcher long enough. I have persecuted myself and others enough with my insecurities, even in the name of good.

On this Christmas eve morning I receive the gift of forgiveness and compassion towards all those jagged edges of my soul and wish all of you a sense of deep calm that you truly deserve.

I

Babies and Music Research and Dr. Emoto

I was just browsing through my files and came across an interview filmed a few years back when we were in the midst of healing music research project in an Israeli neonatal ward. Rivka Michaeli, the Israeli Barbara Walters, interviews Dr. Arnon of Meir Hospital (50/50% Jewish-Arab) and myself about the Voices of Eden live music project in the intensive care unit of the hospital. In this video, you can see us at work. This interview was also to introduce Dr. Emoto's visit to Israel to present his Messages from Water. We presented together at a Thank The Water Conference at the shores of Galilee. During that time, I gave him a copy of the healing music I composed for the research (which you can listen to here)and invited him to research it as well through his special photographic process. The water crystal photo of the music looks like a snow flake. In two weeks I have the good fortune of meeting with Dr. Emoto again, when we will both present at the International Sound Healing Conference in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Reflections and Honesty

It is the day before Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement in the Jewish religion. Here in Israel, everything stops. There are no cars in the streets, and in the cities, one can watch a parade of bicycle riders using the day to reflect on wheels.

For me, the day comes as a culmination of about six months of deep internal inventory, which came to a climax on August 31st, my 50th birthday with more time out to look at the last 50 years of my life and make decisions about how I want to live the following ones.

This summer I took time out to regroup and it has been awesome. I am very grateful to all of you who have supported my vision by reading this blog or my newsletter, purchased my music come to one of my courses or on a sacred peace tour. Your contribution has helped me to grow and learn so much.

Fifty years is an awesome period of life. At the pinnacle of health, no longer a youth, no longer searching for purpose, only to fulfill the purpose of life to it's max. I am learning more and more each day, that the point is to enjoy.

And enjoy I have, this summer (as you can see by my delight with my birthday cake)!

Hope to hear from you soon, and to hopefully see you soon.

Hummus in Pek'in - Ancient Galilee Peace Village

Now that summer is over, I can begin to post some of the wonderful visits during my vacation. This one was taken in Pek'in the ancient peace village in Galilee, where Jews, Christians, Druze and Muslims have lived for many centuries. I took the video in El Efendi restaurant - run by a Druze family. You'll get to meet them all here, including baby who sits perched upon the table while eveyone else eats Hummus. Now, for those of you in the US who think you know what hummus is... guess again... it is not the store purchased paste that you spread inside of a sandwich. This is liquid gold, that you wipe with a pita and it is made fresh every few hours. Watch and lick your chops as you do so. And if you want to taste it... well then you can join us on a Journey of Living Peace and taste it for yourself. There is an upcoming group in October and it is not too late to sign up, and another one in March 2008.

Music of Israel and Galilee

This is a video of Jewish and Galilee music from this summer at the open air amphitheater in my village of Amirim. Please enjoy.

Later I will upload some more really cool videos I took this summer. Amongst them...

I got to go by myself to the museum of the ancient Canaanite Temple of Hatzor in the Galilee. Unfortunately, not enough people seem to be interested in the archeological remains. There is alot of cool stuff in the museum. Watch and enjoy my musical tour. I sing while I explain what it is that I am seeing in this thirteen minute video tour of the museum in Kibbutz Ayelet HaShahar.

If you didn't think there was a direct connection between ancient Egypt and Israel, Cyprus, Galilee, Mesopotamia, well, this will show it.

It was pretty cool!!!!

Byron Katie & Jewish & Arab Women in Israel

Byron Katie came to Israel in July 2007. More than 1800 Jews, Christians and Muslims gathered to ask themselves four simple questions as a means to relieve their suffering and contribute to living peace.

Eliana Gilad, founder of Voices of Eden, who also organizes living peace tours in the Holy land, interviewed Tsila Hartman who along with her Arab colleague, Raouda Masalcha, who took it upon themselves to mobilize the Arab community to meet with Katie during her visit.

During the hour long teleconference, Gilad and Hartman, along with participants from all around the globe joined to explore how we can go beyond our inner barriers and beyond to connect with our inner peace.    Click to listen here.

Tsila Hartman shared the process of organizing this event along with Arik Peled, who along with his wife Vered, brought Byron Katie to Israel for the landmark event, which you can watch here.

The response to the teleconference was so inspiring that a follow up web conference will be planned to allow for the good to grow. Listen how one woman was moved to tears to participate in a constructive activity generated from the Middle East. 

Byron Katie & The Work in Israel 2

I am excited to announce that after speaking with Arik Peled, who with his wife Vered are responsible for bringing The Work of Byron Katie to Israel, we will be having a free teleconference to give voice to the Good which exists in the Middle East, but which is too often not portrayed by the media. For this reason, through Voices of Eden, I produce these teleconfererences, it the impetus behind this entire blog, and the hope that you will come experience the good here for yourself by participating in a sacred peace tour.

Last Saturday - more than 1500 people gathered in Tel Aviv to consciously participate in a process of self inquiry. The following day, another 300-400 Arabs gathered with Byron Katie to do the same.

With a bit of luck, Tsila, who is responsible for the Arab sector, will also participate in the teleconference, along with both Jews and Arabs who were at these historic living peace events.

Please keep posted. We will be sending out details over the next few days. Mark July 23rd on your calendars.

Byron Katie in Israel

Yesterday I had the good fortune to spend the day with 1500 other Israelis who gathered to meet with Byron Katie and let go of their limiting and negative beliefs, source of all suffering.

Today, she is meeting with another large group of Arabs to do the same.

If you want to see conscious peace making in action.... watch the above!!!!

If you want to REALLY contribute to peace - come join us. Alex Peled did a fantastic job of putting the event together. As we say in these parts... KOL HA KAVOD!

Jerusalem - On the Road Again

It is nine am on Sunday morning. A new week unfolds... in Israel, the workweek begins on Sunday and ends on Thursday... In another few hours my partner Boaz comes to pick me up and we are on our way to Jerusalem for some meetings.

In the afternoon we will meet with peacemaker Eliyahu Maclean of Jerusalem Peacemakers At 6 pm today, we meet again in the old city for the next installment of the Hug Around Jerusalem. The Hug had such an effect that the people at Damascus Gate asked that we continue. Eliyahu reported that there were crowds of people at the Damascus Gate - and that it excited him to witness such a spontaneous outburst of positive energy. The hug was so moving. Take look at this clip where we chanted Peace - Shalom - Salaam into the walls. James Twyman was moved to bring a group of peacemakers from the US to join us... there were others from around the world as well.



Here is a gorgeous compilation of the entire event, you can get a feel of the different angles and angels who were there:



Please join us today with your heart... and if you feel so moved, consider joining us in person. I ask you to please consider coming to the Holy land yourself to witness the good that is growing here. Yes, you may need to overcome your fear of the Middle East. The good news is, that by freeing yourself of that fear, you free yourself from all your fears. Please remember that your idea of the Middle East comes from images portrayed through the popular media, whose job it is to sensationalize.

What if you were to choose to experience life from a WIDER LENS?!!!!?!!!!!!
I GUARANTEE you that when you come here, your mind will be expanded 1000%, your transformation so bold and bright, that you will never see life the same again.
You will meet real people living peacefully - in a place you believe is filled with only hatred and war. What we focus upon increases.

Good is calling you... Are you ready to answer?

Please do something kind for yourself today... YOU DESERVE IT!!!

Circle of Love

Is this picture sweet or what! I just received it from a friend by email. I am impressed by the power of it's simplicity. I am also moved by the power of many to create stunning beauty, just by BEING TOGETHER.

I write simply to share this simplicity with you. In my own small way, this I reach out to you.

Please remember to connect with your goodness today. I promise to practice this myself.

Video Clips from Jerusalem Hug

It was a heavenly experience to be together in Jerusalem. Our collective energy was harmonious, which you will hear in this video. After singing, Jimmy led us in a prayer for Jerusalem in English, and following that, I led us in a Hebrew prayer for Holy City. Notice that when we begin to pray, how there is a stupendous light which appears over James' head. All that is seen is the suns' orb, everything else paels around it. From there, a halo grows as the group comes back into physical focus. I remember holding the camera very still. It did not move. Astounding, eh!!! Miracles are commonplace when we focus together upon the highest good. Listen and see one here:



Here is a beautiful man from the group hugging the walls around Jerusalem, as James Twyman and I embrace and join him and others around the walls. It was a beautiful day.



Earlier, we met in the park surrounding the old city. Spontaneous gatherings, meditation, music, dance and other activities were led by those so moved to contribute. I was witness to a beautiful meditation led by LaSara Firefox and a few other people who together, gave reverence to mother earth. You can see the beauty in their faces and hear it in their voices.

Hug Around Jerusalem

What I love about living in the Middle East is how dynamic life is. All you have to do is finish one thing, and the next event begings. Never a dull moment! The good thing about this is that it creates a sense of aliveness. I am so grateful for this quality. It makes life really fun.

So, the Pilgrims of Peace (see posts below) just left a few days ago, and now Jimmy Twyman is here with a great group of people who he brought. We had a great time together presenting on the Gandhi King Peace Train - Living Legends of Non-Violence conference. Tomorrow promises to be spectacular as well. Check out the Jerusalem Hug website here. Even if you cannot be there with us physically, you can join us virtually through the website.

In honor of the Jerusalem Hug, I am offering a free gift throughout May. For every Voices of Eden cd purchased this month, I will add in a free guide to "Your Inner Jerusalem". This is a beautiful guide to help you reconnect to those divided parts inside of yourself. You can offer it as a gift to your friends as well. Order cds here.

Images of Transformation

So many different experiences, so many varying viewpoints, plans that get changed on a dime, as is the norm in the Middle East, and these pilgrims of peace were so flexible with it all.

Following are a collage of photos from the week. There are also a few cool video clips. The first is of peacemakers Ibrahim and Eliyahu of Jerusalem Peacemakers. Ibrahim speaks to the group here. Another cool clip is that of the Bedouin musician singing in the tent on an ethnic eastern harp.

This is Sheikh Bukhari and Vanessa Karam in Jerusalem:

This photo is from the Bedouin Women's Weaving Cooperative:









Steve Puzarne and Rebecca Jupiter in Akko:


Wilfredo Benitez has a keen eye for photography. Can't wait to see HIS photos!










Jerry Stinson & Joan Waller at rest:














A bride and groom were taking wedding photos at the Port of Akko when we were there:












And a Bedouin girl who watches us from behind the chicken coop wall of their make shift home.

Whirling Emotions to Whirling Dervishes

Vision without action is a daydream. Action without vision is a nightmare.

These are the words of Father Elias Chacour, author of the best-selling book "Blood Brothers," founder of the Mar Elias Educational Institute in Israel and three times nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.




We met with Elias Abu Janina, Vice Principal of this interfaith institute, with classes from kindergarten through college, that enrolls more than 5,000 children, including Christians, Muslims, Druze and Jews, all of whom study together.

"Meeting with Chacours' place, was the most inspirational message of the day.", said Wilfredo Benitez. We were on the bus and I was taking notes for this blog so you share a more visceral experience from the participants themselves. "It was inspirational because it tells us that vision without accompanied by action leads to no where. It's stifles. It has no life, unless you put your belief into action. "Vice versa...", he added, "an action that is not inspired by a vision in the end, is an empty shell. It doesn't build anything. That is why it inspired me."

Jetlag, too little sleep, foreign smells, and group dynamics all contribute to what Day Three of a group tour is endearingly referred to as "crash day". This, in addition to the powerful sentiments expressed by people they have been meeting with would make the impact of this well known phenomenon even more likely.

The heated discussion with the Israeli-Palestinian Alternative Voice in the Galilee group stirred emotions and brought to light the various and sometimes conflicting views of how to best handle the inequality between Israel and it's indigenous Palestinian citizens.

Knowing this, we planned a meeting in the evening with the Jewish - Arab - Palestinian Akko theater company to allow for the pilgrims of peace to express their experience so far. The program opened with the dance of the whirling dervishes, and was followed by an introduction by founders Moni Yosef - Managing Director & Actor and Khaled Abu Ali - Actor & Director, and other members of the interfaith staff.

Moni asked the pilgrims to please introduce themselves and to share their impressions thus far, of their visit to Israel. With my trusty laptop in hand, I transcribed their replies (thank God for my fast typing skills - to whom I owe my eight grade typing teacher a HUGE thanks... who knew then, how practical that skill would actually become in the age of the computer revolution):

Alima Sherman: "Having a heart that is heavy and hopeful."

Rebecca Jupiter: "I am an actress and singer so it is very exciting for me to be here right now. Thank you."

Yona Weisman (tour guide): "Seeing another perspective even after being here for so many years. Every day brings another emotion, another calm."

Jerry Stinson: "Yesterday I heard the hope and the struggle. When we were at at kibbutz struggling to find hope, and then we went into the west bank and it was painful.

Paul Waller: "I have visited Israel once before doing the tourist thing. This time it is talking with real people seeing the problems and it is enriching."

Joan Waller: "I was born in Canada. I can hear his emotion and for me it is a colidescope of feelings and emotions, I appreciate that it is a crazy country and can be frustrating. At home we work with a dialogue group with Israeli's and Muslims. This has been an intense experience for us of hearing peoples pain, so I don't know where I am. But I know it is exactly what I need to be experiencing."

Steve Puzarne (group leader and tour co-founder): "I am a cantor but I have been doing peace work for a while. I had an opportunity to be involved with Rabbis for Human Rights, and it became clear that unless you come here and experience directly, you never get to see Jews and Arabs actually trying to get along. Unless I could show them first hand, they would never believe me. These are brave people. They had no track record and they came with me anyway. We are hoping that with this foundation, that we can bring hundreds and hundreds of people to share in friendship and love to change the negative impressison of what is going on."

Wilfredo Benitez: "I am American Puerto Rican and Cuban . I am Pastor of a congregation that worships in four languages, Spanish, English, Vietnamese and Korean. We have a truly multifaith congregation – everything that you can imagine. If we truly practice our religions we will have an easier time together."

Boaz Gershon: (My partner). "I moved to the Galillee 25 years ago. My wife is a lawyer. She has worked for 25 years in Akko in a Muslim law firm. We have created a start up – we are starting to do something that hasn't been done before. There are some aspects that are very simple, buses… hotel, hardware, but where we speak of the software, the people, we are writing it right now, all of this will go into the melting pot which is very advanced in what is called, the travel business. "

Pilgrimage of Peace Continues

The above photo was taken in my village of Amirim, a vegetarian health village situated in the hills of Galilee, on the road to Safed (Tsfat) in the Meron Mountains. The group had just arrived from a long day of touring and visiting with peace projects of Kibbutz Metzer and the humanitarian health project of Middleway in the village of Barta'a. The morning found them on a walking tour of Nazareth, to the White Mosque and to the Church of the Annunciation where Rev. Wilfredo Benitez lead the group in a moving meditation.

I don't know if the photo relays the energy with which they arrived to Amirim after a deeply moving day - even with jetlag from the many hours of travel the day before.
It was deeply gratifying for me to receive them at my home and the Voices of Eden Peace Center for dinner and a healing music program. After a silent meditation under the ancient carob tree to acknowledge the powerful meetings and dynamics experienced over the last twenty four hours, we sat down to a lovely vegetarian meal so lovingly prepared by Nati.

After dinner, it was not at all difficult to invite people into the healing music center to lie on the mattresses for a healing music meditation. This ancient healing and transformational music is intentionally wordless, bypassing the intellect, allowing the listener to connect within him or herself. The musicians of the project are Jewish and Arab... I was not playing for more than a few minutes before the lovely sound of rhythmic snores began to accompany my singing and drumming... In other situations, one would take this as an offence. For me, the sounds of deep sleep are a profound compliment.

After the music meditation, I took dictation from the Pilgrims wanting to add to this blog, before moving on to their hotel... and more... welcomed sleep. Unfortunately, the computer "bleeped" before the comments were uploaded... drats...

You'll just have to read the next blog to see what people had to say... I began to record the notes FIRST on a Word Decument.