T

he Jewish Community 
Relations Council/ AJC, 
in cooperation with 
World Peace Outreach and the 
Interfaith Leadership Council, 
embarked on an interfaith mis-
sion to the Holy Land earlier 
this summer, convening a group 
of leaders from the Muslim, 
Christian and Jewish communi-
ties in Metro Detroit.
The group — Rabbi Asher 
Lopatin, Dr. Mahmoud 
Al-Hadidi, his wife, Nada 
Al-Hadidi, Bob Bruttell, and 
Daniel Bucksbaum — began in 
Jerusalem, which, according to 
all three Abrahamic faiths, is a 
shared place of sacred begin-
nings. 
Starting underground and 
working their way up, the group 
took a tour of the newly reno-
vated Davidson Center and the 
City of David underground tun-
nel tour. These tours explained 
the significance of the Temple 
Mount to all three religions 
and displayed ancient artifacts, 
including some predating the 
first Temple. 
The group then visited some 
of the most important Christian 
sites according to traditional 
belief, from the Church of the 
Nativity in Bethlehem to the 
Basilica of the Annunciation 

in Nazareth, and from the spot 
of Jesus’ baptism on the Jordan 
River, to the Church of the Holy 
Sepulchre in Jerusalem. 
 Standing above the Bahai 
Garden overlooking the port 
of Haifa, the group engaged in 
thoughtful discussion about 
the complexities of balancing 
religious orthodoxy with accep-
tance of offshoot religions in 
the three Abrahamic faiths. This 
topic was revisited while visiting 
the remote village of Ghajar, 
along the northern border with 
Lebanon and the Golan Heights. 
In the ancient city of Hebron, 
our shared prophet, Abraham, 
bought a plot of land to 
bury himself and his family. 
Naturally, our group visited the 
tomb of Abraham, from whom 
we all share a common lineage. 
Unfortunately, for security rea-
sons, Muslims and Jews were 
forced to enter through different 
sides of the same building and 
view the same tomb through 
different windows. This experi-
ence was indeed a metaphor for 
our shared experience on this 
land. Experiencing the politics 
of the country was unavoidable. 
While not a traditional reli-
gious holy site, the Banias Falls 
in northern Israel became a 
spiritually enriching site for 

A ‘Shared 
Place of Sacred 
Beginnings’

28 | AUGUST 24 • 2023 

OUR COMMUNITY

JCRC/AJC travels on an interfaith 
mission to the Holy Land. 

RABBI ASHER LOPATIN 
DR. MAHMOUD AL-HADIDI 
BOB BRUTELL
DANIEL BUCKSBAUM
SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

With mural artist Solomon Souza (second from 
left) at Machane Yehuda on Saturday night

Bob Brutell on the 
non-Muslim side of the 
Tomb of the Patriarchs 
in Hebron in front of 
patriarch Abraham’s Tomb

Bob Brutell, Daniel Bucksbaum, Rabbi Asher Lopatin, Dr. Mahmoud 
and Nada Al-Hadidi at the Temple Mount/ Al-Aqsa Mosque

