Would you say you are close to the Church?

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Yes. I have a lot of faith, in Jesus, in the Church. I try to be as involved and helpful as I can with the christian community in Beer Sheva. Everytime Father Piotr, our parish priest, calls me, I am there to help him in 5 minutes. I help with the youth groups as well, and wherever I am needed.  I also grew up in a very religious family. My parents come from Fasuta, one of the only two villages that are 100% christian in the north of Israel. They came to Beer Sheva 20 years ago because there was more work around here. My father is employed by ICL, a chemical company that exploits the minerals of the Dead Sea, and my mother is a math teacher in an Arab school in a town nearby. In Beer Sheva, there are many christian arabic families like mine, but most of them don’t go to church. I have been in this parish since I was 7 years old. I almost grew up here. I feel myself connected to Jesus here, so I continue to come. 

 

Why is it so important for you to be involved?

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Because I feel like I can do it. If you ask me and that I am available and in the capability of helping, I will do it. I feel that it is the spirit of the Church.

 

Do you feel closer to the Arabic speaking community or the Hebrew speaking community ?

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I know the mass in Hebrew far better from the mass in Arabic which I attend when I go back to the village of my family, in the North, during the holidays like Easter. I can’t really read Arabic so I follow by listening. Sometimes I also don’t know the prayers, because I learned them in Hebrew. As Fasuta is a Greek Catholic town, we don’t follow the Latin rite, which I am used to in Beer Sheva. 

 

Do you feel that the Church is addressing your problems, and is talking to you ?

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I don’t have a lot of problems. It is a small community here. People help everybody who needs it. Like in a family. Our priest helped a lot in creating this atmosphere that bounds us, even after mass.

 

Is there something that bothers you in the Church?

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I don’t feel that the Church has any problems. I can see that it tries to evolve with the 21st century and society. What I observe is that it is hard to keep people in faith these days. For most of them it is easier to live without the Church. I don’t know if it is the Church’s fault or just the way society is evolving. Religion is becoming less important than technology, science, and oneself… I think the Church needs to find a way to reach these people, but I don’t think it is connected to a problem inside the Church itself. 

 

What would be your dream for the Church?

If I look at my church, in Beer Sheva, I really feel that we are like how Jesus taught us to be : help each other, be together. Every time a new person comes, we try to make sure that he feels welcome. We are very small and unique. It helps us to stay unified. I know I can pray with them in Hebrew, it is not something I can do with everyone else.

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Interview by Cécile Lemoine