From Albania to Israel

Michele: "We are Albanians and we moved to Israel with our two children in 1991. Antonietta is Jewish and I am Christian. Having been born and raised in a Communist country, where all forms of religion were prohibited, the little that we know about God had been taught to us secretly by our parents.
In Israel, we found we had to face the many difficulties – both practical and psychological -experienced by immigrants. For this reason our encounter with the spirituality of unity of the Focolare Movement was a very powerful experience. We rediscovered the roots of a profound faith which, even though it had been suffocated until that moment, was still alive deep within us."
"When we first came to Israel", continued Antonietta, "we went to live in a city that was wholly Jewish and we immediately breathed the tense atmosphere between Jews and Arabs. Instead, in the meetings of the Focolare Movement, attended also by a number of Arabic families, we realised how the fraternal atmosphere enfolded everyone regardless of their ethnic origin.
We felt we belonged to one big family made up of people of different religions and cultures. But we were also very much aware that this was in sharp contrast with the experience of our daily life. In our hearts we began to feel the certainty that if unity is possible among a small group of people it can also be achieved on a large scale, among different peoples. But we knew that we had to be the first to start building this unity. "

Michele takes up the story: "Little by little, I realised that I was starting to reason with a new mentality. For example, one of my colleagues at work needed a special pair of waterproof shoes. I had a spare pair which initially I had thought of selling, because we needed the money. Instead, I gave my colleague this extra pair of shoes and in doing so I experienced a new joy I had never experienced before."

Antonietta: "Trying to live in peace in an atmosphere of war constantly challenges our faith in God. Last year, our son was called up for his military service. During that period, the tension between the north of Israel and southern Lebanon was very strong. I was very worried that he might have to go to the front. Faced with this fear, and the suffering of not being able to do anything about it, I felt that my way to build peace in that moment was to continue to believe in God and to pray to him with faith. This new way of thinking helped me overcome that fear which, as a Jewish person, the Arab world aroused in me. Many barriers have crumbled and now I have Arabic friends and we try to learn about each other, to value each other’s gifts and to work together for peace. We have opened our home to anyone who wants to work with us for unity and peace. Already there are about twenty families in our city of different religions who are living for, and believe in, a different kind of world."

Michele: "A few months ago, immediately after the attacks on Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, in which many innocent people lost their lives, we organised a two day meeting in a village close to one of the cities that had been struck. Initially, it seemed as though we had to cancel it because the roads were very dangerous. Instead, many people came – Jews, Christians and Muslims. They were beautiful days, in which we experienced very deep communion among us. The presence of God in our midst gave us the strength to go forward on the road to unity notwithstanding the situation around us."

Antonietta and Michele S (Israel)