Events Calendar

Riman Barakat, a native of East Jerusalem, is a veteran peacebuilder and social entrepreneur. She is one of the leaders of FeelBeit, an Israeli-Palestinian arts center and incubator on the border between East and West Jerusalem that prototypes a future of peace for Israel-Palestine. She also leads boutique tours of East Jerusalem and the West Bank offering content and itineraries for international and local delegations seeking fresh Palestinian perspectives. Previously, Riman built and ran the East Jerusalem and Palestinian Affairs Department of the Jerusalem Season of Culture. She has been involved in peace-building initiatives throughout her professional career, serving as the acting Executive Director for Breaking the Impasse (BTI) and co-Director of the Israel/Palestine Center for Research and Information (IPCRI). She is a sought-after speaker on Israeli-Palestinian reconciliation, and recently presented at the 2023 Aspen Ideas Festival, the 2024 TED Conference, and the 2024 Vital Voices Festival. Riman also completed a Fulbright scholarship at Marquette University, Wisconsin.

Jared Goldfarb is an independent educator and licensed tourguide based in Jerusalem with more than 25 years of experience in the field.  Born and raised in New Hampshire, he lived in 6 different countries before making his home in Israel nearly 30 years ago.  Thanks to the vibrant learning community in Jerusalem, Jared fell in love with the Jewish textual tradition, spent 5 years studying in various yeshivas, and served for 8 years as the Program Director of Ta Shma: Pluralistic Jewish Learning.  Simultaneously, he graduated from the National Tourguide Course, and since 1999 has worked as a licensed guide for families, faith communities, and multi-narrative student encounters with Israel/Palestine.  Jared currently serves as a faculty member at many Jerusalem institutions that welcome Christian clergy, educators, seminarians and laypeople from around the world to study the holyland from an academic perspective, such as the Tantur Ecumenical Institute, Ecce Homo Centre for Biblical Formation, and Bat Kol.  He also teaches biblical geography, the textual and contextual history of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, and Israeli/Palestinian geopolitics for various seminaries, universities and multifaith groups.  Jared has served as scholar-in-residence in numerous communities, including Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, New Orleans, New York, San Francisco, St. Louis and London.  Jared lives in Jerusalem, where he raised his three children, and is a passionate environmental activist, hiker, genealogist, vegan chef, and proud leader of the movement toward sustainable tourism.