It is told of a painter who was married with three children and lived a good and pleasant life.

One day he decided that he had to find a subject to paint which should be the most important subject in the world. He left his wife and his children and decided to wander to find this most important subject.

After a month of wandering he reached a place where there was war between two countries and many innocent lives had been lost. He walked in the street and met a man and asked him �what do you think is the most important subject in the world?� He immediately replied �Peace. If only there would be peace in our region our lives would be wonderful, good and comfortable. The painter thought to himself, that�s right, peace is the most important thing. But how do I paint peace? So he decided to wander further and find a subject that he could actually paint. He came to another place where believers were arguing with non-believers. The arguments were bitter and hard over the subject of religion. When he stopped a man in the street and asked him �what do you think the most important subject in the world is?� the man replied �Faith. If we all believe in G-d it will be good for all of us.� The painter thought, that�s right, faith is indeed a most important subject, but how do you paint faith?

So he felt forced to wander further afield and met a woman who was having troubles with her husband. And he asked her, �What do you think the most important subject in the world is?� and she replied �Love. If there is love at home then there is paradise at home.� The painter said that�s right � love is most important, but how do you paint love?

After wandering for a year he decided to return home empty handed without having found the appropriate subject to paint. As he arrived home his wife received him with great warmth and tears of longing and his children jumped up and down for joy, receiving him with love and warmth. As he sat down to drink coffee with his wife and as he saw her tears that came from love and longing he said to himself what am I looking for around the world? Peace? I have it at home. Faith? I have it at

home. Love? I have it at home. So why do I need to wander to far away places? The treasure is at home.

Similarly ladies and gentlemen, why should we need to rely on others? The treasure is with us in our home. For which religion is not in favor of love? Which religion is not in favor of peace? Which religion is not in favor of faith? Every religion is against violence and every religion is against terror.

Rabbi Kook, who was the first Chief Rabbi in the Land of Israel, in his book �Arfilei Tohar� writes that our responsibility as people of religion is not to wage war against those who disbelieve, but to increase faith; not to wage war against the unjust, but to increase justice; not to wage war against ignorance, but to increase wisdom.

It is told of Rabbi Shmuel Hanagid, who was strolling along the streets together with the Muslim King of his land, when a Muslim man approached them and started to curse the rabbi. The King was very angry and directed the rabbi to cut out the Muslim�s tongue, but the rabbi forgave the man.

Half a year later, the King and the rabbi were strolling together again when suddenly this same Muslim came along and started to bless the rabbi. The King was amazed. �But I told you to cut out this man�s tongue� he said to the rabbi. The rabbi replied, �Correct, I cut out his tongue.� Said the King in amazement, �if so, how is it possible that he can still speak?� Replied the rabbi, �I cut out his cursing tongue and replaced it with a tongue of goodness and blessing.�

If we can be forgiving towards one another, then we can cut out cursed violent attitudes and replace them with goodness and blessing.

The first violent act in the world was when Cain murdered Abel his brother; and G-d in His anger condemned him declaring �The blood of your brother calls out to me from the ground�. The actual Hebrew word used in the text is �dmei� which literally means �bloods� in the plural. And our rabbis ask why the word is written in the plural � after all, Cain only killed one person , his only brother.

And our sages tell us that the plural is used to refer to �his blood and the blood of his descendents� � all the children, grandchildren and future generations that could have come forth from him � they all cry out from the ground.

A murderer might think that he has killed only one man, but it is not true. He has not just killed one man (as if that were not bad enough), but he has killed all the potential future generations that might have been born through him.

We should all learn from our common Father, Abraham, whose home was open to all and who looked out for wayfarers to offer them food and drink and expected no payment in return, but only requested that they bless the Almighty, for all that you have benefited from is His � He gave you this food. Thereby Abraham taught only through love. Only through affection is it possible to change people�s attitudes in a positive way and not through aggression.

Therefore I repeat my proposal to establish a United Nations of the Religions that would mediate between the religions. In particular it should embrace the heads of religious communities that have a profound influence on their congregations; and especially to facilitate contact between countries that do not have diplomatic relations with one another. If we sit together around one table; get to know one another; I am sure that people would be surprised to hear new things, new approaches; and surely we could arrive at effective solutions. Disconnectedness increases hatred; lack of communication intensifies the conflict. Every bridge that is built will bring hearts together. For in the very end, most conflicts in the world are nurtured by religion. Let us sit down together and not be satisfied with diplomatic avenues alone. Let us be the ambassadors of the Almighty and strive to build bridges and increase peace, love and faith in the world.

At the foundation of such a United Nations would be the Ten Commandments which the Almighty has handed down which include the prohibition of �You shall not murder�. Of course the various important issues that contemporary society face would be on our agenda; narcotics, substance abuse, promiscuity, violence, the family framework, education and respect for one another and of course the sanctity and dignity of life.

I express my heartfelt thanks to the community of Sant Egidio for these important meetings; each congress increases mutual respect and understanding and at every meeting another important brick in the bridge is added in building the bridge between the religions of our world.