of a place where prayer and meditation would play a formative role within his community, as the point of conjunction between the three Abrahamic faiths. He was even more culturally ecumenical, learning from a Japanese priest how to perform mass while practicing zazen. He was to break his retreat into silence on hearing of the news of the Assassination of Yitzhak Rabin, which struck him as putting an end to illusions created by the peace previously envisaged as a result of the Oslo I Accord. He interpreted the assassination biblically as a sign of aharit ha-yamim, the end of days, and 'a major step forward in the march of the Jewish people towards messianic fullness. . .when the Jews and the Gentiles, trees that complement God’s single olive tree, will be united in the same praise.' Death and heritage On the occasion of Brother Hussar's death, 8 February 1996, and burial at Neve Shalom, thousands of people only from Israel gathered at NSWAS. Hussar was nominated in successive years (1988, 1989) for the Nobel Peace Prize. Until 1989, the village lacked recognition as an Israeli village, but in September of that year the Israeli Ministry of the Interior finally granted it that legal status. Difficulties arose in the increasingly conflicted years that followed, esp. during the Al Aqsa Intifada, as NSWAS found itself isolated, unable to forge significant connections with either Israeli or Palestinian society. His friend of long-standing Dubois, went on record as stating that both he and Hussar, in embarking on a naïve adventurous Zionism, had 'completely denied the Palestinian tragedy'. Works Autobiography: When the Cloud Lifted See also Gregory Baum — Nostra aetate co-author John M. Oesterreicher — Nostra aetate co-author References External links Short Biography at the Neve Shalom web site Father Bruno's Dream Alive in Israel - Article at www.peacemagazine.org 1911 births 1996 deaths 20th-century Roman Catholic priests Converts to Roman Catholicism from Judaism Egyptian Ashkenazi Jews Egyptian expatriates in France Egyptian expatriates in Israel Egyptian people of French descent Egyptian people of Hungarian descent Egyptian Roman Catholic priests Israeli Ashkenazi Jews Israeli people of Egyptian-Jewish descent Israeli people of French-Jewish descent Israeli people of Hungarian-Jewish descent Israeli Roman Catholics Members of the Dominican Order People from Jerusalem