Baháʼí community leadership and Vice President of the Ambassadors Club. Photo: Private For two festive nights during the intermediate days of Sukkot, the Baháʼí Temple and Gardens in Haifa opened to the public, drawing thousands of visitors from across Israel. This unprecedented initiative by the Baháʼí World Centre invited people to experience one of the country’s most iconic landmarks in a new way, illuminated at night, with an atmosphere infused with serenity and harmony.
The event, held in the renowned terraced gardens overlooking Haifa Bay, was not only a cultural experience but a symbolic gesture of reconciliation, light, and hope, showcasing the Baháʼí commitment to dialogue, beauty, and peaceful coexistence.
Visitors were welcomed into an atmosphere filled with colors, lights, and music, where the gardens’ meticulously designed terraces provided a backdrop for reflection and joy. Many participants described the occasion as a “celebration of harmony”, a spiritual and cultural encounter that resonated with the message of the Baháʼí Faith: unity and peace among peoples.
The leadership of the Baháʼí World Centre emphasized that opening the gardens during the holiday was a gesture of gratitude and solidarity with the Israeli public. “This initiative reflects our respect, love, and hope for peace in the region and the world,” said one of the community leaders during the event.
At the heart of the celebrations, the gardens themselves became a symbol: a meeting point of cultures and traditions, where beauty and spirituality merge into a shared call for a brighter, more harmonious future.