Tri-Faith News and Updates

The World Council of Churches held a youth gathering outside Geneva.

The three-week course, which had the theme “Building an Interfaith Community”, was attended by young Christians, Jews and Muslims from all over the world.

 Students heard presentations on Christianity, Islam and Judaism, and on the contributions of each of the religions to peacemaking. Daily morning prayers were prepared alternately by the Christian, Jewish and Muslim participants, and the group attended services in a church, synagogue and mosque in Geneva.

 Religion is so often seen as a barrier to peace, but peace is a central theme across the religions and a good basis for discussions about interfaith community-building, says Rabbi Delphine Horvilleur.

Read the complete story here:

http://www.oikoumene.org/en/news/news-management/eng/a/article//theres-value-in-diversit.html

This statement by leaders of the three Abrahamic communities in Boston was issued January 12, 2009 and was published in the Boston Globe by a columnist who writes on religion.  It was passed on to us by one of our board members.

Its thoughtfulness and the breadth and stature of its signers are extraordinary, representing the best version of our religious traditions and communities.
We strongly recommend that in your own community, you take this statement with its list of signers to your own congregation for discussion and signing, and to interfaith leaders where you are. Then go to the local media and ask them to do a major news story about the statement’s adoption in your locale.

With blessings of shalom, salaam, peace - Rabbi Arthur Waskow
__________________________________________________________
AN INTERFAITH DECLARATION FOR PEACE

We, members and leaders of the Muslim, Jewish, and Christian communities in Greater Boston — all having deep and symbolic ties to the land and peoples of the Middle East — are anguished by the events unfolding in Israel and Gaza. Recognizing the legitimate needs of all peoples, including all those living in the Middle East, for dignity, peace, safety and security - regardless of religion, race, or national origin — we issue this joint statement with the hope and belief that our interfaith voices will be heard clearly, above the din of war.

As guiding principles -

We acknowledge the long, complex, and painful history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.We acknowledge the wide range of deeply-held beliefs, and intensely-felt narratives on all sides.We acknowledge that all sides are capable of assigning blame to others, and asserting justification for their cause.We observe that violence by any side begets more violence, hatred, and retaliation.We deplore any invocation of religion as a justification for violence against others, or the deprivation of the rights of others.We decry any use of inflammatory rhetoric that demonizes the other and is intended, or is likely, to promote hatred and disrespect.We believe the conflict can be resolved only through a political and diplomatic solution and not a military one.

In the face of many competing narratives, we recognize that the overriding common need of the peoples of the region is the prompt implementation of a just and lasting peace. Toward that end, and particularly in response to the current hostilities,

We call upon the United States and the international community immediately to intercede to help reestablish a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, toward the goal of a permanent cessation of hostilities

We call upon Hamas immediately to end all rocket attacks on Israel, and upon Israel immediately to end its military campaign in Gaza

We call for an immediate end to all strikes on civilian centers and citizens, both Israeli and Palestinian. We call for lifting of the blockade on Gaza as to all non-military goods, for an immediate and significant increase in humanitarian aid to address the needs of the people of Gaza, and for all parties involved to join in taking responsibility to address those human needs

We call on all parties involved in the conflict to work sincerely and vigorously toward a just and lasting peace that addresses and promotes the national aspirations of both the Israeli and Palestinian peoples

We call on President-elect Obama to make clear that as President he will urgently assert US leadership to achieve a comprehensive diplomatic resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian and Arab-Israeli conflicts

Through this joint statement we affirm our commitment to engage with one another, even, and especially, during times of great stress. We also affirm our common humanity and our common belief — as Jews, Muslims and Christians — that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict must cease, that there is no military or violent solution, that all human life is valued, and that all parties must cooperate to make the peace — a just and lasting peace desperately needed and deserved by all the peoples of the region.”

Signed:
Salwa Abd-Allah, (executive council, Muslim American Society of Boston (MAS Boston), Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center (ISBCC)),Tariq Ali (president, Harvard Islamic Society)
Hossam Al Jabri (president, MAS Boston-ISBCC; trustee, Interreligious Center for Public Life (ICPL)),Rev. Jim Antal (president, Massachusetts conference of the United Church of Christ)
Dr. Abdul Cader Asmal (past president, Islamic Council of New England and Islamic Center of Boston/Wayland; trustee, ICPL),Rabbi Albert S. Axelrad (chair, Center for Spiritual Life, Emerson College; Hillel director emeritus, Brandeis University),Diane Balser (executive director, Brit Tzedek v’Shalom),Dorothy C. Buck (director, Badaliya),Rev. Nick Carter (president, Andover Newton Theological School),Dris Djermoun (president, Islamic Center of Boston), Diana L. Eck (professor of comparative religion, Harvard University),Imam Talal Eid (founder, Islamic Institute of Boston; chaplain, Brandeis University),Ashraf Elkerm (board chairman, Islamic Center of Greater Worcester),Rev. Terasa G. Cooley (district executive, Massachusetts Bay District of Unitarian Universalist Churches),Mercedes S. Evans (Committee on Contemporary Spiritual & Public Concerns, St. Paul Catholic Church/Cambridge),Imam Abdullah Faruuq (Mosque for the Praising of Allah/Boston)
Michael Felsen (president, Boston Workmen’s Circle), Lisa Gallatin (executive director, Boston Workmen’s Circle),Zekeriyya Gemici (president, MIT Muslim Students Association)
Rabbi David Gordis (president emeritus, Hebrew College; founding director, the National Center for Jewish Policy Studies),Rabbi Arthur Green (rector, Hebrew College’s Rabbinical School)
Rev. Raymond G. Helmick (instructor in conflict resolution, Boston College)
Arnold Hiatt (philanthropist; former chairman, Stride Rite Corporation),Rev. Jack Johnson (executive director, Massachusetts Council of Churches),M. Bilal Kaleem (executive director, MAS Boston-ISBCC),Anwar Kazmi (executive council, MAS Boston-ISBCC),Alexander Kern (executive director, Cooperative Metropolitan Ministries),Nabeel Khudairi (past president, Islamic Council of New England),Idit Klein (executive director, Keshet),Margie Klein (co-director, Moishe/Kavod House),Mary Lahaj (Muslim chaplain, Simmons College),Geoffrey Lewis (attorney; former president of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Boston),Imam Taalib Mahdee (Masjid Al-Quran/Boston),Rev. Bert Marshall (New England director, Church World Service),Jerome D. Maryon (president, Committee on Contemporary Spiritual & Public Concerns, St. Paul Catholic Church/Cambridge),Michael J. Moran (Pax Christi Massachusetts),Sister Jane Morrissey (Pax Christi Massachusetts),Merrie Najimy (president, American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee of Massachusetts),Imam Khalid Nasr (Islamic Center of New England/Quincy),Imam Basyouni Nehela (Islamic Society of Boston/Cambridge),Rashid Noor (president, Islamic Center of New England/Quincy),Rabbi Sara Paasche-Orlow (director of religious and chaplaincy services; Hebrew SeniorLife),Rabbi Barbara Penzner (Temple Hillel B’nai Torah/West Roxbury),Rev. Rodney L. Petersen (executive director, Boston Theological Institute),Dr. Asif Rizvi (president-elect, Islamic Council of New England),Rabbi Victor Reinstein (Nehar Shalom Community Synagogue/Jamaica Plain),Rev. Anne Robertson (executive director, Massachusetts Bible Society),Qasim Salimi (president, Boston University Muslim Students Association),Robert M. Sarly (trustee, ICPL)
Rev. Mikel E. Satcher (pastor, Trinity Baptist Church/Arlington),Adam Seligman (professor of religion, Boston University),Rabbi Sanford Seltzer (chair, ICPL),Enid Shapiro (trustee, ICPL),Bishop M. Thomas Shaw (Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts),Alan Solomont (philanthropist; chairman, Solomont Bailis Ventures),Rabbi Toba Spitzer (Congregation Dorshei Tzedek/Newton)
Rev. John K. Stendahl (pastor, Lutheran Church of the Newtons),Sidney Topol (philanthropist; former chairman, Scientific Atlanta),Rabbi Andrew Vogel (Temple Sinai/Brookline)
Bishop Peter D. Weaver (New England conference of the United Methodist Church)

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This article appeared today in the Omaha World-Herald

BY RABBI ARYEH AZRIEL, WENDY GOLDBERG, NASER Z. ALSHARIF AND THE REV. CANON TIM ANDERSON

The writers, all of Omaha, are board members of the Tri-Faith Initiative. Azriel and Goldberg are senior rabbi and program director, respectively, of Temple Israel. Alsharif is secretary of the American Institute of Islamic Studies and Culture. Anderson is canon for development of the Episcopal Diocese of Nebraska.

Margaret Mead said, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”

In 2006, a group of Omaha leaders made a bold decision to form a partnership with the goal of co-locating to an interfaith campus. Temple Israel, the Episcopal Diocese of Nebraska and the American Institute of Islamic Studies and Culture signed a mutual agreement of understanding to create the Tri-Faith Initiative of Omaha. We remain committed to this goal. Our dialogue actually began nine years ago. From its inception, we knew the day would arrive that would require us to gather at a table in the midst of war in the Middle East. How would we continue building our friendships of mutual understanding?

It took place at a meeting involving the emotional sharing of personal narratives of three leaders of the Tri-Faith Initiative — an Israeli-born Reform Jewish American rabbi; an American Muslim professor born in Palestine; and a native Nebraskan Episcopal priest. The tearful conversation was the kind of honest exchange that is necessary to reach peace.

The initiative, one said, “gives us all strength to have each other and to each respect our individual relationships with God. To understand and to know each other will move us forward.”

Another added: “The pain is so great. What is really at stake in our Holy Land? We are suffering. Who is scoring political points? Is this about geopolitical struggle? What is the value of every human life? All people are victims. The violence must stop. The violence will not bring safety.

“This ongoing war has decimated my entire family. I no longer have a family. Just tears. There is no monopoly on pain. We all have people being killed. Will we strive for justice and peace among all people and respect the dignity of every human being? Our response is, ‘We will, with God’s help.’ ” Our stories are woven together with threads of pain and love for our people and the land. We shared stories of loss of friends and family. We acknowledged our mutual regard for human life, especially those who have died as a result of the ongoing struggle.

We heard each other’s memories of war — pain and fear, dreams for the Holy Land. We cried. We hugged. Our years of conversation and education had clear rewards as we witnessed and felt the pain of the others.

The participants said, “We stand together in condemnation of the violence, pain and suffering. We hope for peace and coexistence in the Holy Land. We understand that politics alone will not end this conflict.”

The Holy Land is more than borders and settlements. The tragedies reach beyond Gaza; our message must be a global one. In Omaha, we are privileged by our influence and freedoms. Yet we feel guilty; our selfishness and greed have desensitized us. Are we assuming our responsibilities?

Today we, the leadership of the Tri-Faith Initiative, call upon ourselves to honestly reawaken our consciences, including progressive change to build relationships, to honor a nd respect the other. We raise our voices to work toward peace.

Recognizing the challenges ahead requires hope, faith and a commitment to work hard, together, to solve the many problems of our generation. TriFaith gives us hope — hope for the future in the midst of despair.

Despite the strong feelings roused around our table by the crisis in Gaza, the initiative continues to move forward and remains committed to its first public event, “Dinner in Abraham’s Tent: Conversations on Peace,” featuring the national leaders of each of our movements: Rabbi Peter Knobel, Dr. Ingrid Mattson and Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori of the U.S. Episcopal Church.

The event, set for Friday, March 27, at the Qwest Center, will feature a worship service followed by a dinner and a conversation among the faith leaders on the theme of “Shalom, Salaam, Peace.” In the words of Rabbi Jonathan Magonet, “May our courage match our convictions and our integrity match our hope.”

How can we still attempt the Tri-Faith Initiative when there is a war going on in the Middle East?

How can we not?

You can make reservations for the Dinner in Abraham’s Tent: Conversations on Peace by clicking on the tab on the menu and following the link to the secure shopping cart.

On Saturdays we do the filing from the week before which includes copying all the sticky notes and little bits of paper we used to write down good quotes, websites to check etc. This morning I found this one tucked under the computer keyboard — it got missed in earlier clean sweeps of the desk:

“We must treat hope itself as a renewable resource, something we put on with our shoes every morning.” – Barbara Kingsolver

The Tri-Faith Initiative is one of the projects that continues to give us hope.

Eboo Patel, a leader in interfaith relations focusing on youth, wrote a thoughtful piece this week in response to current events in the Middle East.  This is a short excerpt — the link to the complete story is below.

“Muslim and Jewish organizations once considered it a matter of pride to engage in a communications blockade of organizations “on the other side”. The basic line I’ve heard from both sides is, “We can’t talk to people we have such fundamental disagreements with.” And so interfaith groups break apart. Friendships between Muslims and Jews are strained. And we revert back to shouting our own talking points louder and louder.

But, slowly, it seems that some people are realizing that increasing the volume on your own talking points and trying to drown out the other side is not a strategy for getting to a solution.

A senior American Jewish official told me yesterday “Jews and Muslims in America should be modeling positive relationships here, and hoping that pattern offers a way forward over there.”

I emailed with senior officials of the Islamic Society of North America yesterday and they expressed a similar sentiment. In fact, point five of ISNA’s press release on the Gaza situation says the following: “Engage in informed dialogue with other Americans, especially Jewish Americans, so that religious differences do not become a source of civil discord and division ….”

My guess is that the idea of continuing positive engagement with people on the other side is probably gaining ground within Muslim and Jewish organizations, although it’s still very much a minority attitude (inertia is a powerful force).

And so we’re looking at a very small step towards a potentially big win.

The win isn’t just a rewriting of the respective playbooks that Muslim and Jewish organizations use when the Middle East conflict heats up. It’s the recognition that, if we want to actually solve the conflict, Muslim and Jewish groups should be writing a new playbook together - because they’re on the same side.

The first phone calls Jewish and Muslim officials should make when bombs explode over there are not to organizations within their own religious community, but to reasonable people in the other community.

The first line should be, “I’m on the side of coexistence, and I bet you are too. What public statements can we collectively make, what press releases can we cooperatively issue, which helps the side of coexistence defeat the demon of conflict?”

That’s a play that could change the game. ”

Read the complete column here:

http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/eboo_patel/2008/12/same_old_middle_east_playbook.html

Our own Tri-Faith Initiative in Omaha is one of those new models of how we can work together and continue to commit to finding new solutions to age-old problems by behaving in new ways.

Temple Israel is hosting the community Interfaith Thanksgiving Service this year at 5 p.m. Sunday, November 23.  The Temple is located at 7023 Cass St.  Parking is available to the south and west of the building.  The main entrance is on the south side.

The service features choirs from five area churches and the Temple and participants from those congregations plus the Islamic Center of Omaha.

The Tri-Faith Initiative is a partnership of The American Institute of Islamic Studies and Culture, Temple Israel and the Episcopal Diocese of Nebraska.