Speech to FIANZ Islam Awareness Week launch
Dave Moskovitz, 10 August 2009
Distinguished Guests, Friends, Chevre, Brothers and Sisters – Salaam Aleikum, Shalom Aleikhem, Peace be with you, i te rangimarie ki a koutou.
Ko Hinai toku maunga, Ko Horano toku awa,
Ko Hurae toku Iwi, Ko Ahekenata toku Hapu,
I wehe oko tupuna I waihongia a Iharaira.
Ko Hara toku whaea, Ko Ihaka toku matua
Ko Rawiri, David, Daoud, Dave Moskovitz ahau;
Tena koutou, tena koutou, tena tatou katoa.
I am very honoured to be invited here today, and I find it humbling that a Jew should be invited to speak at the launch of Islam Awareness Week. This invitation speaks volumes about how far we’ve come in New Zealand, and reflects decades of hard yet delicate work by many individuals and groups who work quietly behind the scenes in order to increase interfaith understanding, cooperation, and friendship. It also reflects the growing goodwill between our communities here in Aotearoa.
I bring with me today the warm greetings of Temple Sinai expressed through our President Susan Gordon and our Rabbi Johanna Hershenson who sends her apologies today; of the Wellington Regional Jewish Council through our Chair David Zwartz; of the New Zealand Jewish Council through its President Stephen Goodman; and of the Wellington Council of Christians and Jews (of which I am Secretary) through our Co-Chair Jenny Chalmers. All of these organisations are keen to encourage positive relationships with Muslims and the Federation of Islamic Associations and its constituent organisations.
As Ahl al-Kitab, or people of the book, we share common prophets, history, narratives, and many core values. Many people believe that Allah and Elohim are one and the same God. There is much to be gained by learning more about each other and our religions, and working together to help bring about balance, justice, and peace. Those of us who are exploring and expanding our common ground find the work incredibly rewarding, and we extend our hands in welcome to others who are interested in learning more about each other, and through that process learning more about ourselves.
We have a multi-layered approach to Interfaith relations. Of course there are formal functions like this one where appointed community representatives meet. But in my experience much progress happens in a more informal setting. I’m fortunate enough to belong to a small group of about 12 people, Muslims, Christians and Jews, that gets together mostly regularly in each others’ houses for informal discussions on various topics. This year was a watershed for us in that after a couple of years of getting to know each other, and discussing topics like Abraham, Moses, Jesus, Mohammed, life cycle events, food, etc – we got together in February and talked about Gaza. We were understandably a bit nervous going into the discussion, and it was hard work. We didn’t expect to agree on everything (and these expectations were met) but we did come away with a greater appreciation of each others’ perspectives, and a much better understanding of why each person held their opinions. If anything, our friendships were strengthened by the discussion, in that we valued our friendships going into the discussion, and through sincerely and sensitively listening to each others motivations and guarded thoughts, we learned a lot about each other. I came away with strong feeling of optimism that if we could do this, it would be possible for others as well, and there is hope for a just and lasting peace in the Middle East based on interpersonal relationships. We created common ground over very difficult terrain, explored it together, and came out the other side that much closer as friends.
The theme for this year’s Islam Awareness Week is “Al Mizan – finding a balance in life”. And speaking of common ground, Mizan in Arabic – balance – is virtually identical in Hebrew – Maazan. The three letter root, aleph – zayin – nun, is related to the words for “ear” (ozen) and “listen” (lehaazin). You might say that our forbears knew that in order to achieve balance, one must listen. And listening to each other is at the core of interfaith work.
Achieving a balance in life can be difficult, especially in the world we live in where we must balance family and work, individual and community, religious and secular, traditional and modern, and the myriad of conflicting demands that we bring on ourselves through fully engaging with life. At the heart of each of these choices is the inherent tension between your perception of yourself and your needs on the one hand, and on the other hand your perception of the world and the needs of others.
There is a Hassidic teaching, according to Rabbi Bunim of Pshisha, that every person should walk through life with two notes, one in each pocket. On one note should be the words, Ani afar ve‘efer-I am nothing but dust and ashes. On the other note should be the words, Bishvili nivra ha’olam-The world was created for me.
The first phrase, I am nothing but dust and ashes, comes from Genesis 18:27, when Abraham bargains with God over Soddom and Gemorrah, and he strives to put his own existence into the context of the divine.
The second phrase, the world was created for me, comes from the Babylonian Talmud, Sanhedrin 37B, which says: For this reason, a single person was created, Adam; to teach you that anyone who kills a single person, is considered as if he has killed the entire world, and anyone who sustains a single person, is considered as if he has sustained the entire world… For this reason, every person must say, the world was created for me.
We are inherently worthless, when you consider that the chemicals that make us up as humans are very common and could be purchased from the chemist for a few dollars. And yet because we have our own individual identities, we are unique and unreproducible, and at our most valuable when we are working to sustain a single person or the entire world. Certainly, the world was created for each of us, so that we could go out and make a positive impact, and work together to make the world a better place.
And this is the balance we must strike on a daily basis. The art of living is knowing which note to read in each situation: I am nothing but dust and ashes, or The world was created for me. Don’t lose heart when you realise that the “dust and ashes” message is appropriate, in that this message unites all of us with each other and with the world around us. Neither should we feel hubris when the “world was created for me” message is appropriate, in that it is a call to action to work to sustain the entire world.
These two messages, while appearing to be at opposite ends of a spectrum, are really part of a continuum, and are useful tools in helping to create balance.
From our prayerbook, The Gates of Prayer, we say: The universe whispers that all things are intertwined. Yet at times we hear the loud cry of discord. To which voice shall we listen? Although we long for harmony, we cannot close our ears to the noise of war, the rasp of hate…
If there is goodness at the heart of life, then its power, like the power of evil, is real. Which shall prevail? Moment by moment, we choose between them. If we choose rightly, and often enough, the broken fragments of our world will be restored to wholeness.
For this we need strength and help. We turn in hope, therefore, to a Power beyond us. God has many names, but God is One. God creates, God sustains, God loves, God inspires us with the hope that we can make ourselves one as God is one.
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So, in seeking this balance – Maazan – let us be active listeners – Maazinim, building strong relationships with each other moment by moment, and working together as individuals and communities to build peace based on understanding and cooperation so that we can contribute to and benefit from each other and New Zealand society as a whole.
Kia ora koutou, thank you, Shalom, wa Salaam aleikum.
August 10th, 2009
The US Institute for Peace (USIP) issued a report last month entitled “Islamic Peacemaking Since 9/11“. Summary:
- Muslims in general and Muslim leaders particularly have often been severely criticized for not more energetically condemning the violent acts of Muslim extremists.
- Violent extremists are on one edge of the Muslim community. They are counter-balanced by a growing movement of Muslim peacemakers.
- Equally as notable as Islamic militancy but less noted are Muslims’ 1) widespread condemnation of terrorism and other violent acts; 2) promotion of interfaith dialogue; 3) education of Muslim youth and reeducation of extremist Muslims; and 4) promotion of peaceful conflict resolution.
The report concludes:
It is common knowledge that some Muslims espouse extremist interpretations of Islam, and some of these extremists engage in religiously motivated violence. But what is much less widely recognized is the extent of peacebuilding within the worldwide Muslim community. A large majority of Muslims denounce religiously motivated violence and are disgusted by the abuse of their religion. Evidence of this can be seen in Muslim leaders’ widespread condemnation of terrorism and religiously motivated violence around the world after 9/11, as well as after recent events in India. In addition, this report has described the efforts of many Muslim organizations and leaders to promote more frequent and effective dialogue with Christians and Jews to enhance mutual understanding and create practical steps to improve relations. Efforts are also under way in many places to vigorously educate Muslim youth about the core Islamic teachings of tolerance, peace, and pluralism. In addition, governments and institutions in Muslim countries are working to reeducate Muslim extremists about the falsity of the doctrines they advocate and to find alternative nonviolent methods to express their discontent.
Finally, there are growing indications of Muslim individuals and organizations promoting peaceful conflict resolution.
While the number of Muslim peacebuilding organizations is rising, many are small and struggling financially. International donors could make an important contribution to world peace by aiding these organizations and strengthening their programs. Several American Muslim organizations have recognized the important roles they can play in reinforcing pluralism within Islam worldwide, and they should be encouraged and supported. Muslim leaders who promote nonviolence, pluralism, and tolerance should be recognized and their efforts publicized. Key Muslim organizations around the world are mobilizing to counter extremism within Islam, and they should be applauded.
The report is well worth a read, and provides a viewpoint we don’t get in the mainstream media, because it doesn’t sell papers.
Dave
March 2nd, 2009
In early January at the height of the fighting in Gaza, bFM’s Joe Nunweek rang up Anjum Rahman and myself to pick up the conversation from where we left off from our 2006 Aotearoa Ethnic Network Journal articles on Jewish and Muslim perspectives on the Israel-Palestine conflict.
Here are the bFM podcasts:
Dave Moskovitz:
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Anjum Rahman:
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The bottom line: While Anjum and I have different perspectives on history and the core issues, we continue to be good friends and seek to support those who work for peace.
Thanks to Joe and bFM for running excellent, balanced, and yet probing interviews.
Dave
February 8th, 2009
A group of about 100 people from many faiths gathered last night at St Andrew’s on the Terrace in Wellington New Zealand for an Interfaith Prayer Vigil and Candle Lighting for Peace in the Middle East.
It was a very moving ceremony and demonstrated the ability for many people from different faiths, ethnicities and political viewpoints to come together and pray for a common purpose.
Speakers included:
You can download or listen to an audio recording (35 minutes, 16 MB):
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January 15th, 2009
The Rasheed Memorial Dawah Trust (RMDT) held a meeting this Sunday launching an interfaith project to restore the Onehunga Bay wetlands in Auckland’s Manukau Harbour.
About twenty people came to the well-publicised meeting, billed as a planning session for Christian-Muslim co-operation. I was invited to attend the meeting, and jumped at the opportunity for several reasons:
- The Wellington Council for Christians and Jews is exploring ways of taking a more “Abrahamic” focus
- I have great respect for planning – too many initiatives are approached in an ad-hoc manner
- I had corresponded previously with Aarif Rasheed, who has been very inclusive, welcoming, and supportive
I was the only Jew present, in fact I got the impression that I might have been the first Jew that some of the participants had met in person. There were only a couple of Christians present, so nearly all of the participants were Muslim
The Big Idea behind the project is to get people of different faiths together with a common purpose and shared goal resulting in public good with and positive outcomes for the environment. The Onehunga Bay wetland has been degraded over the years to the point where it covers only roughly 80 square metres, and the project’s aim is to restore it to cover about 4 hectares. That’s an ambitious goal by anyone’s measure, and will have a knock-on effect improving the water quality in the surrounding estuary and bay.
Hopefully the good people of Auckland will be able to demonstrate to the world that people from different faiths can join hands and work together for positive outcomes for their cities and the environment as a whole.
For me, it was great to see a group of focussed Muslims reaching out and taking the lead in an environmental project. It’s an example that the rest of us would do well to follow.
If you know anyone who might like to get involved, contact RMDT.
December 9th, 2008
Mike Ghouse, of the Foundation for Pluralism in Dallas, Texas has written an excellent piece on the importance of Jewish-Muslim dialogue, in which he describes a screening of the film “The Monster Among Us” at the Dallas Jewish Community Centre. One of the film’s central theses is that the new face of European antisemitism is Muslim.
Ghouse says some brilliant things in his article:
Watching this film (as well as other films in the past) and listening to the responses of the audience has confirmed my belief that one of the primary obstacles to peace is simply inadequate communications stemming from the unwillingness to see another point of view. There are certainly rotten apples in the barrel, but focusing on them to the exclusion of the positive only exacerbates the problem. Muslims and Jews need to dialogue without keeping a score or blaming the other.
The guardians of traditions have a role to preserve their way of life for their respective communities. Occasionally their role has led them to marginalize the “other”. We need a change, and this change will need to come from the hitherto silent moderate majority in both communities. This is a responsibility we need to step up to.
This very much mirrors my own “Don’t tolerate intolerance” line … but Ghouse’s key statement is this:
If you are a Muslim and don’t say anything against anti-Semitic rhetoric; if you are a Jew and smile when you hear anti-Arab or Anti-Muslim rhetoric; if you are a Baptist and rejoice anti-Mormon rhetoric; if you are a Catholic and remain silent when some one belittles the practices of Hindu, Wicca or Pagans; then do you have the right to complain if some one is anti-you? This is a serious question, the more you are silent about it, the more you are justifying anti-sentiments against your own creed. No, if it is not good for you, it is not good for others either.
The whole article is well worth a read, and the above statement is particularly worth reflecting on. If we remain silent in the face of bigotry against others, we lose our right to complain when others are bigoted against us.
Dave
November 26th, 2008
The following message was sent by Jean-Louis Cardinal Tauran, president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue to Muslim friends on the occasion of the end of Ramadan.
Christians and Muslims:
Together for the dignity of the family
Dear Muslim friends,
1. As the end of the month of Ramadan approaches, and following a now well-established tradition, I am pleased to send you the best wishes of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue. During this month Christians close to you have shared your reflections and your family celebrations; dialogue and friendship have been strengthened. Praise be to God!
2. As in the past, this friendly rendez-vous also gives us an opportunity to reflect together on a mutually topical subject which will enrich our exchange and help us to get to know each other better, in our shared values as well as in our differences. This year we would like to propose the subject of the family.
3. One of the documents of the Second Council Vatican, Gaudium et Spes, which deals with the Church in the modern world, states: ‘The well-being of the individual person and of human and Christian society is intimately linked with the healthy condition of that community produced by marriage and family. Hence Christians and all men who hold this community in high esteem sincerely rejoice in the various ways by which men today find help in fostering this community of love and perfecting its life, and by which parents are assisted in their lofty calling. Those who rejoice in such aids look for additional benefits from them and labour to bring them about.’ (n. 47)
4. These words give us an opportune reminder that the development of both the human person and of society depends largely on the healthiness of the family! How many people carry, sometimes for the whole of their life, the weight of the wounds of a difficult or dramatic family background? How many men and women now in the abyss of drugs or violence are vainly seeking to make up for a traumatic childhood? Christians and Muslims can and must work together to safeguard the dignity of the family, today and in the future.
5. Given the high esteem in which both Muslims and Christians hold the family, we have already had many occasions, from the local to the international level, to work together in this field. The family, that place where love and life, respect for the other and hospitality are encountered and transmitted, is truly the ‘fundamental cell of society.’
6. Muslims and Christians must never hesitate, not only to come to the aid of families in difficulty, but also to collaborate with all those who support the stability of the family as an institution and the exercise of parental responsibility, in particular in the field of education. I need only remind you that the family is the first school in which one learns respect for others, mindful of the identity and the difference of each one. Interreligious dialogue and the exercise of citizenship cannot but benefit from this.
7. Dear friends, now that your fast comes to an end, I hope that you, with your families and those close to you, purified and renewed by those practices dear to your religion, may know serenity and prosperity in your life! May Almighty God fill you with His Mercy and Peace!
Jean-Louis Cardinal Tauran
President
Archbishop Pier Luigi Celata
Secretary
[Translations provided by the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue]
Posted by Dave
September 23rd, 2008
The Almanac, a Silicon Valley newspaper, recently ran a story on the Peace Camp Initiative. Three kids from Israel, Adam Horovitz, Zahi Tuama and Ahmed Hamudi (Jewish, Christian and Muslim) were taken to an American summer camp, and used Aikido as a method of conflict resolution.
At the end of the camp, the three boys listed each other as their closest friends at the camp.
Robert Kent, who came up with the idea, hopes eventually to take 12 peace campers per year through the programme.
August 20th, 2008
Care for a caricature anyone? My feed filter picked up the following …
Caricatures of Christians Jews and Muslims
Source: Istockphoto
For the record, your friendly bloggers here on 3faiths.org look absolutely nothing like any of these stereotypes. But the beautiful thing is, just like the caricature above, we’re all the same underneath!
Dave
August 20th, 2008
A seminar sponsored by the World Council of Churches was held in Geneva recently, where 22 Jewish, Christian and Muslim young people where they “shared their thoughts, meals, and prejudices with each other”.
The story from the Standard Newswire reports a Muslim woman from Jordan saying, “I have realized I have much more in common with a Christian from Palestine than [with] a Muslim from the West … The differences are mainly cultural, not religious.”
Three of the participants were interviewed, and you can listen to their stories below:
Razan Abd El Haque, a Muslim woman from Jordan:
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Olivier Salagi, a Jewish man from France:
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Veranika Shetskaya, a Christian woman from Belarus:
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Thanks to MidEastYouth for the link!
Dave
August 19th, 2008