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
Stand-up comic Rabbi Bob Alper will headline at Ontario’s award-winning festival, Muslimfest 2009, in Mississauga, August 2nd.
Alper, who performs internationally with Muslim comedians in The Laugh in Peace Tour, has been doing stand-up for 23 years, following a successful career serving synagogues in Buffalo and Philadelphia.
“I was thrilled to receive the invitation to appear at Muslimfest,” says Alper. “During the past seven years I’ve seen repeatedly how shared laughter diffuses suspicion and builds bridges between formerly unconnected communities. This is a concept that the organizers of Muslimfest 2009 also value.”
“We try to work with Canada’s rich diversity to foster an understanding of each other’s culture and identity; having Rabbi Bob Alper perform will further develop this,” says Amer Meknas, director of Muslimfest 2009. The festival, now in its sixth year, aims to highlight Muslim arts and culture, celebrate diversity, and build lasting relationships with other groups – and has won multiple awards for its effective pioneer efforts.
What started as an experiment in 2002 now constitutes nearly half of the rabbi’s annual tour schedule. Alper and his first comedy partner, Ahmed Ahmed, performed at synagogues and a mosque, but their unique, clean comedy soon caught on at college campuses with Jewish and Muslim groups co-sponsoring. One year, Alper and Ahmed were invited to the University of Arkansas, home of the “razorbacks.” “Very cool,” Alper observed. “A Muslim and a Jew performing at a college whose mascot is a pig!”
When Ahmed’s career transitioned into movie roles, Alper was joined by Azhur Usman*, an attorney by training and founder of the “Allah Made Me Funny” group. Alper reflects how “traveling across North America and performing with Azhar is exciting and loads of fun, but it can also be daunting. People respond to Azhar with anger, fear, suspicion, and event hatred. Which is understandable. Because he is, of course . . . a lawyer.” Last year, CNN Headline News aired a profile of the duo.
Alper also performs occasionally with Mo Amer, another member of “Allah Made Me Funny.” Following a show at Congregation Kol Ami, a synagogue in White Plains, NY, Amer asked Alper what “kol ami” means. “It’s Hebrew for ‘voice of my people’” Alper explained. To which Amer responded, “Oh. Because in Arabic, it means ‘eat my uncle.’”
Muslimfest 2009 will take place at the Living Arts Centre in Mississauga, Ontario, during the Civic Holiday Weekend, August 1st and 2nd, 2009.
*Azhar and Bob will tour Vermont August 8-10: one church, two synagogues, and a theatre.
Contact:
Rabbi Bob Alper — +1-802-362-4464 — www.bobalper.com
Mariam Munawar — +1-416-457-7421 — www.muslimfest.com
July 24th, 2009
Chicago Public Radio recently ran an interview with Dr Yehuda Stolov, the Executive Director of the Interfaith Encounter Association in Israel and Palestine.
Based in Jerusalem, the IEA has 29 ongoing groups. Stolov says that they are not an interfaith organisation in the regular sense. For IEA, interfaith dialog is a tool that they use to build better relationships between people.
Stolov talks about how when the encounters began seven years ago at the height of the intifada, the Jews involved had never met had never met Muslims before, and vice versa – they only information they had about each other was via the media, whose chief message was that the other group only wanted to kill them. By the end of the encounter weekend, many strong friendships had been formed.
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March 19th, 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
Faiths Working Together Appeal
The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Chair of the Muslim Charities Foundation, Dr Hany El Banna and the Head of the Movement for Reform Judaism, Rabbi Dr Tony Bayfield, are calling on people of all faiths to give generously to the Faiths Working Together Appeal to help rebuild shattered lives in Gaza.
“I hope that all people of faith – and all of goodwill – will support this initiative by giving generously and by using all available websites and other resources to contribute and to spread the word.” – Dr Rowan Williams
“I warmly support this initiative as a model for cooperation between the Abrahamic faiths and welcome the practical concern for all the victims of the conflict, regardless of faith or nationality.“ –Rabbi Dr Tony Bayfield, Head of the Movement for Reform Judaism.
Donations will be collected by Christian Aid and then used by Physicians for Human Rights-Israel, Christian Aid and Islamic Relief to fund their relief, reconstruction and post emergency work.
To donate, visit: http://www.faithsworkingtogether.org/donate/
February 5th, 2009
The Guardian’s Islamophonic and Sounds Jewish podcast teams have joined forces in an inspiring podcast. If you don’t listen to any other podcast audio this year, listen to this, as it’s a model for how we can work together to explore the crunchy issues:
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The first half of the podcast focusses on how the conflict in Gaza has affected Jewish-Muslim relations in the UK, and moves on to a feature on to the Mu-Jew Crew – a Muslim-Jewish theatre team, and finally to a Muslim-Jewish comedy duo.
The damage done by the Gaza conflict to Jewish-Muslim relations runs deep, but this podcast shows that we can keep the conversation going, and look for new ways of working together to build a better future.
Dave
February 3rd, 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