Jews, Christians, and Muslims working together » muslim

A New Zealand Jew addresses Islam Awareness Week launch

Dave Moskovitz — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 05:26:07 +0000

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.

Radio Salaam Shalom

Dave Moskovitz — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 11:26:59 +0000

The UK’s out-there Radio Salaam Shalom (strapline: “Muslims and Jews Talking Together”) has just revamped its web site. Their main content is audio podcasts, which provide interesting perspectives on Jewish-Muslim relations. They’re avant guard, and not particularly shy. Definitely worth a listen. Dave Related posts:A Jew and a Muslim talk about Gaza Interfaith Youth Core The Vatican on Jewish-Catholic relations Related posts:

A Jew and a Muslim talk about Gaza

Dave Moskovitz — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 22:08:03 +0000

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:

Anjum Rahman:

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

Joint Jewish, Christian, Muslim appeal for Gaza

Dave Moskovitz — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 01:37:23 +0000

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: 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

New Scientist: Religion alters visual perception

Dave Moskovitz — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 21:08:50 +0000

New Scientist just published a report on a study by Leiden University’s Bernhard Hommel, in which he shows that Dutch Calvinists are able to pick out shapes from a confusing background quicker than athiests of similar cultural backgrounds.

“This could reflect a greater focus on self than external distractions for Calvinists, says Hommel. He suggests it may even be a cognitive consequence of their religion and speculates that Calvinists might be more inward looking than atheists because they have lived their whole lives with an emphasis on minding their own business.

Hommel plans to give the same test to Catholics, as well as Muslims and Jews, but he must first figure out how to eliminate other cultural differences that could mask any insights. ‘It doesn’t make any sense to compare Iranian Muslims with Dutch atheists,’ he says.”

Does this mean that religious people see things more clearly? You be the judge.

Dave

Twinning Muslim and Jewish congregations

Dave Moskovitz — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 21:46:45 +0000

JTA reports on a great initiative to “twin” Jewish and Muslim congregations across the USA. The programme was kicked off by a weekend themed “Confronting Islamophobia and Antisemitism Together”, an indicator that American Jews and Muslims are making earnest attempts to reach beyond the Middle East conflict to join hands in battling prejudices within and against their communities.

Far from there being “too many dialogues“, the more point-to-point connections we develop, the stronger we are as a community of communities. While we can rely on our umbrella organisations to support our endeavours, the real progress is made by people getting to know, and working with, other people.

What is your religious group doing to extend its hand in friendship to others?

Dave

Just Peacemaking and positive action

Dave Moskovitz — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 05:30:26 +0000

Following on from the previous post on Abrahamic alternatives to war the participants at the forum agreed to the following action programme:

1. As Believers in the one God, we all believe that to continue our conflicts is violation of God’s moral code and its imperative of justice. Violent actions as humans do not promote the cause of God and have negative repercussions for all.

2. We all believe that the concepts of “holy war” or crusades are neither compatible with the will of God nor with the true spirit of our religions.

3. We all believe that Just Peacemaking is the best option to resolve human conflicts and actively work toward the elimination of the conditions that lead to violence. We define violence as the illegitimate use of force.

4. We all believe that we have the responsibility within our respective communities to correct scriptural misinterpretations used to justify violence, through education of our own religious communities about the true message of our faiths, and also through engagement in intrafaith dialogue.

5. We all believe that we need to look both inward to our traditions as we do this work, and look outward to share results and receive feedback.

6. We all believe that psychological issues, social issues, and historical narratives must be taken into account as critical components of the process of conflict transformation.

7. We all believe that there is no religious justification for “terrorism” that targets innocents/noncombatants.

8. We recognize that we have continuing tensions, unresolved issues, and tasks, such
as:

a) to take account, soon, of the extraordinary crisis and risk to human survival
in current global affairs. We cannot wait, however, to solve all the “issues” before we act;

b) to understand in what sense each tradition must promote its own claims for “truth” without engaging in triumphalism. Can an “invitational” religion not imply some form of superiority over others?

c) to determine if our diverse historical experiences remain merely side by side, or must we work to write a common account of our histories? Are histories reconcilable? Can we internalize the “other’s” history?

9. We propose to explore a world day of celebration of shared human dignity.

10. We all agree that we should explore the necessary procedures and steps to implement this document.

11. We all agree to mine our own religious traditions to further develop the Just Peacemaking practices.

–

The basic tennets of Just Peacemaking, as cited in the document are:

1. Support nonviolent direct action.
2. Take independent initiatives to reduce threat.
3. Use cooperative conflict resolution.
4. Acknowledge responsibility for conflict and injustice and seek repentance and forgiveness.
5. Advance democracy, human rights, and religious liberty.
6. Foster just and sustainable economic development.
7. Work with emerging cooperative forces.
8. Strengthen the United Nations and international efforts for cooperation and human rights.
9. Reduce offensive weapons and weapons trade.
10. Encourage grassroots peacemaking groups and voluntary associations.

–

Sure, I hear you thinking, this is all mum-and-apple-pie stuff. But it’s very real and very achievable, but only if we each take personal responsibility for making it happen. This goes way beyond “have you hugged a Jew / Christian / Muslim today” to asking yourself, “what can I do myself, with my family, within my own community, in my own country, and in the world to make peace a viable alternative to war?“

Abrahamic alternatives to war

Dave Moskovitz — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 08:49:28 +0000

The United States Institute of Peace recently released a report, Abrahamic Alternatives to War: Jewish, Christian, and Muslim Perspectives on Just Peacemaking.

Summary

Jewish, Muslim, and Christian sacred texts all contain sections that support violence and justify warfare as a means to achieve certain goals. In particular historical circumstances, these texts have served as the basis to legitimate violent campaigns, oftentimes against other faith communities.
Many of the passages from sacred texts in all three religious traditions that are misused in contemporary situations to support violence and war are taken out of context, interpreted in historically inaccurate ways, or can be better translated. Finally, all of these passages need to be understood within (and constrained by) the primary spiritual aims of the individual faith.
There are also a great many teachings and ethical imperatives within Jewish, Christian, and Muslim scriptures that promote peace and present the means to achieve it. These include mandates to strive for political, social, and economic justice; tolerant intercommunal coexistence; and nonviolent conflict resolution.
The three religious delegations that participated in the conference leading to this report presented slightly different and yet overlapping methods for peacemaking articulated by their sacred scriptures. The considerable overlap led the scholars to affirm the existence of a coherent “Abrahamic Just Peacemaking” paradigm, which began to take focus through their rigorous interfaith debate.
Further work is needed to articulate fully this Abrahamic Just Peacemaking paradigm. The conference scholars committed themselves to continued development of this model in pursuit of a rigorous and effective faith-based program to promote alternatives to war.

About the Report

Eight Muslim scholar-leaders, six Jewish scholar-leaders, and eight Christian scholar-leaders met from June 13 to 15, 2007, in Stony Point, N.Y., at a conference sponsored by the United States Institute of Peace and the Churches’ Center for Theology and Public Policy. Conference participants specified practices within each of the three faith traditions that could lay the groundwork for nonviolent alternatives to resolving conflict and addressing injustice, while also identifying roadblocks in the sacred texts of their traditions to creating such processes. The scholars ’ teachings found that these ancient religious teachings on peace and justice are often consistent with modern conflict-resolution theory. This report examines passages that support violence in each tradition’s scripture, presents definitions of “just peacemaking” in each tradition, summarizes places of convergence that might create the foundation for a program offering an Abrahamic alternative to war and presents a joint statement and series of commitments reached at the end of the conference.

A fantastic initiative, and a fascinating read!

You can also download the full PDF.

Dave

Catholic Church to Muslims: Let's work together for the dignity of the family

Dave Moskovitz — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 11:28:59 +0000

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