A note on cooperation from Rabbi George Driesen after participating in FFEU and Greater Washington Muslim-Jewish Forums Summit of Imams and Rabbis as part of #WeekendofTwinning #WOT14 REPORT TO THE CONGREGATION ON THE ‘SUMMIT OF THE GREATER WASHINGTON IMAMS AND RABBIS Yesterday (November 23, 2014) Fred and I were privileged to attend a meeting of imams and rabbis called by The Greater Washington Muslim-Jewish Forum. The meeting, held at Washington Hebrew Congregation, was titled 2014 Summit of Washington Area Imams and Rabbis. Its purpose, to which several area Islamic societies contributed, was captioned “Building Community and Understanding…” The format was multi-faceted: brief talks, a slide show, break-out sessions, a meal and a reception, and afternoon “Asr Prayers.” The gathering was hosted by Rabbi Bruce Lustig of Washsington Hebrew Congregation, Dr. Sayyid Syeed, and Imam Mohammed Magid (“who is currently in Senegal).” The meeting was balm to a sick soul (mine), aghast at the Har Nof murders (see my upcoming Reflections). Many themes emerged from the program and the discussions, including the proposition that Jews and Muslims must stand up for each other in the fights against Islamophobia and anti-Semitism, which all agreed were cut from the same cloth. Notably, I was surprised to learn that one of the Moslem organizations had initiated the successful effort to get an anti-Semitic t.v. show off on D.C. public television off the air. That illustrated efforts under the rubric “Standing Up for the Other, “ which was one among many: “Educating About the Other”, “Twinning” (sharing of facilities and creation of joint Muslim-Jewish Programs). In the course of the meeting we were introduced to materials prepared by the Reform Movement addressing Muslim-Jewish relations, most important, An Introduction to Islam for Jews, and a program in which Jews and Muslims worked together under banners and signs reading “Spread Hummus, Not Hate,” and how local Muslim and Jewish students joined together to counter advertisements by Pamela Gellar broadly attacking “Islam.” One of the Imams urged that all who attended should work together to support an Israeli Imam whose car was damaged by an acidic substance in response to his having participated in an interfaith gathering held outside the Har Nof synagogue. He decried the attack and called for an end to the violence in Jerusalem. The group also discussed the next steps to be taken in the work of establishing closer relations between Jews and Muslims in this area and beyond. I am grateful to Rabbi Leila Gal Burner (RRC 1989) who forwarded an invitation to me to participate in this afternoon of friendship and learning. Rabbi George
Posted on: Wed, 17 Dec 2014 22:10:00 +0000
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