My New Project in The Big, Wide World Of Interfaith Dialogue and Understanding

As you all know, I have always treasured sharing different points of views and approaches with my fellow friends in faith, across the Jewish spectrum, the monotheistic spectrum and through all faith systems of the human family of which we are all part. I have always firmly believed that we miss opportunities far too often to learn with, from and about each other by holding onto preconceived notions that lead to fear and ultimately to hatred and enmity instead of looking at how we can come together in strength and conviction, holding onto and representing well our own beliefs while embracing others who are doing the same. As one of my treasured colleagues in this work, Sheikh Aziz Nathoo often repeats, we come together to converse not to convert. And, I will humbly add, by conversing, we learn by our own actions to appreciate and treasure what we share while respecting and showing regard for our differences.

In the Jewish cycle of Torah readings, we are in the book of Bereshit/Genesis. We are reading about too many stories of family dysfunction and conflict. This year in my own Parsha (weekly Torah reading) teaching, I am focusing on missed opportunities. For example, while Jacob/Yaakov is characterized as the studious obedient student who resides inside with his mother Rebecca/Rivkah, Esau is outside being wild and living on the land. His father Isaac/Yitzchak is drawn to him, perhaps due to some shortcomings of his own in that aspect of life. We see Yaakov working the land and developing great riches because of his husbandry skills, which one could legitimately ask, from where did he pick them up? By watching his brother, perchance?

Balancing our lives and understanding of each other and caring for all forms a large part of the foundational thinking represented in a large percentage of Jewish law and practices. The same can be said for Christianity and Catholicism as well as Islam and other communities of faith. YET, this is not the focus of the media, too many teachers and their teaching, and as a result, we are all suffering from too many MISSED OPPORTUNITIES for bettering ourselves and learning new skill sets, without compromising one iota of our belief system and religious lives.

I am truly blessed to be surrounded by people of different faith communities who hold this same concept that the sum total of who all of we are together is greater than the arithmetric total of the parts. Together, we discuss, share resources, program and enrich each other by interacting in honest and intentional ways, including having some of the harder conversations, which are softened by good will and care for each other. During these years of much too much fracture in our world, my Multi-Faith work has been the salve that has kept my heart whole and my soul intact. For this I am truly grateful.

I now invite all of you to share this journey by going to http://interfaithlibrary.com and see what my dear friend and colleague, Imam Mekye Abdus Salaam and I have been up to for the past weeks. Imam Mekye has served faithfully as the architect for something truly special, and I have been honored to partner with him to help build and realize his plans along with another dear friend in my work of building bridges of understanding, Sheikh Aziz Nathoo. Along with other Christians, Catholics, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, and adherents of multiple other faiths, we are all trying to convey that we can indeed celebrate what we have in common while showing respect and regard for where there are differences. We ask questions, we do not assume or attack. We listen, we do not shout each other down. And in the end, we as all of God’s children (both those of us who believe in a Supreme Being and those who may not) appreciate and develop a true sense of community with each other while learning so much more about ourselves.

Please note that this is part of an official roll out of The Interfaith Library and I invite all of you to join us on this journey. Please note that we are continuing to work on this venture and refine it. Please be sure to read the “Camp Rules” on the Home Page before “choosing your journey” and we hope that we all can continue to learn more about each other while confirming who we each are within our own faith journeys. Happy Travels or Nesiah Tova - נסיעה טובה!