Imam Yahya Hendi

Last March,  the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College was honored to have Imam Yahya Hendi conduct a plenum session for us on Muslim-Jewish Relations. The session was a highlight for many of our time together. Imam  Hendi is the Muslim chaplain at Georgetown University,  the first American University to hire a full-time Muslim chaplain.(He is now joined by several colleagues at other schools, including Abdullah Antepli at Duke University.)  He also seves as Imam of the Islamic Society of Frederick, Frederick, MD and is the Muslim Chaplain at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, MD . After hearing Imam Hendi’s moving talk at the RRA, Rabbi Jacob Staub, a Professor at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, wrote the following poem that was published in The Forward on December 31, 2008. Had I been there, I would not have entered the Mumbai Jewish Center. I am invisible there. Worse, the rabbi was trained not to see the likes of me. He would have welcomed someone I’m not. Always, the Nagid says, when you most expect it. I warned my son to watch for the mobs of Granada. It took ten years, but they came, rest his soul. Oy, the rabbi’s wife, my daughter’s age. The rabbi looked like me back then. There but for the grace of God. I am bereft. We’d paid the bishop for our rights, wails Kalonymus of Mainz. He was supposed to protect us from the crusading hordes, the dogs! Refuse to be drawn into the cycle, but they would’ve killed me too. Jewish lives not more precious. Jewish deaths oh so painful. Imam Yahya of Georgetown mourns brokenhearted for Jewish blood spilled— even for those who would dance on his grave. Speedily in our day may I rise to his level.

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Beyond the “Stale” Science vs. Religion Debate

Adam Frank

Since 2001,  the best seller list has seen a rash of books by “evangelical atheists” whose critque of religion, often based on science, leaves little room for a nuanced understanding of what faith, spiritual practice or religious identity could be.

Liberal clergy have given sermon after sermon explaining their side of the story. Rabbi David Wolpe, a well known congregational rabbi in Los Angeles, has held public debates with Sam Harris and Christopher Hitchens.

A new book(January, 2009) promises to move past some of that “debate.” Written by Adam Frank, an astrophysicist at the University of Rochester, The Constant Fire has been garnering superb reviews.

Publishers’ Weekly  began its review this way…

Heavens be praised: here is a scientist who respects religion and relates it to the same impulse that drives scientific inquiry—an aspiration to the true and the real. Astrophysicist Frank is a lover of the skies with sufficient experience of awe to understand there’s more than one way to tell the truth.

To get a feel for Adam Frank, check out his blog http://theconstantfire.blogspot.com/ where you can get a sense of his style and his character. Frank writes

The whole point, as far as I can tell, of an authentic spiritual longing is to live in accordance with a call to compassion and honesty. So what is up with the ham-fisted certainty that clubs dissent or dismisses it with a wave of the hand? The hardest thing we have to face… is the sense that we know for sure, that we know with absolute certainty. It kills the creativity that lives in the moment. It kills the options that we may need to face the challenges we face. And, all too often, it simply leads to killing.

This is a scientist with a mission!

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Multifaith Group of Teens Create Mural

Reoonstructionist Congregation Dorshei Tzedek in Newton, Massachusetts was part of an interfaith effort in which teens created a stunning piece of artwork while also discovering their ties with one another. Read all about it here.

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Faith House Manhattan: A New Vision of Spiritual Community

Samir Selmanovic

On Tuesday,  February 17th, the RRC community will be fortunate to hear a talk by Samir Selmanovic, PhD, the founder of Faith House Manhattan. This will be an opportunity for us to learn about several developments at once. Samir,  an ordained Seventh Day Adventist minister, grew up in Croatia as a secular Muslim. As the pastor of churches in California and in New York City, he developed a reputation as a leader in the emerging church movement.

To learn more about this movement in the context of Christian history, it is best to check out  a new book by Phyllis Tickle, The Great Emergence: How Christianity is Changing and Why.

Another excellent resource is An Emergent Manifesto of Hope, an edited volume that includes a chapter by Samir titled “The Sweet Problem of Inclusiveness: Finding our God in the Other. “

Which brings us to Samir’s latest project, Faith House Manhattan, a multifaith community that honors the dignity of difference while seeking to create a religiously diverse community.

Lest you think Samir is alone in his passion for interfaith work, the Harvard Univeristy Pluralism project has a list(with hot links) to 678 interfaith organizations in the United States.

One critic of Samir wrote, “Samir doesn’t believe the frank, plain words of the Lord Jesus Christ, “No man comes to the Father but by me.” He thinks that everyone is in, regardless of whether or not they believe in the Lord Jesus.”

What does it mean to be a post-modern, post-Christendom, post-colonial evangelical Christian who believes “everyone is in?” We look forward to learning more.

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Interfaith Dialogue at the Grassroots

Since 1964, the Journal of Ecumenical Studies has been the premiere academic journal  in the field of interreligious  dialogue.  It pages have been devoted to important research and scholarly investigations, and its audience has been largely clergy, interreligious professionals and academicians.

Recently, however, JES published a special issue, edited by Rebecca Kratz Mays.  This issue offers a wonderful review of the growing field of grass roots endeavors between religious groups and individuals in this country.

The topic is so important( and the collection so well conceived and executed) that Temple University press has  published the volume as an attractively produced paperback book.

Interfaith Dialogue at the Grassroots is as a valuable resource for anyone wanting to learn more about the growing edge of multifaith world.

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Religious Perspectives on Aging: RRC’s Rabbi Dayle Friedman will be part of Multifaith Panel

Rabbi Dayle Friedman

Rabbi Dayle Friedman, the Director of Hiddur: The Center for Aging and Judaism at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College,  will participate in a fascinating program Religious Perspectives on Aging, to be held at WHYY Philadelphia at 7 pm on Thursday,  February 19.  The multi-faith panel will be moderated by psychologist, author and public radio host, Dr. Dan Gottlieb. For more information click here.

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RRC Slifka Intern in Israel visits Sderot with Interfaith Group

Through the generosity of the Alan B. Slifka Foundation, an RRC student, Amy Loewenthal, is working with the Jerusalem Peacemakers this year, while she spends two semesters studying in Israel.

Here is a brief report of a recent trip she made to the south of the country:

All the world is just a narrow bridge

On Wedneday, Feb 4 , I traveled to the Sderot region with members of the Abrahamic Reunion. These spiritual leaders, who represent the four Abrahamic faiths(Muslims, Jews, Christians and Druze) of this region, host gatherings all over Israel to bring people together to speak heart to heart, pray, and eat together.

In addition to visiting a Jewishschool, accompanied by a class of Arab children from Northern Israel,  the group payed a call on an Israeli man named Nati .

Nati suffered massive internal injuries as a result of being hit by shrapnel from a Kassam rocket 10 years ago. He has undergone numerous surgeries and remains disabled. Nati and his wife Nana are concerned that it is very difficult for Nati to get to shelter in the event of missile attack. Nati is very active on the phone giving to support to other disabled residents of Sderot.

An Arab member of the group, Ibtisam Mahamid gave Nati a rock as a gift. Ibtisam is a religious Muslim woman from the city of Faradis, Israel. She has been active for 20 years in Arab-Jewish co-existence.

Painted on the rock were the words of Rabbi Nachman of Bratzlav, “All the world is a very narrow bridge; the main thing is not to be afraid.”  In giving the rock to Nati, Ibtisam joked that instead of throwing rocks, she was handing him this special one.

Ibtisam

Nati

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Obama Begins his Multifaith Work

Eboo Patel

For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness.We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus, and nonbelievers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth.–Barack Obama, January 20, 2009

Less than a month ago, we heard the newly inaugurated President Obama describe our multifaith country with words that none of the 43 presidents before him had used. Now,  we are moving beyond words to action.  On Thursday, Obama announced  that he was establishing an  Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. Take a look at the list of members of this council! Obama included Rabbi David Saperstein and Reverend Jim Wallis–as expected– but he also chose a young Muslim visionary, Eboo Patel(see his article below) and several leaders of secular social service organizations such as the CEO of Big Brothers/Big Sisters.

Obama is moving forward in this area, expanding our understanding of just how religiously diverse our country is. Here is Eboo Patel’s report on their first meeting:

Eboo Patel: Why I Joined Obama’s Faith Council – On Faith at washingtonpost.com.

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Interfaith Pilgrimage to Iran

On Thursday, Feb 5, Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb spoke at RRC, offering a slide show  about her recent interfaith pilgrimage to Iran. (In the picture below, Lynn is on the far left and next to her is  RRC graduate Rabbi Brant Rosen).

For those not fortunate enough to have heard Lynn in person yet, click here to listen to her talk about her trip on Chicago Public Radio.

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RRC Grad Helps Train Buddhist Seminarians

Bokin Kim

The Won Institute  is located in Glenside, Pa, just minutes from  the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College. When the academic dean, Reverend Dr. Bokin Kim called to ask for help in locating a  homiletics instructor for their Buddhist Studies Program, we were happy  to recommend one of our graduates, Rabbi Goldie Milgram(RRC, 1993),the director of  Reclaiming Judaism.org & Bmitzvah.org

Won Buddhism, a twentieth century religious movement that began in Korea, calls itself  “reformed Buddhism.” It claims 1.5 million followers worldwide. In addition to many courses in meditiation, spirituality and healing arts  for the general community, the Won Institute offers a two year program for Won Buddhist candidates for the ministry.  These individuals have already had four years of training in Korea; in Glenside they complete their studies and learn how  to work in the English speaking world.

Here is Rabbi Milgram’s report:

Goldie Milgram

The invite was to teach homiletics at the Won Institute in their program that  prepares  students to become Won Buddhist ministers(kyomu). Teaching is my love, experiential, student-empowering teaching – all world-cultures and religions are important and fascinating to me. But I knew little about Buddhism, so this didn’t seem a likely match.

Nancy Fuchs-Kreimer and  Bokin Kim both explained that the students, recent arrivals from Korea,  know plenty about Buddhism.  It’s public speaking and preaching in America that they need help with. So we commenced what has proven to be  an important and delightful relationship.

At 5 feet tall, I confess I was pleased to have most of my students at eye-level instead of  my always craning upward. That was the first major difference. Next was the incredibly respectful behavior throughout the building and class time, never an errant turn of phrase.

Most astonishing, however, was that the practices I’d learned in exploring medieval Jewish meditation correlated  strongly with the talks the students were writing  on Buddhist practices.  We quickly understood each other. The school had assigned Reverand Insun Park to team teach with me; the two of us easily aligned on how to support the students’ development.

At first the students were very very formal and stiff in their talks. Eventually,  the joyful, empowering methods of our classroom brought them  fully to life. We were often quite giggly. They came to my home for Shabbat dinner and reciprocated with invitations to meals and to speak at their services.  My Hubbatzin (husband of a woman rabbi term I made up in the 1990’s) Barry and I feel our lives are ever so enriched.

A highlight was my opportunity to give a dharma talk on teshuvah(repentence) This spring, I will again be teaching for the Institute.

Rabbi Goldie Milgram

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