THIS I BELIEVE

Last week, I was able to share a 500 word statement of my beliefs on local public radio, WHYY in Philadelphia. The audio is available here and the text here. Thanks for your comments!

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Willow Wilson speaks at RRC Multifaith Salon

 

On Friday, October 8, we welcomed author Willow Wilson to our Mutlifaith Salon. Wilson read from her new book, The Butterfly Mosque, a spiritual memoir that  chronicles her conversion to Islam and her subsequent marriage to a young Egyptian from a traditional Muslim family. 

Our salon participants included students and professors from colleges such as LaSalle and St. Joseph’s; seminarians and faculty from the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College and Lutheran Theological Seminary; local clergy and laypeople from a variety of faith traditions.

All participants enjoyed her insights and observations as well as her openness, honesty and approachability.

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Law Professors Pledge to Contribute $18,000 to Park51

My husband recently joined a group of American law professors who are responding to the Park51 controversy by “putting their money where their principles are.” Rather than just issue a statement, the three law professors who organized this initiative decided to raise funds to show their support for the endeavor. Amazingly, a letter of support signed by 219 professors of law accompanied a collective pledge for $18,000.

The professors are hoping that this initiative will receive wide press coverage. In the meantime, you can read the letter and list of signers here. LawprofsforPark51

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SEPTEMBER 11, 2010: RESOURCES FOR A TIME FOR TURNING

“Everything I need to know about Islam, I learned on September 11th, 2001.”

Many of us would disagree. In fact, what we have learned in the years since that day is the opposite. That everything we need to know about Islam we did NOT learn on September 11th, 2001. The proposal for the “Mosque at Ground Zero” that turns out not to be a mosque and not at Ground Zero has brought to light this simple fact: We Americans need to know a whole lot more about Muslims and their religion. We also need better ways to think about this particular controversy and, beyond the specifics of Park51 in lower Manhattan, about the larger issues it raises.

A group of Jewish interfaith educators is encouraging Jews to use this season of turning to reflect on our own fears and prejudices, on ways we might educate ourselves about Islam, and on the role we might play in helping to create a more inclusive and just society. Here is the statement: Shabbat Shuva Letter

Here are just a few of the resources I have found helpful. I look forward to more suggestions.

*The Auburn Theological Seminary website is gathering a growing collection of resources and is an excellent first stop to learn more.

*The Reverend Dr. Susan Thistlethwaite has excellent ideas here for Christian preachers.

Statements:

Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association

Reform Movement

A video statement created by Auburn Theological Seminary

History:

Jonathan Sarna “When Shuls were Banned in America.”

Nancy Fuchs Kreimer “Park51 Should Not be Complicated for Jews”

Reuven Firestone, a rabbi and professor of islamic Studies at Hebrew Union College “The Ground Zero-Sum Game”

Analysis:

Rabbi Justus Baird

Alan Dershowitz

Shaul Magid

Frank Rich

Rabbi Steve Gutow

Keith Olbermann video,

Rabbis David Ellenson and Robert Levine

Eboo Patel

0mid Safi

Sarah Sayeed

To learn more about Islam:

The best place to begin is the website of the Center for Muslim-Jewish Engagement with its growing bank of resources.

This is an amazing site with over five hours of high quality films to view, entirely free of charge. There is a short film about a Muslim New York City firefighter, and a portion of a longer PBS special about Islam, “Allah Made me Funny,” and more. There are also discussion guides to download.

ChangeTheStory.net is an on-line resource aimed at transforming harmful stereotypes about Muslims that persist in society. Many useful materials here, especially for people just beginning to learn about Islam.

The website for the Daughters of Abraham Book Group Includes a helpful reading list.

NPR’s Speaking of Faith with Krista Tippett has many excellent shows on Islam. The website includes transcripts, podcasts, and additional resources.

Actions:

Here is an inspiring report of one rabbi’s unusual response.

Hebrew Union College Students and Faculty rally

Check the website of New York Neighbors for American Values

* THE LIBERTY WALK: INTERFAITH RALLY FOR RELIGIOUS FREEDOM

Date: Sunday, September 12, 2010, 3pm
Location: Starting at St Peter’s Church on the corner of Church and Barclay and ending at Park51.

We are pleased to announce that Religious Freedom USA is leading a demonstration in support of Park51. We must support the religious freedoms that are at stake for all Americans. We will walk from St Peter’s to a synagogue (TBD), World Trade Center, and finish at Park51. Please be respectful and mindful. We won’t allow any signs at this demonstration. Rather, we ask everyone to bring a flag to the demonstration as a reminder of religious freedom. Together, not as Christians, Jews, or Muslims, but as Americans, we can uphold the American values that brought our ancestors here, the freedoms that we take for granted, and the ideals that we must uphold for our future.

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Proposed Muslim Community Center near Ground Zero: Let’s Have the Right Conversation!

Over the weekend, I posted an opinion piece on Huffington Post about the controversy surrounding “Cordoba House,” the proposed community center and mosque to be built in lower Manhattan.You can read it here.

Over 300 people have taken the time to post comments, and I am sorry to report that much of the conversation is disheartening. There is so much ignorance, anger and fear out there!

I urge you to follow this issue and try to steer the conversation in helpful directions. We have a long way to go…

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Progressive Jews Studying Traditional Texts: But Why?

Today’s ReligionDispatches carries an article by Professor Aryeh Cohen of the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies of American Jewish University.  Cohen does a great job of showing that there is, indeed, a sea change in the Jewish world in the relationship between traditional text study and progressive politics.

My experience in American Jewish communities, dating back to the seventies, confirms Cohen’s claims.  It was rare to find a serious encounter with religious sources going hand-in-hand with left-liberal Jewish activism. The latter was the province of Reform or secular Jews who grounded their thinking less in Talmud than in Kant. The former was pursued almost entirely by Orthodox Jews who were usually conservative or not involved in the political sphere.

According to Cohen—and I happily agree—that situation is changing. Cohen offers a number of examples of Jews who are engaged in “taking back the texts.” He then asks, Why? One reason he notes is of particular interest to readers of this blog. Cohen writes that the move to ground one’s social activism in traditional Jewish text is, among other things, “a way to participate in a multiethnic and interfaith discussion from a grounded Jewish space and in a textured Jewish vocabulary.”

Fascinating! I think Cohen is right.  Much social justice work in this country takes place in coalitions of faith based activists. Religiously inspired Catholics and Protestants have led many of the great social change movements in America, most dramatically the civil rights movement of the 1960’s. When Jews join with Christians to work on issues from homelessness to undocumented immigrants to the environment, they are encouraged and inspired  to bring to the table their own spiritual idioms. They do not want to share the Christian language, but they are moved by Christian faith.  In seeking the language of Talmud, it seems these Jews are looking less  for guidance on issues than a sense of the religious depths from which they hope to act as they  “heal the world.”

Here we see an example of one of the ways interfaith encounter enriches our lives.

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Haiti: A Philadelphia Religion Professor’s Reflections

Professor Terry Rey, the Chairman of the Religion Department at Temple University, has close personal ties to Haiti. He recently published his reflections in a local newspaper, The Philadelphia Daily News.

I have read many commentators on this issue, but Terry’s thoughts were particularly meaningful and provocative. Thank you, Terry, for taking the time to share your perspective during a time of so much pain.

Terry sent a letter to friends and colleagues that included the full text of what he had submitted to  The Daily News. In his letter, he shared his  regret that the editors  chose to leave off the last paragraph. Since he intended it for publication, I am sharing it here:

I lived in Haiti for a long time; two of my children were born in Haiti to a Haitian mother, my first wife, who tragically died of cancer in 2001. When I learned of the earthquake, I felt very much like I did when I learned of her diagnosis. This horrible tragedy saddens me greatly and my condolences go out to all who have lost loved ones. I fear for our relatives and dear friends in Haiti, most of them in Port-au-Prince, of whom we have little or no news. Our house there may well be destroyed; it is quite near the Montana Hotel, which is itself now rubble. There were as many as 300 people inside when the Montana collapsed. They had no warning. My wife and I would often go there to sip rum punch while watching the sun set over the city and the Bay of Port-au-Prince – the city on the very plain that late yesterday afternoon was all covered with rising smoke and human wailing. The cathedral has largely collapsed. That was a second home for me while I lived in Haiti. I often went to Mass there, or just to pray or do research. I grieve for Archbishop Miot, who died there yesterday, across the street in his office, where once I interviewed him. He blessed my rosary then. This Sunday I will go to a Haitian church – there are about 60 of them here in Philadelphia – to pray with Haitians for Haitians and for Haiti, our Haiti, and to express my solidarity with them. The rosary will be with me, and Msgr. Miot and everyone else will be in my prayers.

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Samir Selmanovic’s Daughters: Don’t Buy His Book!

This video is worth watching. Really.

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The Gift of Gaining a New Perspective

The Philadelphia Jewish Exponent published an op ed this week in which I shared the gift of learning I gained from studying the Joseph story from a Muslim perspective. You can read it here.

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Clear Thinking on Fort Hood

Professor Husssein Rashid, who will be teaching Islam at RRC this spring, had a very thoughtful post on ReligionDispatches regarding the recent killings at Fort Hood. Read it here.

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