By Emily Grotta

Michelle Boorstein of the Washington Post has been observing the dialogue between members of a synagogue and a mosque in the Washington area. She writes:

Such dialogue is often a balancing act: hopeful yet guarded; genuine yet superficial; teetering on the precipice of the most emotional subjects but often stepping back. Rare efforts such as this one, which ended June 1, go beyond a single mass event and seek more depth and intimacy.

The balance is increasingly being tested across the country as interfaith efforts grow, including an unprecedented push announced in December between the continent's largest Jewish and Muslim organizations. The six-session group led by Rabbi Steve Weisman of Bowie's Temple Solel and Shadeed, a leader of the Islamic Society of Southern Prince George's County, is among 11 groups nationwide picked to try a new curriculum created by the Union for Reform Judaism and the Islamic Society of North America. The organizations have urged their hundreds of thousands of members to use it in what they say is the broadest Jewish-Muslim interfaith effort in North American history.

I was enormously proud to be a Reform Jew last December when the Reform Movement launched this project, called "Children of Abraham."  Given the vitriolic hatred of the Muslim community that is voiced in many corners of our country, how can we, as Jews, stand idly by when a whole group is tarnished by the actions of a few? As Rabbi Yoffie said in announcing the initiative,

While we will fight Islamic extremism with every ounce of our being, we have been the victims of indiscriminate hatred for far too long to inflict it now on others. Jews have never taught hatred as an answer to hatred, and we will not begin now. 

For many Jewish communities, it's hard to get the dialogue going. It requires a willing mosque in relatively close proximity, and it requires a commitment on the part of the synaoguge leaders. That said, there are other ways to increase Jewish understanding of Islam, including a short course that can be taught in the synagogue.

 What's happening in your area?   

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