By Jeff Oakley
(First posted on the RACblog)
Jeff Oakley is an Eisendrath Legislative Assistant at the Religious Action Center.
Last month, Rabbi Joshua Davidson of Temple Beth El of Northern Westchester in Chappaqua, NY, wrote here about his synagogue's dialogue with members of the Upper Westchester Muslim Society. Rabbi Davidson described his effort, a part of the Muslim-Jewish dialogue sponsored by the Union for Reform Judaism and Islamic Society of North America, as 'planting a seed of hope' which helps show that "the act of sitting together and listening to each other and talking of a shared vision for the future is the only way toward peace."

One of the non-legislative aspects of my work here at the Religious Action Center is to help coordinate this Muslim-Jewish dialogue, I'm thrilled to be a small part of planting these seeds of hope at the grassroots level, and helping communities build a foundation for a shared future. The cooperation between URJ and ISNA kicked off with both Rabbi Eric Yoffie's address to ISNA and Dr. Ingrid Mattson of ISNA's address to the URJ. In addition to the initiative between our movements, there are other incredible efforts at the 'grasstops' in which our leaders are involved.

One such effort, working to help fertilize these 'seeds of hope', is the National Interreligious Leadership Initiative for Peace in the Middle East (NILI). This initiative brings together the top leaders of the various denominations of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, who are committed to a shared vision of Middle East Peace. Most recently, they sent a letter to President Obama, applauding his early progress toward "active, fair and firm U.S. leadership for Arab-Israeli-Palestinian peace" and calling for "urgent U.S. diplomacy" to achieve a "truly effective and sustainable ceasefire." These religious leaders agreed that "as Jews, Christians and Muslims, we share a common religious commitment to peace with justice for all of God's children."

To learn more about NILI, the National Interreligious Leadership Initiative for Peace in the Middle East, check out their website, which includes NILI's previous statements as well as other resources for interfaith peace advocacy.

For more information about how to get your synagogue involved with Muslim-Jewish dialogue, visit our Muslim-Jewish dialogue site and email me if you are interested in obtaining a copy of the Children of Abraham dialogue guide.

Finally, you can take action now using our action alert to send a letter to your representative to support the appointment of Special Envoy Mitchell and support American diplomacy for achieving peace.

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