The Foundation Hosts First National Summit of
Imams and Rabbis in the United States

Last January, on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Rabbi Marc Schneier, President of The Foundation for Ethnic Understanding, and Imam Omar Abu-Namous, Imam of the Islamic Cultural Center of New York, initiated an historic dialogue discussing the importance of working together to improve the relationship between the Jewish and Muslim communities in America.

At a time when strengthening Jewish-Muslim relations is deemed by many to be counter-intuitive at best, and mission impossible at worst, The Foundation believes there has never been a more compelling need for this kind of vital communication. To this end, The Foundation sponsored the first National Summit of Imams and Rabbis in the United States on November 7, 2007, at The New York Synagogue and the Islamic Cultural Center of New York City. Imam Abu-Namous and Rabbi Schneier hosted this critical day of meetings and were joined by imams and rabbis from 11 major cities around the United States including Dallas, Baltimore, Dearborn, Philadelphia, Boston, and Los Angeles. Also participating were an observer imam and rabbi from Toronto, Canada.

Experts from the Muslim Public Affairs Council, the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York, the Muslim Consultative Network, the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty and the Bronfman Center for Jewish Student Life, among other organizations, joined prominent members of Jewish and Muslim clergy in leading the myriad workshops. Walter Ruby, veteran American Jewish journalist and Sarah Sayeed of the Muslim Consultative Network served as MC's for the day. The day's activities were intended to help build a cohesive platform embracing mutual understanding and respect between the Jewish and Muslim American communities. This unique approach to the conversation between the two communities was meant to inspire a new way of thinking about the potential of Jewish-Muslim relations beyond America's borders as well.

The participants began the day of workshops with a session entitled Discovering Commonalities in Rituals, Customs and Culture. Joel Cohen, Partner at Strook & Strook & Lavan, LLP, together with Imam Samer Alraey moderated the conversation between Rabbi Schneier and Imam Abu-Namous. They discussed the relationship of Jews and Muslims in America and the commonalities they experience. "Whether Jewish or Muslim, we are all American. There is a value system and culture that we share - these must be embraced and nurtured," said Schneier. "We must stop being distracted by political hotbed issues that divide us in the Middle East and learn to relate to each other within the context of being an American." Abu-Namous agreed saying, "Now is the time to move forward and look beyond our differences. Both Islam and Judaism are deeply rooted in peace. Inshallah, we shall live to see the day."

The second workshop, Rereading the Muslim and Jewish Religious Texts to Remove Misunderstandings and Misconceptions and Identify Commonalities, was presented by Imam W. Deen Shareef of New Jersey's Masjid Waarith ud Deen and Rabbi Dr. Alan Brill of Seton Hall University who looked at the story of the biblical patriarch, Abraham, through the lens of their respective sacred texts. The participants traveled to the Islamic Cultural Center for the afternoon schedule which included a workshop entitled, Creating a Common Agenda: Potential Areas of Cooperation between Synagogues and Mosques in Cities across America. Habeeb Ahmed of the Islamic Center of Long Island and Rabbi Jerome Davidson of Temple Beth-El gave a presentation outlining their experience of leading fifteen years of cooperation between the Jewish and Muslim communities on Long Island; Imam Al-Hajj Talib 'Abdur-Rashid of the Harlem's Mosque of Islamic Brotherhood and William Rapfogel of the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty spoke about combating poverty in Jewish and Muslim American communities; Rabbi Yehuda Sarna and Imam Khalid Latif, both of New York University, shared their experience building the relationship between Muslim and Jewish students on the NYU campus and Lena Alhusseini of the Arab American Family Support System and Lara Mayouhas of the Jewish Community Relations Council, spoke about opportunities for the two communities to cooperate on direct social services & community educational issues.

The last workshop of the day, How Can American Jews and Muslims Act as Allies in Times of Crisis?, included presentations led by Imam Abdur-Rhaman Farrakhan of Brooklyn's Masjid Al-Jamiyah and Rabbi Ellen Lippmann, of Congregation Kolot Chayeinu; Bob Kaplan of the Jewish Community Relations Council and Mohammed Razvi from the Council of Peoples Organization; and by Walter Ruby and Haris Tarin, Director of Community Development at the Muslim Public Affairs Council, who discussed the importance of coalition building and mutual interest in encouraging positive representations of both communities and their relationship in the mainstream media.

The summit followed a dinner sponsored by the World Jewish Congress (WJC) and included guest speakers Ambassador Ronald S. Lauder, WJC President, Russell Simmons, Chairman of the The Foundation, Dr. Sayyid Muhammad Syeed, Secretary General of the Islamic Society of North America, and Ambassador Abdul Wahab, Permanent Observer of the Organization of the Islamic Conference to the United Nations. In his address to the audience Simmons declared, "The goal of this summit is to provide the participants with the tools to cultivate a strong communal relationship as Americans in their hometowns, and not solely as Jews or Muslims." Congressman Keith Ellison, the first Muslim member of Congress was represented by his Imam from Minnesota, Imam Makram El-Amin. In a statement, Rep. Ellison asserted, "I commend the leaders of both our faiths for dedicating themselves to promoting a deeper understanding between our communities... We shall return to our respective communities with a message of peace and unity crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring those ripples to build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of ignorance and intolerance." New York Congressman Jerrold Nadler, an active member of the American Jewish Community, also sent a statement of support and remarked "FFEU has the noble goal of uniting our diverse ethnic and faith communities through mutual understanding and respect… Indeed, the First Amendment of our Constitution celebrates the principle of religious diversity. The strength of America is that we are a nation with respect for those whose religious beliefs may be different than our own... By combating ignorance and fear with knowledge and respect, we have been able to recognize and celebrate the common values that constitute our shared humanity. There is more that unites us than divides us." Both congressmen, long-time Foundation friends, are part of the Congressional Anti-Semitism Task Force.

The summit marks the beginning of an ongoing process that The Foundation hopes will spread to increasing numbers of Jewish and Muslim communities around America. To this end, the participants passed a resolution calling for a 'national day of twining' which will take place in the third week of November 2008, prior to Thanksgiving. On this weekend, mosques and synagogues across the country will be encouraged to host events in their home communities to further strengthen the relationships between Jews and Muslims in America.

View photos from this event

Copyright © 2007 The Foundation For Ethnic Understanding The Foundation for Ethnic Understanding was founded in 1989 by Rabbi Marc Schneier and the late Joseph Papp. We are committed to the belief that direct, face-to-face, dialogue between leaders of ethnic communities is the most effective path toward the reduction of bigotry and the promotion of reconciliation and understanding. 1 East 93rd Street, Suite #1C New York, New York, 10128 ffeu@ffeu.org (Tel) 917-492-2538, (Fax) 917-492-2560

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