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High Holy Days
September 3, 2010
Jewish interfaith leaders urge Shabbat sermon about Islam
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A group of Jewish interfaith educators is asking rabbis to talk about Islam next Shabbat.
A letter signed by six prominent rabbis and scholars points out that Shabbat Shuvah, the Sabbath between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, falls on Sept. 11, the ninth anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
In light of the controversy over the Islamic center planned for near the New York site, the letter asks rabbis and rabbinical students to “speak out against the bigotry that has erupted,” and promote the ideals of religious freedoms for Muslims as well as Jews.
Rabbis in leading positions at the Reform, Reconstructionist and Conservative seminaries, as well as the rabbinical school at Hebrew College, signed the appeal.
It reads, in part: “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.”
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Yeah, who cares about Judaism, instead of using Shabbat Shuvah for what it was meant to be, a particularly introspective period for each individual to contemplate their relationship with G-d, let’s be concerned with anything but Judaism. It’s much more fun for Rabbis to be experts on world and national events than waste time on the Jewish Religion. Weep Jews, in another 50 years we’ll be down to about 1.5 million Jews in this country; and the “Jewish” Journal and the rabbis in this article will be a good part of the reason.
- Comment by paul almond on 9/05/10 at 6:31 am
These Jewish “interfaith educators” would do better if they were Jewish educators; period. They should know that Islam has historically built mosques at significant enemy sites to commemorate victories. The Dome of the Rock is the most relevent but just one of many examples; Cordoba being another pertinent one. Jihad has resulted in the murder of hundreds of millions of people in the last 1400 years and enough Jews to make the Holocaust pale by comparison. There are thousands of mosques in the USA, most of them financed by Saudi Arabia and staffed by Wahabbi imams. Jews do not need dhimmi rabbis aiding a nation that does not allow synagogues or churches withinits borders.
- Comment by Len on 9/06/10 at 3:40 pm
The controversy over the construction of the Islamic center so near to ground zero should not be interpreted as an attempt to prevent Muslims to practice their religion. The perpetrators of that atrocity committed their crime in the name of Islam; thus the construction of the center in that location is simply insensitive to the feelings of the victims’ families.
As to the idea of rabbis lecturing their flock during services, I believe that is a bad idea because such sermons are not interactive. Many Jews, myself included are educated about the contents of the Koran, and we know that its contents provide ammunition to extremists as well as reasonable Muslims.
- Comment by Max Ludvigson on 9/06/10 at 10:53 pm
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So now, these groups of progressive rabbis will enlightened us and make us more understanding and more tolerant. Fact is we Americans know a whole lot more about Muslims and their religion than we ever cared to know, and the more we know, the more concerned we become. So to all these progressive rabbis we say: Thank you. Stop the patronizing. Stop treating us like a bunch of buffoonish xenophobes. Perhaps it is you who ought to open your eyes.