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From February to April of 2005, Vancouver's Masjid
ul-Haqq mosque and Ahavat Olam synagogue jointly offered a three-part
series of religious teachings and dialogue called, "Hearing the Word
of God", led by Imam Fode Drome and Rabbi David Mivasair. Each session
included an hour of teaching and focused discussion from both traditions,
followed by refreshments and relaxed informal conversation.
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Now we're actively working together to continue the holy journey of bringing our two communities into
a positive, supportive and knowledgeable realitionship -- inshallah, be-ezrat ha-Shem, with the help of God,
-- step-by-step, person-to-person, heart-to-heart.
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"Over tea, samosas
and rugelach … many embraces and hand shakes were shared and new
friendships were made. In the duration of a few hours, the crowd effortlessly
and beautifully put into action the very things the religious leaders
spoke of earlier that afternoon." |
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"A small step for
people of faith, perhaps. A giant leap for humankind." |
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"When she heard the
speakers – and in particular one song we sang – she said her
heart opened and now she wants to join us in reaching out across the divide." |
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"We are indeed privileged to be able, in our own small humble
way, to reach out in goodwill toward creating a more loving and peaceful
world by BEING the love and peace that we seek."
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When we learn, we begin
with ABC, goes the old children's song. At a deceptively monumental meeting
in an East Vancouver mosque recently, Jews and Muslims began with aleph-bet
and aleph-ba. |
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"…we will
have a deeper and stronger process for a Muslim-Jewish Peace Walk if we
devote more time, energy, thought and prayer to building the real relationships
among us before simply going ahead with a large, public event. Our hearts
are all in the right place. We know that God is moving us." |
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"When we have
reached a greater depth and understanding, the time will be right for
a Peace Walk together. With God's help, this will be not too far in the
future—but not quite yet." |
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"None
of my words will do justice to what I experienced. And I want to write
something anyway." |
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"It
is an opportunity to learn about the Muslim traditions regarding the birth
and life of the Prophet Mohammed as well as an opportunity to personally
experience a moment in the sacred cycle of the Muslim world." |
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"We all were very
encouraged by the sincere expressions of interest among everyone to reach
out across the divide between the Muslim and Jewish communities." |
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"Dear chevra, Shalom uvracha to you! I am writing to share
the very gratifying progress that Hila, Alan and I have made on behalf
of Ahavat Olam toward our goal of a Muslim-Jewish Peace Walk in the
late spring or early summer."
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