Our last day in Tehran was a rainy one, beginning with a visit to the headquarters of the Tehran Jewish Committee (roughly the equivalent of the Iranian Jewish Federation). We spoke at length with Committee President Rahmat ollah Raffi, who gave us a thorough tutorial on the Iranian Jewish community. In short: there are roughly [...]
Archive for the ‘Interfaith’ Category
Rainy Day in Tehran
Posted in Interfaith, Iran, Iran Trip 2008, Nonviolence, Peace, Religion, War on December 1, 2008 | No Comments »
The Ayatollah and the Archbishop
Posted in Interfaith, Iran, Iran Trip 2008, Islam, Peace, Religion on November 30, 2008 | 2 Comments »
Our first full day in Iran was devoted largely to religious destinations – our first stop was a visit to the office of Ayatollah Bojnoordi, a prominent religious leader who teaches Islamic law at Tehran and Qom Universities.
Ayatollahs are clerics of the highest order in Shia Islamic communities and they exercise enormous authority over their [...]
Shabbat at Abad Yosef
Posted in Interfaith, Iran, Iran Trip 2008, Peace, Religion on November 29, 2008 | 2 Comments »
Greetings from Iran! We arrived on Friday with no problems and have now settled comfortably into our home at the Howeyzeh Hotel in Northern Tehran. Since we actually arrived at 2:30 am, our first day here was really a half day. When we arrived at our hotel, we went promptly to sleep and woke up [...]
Orienting for Iran
Posted in Interfaith, Iran, Iran Trip 2008, Peace, Religion on November 27, 2008 | 1 Comment »
I’m writing this one from Amsterdam, where we are waiting for our connecting flight to Imam Khomeni Airport in Tehran. Our delegation has spent the last day and a half in Nyack NY at the Fellowship of Reconciliation offices, participating in sessions that reviewed Iranian history and politics, civilian diplomacy and interfaith dialogue. It’s a wonderful group and [...]
I’m Off to Iran
Posted in Interfaith, Iran, Iran Trip 2008, Peace, Religion on November 25, 2008 | 3 Comments »
As I mentioned in an earlier post, I’m off to Iran tomorrow on a two-week interfaith delegation sponsored by the Fellowship of Reconciliation. If you’ve been reading my blog even semi-regularly over the years (check out the “Iran” category) I’m sure you know I’ve long felt that as Americans and Jews our opinions of Iran are too often [...]
On Religious Tolerance, Hypocrisy and the UN
Posted in Civil Rights, Human Rights, Interfaith, Islam, Religion on November 15, 2008 | 2 Comments »
Reps from eighty countries met at the UN last week to discuss religious tolerance at a conference sponsored by Saudi Arabia. Now I’m sure many will immediately claim there is no small measure of hypocrisy when a Wahabi Islamic regime that outlaws all other forms of religion in its country convenes a conference on religious [...]
Faith in Place
Posted in Energy Efficiency, Energy Policy, Environmentalism, Global Warming, Green Buildings, Interfaith, Judaism, Religion on November 6, 2008 | No Comments »
Check out this nice video piece produced by Faith in Place - a coalition of over 400 faith communities throughout Illinois committed to the sacred practice of environmental and economic sustainability. I’m proud to say that JRC (who is featured in the clip) is a longtime member.
From the FIP website:
Our mission is [...]
How to Talk to the Enemy
Posted in Anti-Semitism, Interfaith, Iran, Israel, Politics, Religion on October 19, 2008 | No Comments »
What would you say to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad if you had the chance? My friend and colleague Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb had this extraordinary opportunity last month at an Iftaar dinner in which Ahmadinejad met with several religious peace groups during his visit to the US. Rabbi Gottlieb was among the few Jews to attend the dinner, [...]
Understanding Iran, Facing our Fears: A Sermon for Yom Kippur
Posted in Global Activism, High Holidays, Interfaith, Iran, Israel, Peace, Politics, Religion, Sermons on October 10, 2008 | 2 Comments »
At Yom Kippur services yesterday, I announced to my congregation that I will be traveling to Iran on an interfaith peace delegation next month. I devoted the majority of my remarks to our current conflict with Iran, and why I have been so deeply frustrated with our government’s and the Jewish community’s response to this [...]
The Reconciliation of Civilizations: A Sermon for Kol Nidre
Posted in Coexistence, High Holidays, Interfaith, Islam, Judaism, Religion, Sermons on October 10, 2008 | 1 Comment »
On Kol Nidre 5769 I discussed one of the more positive and hopeful religious trends in recent years. Here’s an excerpt:
Yes, as the saying goes, 9/11 did “change everything” – but not necessarily in the way we might first have assumed. Yes, that tragic day did awaken the American public to the reality of Islamic [...]
