O pinion
Jews and Muslims Can Walk a Common Path.

Martin Luther King Jr. Showed Us How
BY EBOO PATEL AND
JOSHUA STANTON
IN 1957, AT Dexter Avenue
Baptist Church, the Rev. Dr.

Martin Luther King, Jr. deliv-
ered words whose wisdom
continue to resound today:
“For the person who hates,
the true becomes false and the
false becomes true. That’s what
hate does. You can’t see right.

The symbol of objectivity is
lost. Hate destroys the very
structure of the personality of
the hater.”
When a weekend meant to
commemorate Dr. King was
shattered by the hostage-taking
at Congregation Beth Israel in
Colleyville, Texas, we called
upon each other as longtime
friends and colleagues to find
a better path forward for our
respective communities. We
feared that hate could disrupt
the relationship that we had
long shared and held dear.

Because the hostage-taker
was a Muslim man appar-
ently intent on freeing a
Muslim woman convicted on
terrorism charges, opportun-
ists are already hard at work
exploiting our trauma in
order to pit Muslims and Jews
against each other. In the spirit
of Dr. King, equally embodied
in the tireless bridge-building
of Rabbi Charles Cytron-
Walker of Congregation Beth
Israel, we feel called to explore
a new blueprint for how we
can resist the temptation to
allow hate to beget hate. This is
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM but an initial sketch, no doubt
with much input needed from
lay leaders and clergy from
across the Muslim and Jewish
communities. First, we need to change
the story. Extremists are of no
faith tradition but their own:
extremism. We need to stop
framing the conversation as
community against commu-
nity, so much as Muslims
and Jews together against a
common enemy. We need to
call out and sideline extrem-
ists, leaving them isolated in
their own camp. To that end,
we suggest reflecting on the
hostage-taker at Beth Israel as
an extremist from the United
Kingdom with heinous goals
unbefitting any faith.

Second, we need to tirelessly
build bridges among the rest of
us. We are all feeling isolated
after two years of pandemic.

We need to go out of our
way to call friends, neigh-
sacred texts, learn how people
live out the tenets of their faith
and culture, understand how
each tradition inspires Jews
and Muslims to serve others,
and how we all struggle with
challenging concepts and ideas
in our respective faiths.

Fourth, we need to expand
our existing infrastructure of
collaboration. The American
Jewish Committee’s Muslim-
Jewish Advisory Council
holds the potential to expand
its regional reach and engage
hundreds more leaders across
the country. Local collabora-
tions, such as that which exists
between New York’s Cordoba
House and East End Temple,
should welcome new partners
and look into opportunities
for larger-scale programing.

College campuses are ideal
spaces for interfaith cooper-
ation, especially through
projects that combine service,
learning and dialogue.

We need to develop a knowledge and
appreciation of each other’s traditions. It is
easy to fear an “other” that you do not
understand. bors and relatives across lines
of faith just to reaffirm the
significance of relationship.

Today, in the wake of Jan.

15’s trauma, Muslims should
call their Jewish friends.

Tomorrow, unfortunately, in a
world brimming with hate, it
may need to be the other way
around. The rest of the time,
both should call — and call
upon — each other.

Third, we need to develop
a knowledge and appreciation
of each other’s traditions. It is
easy to fear an “other” that you
do not understand. We need
to visit each other’s houses
of worship, read each other’s
Fifth, we need to build
entirely new paths to connec-
tion. We are working with
Rabbi Benjamin Spratt of
Congregation Rodeph Sholom
in Manhattan to gather a book
group for clergy, so that we can
study deeply and reflect upon
social issues that we can best
address together. We need to
establish advocacy coalitions
to push together for better
governmental monitoring
of Islamophobia and the
overdue confirmation of
Dr. Deborah Lipstadt as U.S.

Special Envoy to Combat and
Monitor Antisemitism. We
need to dream about more
JEWISH EXPONENT
Muslim-Jewish community
centers and shared spaces for
gathering. We need to create a
joint fundraising mechanism to
seed new ventures and increase
resources for grassroots organi-
zations like the Muslim-Jewish
Solidarity Committee and the
Sisterhood of Salaam Shalom.

We have countless common
causes, but have underbuilt
mechanisms to act upon them.

In honor of Rabbi Cytron-
Walker’s heroism
and longstanding
commitment are vibrant, empowered and
open-minded. In the wake of
Colleyville, we need to build as
never before. Together, we can. l
Eboo Patel is the founder and
president of the Interfaith Youth
Core and author of the forthcoming
book, “We Need to Build.” Joshua
Stanton is the rabbi of East End
Temple in Manhattan, Senior
Fellow of CLAL – The National
Jewish Center for Learning and
Leadership, and coauthor of the
forthcoming book, “Awakenings.”
KVETCH ’N’ KVELL
Article Appreciated, WRN Warranted a Mention
I WAS DELIGHTED AND PROUD to see so many of our local
colleagues highlighted in Jarrad Saffren’s article, “Female Rabbis
at 50: Challenges Remain” (Jan. 13). It is inspiring to see at this
half-century mark, that there are so many women rabbis leading
our spiritual communities here in Philadelphia.

In this tribute to the history and future of women in the
rabbinate, I was hoping Saffren would mention the tremendous
impact of the Women’s Rabbinic Network, founded in the late
1970s to support that first generation of women rabbis.

Since its founding, the WRN has created gathering spaces
— in person and virtual — for women rabbis to draw strength
from each other as we face the many frustrations mentioned in
Saffren’s article. The WRN has provided me and countless other
rabbis with mentorship, opportunities for professional develop-
ment and resources that help us to navigate the challenges of the
rabbinate. While the network is affiliated with the Reform movement,
the impact of our advocacy work regarding pay equity, family
and medical leave, and safe and respectful workplaces extends
far beyond our movement.

In honor of the 50th anniversary, the WRN has devel-
oped a four-part curriculum on the history of women in
the rabbinate called, “Scouts, Trailblazers, Pathfinders, and
Explorers.” Congregation Kol Ami will offer the course online
on four Thursdays starting Feb. 10. For details, contact rabbi@
kolamielkinspark.org. l
Rabbi Leah R. Berkowitz | Congregation Kol Am and immediate
past president, Women’s Rabbinic Network
FROM THE PUBLISHER
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