Interfaith Meeting at Conservative Jewish Campus in Jerusalem to Pray for Peace

Marking the calendrical quirk that has Rosh Hashanah, Ramadan, and the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi all starting on October 4 this year, leaders from the three religions met at the United Synagogue’s Fuchsberg Center in Jerusalem to pray for peace.

The meeting was held on September 21, which in 2001 the United Nations General Assembly declared to be the International Day of Peace Vigil. It was one of about 30 such vigils held in Israel; others were held 91 countries around the world. The Fuchsberg Center participated as a member of the Interreligious Coordinating Council in Israel, which also is Israel’s local chapter in the World Conference of Religions for Peace.

About 40 participants met on the Fuchsberg Center’s campus.

Isa Jaber, who is Muslim and the director of the education department for the municipality of Abu Gosh, said that Islam, like Judaism and Christianity, teaches peace, but members of his community, like others, sometimes distort those teachings and instead teach terror. Such people misuse religion for evil.

Sister Maureen Fritz, a Roman Catholic nun who is at the Bat Kol Institute in Jerusalem, agreed. Too often, she said, wars have been fought over religious intolerance. Such people have ignored the teachings of their religions, so creating violence in the world.

Rabbi Pesach Schindler, head of the Conservative Yeshiva, said that Conservative Jews understand “our obligation to work for peace as a command from God. For that reason alone, we should be motivated not only to come to services like this one, but to dedicate our lives to achieving peace.”

Rabbi James Lebeau, head of the Fuchsberg Center, said, “The Conservative movement’s tradition has been to reach out to the other religions with which we live. It’s consistent with our tradition that we host this special occasion at the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism’s Fuchsberg Jerusalem Center.”