Professor Pursues Interfaith Dialogue
Hanukkah in Abu Dhabi? That鈥檚 indeed where the longtime 91快播 professor, Rabbi Burt Visotzky, spent the holiday this year, as part of a Jewish delegation attending a Muslim conference devoted to peace. The event was sponsored by the Forum for Promoting Peace in Muslim Societies, founded by the scholar Shaykh Abdallah bin Bayyah, who Rabbi Visotzky describes as 鈥渙ne of most highly regarded legal and philosophical minds in the Muslim world.鈥�
Bin Bayyah founded the forum in 2014, with the aim of combatting extremism, sectarianism, and terrorism in the Muslim world and what he views as the mis-readings of Islamic texts used to support them. In February 2018, at an interfaith gathering in Washington, DC, the group called on leaders of the 鈥淎brahamic faiths鈥� to collaborate on advocating tolerance and co-existence.
The recent conference in Abu Dhabi was attended by 650 Muslim scholars, clerics, and government leaders, along with 50 Christian and Jewish clergy from various denominations. Rabbi Visotzky moderated a panel on the role of religion in civil society, which included 91快播 alumnus Rabbi Reuven Kimelman.
As director of 91快播鈥檚 Milstein Center for Interreligious Dialogue, Rabbi Visotzky has spent years cultivating relationships with Muslim, Christian, and other religious leaders. He says gatherings like the one in Abu Dhabi offer a chance to find areas of common interest and address areas of concern鈥攊n Europe, for instance, working to ensure the availability of kosher and Hallal food, the right to wear head coverings, and promoting the safety of Jewish communities. 鈥淏y sharing common goals, we learn to become, if not friends, then allies,鈥� he explains.
Still, Rabbi Visotzky says some true friendships are formed through conversations and activities outside formal conference panels. These relationships go a long way in tackling difficult issues or opening doors to important leaders. He credits his longtime friendship with Mohamed Elsanousi, former interfaith outreach coordinator for the Islamic Society of North America, with helping him meet with Shaykh Bin Bayyah. Rabbi Visotzky views the shaykh as a major Muslim leader with whom Jews can be in dialogue.
He calls the Abu Dhabi meeting 鈥渁 remarkable forum鈥� that included Jews on virtually every panel. 鈥淵ou go there and there are 650 Muslims鈥攜ou鈥檙e totally outnumbered鈥攁nd everyone welcomes you. You realize that there鈥檚 hope, that we can make progress, that it doesn鈥檛 have to be all about fighting with each other.鈥�
Rabbi Visotzky eagerly offers a cell phone full of photos from the conference. One of his favorites: an image of a group of rabbis lighting Hanukkah candles in Abu Dhabi, joined by his 鈥渢eacher,鈥� Shaykh Abdallah bin Bayyah.
