Intergroup/Interreligious Affairs

 

--AJC New York Interfaith Service Commemorating the 10 Anniversary of 9/11


INTERGROUP/INTERRELIGIOUS AFFAIRS- Chair, Jo Fine

 

INTERGROUP


Mission: Within the context of national AJC’s commitment to intergroup outreach, as well as New York's extraordinary ethnic and religious diversity, the New York Chapter promotes mutual respect, understanding and collaboration between the Jewish community and key New York ethnic communities.

Our goals include:

  • Developing relationships with key ethnic leaders.
  • Building intergroup advocacy coalitions to promote policies that address shared interests and concerns.
  • Organizing programs that promote tolerance and strengthen the commitment to pluralism.

 

 

America's Table
America's Table: A Thanksgiving Reader is a Haggadah for Thanksgiving.

 

Like the reading before the Passover meal, America's Table transmits

 

Schools Chancellor Joel I. Klein, Immigration Commissioner
Dr. Guillermo Linares, Deputy Mayor Carol Robles-Roman and
Congressman Charles B. Rangel at the America's Table event. 
from generation to generation the story and values of a people—the American people.   It reminds us how our various backgrounds distinguish us and make America vibrant, while our democratic values and institutions unite us and keep Americastrong.

 

By sharing this message at the Thanksgiving table, we add meaning to a holiday shared and celebrated by all Americans, regardless of background. This annual ritual reminds us that in a world where too many people feel threatened by differences, we feel enriched by diversity.

INTERRELIGIOUS AFFAIRS

Mission: To build mutual understanding through dialogue among lay leaders and clergy from the Jewish community and other religious groups by identifying different viewpoints from religious beliefs and education and addressing those difference with respect and thoughtfulness; to seek out shared values and goals with the hope of reducing the tendency to resort to violence as a means to promote particular religious and cultural norms and enouraging a recognition of the important of keeping religious observance separate from government power and politics; and ultimately to build a bulwark against outbreaks of anti-Semitism and religious hatred of any kind. 

The AJC-Auburn Protestant-Jewish Seminarians Project:

Israel Dialogue and Mission to Israel: Following our extremely successful inaugural year of the Seminarians Israel dialogue program, AJC and Auburn recruited a second group for year 2 of the project. Participating Seminaries include Yeshiva University, Yeshivat Chovevei Torah, Jewish Theological Seminary and Hebrew Union College; and Princeton, Union , and General Theological Seminaries. Following dialogue sessions in April and May that focused on Jewish and Christian teachings about Israel, and communal responses to the Palestinian-Israeli crisis, the group left on June 7 for its trip to Israel , and returned on June 15.

For more details on the program and to check out some of the blog entries of Jewish and Christian participants click HERE.

Interfaith Dialogue: A Focus on Israel Through AJC NY and Auburn Seminary Collaboration

 Advocacy Against National Presbyterian Anti-Israel Report: The AJC New York-Auburn Seminary Presbyterian-Jewish Dialogue Steering Committee worked during the Fall and Spring to develop a strategy for opposing adoption by the National Presbyterian Church at its July, 2010 General Assembly of a biased pro-Palestinian report issued by its Middle East Study Committee. In May, Auburn President Rev. Dr. Katharine Henderson convened a meeting of important Presbyterian leaders from New York and Chicago to develop a plan of action to oppose the report. Invited to join the discussion were Diane Steinman and AJC Associate Interreligious Affairs Director Emily Soloff, as well as leaders of other Jewish organizations, including former AJC NY President Martin Bresler, the national chair of Americans for Peace Now.

As a result of this constructive dialogue a letter to General Assembly commissioners opposing the report was signed by key Presbyterian leaders around the country and submitted during the Assembly. A more nuanced stance on resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was adopted by the Presbyterian Church (USA) at its General Assembly which AJC lauded.

"Despite intense pressure, the Presbyterian Church (USA) General Assembly rejected the calls for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel ," said Emily Soloff, Associate Director of Interreligious and Intergroup Relations for AJC. "A measured and just approach to this complex conflict cannot allow exclusive blame to be placed on one side. The civility with which Presbyterians reached their decisions in the wake of passionate argument on different sides of each issue is impressive."


 
 
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