Sometimes people randomly help out other people. These moments are truly magic, and it always makes my heart swell to hear about someone helping out another without expecting any reward. We're now just a few days out from when I head over to Europe for a month-long adventure (which will certainly feature visits to multiple houses of worship, and maybe even a religious service or two), so I thought I would share a recent story that really makes me happy.
As with many religious groups, as populations shift, sometimes Jewish congregations face dwindling numbers and financial difficulties. A synagogue near me on Long Island recently closed its doors...and almost immediately became a church. Well, one Jewish synagogue in Bradford, England, a city with a large Muslim community, recently faced a similar survival issue--a congregation still existed, but building issues (a leaky roof) and a lack of funds meant that they were facing the possibility of having to close the building. A local Muslim man decided to help the congregation raise funds, partly due to good local relations in a nearby Pakistani restaurant that was frequented by Jewish people. The Jewish people liked the restaurant so much that in the past they had helped fight the establishment of a competing restaurant.
Zulfi Karim, the 47-year-old secretary of the Bradford Council of Mosques, played an instrumental role in connecting the Jewish people with donors. "'We have so much in common,' says Karim of the two Bradford communities. 'We both have a tradition of helping each other out in business, and strong entrepreneurial, family and community values.'" The Muslim community quickly raised the funds necessary to help their neighbors out. Here's the article (it might only work if you are a Haaretz subscriber): http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/jewish-world-features/in-one-hard-knock-british-city-a-secret-muslim-donor-helps-save-a-synagogue.premium-1.525183.
The Bradford Synagogue (Image from bradforddistrictfaithsforum.org.uk)
Helping strangers and undertaking acts of kindness like this does not need to be religiously motivated. But many faiths emphasize social action and goodwill, so it is always inspiring to hear about religious communities actively reaching out to others. We may never completely agree on our religious beliefs, but I am pretty sure we should be able to agree that for many people, finding a strong religious community and a religious home can contribute to a sense of wholeness and peace. Whatever your beliefs, or lack of religious beliefs, I hope that you, too, are touched by this Muslim community reaching out to help their Jewish neighbors maintain their temple.
In other news, for those who are unaware, interfaith relations really is an active field. It may not always make the major news sites, but conferences and discussions are constantly taking place in an effort to improve religious relations. For example, there will be a conference this summer in the Balkans with young Muslims and Jews that I just heard about today (http://imic.ba/ba/?p=123). It looks truly excellent...maybe I'll try to crash it, since I missed the application deadline? :)
Stories like this are even more important when we hear things like the latest big news story out of the UK today about the first terrorist attack on British streets since the 2005 bombings in London. Apparently, two extremist Jihadist Muslims...used butcher tools to hack a British soldier to death, on a street in London, in broad daylight. This is horrific.
While some argue that Muslims in America do not vocalize their opposition to horrific acts like this enough, it seems British Muslims are quickly denouncing these crazy murderers. There are a ton of articles you can read online about the horrible killing and its apparent "religious" inspirations, but also take a look here to see how the Muslim Council of Britain and others quickly came out in opposition to these people: http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/coffeehouse/2013/05/not-in-the-name-of-islam-british-muslims-denounce-the-woolwich-attack/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=not-in-the-name-of-islam-british-muslims-denounce-the-woolwich-attack.
So try not to let the crazies win. Think about Bradford, and the way the Muslim community there helped their neighbors in an act of goodwill. Think about any interfaith interactions you may have had lately: maybe it was a brief conversation on a subway with a woman wearing a headscarf, or dinner with a very religious friend, or a religious service you attended in a tradition other than your own. But try not to let the crazies out there color your views of one religion, or of the world as a whole. We're all better than that.
Now go out and love one another.
<3,
Allyson
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