The Shalom Center - Peace of Abraham, Hagar, & Sarah: Sacred Seasons, Fall 2006-07

DANCING OR DENOUNCING IN THE WORLD-WIDE EARTHQUAKE: JEWS & MUSLIMS

Fri, 08 Jun 2007 18:32:33 -0400

Dear friends,

For a YouTube video about the Muslim-Jewish event described here, see --
http://youtube.com/watch?v=EPdZ3hizUS0

Sometimes the earth on which we stand begins to shake, uncontrollably. We can respond with measured concern, even fear, and reach out for help to each other; or we can respond with panic and rage against anyone we think might be responsible for the earthquake. We can try to grab on to some "immovable" strong point - or we can learn to dance, with each other, in the earthquake.

Recently, some parts of the "official" established American Jewish organizational structure have been feeling they are living in a totally unexpected earthquake (see below for its description), and some have responded with panic, lashing out at some imagined "cause."

How to Buy "The Tent of Abraham" Book at Discount

Wed, 16 Aug 2006 13:03:36 -0400

"The Tent of Abraham" by Sister Joan Chittister, Murshid Saadi Shakur Chisti, & Rabbi Arthur Waskow is available to Shalom Center members and readers by special arrangement with Beacon Press. You will receive a 10% discount and free shipping on this (and any other Beacon title). The Shalom Center will receive 4% of the proceeds from Beacon.

To buy this book, visit Beacon’s web site at:

New Book: "The Tent of Abraham: Stories of Hope & Peace for Jews, Christians, and Muslims"

Wed, 16 Aug 2006 12:38:14 -0400

Dear Friends,

In 2004, as religious animosities worsened around the globe, I joined with Sister Joan Chittister, a world-renowned Benedictine nun, and Murshid Saadi Shakur Chisti (Neil Douglas-Klotz), a Muslim Sufi who has written a remarkable series of books on Aramaic, Gnostic, and Sufi spirituality --

-- to write a book called THE TENT OF ABRAHAM: STORIES OF HOPE AND PEACE FOR JEWS, CHRISTIANS, & MUSLIMS.

We sent the manuscript to Karen Armstrong. She was so excited by the book that she wrote a Preface for it.

It was (June 2006) published by Beacon Press and won an enthusiastic "Starred Review" from the Library Journal. That review and others are below.

11 Steps toward the October 8 Interfaith Fast

Thu, 11 Oct 2007 05:47:12 -0400

ELEVEN STEPS ON THE SACRED PATH
TOWARD THE INTERFAITH
PEACEMAKING FAST
ON OCTOBER 8

1. Read the Call at http://www.shalomctr.org/node/1269 and share it with others. You can use the brief version you will find at the end of this letter. If you are the clergyperson of a congregation, place a phone call to and arrange to meet with the clergypersons or leaders of religious communities other than your own -- to explore arrangements such as those below. (If you are not clergy yourself, you could place the calls anyway or ask your clergyperson to do so.) Those who agree to plan this could become an informal "planning committee" for the event.

Communal Fast in a Time of Calamity: A Multireligious Call

Thu, 11 Oct 2007 06:05:02 -0400

Dear friends,

How do we announce a major religious event, such as the October 8 Fast to move America from conquest to community, from violence to reverence?

When the steering committee of the Fast began discussing this, our first response was the conventional one in American society –- a press conference.

But then we recalled that there are ancient traditions for making the announcement of such a religious act itself a religious act. In the Talmud, for example, there is described a way of Calling a Communal Fast in Time of Calamity. (The calamity might be a drought, a famine, a war.)

TO DISCOVER THE TRUE AMERICA: Fasting on Oct. 8 to challenge the culture of Violence

Thu, 11 Oct 2007 06:06:12 -0400

WE CALL FOR A NATION-WIDE FAST ON OCTOBER 8
TO DISCOVER THE TRUE AMERICA;

TO MOVE FROM CONQUEST TO COMMUNITY,
FROM VIOLENCE TO REVERENCE

A Call from the Tent of Abraham, Hagar, & Sarah

America stands in great danger of becoming addicted to violence, at home and overseas.

Pervasive violence in American culture, society, and policy is expressed in mass murders like those at Columbine and Virginia Tech; in daily murders on the streets of our cities; in physical and sexual abuse in families and communities; in the obsession of our media with grotesque violence; in our government's decision to wage an unnecessary, morally abhorrent, and disastrous war; in its effort to make torture a legitimate instrument of policy; indeed, most lethal of all, in the ecocidal violence we are imposing on the earth itself.

INTERFAITH FAST TO MAKE PEACE IN IRAQ: October 8. FROM CONQUEST TO COMMUNITY, FROM VIOLENCE TO REVERENCE

Thu, 11 Oct 2007 05:54:05 -0400

Dear friends of all faiths and communities,

If you want to sign on to the Call for the Interfaith Fast, please write to Office@shalomctr.org and explain what religious congregation, organization, or community you are working with. PLEASE ALSO SIGN UP AND DESCRIBE THE EVENT YOU ARE PLANNING, BY CLICKING TO --

Http://www.INTERFAITHFAST.ORG

Shalom, salaam, peace –
Rabbi Arthur Waskow

FROM CONQUEST TO COMMUNITY,
FROM VIOLENCE TO REVERENCE:
AN INTERFAITH FAST on OCTOBER 8
TO END THE WAR IN IRAQ

We call on all Americans to join in fasting from dawn to dusk on Monday, October 8, to call for an end to the Iraq War. On this day, people of faith in local communities across our nation will act as catalysts to move America from conquest to community and from violence to reverence.

Why Do We Need a Tent of Abraham?

Thu, 15 Feb 2007 07:15:06 -0500

Reopening the Tent of Abraham

Rabbi Phyllis O. Berman and Rabbi Arthur O. Waskow *

The world is falling helter-skelter down a steep incline toward a fatal cliff: an endless world war between the whole Muslim world and the West, or perhaps the United States. A war between the different families of Abraham.

Sometimes it seems we are already over the edge of the cliff, but perhaps, God willing, im yirtzeh hashem, inshallah, not quite yet. Barely.

Such a war would leave us all at constant risk of death, impoverishment for all public and many private goods, ridden and riddled with fear and rage. Write large – write "global" -- the tip of Manhattan on September 11, 2001; the city of Baghdad all of June, July, August, 2006; Qana on July 30, 2006; Kfar Giladi on August 6.

Healing the Planet: Major Phila Inquirer feature article

Mon, 30 Oct 2006 15:08:31 -0500

Philadelphia inquirer, Oct. 7, 2006, p. B-4
By Kristin E. Holmes
Inquirer Staff Writer

[With dramatic photos of the wounded earth and with photos of Rev. Edgar & Dr. Syeed, this article took more than half the page.]

Religious leaders will gather in Philadelphia tomorrow to discuss global warming, and to recognize special days in several religious traditions.

"Sacred Seasons, Sacred Earth: An Interfaith Call to Reflect and Act" will consider what believers can do to temper the effects of climate change that organizers call a "crisis of global scorching."

"We felt that 'warming' was a term that is too pleasant," said Rabbi Arthur Waskow, who will moderate a panel discussion at tomorrow's event. "It's not honest. The heating is not some kind of benign warmth. It's dangerous."

Faith-based climate care: Phila Inquirer Editorial

Mon, 30 Oct 2006 15:04:09 -0500

By - Philadelphia Inquirer, Editorial Tuesday, October 17, 2006 - Web Link
October 17, 2006
Historians and scientists may someday tell us whether New Orleans was, in fact, the first city destroyed by global warming, as some believe. They're vigorously studying whether rising sea surface temperatures contributed to the wrath of Hurricane Katrina.
Regardless of their conclusion, the lesson is clear: Natural disaster hurts most those least able to cope with it.
Katrina could be a harbinger of things to come. Without mitigation, rising global temperatures are expected to cause ferocious hurricanes, tornadoes and floods; spawn heat waves, drought and famine; and prompt the spread of disease-carrying insects.

An Interfaith Plea to End the 'Global Scorching'

Mon, 30 Oct 2006 15:01:06 -0500

Philadelphia Jewish Exponent
October 12, 2006 - Rachel Silverman

[Photo] "Sacred Seasons, Sacred Earth: An Interfaith Call to Reflect and Act" attendees join hands for peace outside the Arch Street Friends Meeting House

At times, the headlines are dominated by images of inter-religious strife. The pope vs. the Muslims. Jews against Arabs. The religion-based tenor of the war on terror.

But on Sunday afternoon, leaders of various faith communities gathered in Philadelphia to say in one voice: "We must repair the world."

Drawing a diverse crowd to the Arch Street Friends Meeting House, "Sacred Seasons, Sacred Earth: An Interfaith Call to Reflect and Act," offered a daylong inter-religious program on halting environmental degradation and other forms of "global scorching."

Abrahamic Events for Global Healing

Sun, 19 Nov 2006 07:59:59 -0500

Events to mark the convergence of days were held in Maryland, Washington, California, Florida and elsewhere. They were initiated by The Tent of Abraham, Hagar & Sarah, a national network of Jews, Christians and Muslims, with the help of the Shalom Center

Celebration of Two Books
Philadelphia, PA, Thursday, November 16 at 7:00 PM

Meet world-renowned Benedictine Sister Joan Chittister, Sufi teacher Murshid Saadi Chisti Shakur, and Rabbi Arthur Waskow for a book-signing. The three authors who wrote The Tent of Abraham: Stories of Hope and Peace for Jews, Christians, and Muslims (Beacon, with a preface by Karen Armstrong) will speak, read, and sign at the Unitarian Society of Germantown, 6511 Lincoln Drive in Philadelphia. They will be joined by Pecki Witonsky, author of The Cave of Reconciliation (distributed by Jewish Publication Society). Bring checkbooks, buy books! Interfaith music and food will also be part of this celebration.

3 Abrahamic Leaders Share Festivals, Address Global Scorching -- Phila Oct 8

Mon, 16 Oct 2006 14:48:01 -0400

MAJOR JEWISH, CHRISTIAN, & MUSLIM LEADERS
JOIN IN PHILADELPHIA OCTOBER 8
TO ADDRESS GLOBAL CLIMATE CRISIS &
CELEBRATE FESTIVALS TOGETHER

Further Information:
Call 215/844-8494

Major leaders of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam will speak together on October 8 in Philadelphia at a joint celebration of the Muslim month of Ramadan and the Jewish festival of Sukkot.

The Rev. Dr. Bob Edgar, general secretary of the National Council of Churches and a former Pennsylvania Congressman; Dr. Sayyid M. Syeed, secretary general of the Islamic Society of North America; and Rabbi Sue Levi Elwell, director of the Pennsylvania region of the Union for Reform Judaism, will join the emcee of the gathering, Rabbi Arthur Waskow of The Shalom Center, to address the question:

MOURNERS' KADDISH IN TIME OF WAR & VIOLENCE

Thu, 11 Oct 2007 06:07:34 -0400

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MOURNERS' KADDISH IN TIME OF WAR

[Jews use the Kaddish to mourn the dead, though it has in it only one word -- "nechamata, consolations" – which hints at mourning. (And this word itself is used in a puzzling way, once we look at it with care. As we will see below, it may be especially appropriate in time of war.)

[The interpretive English translation below may also be appropriate for prayers of mourning and hope in wartime by other spiritual and religious communities.

[In this version, changes in the traditional last line of the Hebrew text specifically include not only peace for the people Israel (as in the traditional version) but also for the children of Abraham and Hagar through Ishmael (Arabs and Muslims) and for all who dwell on this planet.

Review of "The Tent of Abraham" book (Claire Gorfinkel)

Sat, 03 Jun 2006 15:57:06 -0400

The Tent of Abraham: Stories of Hope and Peace for Jews, Christians and Muslims (Beacon Press, 2006). By Joan Chittister, OSB; Murshid Saadi Shakur Chisti; & Rabbi Arthur Waskow. Foreword by Karen Armstrong. *

Reviewed by Claire Gorfinkel *

For some time now, I have longed for a study group that would consider common themes in Jewish, Muslim and Christian texts. But as is so often the case, in my longing I have created a set of expectations that are virtually impossible to fulfill.

I wanted a group with both men and women, Jews, Christians and Muslims who were well grounded in their faith traditions, who would meet for disciplined study over a substantial amount of time, and who would engage issues of both faith and politics, God and the Middle East conflict.