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Children of Abraham Peace Essay Contest 2005-2006
First place – Avi Edelman Avi Edelman attends Montgomery Blair High School in the Communications Arts Program. He is interested in politics and is the Co-President of his school's Young Democrats club. His interests also include film, and making movies, advertisements, and news segments for my school's video production program. He would like to pursue film as a career, possibly at NYU or Columbia. Avi has participated in Operation Understanding DC, a year-long program that brings 16 black and 16 Jewish teenagers together to explore common bonds and create inter-racial and inter-religious dialogue. He is also an Orioles fan! One God, One Voice: Peace in the Abrahamic Faiths Chief Rabbi Emeritus of Europe Rene-Samuel Sirat once said, “There is no such thing as a holy war in Christianity, nor in Islam, nor in Judaism. Only peace is holy, for peace is the name of God.1 Indeed, a thorough study of the religious texts of the three Abrahamic faiths will reveal relatively little insight into the nature of war, but many similarities regarding peace. All three religions preach nonviolence, forbid murder and stealing, and call for brotherhood and acceptance. A community program to study these roots of peace would help to bring about religious understanding in the community by facilitating discussion, enhancing knowledge, and establishing common ground among the three Abrahamic faiths. By understanding the essential role of peace in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, we could begin to break down the misconceptions and ignorance that have kept the three religions from uniting in their pursuit of a joint peace. Though it is often only seen within the context of extremism, Islam is a religion deeply rooted in peace. “Islam” shares a common root with “Salaam,” which means peace.2 The religion preaches that there should “be no compulsion in religion,” (2:256)3 meaning that there should also be nothing but peace towards those who do not practice Islam. Moreover, Islam recognizes Judaism and Christianity as sister religions to itself, sharing the same God and similar messages. The Qur’an states of the tribes of Moses and Jesus, “Allah…is our Lord and your Lord” (2:139).4 Most importantly, Islam teaches brotherhood among all people. The poem, “Abou Ben Adhem” reflects this Islamic principle. When Abou Ben Adhem awakens one night (from a dream of peace), he sees an angel, who informs him that he is not on the list of people who love the Lord. Ben Adhem responds, “I pray thee, then, write me as one that loves his fellow men.” The angel returns the next night with a list of people who had been blessed by the Lord, “And, lo! Ben Adhem's name led all the rest.” 5 Hadith also teaches the same idea of loving all men. When asked why he stood for a Jew’s funeral, the Prophet Muhammad replied, “Is it not a soul?”6 Clearly, Islam is a religion that holds peace and brotherhood as one of the highest of values. Judaism is very similar to Islam in its roots of peace. In the Talmud, it is written, "The whole Torah exists only for the sake of peace" (Gittin 59b; Bamidbar Rabbah 11:7). 7 Every Shabbat, Jews pray, “The Lord bestow his favor on you and grant you peace” (Numbers 6:26).8 Like Islam, peace in Judaism is linked directly with God. Just as in Islam, one name for God, “Shalom,” means peace.9 This peace, as in Islam, is ushered in through brotherhood. Rabbi Hillel, a great Jewish sage, described the importance of brotherhood in Judaism to a pagan who asked for Hillel to recite the entire Torah while standing on one foot. He said, “What is hateful to yourself, do not do to your fellow man. That is the whole Torah; the rest is just commentary. Go and study it.”10 Like Islam, Judaism believes that all faiths and peoples should strive for peace under a common God. The Prophet Isaiah calls for this final messianic peace, saying, “He will judge among the nations…and they shall beat their swords into plowshares…nation shall not take up sword against nation, they shall never again know war” (Isaiah 2:4).11 Judaism is very similar to Islam in the connections it draws between God, brotherhood, and lasting peace. Christianity continues the emphasis on peace and brotherhood in the New Testament, in a similar fashion to Islam and Judaism. The word peace occurs ninety-two times in Christian scriptures, being present in almost every book of the New Testament.12 Just as in the other two Abrahamic faiths, Christianity makes a link between God, brotherhood, and lasting peace. Coinciding with the Jewish prayer for God to “grant you peace” is Jesus’s statement, “Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God” (Matthew 5:9).13 In Christianity, as in Islam and Judaism, the peacemakers are those who have brotherhood, a love for their fellow men. Jesus expresses this brotherhood in the same manner as Hillel did, saying, “And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise” (Luke 6:31).14 For all three Abrahamic faiths, brotherhood brings on a peace that comes directly from God. Cardinal Daly, Cardinal Emeritus of Northern Ireland, explained this peace as it exists in Christianity, calling it, “much more than a human condition with a merely horizontal dimension. It has an inseparable vertical dimension; it comes down from God.”15 The three Abrahamic faiths all share common beliefs about peace: that brotherhood and acceptance will shepherd in a lasting peace from God, the God of Islam, Judaism, and Christianity. Though the three Abrahamic faiths share similar views on the importance of peace and understanding, there are still examples of religious misunderstanding that have occurred in my community. Though the D.C. Metropolitan area has witnessed examples of overt discrimination, such as vandalism to mosques, churches, and synagogues, I think that the more prevalent form of misunderstanding occurs more subtly in everyday interactions. In my school and around my community, I have noticed misconceptions and unintentional prejudiced statements. Though they are often inadvertent, they are still hurtful. At my school, which is very diverse in terms of ethnicity and religion, I still find myself having to often refute the misconception that I, and everyone else for that matter, practice Christianity. Many of my peers are baffled when they realize I do not celebrate Christmas or Easter and do not believe Jesus Christ to be the Son of God. The misunderstandings are usually caused by innocent ignorance, though sometimes it seems as though intolerance is also present. In one of my classes we watched a film that featured Muslim characters, and my classmates laughed and mocked the part of the film where a character chants, “Allahu Akbar.” In another class, a student objected to a discussion of Chanukah. He said it was okay to talk about Christmas because it was “an American holiday” but that Chanukah was not. I found this hurtful not only to Jews, but to Christians who think that the holiday celebrating the birth of Christ has been over commercialized and lost its religious importance. These examples of religious misunderstanding are the result of a lack of education and positive interaction among the three Abrahamic faiths. A true understanding of the nature of peace and acceptance in Islam, Christianity, and Judaism would probably reduce the number of misunderstandings that occur and enlighten many people who have suffered from a cloak of ignorance. All three Abrahamic faiths agree that words of peace are nothing unless actualized by deeds. As James states in the New Testament, “What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works?” (James 2:14).16 Islamic teachings agree, pronouncing that “Those who have faith and do righteous by deeds- they are the best of creatures (98:7). 17 It is not enough to understand the role of peace within Christianity, Islam, and Judaism; that understanding must be used to facilitate dialogue and understanding. As Rabbi Elazar states in Pirke Avot, “He whose wisdom exceeds his deeds, to what is he like? To a tree whose branches are many, but whose roots are few; and the wind comes and plucks it up…But he whose deeds exceed his wisdom, to what is he like? To a tree whose branches are few, but whose roots are many, so that even if all the winds in the world come and blow upon it, it cannot be stirred…” (3:22).18 In approaching interfaith relations, it is important to remember that peaceful actions speak louder than peaceful words. In designing a project to implement in my community, I have worked under the assertion that we must not teach tolerance, but build understanding. Tolerance means being taught to tolerate people, understanding is experiencing inter-faith connection by building friendships and taking action. As Jonathan Larson wrote in the musical, Rent, “The opposite of war isn’t peace, it’s creation.”19 By drawing on the strong religious institutions that exist in my community, I think an effective program can be created to achieve the goal of understanding and affect change that will bring a greater inter-faith effort to the community. Before arriving at my own proposal, I researched current inter-faith efforts that exist in the D.C. Metropolitan area and around the nation. In the Muslim community, Imam Yahya Hendi has forged many inter-faith efforts through his work as the senior imam of the Islamic Society of Fredrick County, the Muslim chaplain at Georgetown University, and a teacher at the National Naval Medical Center and Johns Hopkins University’s Evergreen Society. In all of his roles, Hendi has incorporated inter-faith understanding into his work. The Washington Post quoted one of his adult students as saying, “His ability to understand your religion when you ask questions and relate your questions to your religion and Islam is fantastic.”20 The PBS documentary film, “Three Faiths, One God” is another excellent inter-faith effort, tying the three religions together through their belief in a common god. In New York, a program to bring together 90 elementary school children of the three Abrahamic faiths occurred after the publication of “Jerusalem Sky,” a picture book about the Jerusalem that is holy for all three faiths. The children learned “myths and legends, of tolerance and even acceptance, of dreams of peaceful coexistence.”21 Finally, I studied an effort that occurred in New Jersey where Muslim and Jewish teenage girls were brought together in a joint community service project. One of the girls observed, “We could all just sit together, eating pizza and laughing, without a thought to our feuding ancestors or political tensions.”22 The current inter-faith efforts in our community and nation have influenced the development of the program I have designed for my community, called “One God, One Voice.” I have designed it for high school teenagers, as I think that teens are at an age where they are mature enough to handle intense religious discussion, yet young enough that they are not set in all of their opinions. The program would be advertised through churches, mosques, and synagogues, and would be run by a group of imams, ministers, rabbis, and other scholarly religious figures. “One God, One Voice” would run from September through the summer, with monthly meetings and occasional overnight programs. The focus of the program would be to join together Christian, Muslim, and Jewish high school students to form common bonds and build cultural understanding. The meetings and overnight programs for “One God, One Voice” would serve two purposes: learning about the three Abrahamic faiths and building positive relationships among the participants. The programming would include the history of the three faiths (and the roots and role of peace in each), worship at synagogues, mosques, and churches, diversity training, discussions of contemporary issues in each religion (such as terrorism, the Palestinian/Israeli conflict, and each religion’s views on current American issues such as abortion or gay rights), community service projects, and fun activities to strengthen the group unity. If it were financially feasible, I would like the program to culminate in a summer trip to Israel. As a holy land for all three faiths, an inter-faith trip to Israel would be extremely unique and educational. Participants would visit holy sights such as the Dome of the Rock, Western Wall, and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. They would also visit cities that have significance to Arabs, Jews, and Christians, as well as sites that show inter-faith connections, such as mixed Arab/Israeli towns or sites like the Museum on the Seam (a museum about coexistence and peace). The trip would be an excellent culmination to the year of study and would surely be an unforgettable experience. “One God, One Voice” outlines a clear strategy for achieving the goal of religious understanding among the three Abrahamic faiths. Inter-faith teenage cooperative learning and experiences will shape the teens’ views, break down their misconceptions, and hopefully inspire them to share their understanding with their larger respective religious communities. Rabbi Ben Zoma wrote in Pirke Avot, “Who is wise? He who learns from every man…from my teachers I have gotten understanding” (4:1).23 Just as Ben Zoma encouraged us to “learn from every man,” we must also learn from every faith. Given the clear similarities among the three Abrahamic faiths, and the strong role of peace in each of them, religious understanding is not hard to achieve. By studying the importance of peace in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, we can let the religious doctrines of the Abrahamic faiths be the “teachers” that will help us achieve understanding. The “One God, One Voice” program is just one way to help facilitate the discussion and learning that will spur understanding. Building that understanding will be the first step in permanently eradicating religious hatred in America and around the world, and replacing it with what is so important to the Abrahamic faiths: shalom, salaam, and peace. Works Cited The Holy Bible: King James Version. National Publishing Company, 2000. JPS Hebrew-English Tanakh. Philidelphia, PA: Jewish Publication Society, 1999. Larson, Jonathan. Rent. Dreamworks, 1996. “Love and Brotherhood.” <http://www.jewfaq.org/brother.htm>. Mohideen, M. Mazzahim. “Islam, Nonviolence, and Interfaith Relations,” Islam and Nonviolence. Ed. Glenn D. Paige, Chaiwat Satha-Anand, and Sarah Gilliatt.123-143. Parry, Wayne. “Charity Project Joins Two Religions.” The Washington Times. 14 Jan. 2006. Sayings of the Fathers. New York, NY: Behrman House, 1945. The Talmud: The Steinsaltz Edition. New York: Random House, 1989. Footnotes: 1. “The Roots of Peace in the Torah,” CCJU Perspective Winter 1999: 14. 2. M. Mazzahim Mohideen, “Islam, Nonviolence, and Interfaith Relations,” Islam and Nonviolence, ed. Glenn D. Paige, Chaiwat Satha-Anand, and Sarah Gilliatt 123-143. 3. Abdullah Yusuf Ali, The Meaning of the Holy Qur’an (Beltsville, Maryland, Amana publications). 4. Abdullah Yusuf Ali, The Meaning of the Holy Qur’an (Beltsville, Maryland, Amana publications). 5. Leigh Hunt, “Abou Ben Adem” http://www.blupete.com/literature/poetry/huntaboubenadem.htm 6. M. Mazzahim Mohideen, “Islam, Nonviolence, and Interfaith Relations,” Islam and Nonviolence, ed. Glenn D. Paige, Chaiwat Satha-Anand, and Sarah Gilliatt 123-143. 7. The Talmud: The Steinsaltz Edition (New York: Random House 1989). 8. JPS Hebrew-English Tanakh, (Philidelphia, PA: Jewish Publication Society, 1999). 9. Rabbi Pinchas Frankel, “Yaakov, Man of Peace” http://www.ou.org/torah/frankel/5760/vayishlach60.htm 10. “Love and Brotherhood” http://www.jewfaq.org/brother.htm 11. JPS Hebrew-English Tanakh, (Philidelphia, PA: Jewish Publication Society, 1999). 12. “The Roots of Peace in the New Testament,” CCJU Perspective Winter 1999: 17. 13. The Holy Bible: King James Version (National Publishing Company 2000). 14. The Holy Bible: King James Version (National Publishing Company 2000). 15. “The Roots of Peace in the New Testament,” CCJU Perspective Winter 1999: 17. 16. The Holy Bible: King James Version (National Publishing Company 2000). 17. Abdullah Yusuf Ali, The Meaning of the Holy Qur’an (Beltsville, Maryland, Amana publications). 18. Sayings of the Fathers (New York, NY: Behrman House, 1945). 19. Jonathan Larson, Rent, Dreamworks, 1996. 20. Fredrick Kunkle, “Muslim Leader Forges Interfaith Accord,” The Washington Post 18 Dec. 2005: C6. 21. Kathryn Shattuck, “Three Faiths, One Lesson,” The New York Times 20 Dec. 2005: E1. 22. Wayne Parry, “Charity Project Joins Two Religions,” The Washington Times 14 Jan. 2006. 23. Sayings of the Fathers (New York, NY: Behrman House, 1945).
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