Muslims, Jews attend each others’ services
Event aims to foster understanding
What happened when the rabbi showed up at the mosque?
Given the volatile political differences between Muslims and Jews, it may sound like the set-up for a bad punchline.
But the question was no joke this weekend in several area houses of worship.
After Rabbi Alex Lazarus-Klein of Temple Sinai attended Friday afternoon prayer services in Masjid An-Noor on Heim Road in Getzville, Imam Nazim Mangera reciprocated at a Friday night Shabbat service in Temple Beth Am on Sheridan Drive.
Imam Fajri Ansari on Friday afternoon welcomed Jewish physician and educator Dr. Robert Stall inside Masjid Nu’Man on Fillmore Avenue. Then, Saturday morning, Ansari went to Temple Sinai for Torah studies.
In each visit, not much happened. The visitors listened and observed quietly and mingled briefly after the services with members of the congregation. Leaders of services acknowledged the presence of the visitors and incorporated some discussion of the interfaith cooperation in their remarks.
Organizers of the unusual mosque-synagogue “twinning weekend” weren’t anticipating high drama.
A visit by a Jew to a mosque and a Muslim to a synagogue, said Dr. Othman Shibly, “is a statement by itself. It’s saying, ‘We respect your place and your people.’ ”
The twinning weekend was the first of its kind here and part of an effort involving roughly 100 mosques and 100 synagogues worldwide. It was in its own way historical, said Shibly.
“Just a simple meeting of souls is such a work of peace,” added Rabbi Drorah Setel of Temple Beth El in Niagara Falls.
The weekend project locally culminated Sunday in Masjid An- Noor, where Jews and Muslims gathered to focus on what they might do in tandem to confront poverty and other social ills in Western New York.
Jewish and Muslim physicians and dentists provided a start — volunteering free consultations Sunday afternoon, as part of a health fair inside the mosque.
Three area mosques and four synagogues participated in the twinning weekend, organized by Shibly and Stall, who have become local leaders in efforts to overcome distrust between Jews and Muslims.
Stall, who specializes in geriatric medicine and is head of the local chapter of the Maimonides Medical Society, a group of Jewish doctors, began teaching a class in February at the High School of Jewish Studies following the death of a former teacher, Cantor Susan Wehle, in the crash of Flight 3407.
Stall invited Shibly, a periodontist who had worked closely with Wehle in the past, to bring Muslim high school students into the school to interact with the Jewish students.
The two realized they had much in common and quickly formed a friendship.
Shibly invited Stall to join him on a trip to Syria for a dental conference. Stall visited with elderly Syrians, dispensing medical advice and learning more about Muslim culture.
The two also attended the annual convention of the Islamic Society of North America this summer in Washington, D. C., where they learned about the weekend twinning program launched in 2008 by the Manhattan- based Foundation for Ethnic Understanding.
The idea of the twinning is basic: Get people to meet and talk to each other.
“Not only do we share a common faith, but we share a common fate,” said Rabbi Marc Schneier, a founder and president of the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding.
The organizers and some participants acknowledged resistance to their efforts.
Rabbi Irwin Tanenbaum of Temple Beth Am described it as “concerns,” due to the Palestinian- Israeli conflict and other matters.
Jews and Muslims largely steered clear of debate over Israel and the Palestinians, although it was a backdrop.
Lazarus-Klein urged people to focus on the social-action side of the two communities, rather than the political side.
Participants in Sunday’s gathering agreed to focus on future projects and agreed to meet again. One proposal was to have Jews and Muslims plant a community garden together and harvest it for people in need.
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