"There will be no peace among the nations without peace among the religions. There will be no peace among the religions without dialogue among religions."
Hans Küng, Professor of Ecumenical Theology and President of the Global Ethic Foundation.
The Faith Club is an interfaith women’s group that was launched following the award-winning WRJ-Sisterhood program, Coffeehouse: Interfaith Discussion in April 2017 with Rabbi Rinat* from our Sister Congregation in Shoham, Israel. The purpose of the group is to encourage positive interaction between people of different faiths, particularly women of the Muslim, Jewish and Christian faiths. We hope to promote understanding between different religions and to increase acceptance of others and hopefully establish lasting friendships in the process.
The group’s inaugural event took place in August 2017 at the Crosstown Concourse, where we “book surfed” with our sisters in Shoham via skype. Book Surfing is a social initiative bringing strangers together through literary works and texts. Each participant reads a text (short story, poem etc., no more than one page) on a specific topic. Our first theme was “Beginnings.” On November 12, 2017 we held our second book surfing event with Shoham on the topic of “Family.” This event was held at Temple Israel. | Our events for the remainder of the year will include two more booksurfing events with our Shoham sisters and a special event where we will learn about each other one-on-one in a “speed dating” format. Sunday, October 21, 12 noon - 2 pm Sunday, January 27, 12-2 pm Sunday, April 7, 12-2 pm
| If you would like to be a part of this group and receive notifications for upcoming meetings, please send an email to one of the two below:
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Chai Tea held at the home of Sheila Hahn on August 12, 2018*About Israeli Host Rabbi Rinat Safania Schwartz:
"For the past two and a half years I have served as the student rabbi of the Reform community in Shoham. With each passing year, we are becoming more precise in the unique contribution our religious community makes to Shoham… Last summer, my good friend Rabbi Yael Karrie, who lives in Nachal Oz, invited me to take part in the Venislach project – 40 days of forgiveness. The project was launched due to a desire to move forward from two negative peaks reached by Jews and Arabs in this land over the past two summers. As the result of this invitation I became part of an interfaith group of leaders that holds joint study and prayer meetings for the three main religions in our region… I realized that as a human, and above all as a spiritual and religious leader, I must act and take part in such discourse, be present in this field, and take part in its practical advancement. In today’s reality, it is very difficult to being Arabs and Jews together. Each side is drawing apart for its own justified reasons. Precisely because of this genuine difficulty, and the sense of hopelessness that dominates discourse and social networks, we bear an obligation to do everything we can to increase light. Together with other Reform communities in Israel, a new project called “Mevior” that has set itself a simple goal: to enhance the sense of hope and affinity through encounters and discourse between Jews, Muslims, and Christians."