Abrahams Table Panel Series

PEACE ISLAND INSTITUTE Connecticut

Interfaith Affairs

2013-2014

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THE STORY OF NOAH

Th

e story

of

No

ah

On Thursday, January 24th, PII Connecticut held its first Abrahams

Table about the story of Noah. The featured speakers of the panel, which was

moderated by Reverend Lisa Hahneman, were Rabbi Dr. Herbert Brockman,

Pastor William Goettler and Dr. Nazif Muhtaroglu.

The first speaker, Dr. Brockman, gave an explanation on the story of Noah in

Judaism. He expressed that ten generations after creation, the world was

filled with violence and the good was replaced by not good. The float,

according to Judaism, was a punishment by God; however, Noahs story

teaches that God refused to give up humanity.

Secondly, Pastor William Goettler summarized Christian point of view on

Noahs story. He stated that the float was a result of Gods frustration on

people, but at the end God promised that such a punishment would not be

repeated.

Last speaker of the night was Dr. Muhtaroglu. He told that Noah is described

as one of the most significant prophets in Islam. He stated that one chapter

in Quran is named as Noah, where it is emphasized that the duty of Prophet

Noah was to deliver the Divine message to people and warn them before a

punishment turns up.

After the speakers completed their speech, participants had the opportunity

to raise their questions and to have a discussion for an additional 15-20

minutes. During the discussion, it was emphasized that Noah was defined as

righteous in his generation and he had a relative perfection among his people

according to Judaism and Christianity, whereas in Islam he was considered

as a Prophet who is the messenger of God.

Coffee and tea serving followed the panel. The participants enjoyed Noahs

pudding, a traditional dessert made in commemoration of landing of Noahs

ark. Being a mixture of grains, fruits and nuts, Noahs pudding symbolizes the

harmony in diversity.

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Ho

w d

o w

e un

derstan

d

peace?

HOW DO WE UNDERSTAND PEACE?

On Thursday, April 30th, PII Connecticut held an Abrahams Table on

understanding of peace. The panel, moderated by Maria La Sala, brought

together three distinguished speakers including Rabbi Dr. Yehezkel Landau

from Hartford Seminary, Reverend Dr. Frederick J. Streets from Yale

University Divinity School and Imam Roland Cinari from The Albanian

Mosque in NY.

The first speaker, Rabbi Dr. Yehezkel Landau, gave an explanation of peace

in Judaism and included explanations of why there is no peace in our lives

today. He noted that in order to start peace in the world, we must first obtain

inner peace within ourselves. Dr. Landau advised that we should seek peace

and pursue it, referring to Bediuzzaman Said Nursi, an educational visionary

and social activist of the Middle East/Turkey as well as Rabbi Abraham Isaac

Hacohen Kook, the Bediuzzaman of Israel.

The second speaker, Reverend Dr. Frederick J. Streets also explained peace,

how he saw and understood it in the religion of Christianity and offered

valuable points to improve our understanding of peace. Dr. Streets stated

that people act according to what they fundamentally believe rather than

what they value, suggesting that our society today is in a struggle to

understand a peaceful world compared to the struggle to understand a non-

violent world.

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Ho

w d

o w

e un

derstan

d

peace?

The last speaker, Imam Roland Cinari, summarized the understanding of

peace in Islam and stated that reconciliation is the best way to achieve peace.

He referred to the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and his methods

of resolving disputes; reconciliation, a method the prophet preferred even

during a war to make peace. He stated that if you want to win over someones

heart, violence will not be able to do it, but affection will. Imam Cinari ended

his speech with a verse from the Quran which also takes place in both Torah

and Bible in a similar fashion: If anyone slays a person, it would be as if he

slew the whole people: and if any one saved a life, it would be as if he saved

the life of the whole people. Imam Cinari notes that this verse simply teaches

us that the concept of peace is same in all of Abrahams religions.

After our panelists had defined their understanding of peace, guests were

given the opportunity to ask their questions. Besides, an interactive

discussion was held regarding ways to promote a peaceful environment in

our daily lives. The panel was followed by coffee break where guests

continued their one on one conversation.

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SACRED DAYS AND TRADITIONS IN ABRAHAMIC RELIGIONS

Sacred d

ays an

d trad

ition

s in

Ab

raham

ic religion

s

On Thursday, July 25th, Peace Islands Institute of Connecticut

organized the third Abrahams Table Panel for this year. The panel brought

together three highly distinguished speakers representing different

abrahamic religions including: Rabbi Eric Polokoff of Bnai Israel in

Southbury,

Reverend Calvin Robinson of First Baptist Church in Milford, and Dr. Fetih

Can a Post-Doctoral fellow from New York. Each of the speakers presented

their views on the topic of Sacred Days and Traditions in Abrahamic

Religions. The event was moderated by Reverend Hilary Greer of St. Marks

Chapel.

Rabbi Eric Polokoff, put great detail into the concept of calendars and their

importance regarding how we understand time. He provided a detailed

description of the sacred days in Judaism, including the days of Rosh

Hashanah (The New Year) and Yom Kippur (The Day of Atonement). He

noted that sacred observations occurred in homes and synagogues, and

included the command to hear the traditional Shofar. Rabbi Polokoff

performed a demonstration of the Shofar, from the horn of the ram, and

explained how its sound relates to the call for repentance. Later he stated

that festive meals including apples and honey were prepared for the sacred

days. Apple and honey were noted to be very important in Judaism due to the

verse Underneath the apple tree I found love. (Songs 8:5)

Reverend Calvin Robinson, also started his talk with calendars and how the

calendar had been started over with the birth of Jesus. Reverend Robinson

explained the holy days of Christmas, Easter and Good Friday in his talk and

noted that Christmas was represented by the birth of Jesus, while Good

Friday represents his death and Easter his resurrection.

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Sacred d

ays an

d trad

ition

s in

Ab

raham

ic religion

s

Some traditions that were mentioned by Reverend Robinson were the

worships, carols and plays that were put on by children in Christmas, the

sacred day that was celebrated with anticipation. He noted that the three

Abrahamic religions all shared heroes including but not limited to David,

Joseph and Joshua, referring to them as conquerors. He also noted that we all

believe in One God of Abraham that we have no one else to trust our mind

body and soul.

Dr. Fetih Can, gave a short presentation on two sacred days in Islam: Eid al-

Fitr (Feast of Breaking the Ramadan Fast) and Eid al-Adha (Day of Sacrifice).

Dr. Can noted that the sacred holiday of the Ramadan Eid, consisted of a feast

to mark the end of Ramadan (30 days of fasting) and Fitr (alms giving), which

is help given directly to the poor that must be done during Ramadan in order

for fasts and other deeds to be accepted. The Day of Sacrifice concludes the

Hajj, which is the pilgrimage to Mecca and one of the five pillars of Islam, it is

during this time that the animals are sacrificed and the meat obtained is

shared, 1/3 is for yours to keep and the remaining 2/3 must be given to

family and the poor. Dr. Can noted that sacred days in the Muslim religion are

to remind us of who we are, allow us to identify with the poor and to

understand our social responsibilities. Dr. Can also noted that sacred days

allow us to make our relationship with God stronger.

After the panelists had presented the sacred days and traditions in each

religion, guests were given the opportunity to ask questions and also to

answer the questions asked by the speakers. At sunset, Adhan, the Islamic

call to prayer was demonstrated allowing the Muslim guests to break fast and

for everyone else to join and experience the moment with them as they

enjoyed dinner while discussing their favorite holidays.

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WHO IS MY NEIGHBOR?

In h

on

or o

f Mo

the

r's day

On October 3rd 2013, Peace Islands Institute of Connecticut hosted the

fourth Abrahams Table Panel for this year at the First Presbyterian Church

in New Haven, CT. After the guests shared a meal together, three

distinguished speakers spoke about the significance of neighbor

relationships across the Abrahamic faiths. The speakers of the night were

Reverand Hilary Greer of the St. Marks Episcopal Chapel in Storrs,

Connecticut, Omar Bajwa from Yale Universitys Chaplains Office, and Rabbi

Michael from the Temple Emanuel of Greater New Haven, Connecticut.The

fundamental points of the stories shared by the speakers during the evening

were to highlight the importance of keeping strong bonds with ones

neighbors and the universality of the golden rule. Similar views were shared

on striving for positive relationships with neighbors of not only the same

segregation; but also with ones belonging to different faiths, or no religious

practice. The markings of the speakers pointed the condemning views of each

faith on being distant with neighbors and not getting to know them better. It

was suggested that the relationships with others was made a mirror of ones

relationship with the Creator and the path leading to God was not a straight

one but rather a triangular one passing through others. After the panelists

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In h

on

or o

f Mo

the

r's day

IN HONOR OF MOTHERS DAY

In honor of Mothers day, on Thursday, May 15th, Peace Islands Institute

CT held an Abrahams Table at Dixwell Avenue Congregational United Church

of Christ in New Haven, CT.

The speakers of the event were Rabbi Leah Cohen, Director of Slifka Center at

Yale, Mrs. Annette Streets, of Dixwell Avenue Congregational United Church of

Christ and Mrs. Nuray Yurt, Director of Peace Islands Institute New Jersey.

In the beginning of her speech, Rabbi Cohen stated that she intended to

highlight the differences rather than the commonalities between the three

religions: women in the Torah play an oppositional role. In the Torah,

according to Rabbi Cohen, it is obvious that women were in some ways

submissive and were not people of authority. However, as seen in the stories

of Puah and Shifra, women were challenging authority for a cause, which was

righteous. We again see the same concept in stories of the daughters of

Zelophehad. Rabbi Cohen concluded her speech with a message: the Jewish

tradition honors, as an expression of faith, the challenging of authority for a

higher cause.

Mrs. Streets initially provided a brief introduction to the basic tenets of

Christian belief, which also helped the audience to understand the background

of Jesus arrival, and the people living in his time. Subsequently, showing the

audience a painting of first century Christian church fathers, she reiterated the

fact that, as an African American woman born in the 20th century, she would

have almost nothing common with them but their beliefs in God and Jesus.

Following the example of Esther and many other women of faith in Bible,

according to Mrs. Streets, women have many ways to show their devotion.

Women may function as pastors or take part in the core leadership in the

churches.

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In h

on

or o

f Mo

the

r's day

Mrs. Yurt also started her speech with a basic tenet of Islam: every individual

is responsible to learn the fundamentals of religion. Therefore, men and

women are encouraged to be educated, as the first revelation to the Prophet

is the command: Read. Furthermore, Mrs. Yurt gave the example of Mary

the Saint, one of the women who has an individual chapter in the Quran

named after her. In Saint Marys time, women were denied to have any sort

of education. However, she broke the boundaries and attended the religious

studies in her time. Mrs. Yurt, then, gave examples from Muhammads wives:

Khadijeh- a successful businesswoman in her time, who also proposed to

Muhammad for marriage herself; Aishe- a prominent scholar figure in Islam

both during the Prophets time and after his death. Besides, Mrs. Yurt

brought an interesting fact to our attention: in the Quran, men and women

are always acknowledged separately in the same sentence, introducing

respect for women during a century in which women previously had no

rights.

This pleasant evening concluded following the Q&A session and individual

conversations made over the desserts.

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So Th

at Oth

ers May Live:

Ch

arity in A

brah

amic R

eligion

s

SO THAT OTHERS MAY LIVE:

CHARITY IN ABRAHAMIC RELIGIONS

On Thursday, July 10th, Peace Islands Institutes held an Abrahams table

discussion on charity in Abrahamic religions. The concept of charity from a

broad perspective was discussed under the title: So that others may live. Dr.

Ayse Kubra Coskun from Yale University moderated the panel and our

distinguished speakers were: Rabbi Dana Bogatz, Rev. Nicolas Mumejian, and

Aida Mansoor. Speakers provided very interesting details about how charity is

understood and practiced in each respective religious tradition.

Rabbi Dana Bogatz is the chaplain for Brownstein Jewish Family Service. She

spoke about charity in Jewish tradition and said that charity was also called

Sadaqa which came means righteous. She mentioned a ladder of

righteousness with 8 steps. The first being a person who gives money with

regret, and the eighth being a person who helps someone find a job therefore

he/she can look after his/her own family. Rabbi Bogatz mentioned that the

most important thing was giving the charity and helping somebody, even

though you gave it with or without regret. Rabbi Bogatz concluded by saying

that most Jews give charity by multiples of 18. The significance in being the

number 18 is that it is the symbol of life.

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So Th

at Oth

ers May Live:

Ch

arity in A

brah

amic R

eligion

s

Rev. Nicolas Mumejian, Managing Editor of The Muslim World journal,

described the charity as a virtue. Rev. Nicolas mentioned that charity should

become a habit, it shouldnt be thought as an action that happens once. He said

that a person having such a wonderful habit of giving charity would

unconsciously have a sincere and pure heart.

Aida Mansoor, the President of Muslim Coalition Connecticut, said that charity

is very important in Islam. Aida mentioned there are two types of charity in

Islam: One is Zakat, which is mandatory for a Muslim and means giving a

percentage of the wealth to the needy yearly (if the believer is financially

capable); The second type is a volunteer charity which is mentioned several

times in the Quran and Hadith in various forms: from good manners, to effort

and time spent for a good cause. Aida concluded by saying that giving charity

is a way of purifying your wealth and heart.

At the end, there was a questions & answers part, which was followed by the

iftar dinner.