The Children of Abraham Share a Unique Heritage

It all began with the Prophet Abraham, who is recognized by three religions as one of theirs. And since none of these faiths, Judaism, Christianity or Islam (listed here by seniority) can claim exclusive ownership of the Abrahamic heritage, a few people in Lodi, California led by Randy Rosa’ (http://www.celebrateabraham.org/ ) decided that instead of honoring separately a figure that all three of them revere, their reverence should instead be converted and used as a tool for creating inter-religious peace and community harmony. In this idea of a common bond via a Prophet of God, an event called “A Celebration of Abraham” was announced. And just recently on Thursday, September 11 and Saturday September 14, 2003 two major gatherings were held in Sacramento and Woodland, California respectively to bring together three communities of believers who have decided not to let international events get in the way of sharing their common bonds.

On September 11th a day which we now solemnly commemorate due to the thousands of American lives lost to terrorism and one which now has also erroneously become a symbol of the clash between these religions, over 300 Jews, Christians and Muslims gathered together at the SALAM (Sacramento Area League of Associated Muslims) Community Center to not only reflect on the serious nature of the 2nd Anniversary of 9/11 but to share their Abrahamic heritage and look back upon the wonderful work that the local Interfaith Service Bureau (ISB) has done since that tragic day.

Muslims were the hosts at SALAM led by Dr. Metwalli Amer, as a panel presented its views via the collective wisdom of Dr. Amer, Jewish Rabbi Bloom, Christian Reverend David Thomson and ISB Executive Director Dexter McNamara (who did not have to play Referee but did coordinate the panel/audience). The activities here were assisted by Fr. James Murphy and a number of people from the local Sacramento and Lodi Muslim community (Mr. Taj Khan & Imam Adil).

Dexter started off by describing this gathering as an opportunity to listen and learn. One commentator said that “the human dimension is far more important than our differences.”

Dr. Metwalli Amer bade everyone welcome and introduced them to SALAM and described this as a memorable evening where a Jewish Rabbi, a Christian Minister and a Muslim Imam gathered together on this solemn anniversary. He thanked everyone for joining together this evening and encouraged the sharing of food and ideas. Next, Rabbi Bloom presented his six points on the Jewish beliefs associated with Prophet Abraham and emphasized the monotheistic aspect of his faith and spoke of the ultimate test given to him (Abraham) by God by asking for the sacrifice of his son Isaac. He also spoke of various Jewish concepts and beliefs and especially centered on the sharing of food and hospitality.

Rev. David Thomson who spoke next turned out to be a tremendously entertaining speaker. His views on OBL, the sacrifice of Abraham and the concept of “the Promised Land” (which he found problematic) and the local Interfaith journey were extremely well received. He spoke about God, the creator, and commented on the basis of this assembly. He ended by saying that “If Abraham is the father of Ishmael then every Arab is a Hebrew.”

Dr. Metwalli Amer ended the speech segment as he explained that Islam came last and that Muslims held Prophet Abraham in very great regard, and how we can all learn from the traditions that have followed since. “As children of Abraham Muslims are taught to reach out to people of all faiths,” he said.

A lively Question and Answer session was held soon after giving all the panelists an opportunity to respond to very pertinent questions on beliefs, the causes of and the possible abolition of War. The evening ended with food, conversation, and renewed friendship. It was also pointed out that 9/11 was a complete contradiction of what Judaism, Christianity and Islam taught us.

On September 14th, the Holy Rosary Parish Community Center in Woodland, California, was filled to maximum seating capacity as close to 500 people from the Jewish, Christian and Muslim communities from Davis and Woodland gathered together to celebrate the Abrahamic legacy of the three faiths and dwelled on what we all have in common as opposed to our differences. This more formal event most certainly succeeded in bringing together those that did not know each other previously. I shared a table with Mr. Khalid Saeed of the local American Muslim Alliance, a Jewish political activist, two Catholics and a couple of Methodist Christians. And at this table only three of us had known each other previously.

The host, Father John Boll of the Holy Rosary Catholic Church in Woodland spoke first and bade everyone (Jew, Christian and Muslim) welcome. He said that Abraham was the first to believe in one God. On 9/11, he commented; “That terrifying day has changed the world.” And that “this is one of the positive results out of our national tragedy.”

Randy Rosa' from Lodi spoke next. As the originator of this Abraham event concept, Randy may have surprised many by stating that he was raised as a racist. But then he described his change of philosophy after he visited various parts of the world and became friends with Muslim and Jewish people. He spoke of Isaac and Ishmael and hatred and violence in the Middle East. “It is a joy for me to see this gathering,” he said. “This is something historical that you are a part of,” he added. He ended his speech talking about good neighbors and for us to take the opportunity to get to know one another at this event. I had spoken with Randy earlier in Sacramento when he described his feelings on a cross burning incident in Lodi close to a decade ago and the friendship that he had developed with a Pakistani family. He said that after 9/11, he and some friends decided to do what they had planned earlier and get Muslims, Christians and Jews together to develop a greater understanding under the common heritage of Abraham.

Michael Hirsh of the local (Jewish) Congregation Bet Haverim in Davis, described Abraham as the father of all of our faiths. “In the name of religion we have killed one another,” he said but added, that this could change. He went on to say that “today can be the start of a truly historic journey.” Then Rabbi Greg Wolfe of the same congregation, heralded the Jewish segment of the Abrahamic faiths. Opening with “Peace, Shalom, and Salam”, Wolfe suggested that peace could be obtained bit by bit and that we were heading towards a world of peace, understanding and respect. A scriptural reading by Ernie and Hannah Biberstein with an interpretation by Rabbi Wolfe and a musical presentation (Lechi Lach) ended the individual Jewish segment.

The Christian segment started off with Rev. Kathy McIntosh-Smith of the Woodland Presbyterian Church, presenting a prayer seeking world peace followed by Reverend David Affleck of the St. Lukes Episcopal Church, Woodland, who read from the scriptures. Reverend Eileen Lindsay of the United Methodist Church, Davis, presented an interpretation. She spoke of Abraham bringing us together by breaking the barriers. The Christian segment ended with the recognition of our common heritage and deep roots plus a Hymn sung by Leoni called “The God of Abraham Praise.”

The Muslim segment began with Mr. Khalid Saeed who is very active in Woodland Interfaith circles bidding “Shalom” to the Jews, “Peace” to the Christians and “Salam” to the Muslims. The Muslim group started off with an Abrahamic prayer recited by the Imam of the Woodland Mosque, and translated by Mr. Saeed. The segment also included a reading from the scriptures in Arabic by Dr. Ahmad Khairat, a Professor at Al-Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt, with a translation by Hamza El-Nakhal of the Islamic Center in Davis. An interpretation and speech was delivered by Dina El-Nakhal and a wonderful singing of ‘Tala’a al Badru Alayna’ by a group of children from SALAM School in Sacramento, closed the Muslim segment.

But all was not over yet. A unique hand-washing ceremony and the symbolic breaking of bread at each table by members of the three faiths closed the formal program along with prayers by representatives of each faith.

In conclusion one has to commend quite a number of individuals for working together and coming up with something positive for people of the three Abrahamic faiths as an answer to the terrorist attacks of 9/11/2001. While admitting that at these gatherings we may not have found solutions to the complex problems of the world, one has at least to admit that small yet important beginnings toward communal harmony are being made right here in America. And those who are skeptical or even critical of such an experiment can be asked a plain and simple question. What is the alternative?