Some quotes from today (we're talking Orthodox Jews, committed Muslims including a Shi'ite Imam, and committed Christians from all main branches, talking together about our faith and issues like love of neighbor, peacemaking, and more):
"We're not talking about Christianity, Islam and Judaism, but about Christians, Muslims and Jews, and how we're going to live together; and we have to live together with Sikhs, Hindus, and others."
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A gentile approached Shammai and said to him: "Convert me but teach me the entire Torah as I stand on one foot." Shammai, feeling that he wasn't serious, chased him away. This gentile then approached Hillel with the same request but was met with a very different reaction--Hillel agreed. The entire Torah on one foot that Hillel taught him was "what is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor: that is the entire Torah while the rest is commentary. Go and learn it."
Talmud [Shabbos 31A]
Do not hate a fellow Israelite [your brother] in your heart. Rebuke your neighbor frankly so you will not share in their guilt. Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.
When foreigners reside among you in your land, do not mistreat them. The foreigners residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the LORD your God.
(Leviticus 19:17-18; 33-34)
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“Whoever believes in Allah (S.W.T.) and the Last Day, let him treat his neighbor well...” (Bukhari and Muslim) According to a report given by Bukhari, he (s.a.w.s.) said: “Whoever believes in Allah (S.W.T.) and the Last Day, let him not harm or annoy his neighbor...”
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On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?" "What is written in the Law?" he replied. "How do you read it?"
He answered, "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'"
"You have answered correctly," Jesus replied. "Do this and you will live."
But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"
In reply Jesus said: "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. 'Look after him,' he said, 'and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.'
"Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?"
The expert in the law replied, "The one who had mercy on him." Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise."
Jesus (Luke 10:25-37)
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“My concern is not that we don't love our enemies, but that we don't love anyone; that we just love ourselves and those who it is convenient to love. … In the West, now, we are lacking even a sense of community, what it means to have literal, actual neighbors. … What would it look like for us to take our literal neighborhoods seriously?”
“in order to love anyone, you not only need empathy, but you also need a great deal of forgiveness”
“if the religious leader is the leader of community organization, it doesn't last – need to get it to the grassroots level”
“We all have poor neighbors. We live with them as if they don't exist.”
Amos 5:24, “let justice fall down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty flowing stream”
"we are to love our neighbor, but sometimes I don't love my wife"
“If poverty were a man, I would have killed him,” and “every time a poor person starves, it is because of the accumulation of wealth by the wealthy” (Imam Ali; i.e., poverty is not from God, but is a human problem).
“Don't claim to believe in me [Muhammad], when you sleep with a full stomach, while your neighbor is hungry” (Hadith) - “social justice and helping the poor is considered a primary responsibility for every Muslim.”
“the best image of love is the image of Jesus washing the feet of his disciples” - “love does not look down, but looks up (from a position of humility)”
“charity for those in your community, and justice for all” - “there has to be room in our bigger world for particularism”; “we are all human beings created in the divine image, and every human being has worth and dignity, but how do you put that into a program? Do you make no distinctions?” Or do you take the view that “you exist in a world of concentric circles of obligation” (family, neighborhood, tribe or caste, etc., country, and world)? “But is this model satisfying? Doesn't there need to be room for giving charity to our own people first?”
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You can see that interacted over some very heavy and significant issues, among them, the question of “who is my neighbor?” and “what does love of neighbor mean?” spilling into particularism versus universalism, i.e., the question of whether we are right in looking to some extent after the needs of our own community first, and then for others, or whether we need to be practicing love of neighbor (including charity) to all people equally.
Let me say, very clearly – talking about all of these issues is significant and meaningful; but spending time building relationship with different others – in my case, with Orthodox, Conservative and Reform Jews, with Sunni and Shiite Muslims from different nations, and with Catholic and Oriental Orthodox Christians – is by far the most significant aspect of this time at the “Building Hope” Conference.
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