Jewish- Christian- Muslim Dialogue: Recentering Our Common Humanity Amidst Conflict
In response to escalating tensions around the globe due to the war in Gaza, The Interfaith Center at Miami University, the Greater Kansas City Interfaith Council, URI North America, CRES, and the Dialogue Institute of Kansas City came together on March 3rd to present a Jewish- Christian- Muslim Dialogue on the topic of "Recentering Our Common Humanity Amidst Conflict." The panel, reaching over 500 participants around the globe (so far), came at a time when Antisemitic and Islamophobic incidents have reached alarmingly high rates in North America (with the Anti-Defamation League and the Council on American-Islamic Relations reporting an increase of 200-300% since October 7th). The dialogue was a call to action for the interfaith community to reflect upon how we can remain in relationship with one another, and maintain recognition of our common humanity, even when it feels like our lives are under attack. The panelists invited viewers to consider how the Jewish, Christian, and Islamic faiths might guide us towards a path of reconciliation in our relationships and the way we interact in the world during these precarious times. It also demonstrated how we can cultivate spaces which recognize political differences while honoring the sacred in one another.
Watch the program on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/live/JH1D92gLadg?si=UqPs5ltJ5LzuoBgE
https://www.youtube.com/live/JH1D92gLadg?si=UqPs5ltJ5LzuoBgE
Co-Moderators: Geneva Blackmer and Tahil Sharma
Speakers:
Alan Edelman serves on many boards that fulfill his commitment to Jewish values, including the Greater Kansas City Interfaith Council (where he is the current Chair), the Midwest Center for Holocaust Education, the Jewish Community Relations Bureau, and the Schechter Institute in Jerusalem. He served as the Jewish Federation of Greater Kansas City's Director of Engagement and Leadership Development from 1994 until his retirement in 2017. Alan has served as a guest theologian in many churches, universities, and seminaries. He is also active in the pursuit of peace between Israelis and Palestinians. He spent his junior year of undergraduate study at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, and received his first Master’s Degree in Jewish Education from the Jewish Theological Seminary.
Rev. Marc van Bulck is a Minister of the Word and Sacrament in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). He has served as the Associate Pastor for Family and Campus Ministries at Oxford Presbyterian Church in Oxford, Ohio since 2018 and served on the Board of Directors at the Interfaith Center from 2020-2023. Van Bulck is a graduate of Emerson College in Boston, Massachusetts and received his Master of Divinity degree Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, Georgia. He has previously served at Seville Presbyterian Church in Seville, OH, First Presbyterian Church in Bentonville, AR, and Riverside Presbyterian Church in Jacksonville, FL.
Dr. Ashraf Traboulsi graduated from the University of Kentucky with a PhD in Pharmaceutical Science in 1997 and earned his Post-doctoral research in 1999. He has served as a Member of the Board of Directors and a Member of the Executive Committee of the Islamic Center of Greater Cincinnati (ICGC) since 2012 and has been the Vice-Chair of the Board 2013-2019. Dr. Traboulsi was a founding Board Member and the President of the Syrian American Foundation (SAF) in 2012, a non-profit organization in the State of Ohio, and founding board member of the Institute of Youth Development in Cincinnati, Ohio. In addition, Dr. Traboulsi is a co-founder and board member of UOSSM (Union of Medical Care and Relief Organizations).