Religious leaders discuss their commonalities

Source: THE JERUSALEM POST.

Forty religious leaders from the Muslim, Christian, Druse, Bahai, Ahmadi and Jewish faiths in the North gather for meeting.

An imam, a priest and a rabbi walk into a yeshiva. This is not the beginning of a joke, but the account of a unique conference held on Wednesday afternoon in Yeshivat Ma’aleh Gilboa, close to the Galilee region in the North.

Forty religious leaders from the Muslim, Christian, Druse, Bahai, Ahmadi and Jewish faiths based in the North gathered at the yeshiva to discuss matters of religion and society, as well as coexistence in Israel in general, and in the Galilee in particular.

During the five-hour event, the rabbis, imams, priests and assorted religious leaders engaged in joint study sessions dealing with the issue of the gap between religious study and societal improvement, while the yeshiva students also had a chance to ask questions of the different clerical guests.

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Odeh Muhammad Sharif of Haifa, the head of the Ahmadi Islamic community in Israel, told the Post that the event was an important initiative to promote the notion that religious communities can live together peacefully and harmoniously.

“If we believe in one God and that he created all mankind in his image, then we need to show concern for everyone, regardless of their faith. We need to care for their security, their wellbeing, that they have food to eat and can live in happiness.

“Religious differences have been made by man,” he continued, “but if we believe that God is the sovereign of all creation, who made one sun for us all, and food and water to share and whom we strive to become close to, then it becomes apparent that conflict between religions is actually a conflict against God who wants us to live in peace.”
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http://www.jpost.com/JewishWorld/JewishFeatures/Article.aspx?id=271222