“أحب لصديقك ما تحب لنفسك”

بقلم: الدكتور رون كرونش

ان جملة الافتتاح في (سفر القديسين)، والتي قرأناها قبل عدة سبوت في الكنس في جميع انحاء اسرائيل، والتي تبدأ بالكلمات “كونوا قديسين“، توضح في سياقها كيف يمكننا أن نكون قديسين (اللاويين 19). فبدون شك فان هذه الجملة هي من أهم الجمل في التوراة، وهي التي وجهتني كممثل لمجلس التنسيق بين الأديان كي أنشر بالاشتراك مع قسم الديانات التابع لجمعية سكروبو في تورونتو، نشرة “أحب لصديقك ما تحب لنفسك“، وهذا الموضوع يظهر ليس عند أقل من 12 ديانة في العالم.

Tikun Olam

“How do you say Tikun Olam in Hebrew?” is the circulating joke about this meaningful concept in Judaism. But it’s no joke at all. How Tikun Olam manifests in the three monotheistic religions was the subject of a panel lead by ICCI Director Ron Kronish and representatives of the three religions on the 1st of May. Evidence brought out at the panel showed that the act of grace and kindness towards the needy is an “international interreligious commandment” as the representative of Islam concluded. However, in a complex reality where interreligious interaction and tolerance is scarce,  the values of our  scriptures sometimes remain unfulfilled.

וְאָהַבְתָּ את הגר

מאת ד”ר רון קרוניש

פיסקת הפתיחה של ‘פרשת קדושים’, אותה קראנו לפני מספר שבתות בבתי הכנסת ברחבי הארץ, מתחילה במלים “קדושים תהיו”, ומפרטת בהמשך כיצד עלינו להיות קדושים’ (ויקרא י”ט).זו ללא ספק אחת הפסקאות החשובות ביותר בתורה, והיא אשר הנחתה אותי כמייצג את

Dr. Ron Kronish

המועצה הבין-דתית המתאמת בישראל לפרסם בשיתוף עם המחלקה הבין-דתית של עמותת סקרובו בטורונטו כרזה בנושא ‘ואהבת לרֵעֲךָ כמוך’, נושא המופיע בלא פחות מ12 דתות בעולם.

פסוקים אלו (ויקרא י”ט: 18-19) מחייבים אותנו לשאול את השאלה, איך מגדירים את ‘רֵעֲךָ’? קיימת ספרות רבה ומרובה העוסקת בהגדרות שונות. ההגדרה שמתאימה לקונטקסט של התורה מגדירה את ‘רעך’ כמי ששייך לעם היהודי, כאשר בפיסקה “אָחִיךָ”, “עֲמִיתֶךָ” ו”רֵעֲךָ” מקבילים ל”בְּנֵי עַמֶּךָ”, כלומר העם היהודי. כיום משתמשים במושג “רֵעֲךָ” בשפה העברית כדי לתאר חבר קרוב מאוד, ואפילו לפעמים בן זוג, לעומת השפה האנגלית, בה היא מתורגמת ל’שכן’. עולה אם כן השאלה, מיהם שכנינו או חברינו הקרובים היום? האם הם רק אלה השייכים לעם היהודי, או שמא ניתן להרחיב את משמעותה של המילה להכיל את כל בני האדם בארצינו או בעולם הגלובלי כולו?  האם זאת בקשה מוגזמת?

“Resisting Racism and Keeping the Light of Hope Alive”

By Rabbi Ron Kronish

“Earlier this week, I was invited to attend a meeting of the Committee on Education of the Knesset (parliament) by leaders of a coalition which I am part of

Dr. Ron Kronish

called Tag Meir, Hebrew for “Light Tag,” or perhaps better translated as “A Sign of Light.” The group combats hate crimes that have become endemic in certain quarters in Israel during the last year and a half. We began at Hanukkah to react to each violent act of Jewish ultra-nationalists who desecrate churches and mosques and attack innocent peace activists, who go under the name Tag Mechir, Hebrew for “Price Tag.” Our idea was to light a beacon of peace and reconciliation to show the sane face of the moderate mainstream of Judaism in Israel.

From Socializing to Social Media

by Nomi Teutsch

Members of the group at the protest tent in Beit Safafa Februar

Also in: http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/from-socializing-to-social-media/

Some time ago, a group of Palestinian and Jewish alumnae of ICCI’s women’s dialogue groups from past years came together to take the leap from words to deeds. This can be an incredibly tricky step to take, as united action requires agreement on both a message and a strategy.

I began working with the group this October (2012), examining topics that were meaningful to the group in order to find the right project for us to take on. As we were in the midst of discussing and exploring, something shocking happened…

Learning To Respect One Another

by: Rachael Sauceda

On Tuesday April 9^th, members of ICCI’s alumni community of young Palestinians and Jews for Peace Coexistence held a discussion with a group of about 20 American Jews from the Boston area, who were on a study tour with led by Rabbi Howard Berman, Executive Director of the Society for Classical Reform Judaism and rabbi of Central Reform Temple of Boston. This discussion gave the group, who were mainly from Boston and the surrounding area, a unique view as to what it is like for people living and growing up in a culturally diverse city like Jerusalem during a time of conflict. The young adult alumni, from various ICCI young adult dialogue programs, talked about their experiences, the obstacles they overcame, and how they learned to respect and listen to “the other.”

“Love the Stranger as Yourself”

Dr. Ron Kronish

“The opening passages from the section in the Book of Leviticus known as the Holiness Code — Parashat K’doshim, which we will read in our synagogues this Saturday in Israel — begin with the words “You shall be holy” (Leviticus 19:2), and goes on to teach us in a very practical way what it means to be “holy.” These are undoubtedly among the most famous and most relevant passages in the Torah, and indeed, in all of world religions.

The organization I represent, the Interreligious Coordinating Council in Israel, has partnered with the Scarboro Missions Interfaith Department in Toronto in publishing a poster which portrays the “Love your neighbor as yourself” statement as a major theme in no less than 12 of the world’s major religions!

“Celebrating Israeli Independence Day”

by Ron Kronish

Dr. Ron Kronish

” The modern State of Israel was brought into being after more than 60 years of dreaming and struggle by the leaders of the Zionist Movement — the national liberation movement of the Jewish People — that began in Europe at the end of the 19th century and led to our Declaration of Independence, which was proclaimed by David Ben Gurion on May 14, 1948.

We will celebrate Israel’s Independence next Monday night and all day Tuesday in Israel as a national and religious holiday. For many of us, it is “the beginning of the flowering of our redemption” (as stated in one of the versions of the prayer for the state of Israel recited every Shabbat in synagogues in Israel and throughout the world). It is preceded by Memorial Day, a very solemn day in our country on which thousands of people visit cemeteries all over the country to remember those who sacrificed their lives so that this independent Jewish state could be free and prosper.

“Envisioning Israel Based on Freedom, Justice and Peace for All”

Dr. Ron Kronish

“we will celebrate Israel’s Independence Monday night and all day Tuesday this week in Israel as a national and religious holiday. For many of us, it is “the beginning of the flowering of our redemption” (as stated in one of the versions of the prayer for the state of Israel recited every Shabbat in synagogues in Israel and throughout the world). This prayer has become the center of controversy in recent years. Radical right-wing Jews in extremists settlements have ceased saying this prayer ever since the disengagement from Gaza in August 2005. And some followers of Professor Yeshaiyahu Leibowitz, do not say the prayer because they do not think that nation-states are holy. And of course many ultra-orthodox Jews don’t say it because they are anti-Zionist and do not see the need for a state of the Jews! Nevertheless, most religious Jews in Israel –including Reform and Conservative Jews –say this prayer, or one similar to it, in gratitude for the miracle of returning home after 2000 years.”

“On ‘loving thy neighbors’ only if they’re Jewish”

Dr. Ron Kronish, The Times of Israel

Dr. Ron Kronish

“A few weeks ago, I led a text study session at the first meeting of a new dialogue group of Jews and Muslims that I now co-lead with my friend and colleague, Kadi Iyad Zahalka, in a school in his village of Kufr Kara, in central Israel. Our new group brings together Jewish and Muslim religious leaders, educators, writers, academics and community leaders.