Statement
on the Violent Crisis in the Holy Land
The purpose of the Academy for Judaic, Christian, and Islamic Studies is to build bridges of understanding between Jews, Christians and Muslims. As the Holy Land bleeds, our common vision is being severely tested. At the same time, seeking to hold on to that common vision is more important than ever.
As Muslims, Christians, and Jews, we are united in our grief for the destruction of innocent lives. We pray that God may give consolation and relief to the victims, contrition to transgressors, turning all our hearts and hands towards peace and kindness.
In these turbulent times, we remind ourselves to heed the divine guidance revealed in our scriptures(1). Both the Jewish(2) and the Muslim(3) traditions explicitly teach that the unjustified killing of one life is equivalent to killing all of humanity, and the saving of a single life is equivalent to saving all of humanity.
In the midst of our feelings of grief, anger, and helplessness, we are united in the difficult effort to prevent hatred from settling in our hearts and leading us to injustice(4). Instead, even and particularly in these trying times, we strive to adhere to the common teachings(5) of our three traditions, tirelessly praying, hoping, and working for peace in the Holy Land.
(1) ‘And hold fast, all of you together, to the rope of Allah, and be not divided’ (Qur’an 3:103).
(2) ‘Anyone who destroys one human being, it is as if he destroyed an entire world and anyone who sustains one human being, is as if he sustained an entire world’ (Mishnah Sanhedrin 4:5).
(3) ‘Whoever takes a life—unless as a punishment for murder or mischief in the land—it will be as if they killed all of humanity; and whoever saves a life, it will be as if they saved all of humanity’ (Qur’an 5:32)
(4) ‘Let not hatred of a people lead you into transgression. Help one another in righteousness and piety and do not help each other in sin and aggression’ (Qur’an 5:2).
(5) From the Jewish Scriptures: ‘Seek peace and pursue it.’ (Psalms 34:15) The Jerusalem Talmud interprets this verse by saying ‘The Law does not order you to run after or pursue the other commandments, but only to fulfill them on the appropriate occasion. But peace you must seek in your own place and pursue it even to another place as well.’ (Pe’ah 1:1).
From the Christian Scriptures: ‘Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons and daughters of God’ (Matthew 5:9).
From the Qur’an: ‘If the enemy is inclined towards peace, make peace with them’ (Qur’an 8:61).
Signed
Yael Aranoff – Co-President
Winston Gee – Co-President
Rabbi Dr. Elliot Dorff – Vice President
Dr. Janna Gosselin – Vice President
Dr. Sana Khan – Vice President
Emilie Nordhus – Secretary
Dr. Reinhard Krauss – Executive Director
Seema Ali
Dr. Scott Bartchy
Ivan Finkle
Rabbi Dr. Reuven Firestone
Dr. Javad Hashmi
Shaheen Nanji
Jay Reisbaum
Dr. Muzammil Siddiqi
The Right Reverend Alexei Smith
Hedab Tarifi
Scott Young