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Jerusalem Interfaith Forum: Hosting Ishmael in the Rabbi's Sukkah
Written by Dr. Nurit Hirschfeld, Director, Jerusalem Office for Interfaith and Cooperation among Religions
Tuesday, September 24, 2013
Mevaseret-Zion, Israel - On Sept. 24, 2013, during the Jewish holy day of Sukkot, Rabbi Yaakov Luft invited the Jerusalem Interfaith Forum to take place in his Sukkah, or tabernacle. Under the roof of bamboo and palm fronds, with a view of Jerusalem and the Judean hills – even the raindrops were accepted as God's blessing and didn't disturb the warm and flowing conversation among the guests: Jews, Muslims and Druze; religious leaders, scholars and peace activists.
Rabbi Luft gave an explanation about the meaning of the Jewish holy day. Historically it relates to the exodus from Egypt, when the Israelites were wandering in the desert without permanent dwellings. Sharing the explanation of Rabbi Ha-Meiry, a great Jewish scholar and Talmudic commentator of the Middle Ages, Rabbi Luft gave an interesting commentary about the exile from Egypt: that it was a move from idolatry to monotheism. Monotheism, according to Ha-Meiry, is a high morality and a good behavior. Thus, any person who acts morally would not be considered a pagan, while on the other hand, a person who believes in one God, prays and follows the rules but behaves immorally would be considered a pagan.
The commandment to eat and sleep in the Sukkah for one whole week was explained as having a shelter under the protection of God and elevating ourselves beyond our comfortable physical life in our protected, stable home.
Mrs. Sana Elbaz, the wife of Sheik Halil Elbaz, commented that in Islam one also finds this aspect of enduring physical difficulties as a condition to reach a higher spiritual level. The Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca, for example, has many elements of physical discomfort.
When Rabbi Luft talked about the invisible expected guests in the Sukkah—Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Aaron and David—Sheik Halil Elbaz, the imam of Tel-Sheva Mosque, asked him: "Why don't you also invite Ishmael to be one of the guests? He is a family member, the brother of Isaac, the son of Abraham." To that Rabbi Luft answered with a smile, "I have invited you, haven't I?"
The last part of Rabbi Luft's explanation was about the custom of having "four species" of plants in the Sukkah: citron, myrtle, palm frond and willow. Each of them, he said, represents one of the four kinds of people, respectively: those with good deeds but with no religious knowledge, those with religious knowledge but with no good deeds, those who have both good deeds as well as religious knowledge, and those who have neither good deeds nor religious knowledge. All of them are loved by God, he said.
Mrs. Ephrat Perlmuter, a homeopathic doctor, added that we should acknowledge that those four aspects exist in each of us. Sometimes we have good deeds, sometimes we have theological knowledge, sometimes we have both, and on some occasions we have none, she said. "It is not only a way to see the public but also a way to reflect on ourselves and acknowledge our faults as well as our strengths," she concluded.
Professor Efraim Meir, the head of the department of Jewish philosophy at Bar-Ilan University, responded to Rabbi Luft's explanation about the four species. He said all four species should resemble all religions. And all religions should be one under the "open roof" of the Sukkah – lifting his eyes to the sky, hinting at the sublime God in Heaven.
Professor Meir had a short dialogue with Sheik Halil Elbaz. The sheik said that religions are good, but people misuse religions. Professor Meir responded by saying: "We must acknowledge that there are also problems in the religions themselves. God is perfect, but religions are not perfect. For example," he continued, "in all religions one builds one’s identity in a way that puts the other religions in a negative light. I think it is wrong. To reflect upon ourselves is a bigger challenge than to show the flaws of the other religions. We need to be humble. We are too arrogant if we think that we have the truth. To open myself to something that is different from me, and to be truly willing to learn from it – this is a transformative experience. I believe we should learn from one another."
Dr. Nurit Hirschfeld, director of the forum, related to the two aspects of the discussion about learning to accept each other: "There is the national religious level, and the second is the individual level, where one focuses on peacemaking with his neighbors, his friends and his family members."
Mrs. Perlmuter responded: "Peace must start in our hearts, in ourselves."
Mr. Taufique, a lawyer and peace activist from East Jerusalem, said he agreed with Mrs. Perlmuter, adding that peace among nations will start from peaceful relationships among individuals. Mr. Taufique stated that wars are never started from religious motives but because of economic interests.
Mrs. Sana Elbaz agreed with the focus on personal efforts to promote peace, and said each person needs to think about what he can give rather than what he wants to receive.
Sheik Elbaz raised a theological question about free choice: "If God is almighty and all-knowing, then He also knows if I would follow His laws or not. If so, where is the free will of human beings?" Mrs. Miri Kamar, secretary general of UPF-Israel, responded by sharing her understanding of free choice: "God is giving us the laws and the rules, but whether or not human beings will follow His will – this is their own portion of responsibility, which God cannot control, but surely He hopes that they will fulfill it."
Rabbi Luft said he believes that Israel is blessed by having so many religions and cultures, because it enables its citizens and inhibitors to develop their level of spirituality. He brought an interesting point of view of Rabbi Kook (1865–1935), a Jewish thinker and renowned Torah scholar. Rabbi Kook wrote that if a person loves all people, all nations and all religions, his love for his own nation will be true and real.
Mr. Jeremy Jordan, an educator, closed the meeting with words of encouragement and enthusiasm. He said that the atmosphere there was very warm and pleasant. "It feels like a family gathering together," he said. "I believe that what we are doing here is the answer to the chaos and rivalry that we experience daily. We need to continue our activity, in order to give hope and show the way of peace."
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