A Letter from an Imam and a Rabbi

Dear friends,

We are a Rabbi and an Imam, leaders of two faith communities here in Rockland County, who met while working together as members of the Rockland Clergy for Social Justice. We come from different backgrounds and have different histories, but over the years, we have found ways to come together, to learn from one another and to develop a strong friendship.

Over the last ten years, we have brought our teens together on numerous occasions to learn more about each other and to experience one another’s traditions. Over the years, our teens put together care packages for the homeless and listened to an ex-white supremacist who explained how he came to terms with his mistakes. Our teens experienced one another’s worship services and visited one another’s homes. Our goal has always been to demonstrate to our communities the necessity of seeing one another’s humanity while respecting and cherishing one another’s differences.

In these perilous days, we are both bothered by the rise of antisemitism and Islamophobia. Both of our communities know well the insipid ways in which hate spreads and infiltrates our most sacred institutions. Unless we are willing to call hate out in all of its forms, unless we are willing to recognize hate in even its most subtle appearances, we will begin to see it everywhere.

In this day and age, we need one another – we need one another to care for this broken world and to instill compassion into the next generation. We need one another to ensure that hate and violence have no place. We need one another to create a world of peace and hope.

We are now working collaboratively on an event to remind our community of our common humanity and to build a future we can all proud of. Please stay tuned.

We are proud to work together and to do what is right. We are proud to be friends.

Imam Syed Ali and Rabbi Brian Leiken

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