Religions for Peace - USA January 2008 E-Newsletter

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In This Issue:

From Our Executive Director…

Changing Faces at RFP
Religions for Peace-USA is sad to say goodbye to our Acting Executive Director Rori Picker Neiss. Ms. Picker Neiss joins the staff of the Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance (JOFA) as their new Programming Coordinator, but she will continue working with RFP-USA in a consultant capacity.

In addition, RFP-USA is pleased to announce that Director of Development Anne Hillman has accepted the position of Interim Director of Operations. We are confident in her ability to lead the organization through this time of transition and push Religions for Peace-USA to new levels of growth. She will be assisted in these endeavors by Maxim Bakaleynik, newly appointed Coordinator of Finances & Operations.

Call for Your Voice
In this new stage of Religions for Peace-USA’s development, we are taking the time to examine our past, present, and future. We will look deeply at the mission and vision of RFP-USA to determine if we are best serving the interests of our member communities and individual supporters. To do this, we encourage you to tell us what you have valued about Religions for Peace and what you would like to see more of. What programs have been helpful and meaningful to you? Which have connected with you? What resources or services do we not provide that you think we should?

Please email your comments to rfpusa@rfpusa.org

RFP-USA Joins the Giving Challenge
Now through the end of January, Religions for Peace-USA is taking part in the Giving Challenge sponsored by the Case Foundation in partnership with Facebook Causes and Parade Magazine. These are two separate giving challenges designed to reward non-profits who collect the greatest number of individual donors in the month-long competition.

In the Facebook Causes Giving Challenge, $1,000 is given away each day to the charity with the most unique donors for that day. Awards will be given at the end of the challenge to the causes with the most unique donors overall. These awards include $50,000 for 1st place, $25,000 for 2nd and 3rd place, and $10,000 for the next 10 causes.

In Parade’s America’s Giving Challenge, the eight individuals whose charity badges attract the most unique donors through the America’s Giving Challenge will get $50,000 for their cause. The 100 nonprofits with the greatest number of unique donations made to them through America’s Giving Challenge will each get $1,000.

Learn how you can help Religions for Peace-USA here.

The Torah: A Women’s Commentary
The Women of Reform Judaism (WRJ) has published The Torah: A Women’s Commentary, which debuted at the Union for Reform Judaism 69th Biennial Convention in San Diego this past December. WRJ commissioned the work of the world’s leading Jewish female Bible scholars, rabbis, historians, philosophers and archaeologists. Among these women is Religions for Peace-USA board member Judith Hertz. The collective effort has resulted in the first comprehensive commentary, authored only by women, on the Five Books of Moses, including individual Torah portions as well as the Hebrew and English translation.

The book will finally give dimension to the women’s voices in the Jewish tradition. Under Editor Dr. Tamara Cohn Eskenazi’s skillful leadership, this commentary provides insight and inspiration for all who study Torah: men and women, Jew and non-Jew. As Dr. Eskenazi has eloquently stated, "we want to bring the women of the Torah from the shadow into the limelight, from their silences into speech, from the margins to which they have often been relegated to the center of the page - for their sake, for our sake and for our children’s sake."

In the coming months, WRJ and URJ Press will provide study material and other products relating to the book designed to enhance the reader’s experience.

For more information about the book or to order a copy visit the URJ website, send an email, or call URJ Books & Music Customer Service at 212-650-4125.

Religions for Peace Works to Advance Peace in Kenya
Religions for Peace-International has been advancing peace in Kenya, which broke into violent conflict following a disputed presidential election in late December. More than half a million persons have been displaced, creating an unprecedented humanitarian crisis in a country known, until now, as an oasis of peace and stability.

Grassroots: Ms. Stellamaris Mulaeh, Coordinator of the Religions for Peace Global Youth Network, mobilized youth of faith throughout Kenya to work together for peace. On January 9, 2008, a roundtable event with thirty youth groups from eight villages in the Kibera area brought messages of peace and solidarity to the afflicted. The Global Youth Network also made an Urgent Appeal: We Cry For Peace In Kenya. Read the statement here.

Senior Religious Leaders: The African Council of Religious Leaders (ACRL) issued a statement on January 2, 2008 condemning the violence and calling for peace and dialogue. The ACRL also held a press conference with religious leaders and civil society organizations, asking for faith communities to take leadership to end the violence. Read the statement here.

United Nations: Ms. Jacqueline Ogega, Director of the Women’s Mobilization Program at Religions for Peace and a citizen of Kenya, moderated a “Briefing on Kenya” at the United Nations Church Center in New York on January 9, 2008. Panelists including Mr. George Owour, Deputy Permanent Representative of the Permanent Mission of Kenya to the United Nations.

Iraqi Muslims Help Their Christian Neighbors Celebrate Christmas
The Chaldean Catholic Church, Mar Eliya, in Bagdad was filled with Iraqi Christians and Muslims who jointed together to celebrate the holiday and the fact that they felt safe enough to venture outside of their homes for Christmas Mass. Cardinal Emmanuel III Delly, the patriarch of Iraq's ancient Chaldean Church who last month was elevated by Pope Benedict XVI to become Iraq's first Roman Catholic cardinal, said Mass, appealing for peace and unity across the war-scarred country.

"Iraq is like a garden and its beauty is the variety of its flowers and scent," Delly said during the service. Among those attending were several Shiite Muslim sheiks, including Raad Tamimi, who said they had come "in solidarity with our Christian brothers . . . to plant the seed of love again in the new Iraq." This sign of solidarity joins other efforts to encourage cooperation and unity between Iraqi Muslims and their Christian neighbors.

2008 International Kabbalah Congress
Bnei Baruch Kabbalah Education & Research Institute is hosting an International Kabbalah Congress in Israel next month. Held in the Israel Trade Fairs & Convention Center February 3-6, the Congress is a gathering of Kabbalah students who meet from all parts of the world to participate in mutual lessons with Kabbalist Rav Michael Laitman, PhD, discussions, seminars, workshops, Yeshivot Haverim (Friends’ Gatherings), meals, songs and other activities with the aim of increasing the spiritual connection between one another, and humanity at large.

Organizers of the Congress are still accepting registration forms and calling for ideas from participants, particularly in the areas of activities and use of recess time.

To register for the Congress, please visit its website

Interfaith Study with the Dalia Lama
His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibetan Buddhism, will visit Madison, Wisconsin July 20-24 to offer teachings from the Tibetan tradition. The four days of teaching by His Holiness are about Shantideva's Guide to a Bodhisattva's Way of Life (Cho-jug) and Kamalashila's Middle Stages of Meditation (Gomrim Barpa). These two texts, important in Buddhist practice, will be made available in multiple languages free to those in attendance. On July 24th, there will also be a tenshug, or long life ceremony. The tenshug is a long established Tibetan Buddhist tradition. It not only strengthens the bond between the spiritual teacher and disciple but also motivates the teacher to live longer.

The Dalai Lama’s visit is being coordinated by representatives from the North American Tibetan Association and The Deer Park Buddhist Center in Oregon, WS, with spiritual guidance from Geshe Lhundub Sopa. For more information about the event, please send an email.

In conjunction, an interfaith group is being organized to participate in this event. Up to 19 people from different traditions will stay together in a Benedictine Monastery, attend the Ceremonies and Teachings by the Dalai Lama, and share their reflections and insights with one another in the evenings. In addition, they will offer presentations to the group about their own tradition. The Sisters at the monastery will provide an introduction to Benedictine tradition.

The Interfaith Seminar is being coordinated by Rev. Dr. Gilbert Friend-Jones, Senior Minister of the First Congregational Church (UCC) of Crystal Lake, IL. For more information, please contact him by telephone at (815) 459-6010, ext. 11, or by e-mail

Interfaith Alliance Seeks Summer Counselors
The Interfaith Alliance is looking for four counselors (2 women, 2 men) for its LEADD (Leadership Education Advancing Democracy and Diversity) program to be held at the National 4-H Youth Center in Chevy Chase, MD, July 27-August 3. LEADD is a program for rising high school sophomores and juniors. Its educational focus is on the history of and current issues about religious liberty and the First Amendment as well as skills training in advocacy, organizing, messaging, fundraising and conflict resolution. They recruit the student body to be geographically, religiously, racially, ethnically and economically diverse. Safe space is provided for sharing faith practices and life experiences. One full day is spent in Washington, DC, speaking with Congressional and Senatorial staff members and touring the Capital, Library of Congress, National Archives and Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials.

Applicants must be college or graduate students, minimum age 20. They need substantial experience with teens such as summer camp counseloring, work with faith or community youth groups, or religious education activity. A stipend of $500 is provided.

For an application, please visit their website. For more information, send an e-mail or call Denise Davidoff, LEADD Director at 203-838-3818.

Senior Religious Leaders of Different Faiths Build Peace in War-Torn Sri Lanka
Senior international religious leaders of different faiths met in war-torn Jaffna, Sri Lanka, to identify peaceful means for ending Sri Lanka's violent ethnic conflict. The summit of religious leaders from seven countries was convened by Religions for Peace, the world's largest and most representative multi-religious coalition. The senior religious leaders—representing Buddhist, Christian, Muslim, and Hindu faith traditions—assembled on 11–14 December 2007 at the Public Library Auditorium in Jaffna. Making Jaffna the location of the summit was a symbolic expression of solidarity with all those who continue to live in situations of violence and despair due to the ongoing conflict.

The eminent leaders—representing Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Japan, Norway, Pakistan, South Africa and the United States—unanimously adopted a Jaffna Declaration of Religious Leaders. "As religious leaders with extensive experience in peace making in other parts of the world, we urge a renewed search for a non-violent solution to the ongoing conflict," the statement said. "We do not accept that there can be victory through a military solution or that war can bring peace. On the contrary, as religious leaders, we believe that violence begets violence and hatred does not cease by hatred, but only by love."

This gathering was one of a series of meetings designed to support the emergence of a Religions for Peace Inter-religious Council–Sri Lanka that would include senior religious leadership from throughout Sri Lanka—West, East, North and South. Future meetings are planned for Kandy and Trincomalee.

To read the full declaration, visit their website.

Science, Evolution and Creationism
Science, Evolution and Creationism is the third book published by the National Academy of Science on the topic of evolution. It is unique because it is intended specifically for the lay public and devotes much of its space to explaining the differences between science and religion, and asserting that acceptance of evolution does not require abandoning belief in God.

Inspired Lives: Exploring the Role of Faith and Spirituality in the Lives of Extraordinary People
Faith is the secret foundation of many lives-including, as this book reveals, the lives of many people we admire and look to for inspiration. In Inspired Lives, soul-searching conversations unearth the importance of spirituality and personal faith for more than forty artists and innovators who have made a real difference in our world through their work. Through discussions of personal loss, creativity, and soul-searching, this book offers the reader comfort, while inspiring spiritual renewal and awareness.

One Nation Under God: The History of Prayer in America
In this highly original approach to the history of the United States, James Moore focuses on the extraordinary role that prayer has played in every area of American life, from the time of the first settlers to the present day and beyond. A stirring chronicle of the spiritual life of a nation, One Nation Under God shows how the faith of Americans--from the founding fathers to corporate tycoons, from composers to social reformers, from generals to slaves--was an essential ingredient in the formation of American culture, character, commerce and creed. Beginning with Native Americans, One Nation Under God traces the prayer lives of Quakers and Shakers, Sikhs and Muslims, Catholics and Jews, from their earliest days in the United States through the advent of cyberspace, the aftermath of 9/11, and the 2004 presidential election.

Does My Head Look Big in This?
Author Randa Abdel-Fattah’s debut novel follows the story of sixteen-year-old Amal as she makes the decision to start wearing the hijab full- time and everyone has a reaction. Her parents, her teachers, her friends, people on the street. But she stands by her decision to embrace her faith and all that it is, even if it does make her a little different from everyone else. Throughout Does My Head Look Big in This?, Amal makes candid yet astute observations on what it means to be a Muslim, a modern woman, and a good friend and daughter. As well, the book addresses many teen issues including identity, family, religious traditions, and body image. This is a great read for any young woman growing up in today’s multicultural world.