NZ Council of Christians and Jews » jenny chalmers

Audio: Abraham, Isaac, and Ishmael – perspectives from three faiths

Dave Moskovitz — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 00:34:49 +0000

The Wellington Council of Christians and Jews held a public meeting on Wednesday 20 October 2010 on Abraham’s challenge from God to sacrifice his son from Jewish, Christian and Muslim perspectives. The event was very well attended with over 120 people from all backgrounds in the audience.

The newly appointed rabbi at the Wellington Hebrew Congregation, Rabbi David Alima spoke about the revolutionary nature of the event, in that up until that time human sacrifice was common, While God was testing Abraham’s faith, whether his commitment to God was so strong that he would even be willing to sacrifice his son, once that commitment had been demonstrated, people would no longer be requested to sacrifice other people. We can “sacrifice” ourselves to God for our religion, but life is sacred and we can’t kill ourselves or other people for our religion.

Listen to or download Rabbi David Alima’s talk:

The Reverand Jenny Chalmers took us through the Christian perspective on the “multilayered sharply paradoxical story with many meanings and symbols”. On one level it is about the development of our moral and ethical framework. On another level, Abraham was rewarded for obeying God unconditionally with the life of his son, and becoming the “father of faith”. The binding of Isaac informs Christian thinking, showing that faith and work are inseperable, and there are parallels between Abraham offering to sacrifice his son, and God offering to sacrifice his own son.

Listen to or download Rev Jenny Chalmer’s talk:

Hazret Adam from the Wellington Islamic Centre explained that in the Koran, the name of the son that Abraham is told to sacrifice is not mentioned, however in Muslim tradition, it is not Isaac but rather Ishamel that is offered for sacrifice. Many of the events surrounding the Hajj, or annual Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca are centred around the events of this story. Instead of sacrificing his son, Abraham is shown a lamb to sacrifice in his stead, which is re-enacted in the Hajj. The sacrifice of the lamb represents our sacrificing our animal instincts, that come as a boundary to our service to God, to our submission to God.

Listen to or download Hazret Adam’s talk:

During the panel discussion, the question was asked “Given that God is omniscient and omnipotent, why does he bother testing us when He already knows the outcome?”. All three panellists agreed that when we are tested, the test is to teach us how to extend our own limitations, for our benefit rather than God’s.

In all it was a very interesting evening, with many fascinating discussions following the formal part of the evening over a cup of tea.

The next public meeting of the Council of Christians and Jews will take place early next year, and will focus on Karen Armstrong’s Charter for Compassion.

The Binding of Isaac / Ishmael – Wednesday 20 October 7.30pm

Dave Moskovitz — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 23:13:13 +0000

The Wellington Council of Christians and Jews Presents
A Public Sacred Text Study

The Binding of Isaac / Ishmael: Jewish, Christian and Muslim Perspectives

Wednesday 20 October 2010 at 7.30pm
Myers Hall, Wellington Jewish Community Centre
80 Webb St, Wellington
Entry by koha, all are welcome

Speakers:

Rabbi David Alima - Orthodox Rabbi, Wellington Hebrew Congregation
Rev Jenny Chalmers - Anglican Priest, St Marks Carterton; WCCJ Co-Chair
Sheikh Mohammed Amir - Imam, Wellington Islamic Centre

The binding of Isaac (in the Jewish and Christian traditions) or Ishmael (in the Islamic tradition) is a turning point in each of our religions, with fascinating similarities and differences in interpretation between the three Abrahamic faiths. Come find out more about the ongoing impact of this pivotal event over 3,000 years ago.

The three talks will be followed by an panel discussion.

For more information, contact Dave Moskovitz, 027 220 2202

Download the flyer

Rabbi David Rosen audio: The Middle East Conflict – Is religion part of the problem or the solution?

Dave Moskovitz — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 01:48:53 +0000

Rabbi David Rosen gave an excellent public seminar last night at the Victoria University Council Chambers.

The you can download or listen to the audio:

Key points:

The Council of Religious Institutions of the Holy Land (which comprised leaders from all of the major religions in Israel and Palestine) met in 2002 and agreed that Violence in the name of religion is a desecration of religion. This fact is little reported. Why then is religion exploited as a tool to incite violence?
Religion forms an important part of many people’s identity. Particularity, or defining one’s self to be part of a separate group is good, so long as it does not lead to denigration, demonisation, or ultimately dehumanisation of the other. Ideally we would be able to celebrate these differences.
When people are feeling insecure or threatened, this particularity can lead to withdrawal, and this is when extremists can exploit religion as a tool of violence. Therefore, while religion is part of the problem, it must also be part of the solution.
The Israel/Arab and Israel/Palestine struggle is essentially a territorial conflict, and has been until recently treated as such by all Middle East leaders. It is only recently that the religious dimension has started to play a part.
The Oslo Accords ignored the religious dimension, and thus disenfranchised moderate voices. If you don’t have moderate voices in the debate, then extremest voices will be only too willing to fill the vacuum.
Now that the religious dimension is in play, any political initiative will succeed only if it takes the religious dimension seriously.

The session was moderated by Professor Paul Morris, Chair of the Religious Studies department, and chaired by His Most Reverend John Dew, the Archbishop of Wellington. Rev Jenny Chalmers, the Christian Co-Chair of the Wellington Council of Christians and Jews gave a vote of thanks at the end.

You might also be interested in Rabbi Rosen’s interview on Nine to Noon this morning: