Where are the fault lines and what’s at stake in building Muslim-Jewish relationships here in the United States? How can we stay in conversation when things get rough and/or why even try? How do we see each other and navigate through our pain? Join Shoulder to Shoulder as we discuss different perspectives, approaches, strengths, and challenges to building Muslim - Jewish relationships.
As part of our monthly public conversation series, Shoulder to Shoulder is hosting an important and timely conversation in partnership with NewGround: A Muslim-Jewish Partnership for Change on “Muslim-Jewish Relationships” featuring Aziza Hasan, Andrea Hodos, Sabeeha Rehman & Walter Ruby.
Sabeeha Rehman & Water Ruby recently co-authored a book entitled, We Refuse to Be Enemies: How Muslims and Jews Can Make Peace, One Friendship at a Time. Aziza Hasan & Andrea Hodos direct Los Angeles based organization, NewGround: A Muslim-Jewish Partnership for Change. Read more about them in their biographies below.
Tuesday, June 29th, 1:00pm-2:00pmPT / 4:00pm-5:00pmET
BIOS
Sabeeha Rehman is an author, blogger, and speaker on the American Muslim experience. Her memoir Threading My Prayer Rug: One Woman's Journey from Pakistani Muslim to American Muslim, was shortlisted for the 2018 William Saroyan International Prize for Writing, named one of Booklist's Top Ten Religious and Spirituality Books of 2016 and Top Ten Diverse Nonfiction Books of 2017, awarded honorable mention in the 2017 San Francisco Book Festival Awards, Spiritual Category, and chosen as a 2019 United Methodist Women's Reading Program Selection. Excerpts from her memoir were featured in the Wall Street Journal, Salon.com, and Tiferet. Since the publication of her memoir, she has given more than 250 talks in nearly a hundred cities, at houses of worship, academic institutions, libraries, and community organizations, including the Chautauqua Institution, where her lectures have been sold out. Sabeeha has given talks on the art of memoir writing at academic institutions including Hunter College, New York. She is an op-ed contributor to the Houses of Worship column of the Wall Street Journal and New York Daily News. She lives with her husband in New York City.
Walter Ruby is a veteran activist in Muslim-Jewish relations. Since 2008, when he became Muslim-Jewish program director at the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding, he has organized hundreds of twinning events, bringing together tens of thousands of Jews and Muslims in more than thirty countries on five continents, including members of mosques and synagogues and Muslim and Jewish organizations. Ruby has worked as a journalist for more than forty years, mainly for American Jewish and Israeli publications, including the Jerusalem Post, London Jewish Chronicle, Long Island Jewish World, Forward, Maariv, and New York Jewish Week. In addition, he has published articles and op-ed pieces in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, New York Daily News, Los Angeles Times, Christian Science Monitor, Dallas Morning News, and many other venues. He serves as executive director of Jews, Muslims and Allies Acting Together (JAMAAT), a Washington area grassroots interfaith group, and lives in Washington, DC.
Aziza Hasan, named an influencer by the Chronicle of Philanthropy, is the executive director of NewGround: A Muslim Jewish Partnership For Change. She has extensive experience in program management and coalition building. An experienced mediator and conflict transformation practitioner, she has co-facilitated with multiple groups. Aziza’s work has been featured on Ozy, Yahoo News, MSN, “Speaking of Faith” with Krista Tippett, the United States Institute for Peace, and the LA Times. Her two years of AmeriCorps service gave her hands-on experience in community organizing and group problem-solving. She earned the “President’s Volunteer Service Award” in 2006 under President George W. Bush. Aziza served on President Obama’s Advisory Council on Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnerships from 2015 to 2016, and the Executive Service Corps recognized her with the “Megan G. Cooper Leadership Award” in 2017. Aziza currently serves on Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti’s Interfaith Advisory Council and as a Los Angeles City Civil and Human Rights Commissioner.
Andrea Hodos spent five years as NewGround’s programs co-director and now works as associate director. She has facilitated NewGround’s MAJIC high school leadership council and the Professional Fellowship since 2016. Andrea has trained as a facilitator with Resetting the Table through its partnership with the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles, is a member of the Jews of Color & Allies Leadership cohort from Dimension Educational Consulting. Andrea is also the creator of Moving Torah, a method for exploring Jewish text and Jewish story using movement, theater, and writing. Her creative project, Sinai and Sunna: Women Covering, Uncovering and Recovering, initially brought her into the realm of Muslim-Jewish engagement. Andrea taught Jewish Studies and directed the Jewish Arts program at Milken Community High School. She has a BA in English Literature from Yale University, and a MEd from Temple University in Dance Education. She and her partner, Aryeh Cohen, are grateful life brought them to Los Angeles where they could raise their children, Shachar and Oryah, and be a part of vibrant Jewish community-building and strong multi-faith coalitions.