TEIQU Hosts a Conversation Between Faiths with NYU Rabbi and Imam

On January 27, two prominent figures in interfaith dialogue came to Yeshiva University to reflect on their history together and the challenges that face the American Jewish and Muslim communities. The event, titled, “Sharing America: What the Future Holds for Islam and Orthodoxy,” brought together Rabbi Yehuda Sarna, university chaplain and rabbi of the Bronfman Center for Jewish Student Life at New York University, and Imam Khalid Latif, executive director and chaplain of NYU’s Islamic Center, for a night of frank conversation. Both are known for their communal work and their efforts to build friendly relationships with other faiths in groups like NYU’s “Bridges,” which hosts religious dialogues between Jewish and Muslim college students.

Before an audience of more than a hundred students, faculty and staff members, Sarna and Latif discussed their experiences as leaders of separate communities and the process of overcoming their own misconceptions to work together. Both emphasized the power of genuine curiosity and low-key social interactions to debunk stereotypes and prejudices, noting how a volunteer mission to New Orleans, consisting of both Jewish and Muslim NYU students, created meaningful friendships and alliances between the two communities despite political and religious tensions. “There’s confusion in engaging those who are different than us,” said Latif. “But our communities have so much to gain from interacting with each other. There’s a level of normalcy in my interaction with Rabbi Sarna that humanizes and personifies for me a community that’s existed for centuries—it doesn’t allow for the intellectually lazy prejudices we can have because of the way we’re socialized.” “There’s a difference between ‘interfaith dialogue’ and a normal conversation,” Sarna explained. “A conversation is two people sharing their own experiences to learn more about each other, not as authorities or in any grand way, but as people.” He added: “In this way, it’s possible to have conversations about religion which, far from being points of contention between people of different faiths, can form the fabric of a real relationship.” The night was organized by TEIQU, a student-run club whose acronym stands for Torah Exploration of Ideas: Questions and Understanding. “We believe that building a stronger Jewish future rests upon the willingness of the new generation to grapple with the challenges our community faces, both within and without,” said Leora Niderberg, Stern College for Women’s Torah Activities Council liaison to TEIQU. “An important aspect of this is maintaining a respectful and healthy relationship with communities such as the Muslim community, so like-minded and yet so different from our own.” Hillel Landman, a Yeshiva College sophomore, felt that the event’s considerate and thoughtful atmosphere was important for conversations between faiths. “It’s nice that this isn’t about people being angry at each other,” he said. “It felt like we were just talking and discussing things, which was important because of the nature and content of these topics.” “There are a lot of similarities between our two cultures and religions,” said Shani Gross, who, along with A.J. Berkowitz, serves as co-president of TEIQU. “My mother is from Iran, and one of the stories Imam Latif told was something her mother told her, too. Political contentions can make it difficult to relate to one another but at the end of the day we’re both people of faith and it doesn’t have to be something that immediately separates us.”