Destination Chesapeake

photo courtesy of Ira Rifkin Ira Rifkin, who authored Spiritual Perspectives on Globalization: Making Sense of Economic and Cultural Upheaval, hopes that the dialogue begun at the panel will help push people’s thinking outside of the small parcel of land that is America.

Debate Jerusalem in Annapolis
Three Maryland faiths weigh in on international struggle
by Carrie Steele

If you thought property and land issues were tight in Chesapeake Country, spin the globe around 180 degrees and find the ancient city of Jerusalem, one of the most contested urban areas in the world. Built on thousands of years of history, it’s now a holy land caught in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

For Christians, it’s the site of the passion of Jesus and many other holy events. For Jews, Jerusalem is their historic capital and the holiest of places: The Western or Wailing Wall is the remnant of a wall of the ancient temple. Before Mecca, Muslims bowed to Jerusalem, which they also believe to be the spot where Mohammed descended into heaven.

Here in the U.S., Christianity, Islam and Judaism thrive, and all three feel ties to Jerusalem.

That’s one of the reasons that Ira Rifkin is bringing together leaders of each faith on Sunday, May 22, for a panel discussion.

Most of us don’t know what people outside of their religion believe, said Rifkin, a religion and culture journalist who is a Washington correspondent for The Jerusalem Report magazine and columnist for Baltimore Jewish Times. Rifkin is moderator of Sunday’s panel.

“Beyond educating people, we hope to increase community dialogue. Get people talking to each other,” he said.

Annapolis is part of the larger world, says Rifkin, and it’s also a very sophisticated community that’s close to Washington: very involved in government and politics. “As the world gets smaller, we need to learn about it,” he said.

Rifkin’s panel of three include Imam Mohammad Bashar Arafat, native of Syria and president of the Islamic Affairs Council of Maryland; the Rev. Elizabeth McLean, associate pastor for Christian education at Woods Memorial Presbyterian church in Severna Park; and Rabbi Charni Flame Selch of Annapolis’ Kol Ami Congregation and a veteran of the Israel Defense Forces.

Rifkin, who authored Spiritual Perspectives on Globalization: Making Sense of Economic and Cultural Upheaval, hopes that the dialogue begun at the panel will help push people’s thinking outside of the small parcel of land that is America.

“With conflict, the first step is to find common ground. I see this discussion as building that common ground,” McLean said. Common ground can open up the platform for other discussion, and creating a network where different faiths can stay connected.

Currently, there’s little inter-faith connection among communities. Different religions don’t routinely interact, Rifkin said. By contrast, there is a good racial dialogue in the communities in and around Annapolis. “If there’s a problem, people know who to go to. We need that to happen in the religious sphere, too,” he said.

Rifkin wants to open discussion, but he doesn’t need resolution.

“I’m not looking for people to agree. I don’t have a particular religious agenda,” Rifkin said. “I’m looking for people to learn, and also to build ties between religious communities.”

In addition to becoming wiser in the world, if you attend the forum, you’ll be making history. This is the first time, to Rifkin and the other panelists’ knowledge, that such a diversity of faiths has gathered in the Annapolis area.

“Jerusalem: The Disputed Holy City; What Christians, Jews and Muslims Say about the World’s Most Contested Property,” is on Sunday May 22, at 3:30pm @ Congregation Kol Ami, 1909 Hidden Meadow Ln.(off Severn Grove Rd. near Bestgate Rd. & Westfield Shopping Town), Annapolis. free: www.kolamiannapolis.org.