Message from the Brookline Interfaith Clergy Association, October 26, 2023

Message from the Brookline Interfaith Clergy Association

October 26, 2023

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We, members of the Brookline Interfaith Clergy Association, stand together in this time of sorrow and pain. We are a group of Jews, Muslims, Christians and Unitarian Universalists representing over 15 faith communities in Brookline, who have found strength in coming together for many years, building fellowship and friendship among ourselves and members of our different faiths, and providing religious leadership in Brookline, based on compassion and meaning.

We and our communities have responded to the terrible events occurring in Israel and Gaza, and to Israelis and Palestinians, in different ways, with anguish, fear, frustration and anger. There are differences in the ways we and the members of our communities see and understand what is happening in the Middle East, and still, in all this difficulty, we stand together rejecting antisemitism, anti-Muslim hate and bigotry in all of its forms. We call upon all of us, leaders in our town, educators, members of our respective communities, and each and every Brookline resident, to stand together against hatred.

It is precisely during these times that we come together to honor our shared humanity. We call upon all of us to remind ourselves that compassion, love, and respect for one another are shared virtues in all of our faith traditions. This is a moral imperative for all of us, regardless of our faith tradition.

We believe acts of hate, including hate speech and violence, have no place in our community. We firmly believe that every Brookline resident has the right to live here free from fear or threat, and we pray that in this particularly volatile time, we may listen to one another with kindness and understand one another, across all lines that might otherwise divide us. Our paths are linked as neighbors and friends, and we recognize that every life is equally valuable, as our faiths teach us. There is much common ground that unites us. We know that by drawing on our faiths, we can find a way to move together as a community. We pray for everyone affected in the region and everyone who is hurting in Brookline that we will find peace soon. Amen.

Peace/Salaam/Shalom,

Members of the Brookline Interfaith Clergy Association:

Rabbi Claudia Kreiman, TBZ (Temple Beth Zion), Co-Convener Brookline Clergy Association
Rabbi Andy Vogel, Sinai Brookline, Co-Convener Brookline Clergy Association
Rev. Candace Nicolds, Brookline Church of Christ, Co-Convener Brookline Clergy Association
Raana Mumtaz, Brookline Muslim Friends
Faiza Khan, Brookline Muslim Friends
Rev. Kent French, The United Parish in Brookline
Rev. Jonathan Gaspar, St Mary of the Assumption Roman Catholic Parish
Rev. Richard Burden, All Saints Parish (Episcopal)
Rev. Mark Caggiano, First Church in Chestnut Hill
Rev. Joe Cherry, First Parish in Brookline
Rev. Joel Ives, Episcopal Church of Our Saviour
Rabbi Talia Stein, Sinai Brookline
Rev. Elise Feyerherm, St. Paul's Episcopal Church
Rabbi Moshe Waldoks, TBZ (Temple Beth Zion)
Rabbi Jenn Queen, Temple Ohabei Shalom