A community based newspaper the “Jewish News” recently wrote about a group of Muslim and Jewish girls coming together to play football at Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium to build deeper understanding through sports. The article resonated with me because it demonstrates how a sport such as football can open the door to inter religious connections between Muslims and Jews, and thereby break down barriers which all too often divides one faith group from the other.
A couple of weeks ago we read the extraordinary story of how the spies got things completely wrong. Commenting on the narrative, Rashi gives us the clue that unlocks the whole episode: Moses tells the people to see the land, and what it’s like in the cities in which they dwell. Are they open or are they walled with defensive walls? And the spies come back and they say the cities are betzurut [fortified], surrounded by very high walls. And the spies concluded that if the cities are strong with high walls, the people are strong. And that was the mistake. As Rashi says in his comment, אם במבצרים הם יושבים סימן שחלשים הם, If they live in fortified cities, this proves that they’re weak.
Picking up on this theme, the late Rabbi Jonathan Sacks noted as follows: Whoever said it is a sign of the strength of Judaism that it has to be lived behind high walls. That’s not a sign of strength, that is a sign of weakness. Strength means you don’t need walls to separate you from the world, because your faith is strong and you believe that God’s word is right for God’s world.
In contrast however, Chief Rabbi Mirvis, suggests that there is a way of doing inter faith work, and there is a way of not doing inter faith work. Discussing my interactions with the locally based church communities here in Norwich, The Chief Rabbi expressed concern of (marit ayin) of creating misguided perceptions. The Chief Rabbi asserts that my frequent visits to locally based churches and their respective church operated coffee shops lead to speculations, confusion, and misunderstanding. Whilst not everyone may agree, I militantly believe that when ALL people join hands for the common good, they become a formidable force for good.