Iftar dinners lead to positive discussions
Jones said the generosity of the hosts of the iftar dinners “was wonderful, and my kosher food led to interesting conversations about Jewish texts, teachings and traditions”.
An impressive five interfaith iftar dinners – the meal Muslims eat after sunset to break the daily fast during Ramadan – were attended last month by Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council’s (AIJAC) director of international and community affairs, Jeremy Jones, deepening Jewish–Muslim engagement.
One of the iftar dinners included a keynote address delivered by Jones to a gathering of NSW South-East Asian Muslims, and another was attended by NSW Premier Chris Minns.
Jones would have accepted invitations to even more iftars, but several coincided with Pesach and Shabbat.
“The hosts of those iftars were all understanding, and said that next year, their iftars will hopefully avoid the calendar clash,” Jones said.
He summed up the interfaith iftar dinners as being all about building bridges, educating each other, and fostering friendships.
“Each iftar provided wonderful opportunities – which I took – to talk about Judaism, and the Jewish community, with people from a variety of religious backgrounds, who included parliamentarians, religious leaders, human rights workers and community activists,” Jones said.
“At the iftar hosted by the Foundation for Islamic Studies and Information (FISI), I was a keynote speaker for an audience of hundreds of Muslims, predominately of South-East Asian background, where I spoke about the need to break down stereotypes and work together, and received an overwhelmingly positive response.
“At some of the larger iftars, hosted by church and government organisations, it was good to see rabbis and representatives of Jewish communal organisations, as there were many people with whom to meet and renew friendships.
“At the iftars hosted by new NSW Premier Chris Minns and by the Bishop of Parramatta, Vincent Long, I had the opportunity to congratulate in person a number of re-elected and newly elected state MPs, as well as seeing friends from many parts of our diverse multicultural city.
“And at the Archbishop of Sydney Anthony Fisher’s event, I reconnected with spiritual and civil leaders of a number of religious communities.
“While the fifth iftar I attended, organised by the Affinity Organisation, took the form of a round-table discussion on racism, antisemitism, multiculturalism and more.”
Jones said the generosity of the hosts of the iftar dinners “was wonderful, and my kosher food led to interesting conversations about Jewish texts, teachings and traditions”.
Jones also attended a major Catholic event last month, and was in contact with many in his multi-faith network.
“Jewish Australians live in a land abounding in opportunities to learn from, and to educate people, of many faiths and backgrounds,” he said.
“We lead the world in interfaith dialogue, and from here can be the engine room for [positive] changes in attitudes to Jews, in a variety of religious traditions.”
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