Jill Briggles, left, director of the Community Relations Committee of the Jewish Federation of Monmouth County, and CRC chair Toby Shylit Mack are coordinating the Three Faiths Event on June 14.
Photo by Jill Huber
If you go
What: Three Faiths Event: A Day of Cooperation and Trust
Where, when: Sunday, June 14, 12:30 p.m.: The Islamic Society of Monmouth County, Middletown; Monmouth Reform Temple, Tinton Falls; United Methodist Church, Red Bank
4:30 p.m.: Anacon Hall, Monmouth University, West Long Branch
Transportation: A bus will be available at the mosque to bring participants to the temple and church and will then return to the mosque so they can go to Monmouth University in their own cars. People who preregister will be asked if they want a seat on the bus (first come, first served).
Registration: Participants are required to register; visit www.jewishmonmouth.org.
Information: Visit www.jewishmonmouth.org or call Toby Shylit Mack at 732-239-0539 or the Jewish Federation of Monmouth County at 732-531-6200, ext. 202.
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This CRC logo was designed for the June 14 Three Faiths Event and represents the Jewish, Muslim, and Christian faiths that will participate in the project.
Courtesy Toby Shylit Mack
May 26, 2009
Visits to houses of worship — of a number of religions — will highlight the Three Faiths Event: A Day of Cooperation and Trust on Sunday, June 14.
The Community Relations Committee of the Jewish Federation of Monmouth County will sponsor the day of interfaith cooperation among local Jewish, Christian, and Muslim leaders.
The Three Faiths Event will feature visits to a church, synagogue, and mosque and presentations by Rep. Rush Holt (D-Dist. 12) and Joshua DuBois, director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.
“We’ve taken this opportunity very seriously and are working with the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim communities to implement a day that will help define common history, inspire common goals, rejoice in our similarities, celebrate our differences, and unite rather than divide us,” said CRC chair Toby Shylit Mack of Marlboro.
The event is the result of an initiative proposed last year by Holt, whose district includes parts of Monmouth, Middlesex, and Mercer counties.
“This state has one of the most diversified populations in the country,” Holt told NJ Jewish News. “There are people of different religions, ethnicity, and cultural backgrounds living side by side, but I’m struck that there’s more intolerance than there should be and more than I’d like to see.”
Holt invited religious leaders from his district to a meeting in South Brunswick in 2008. The response to his three-faith initiative was positive, and separate organizing committees were formed to launch the project in Dist. 12’s three counties, he said.
More than 75 people attended the first Three Faiths Event on May 17 in East Brunswick and South Brunswick in Middlesex County; the second event is scheduled to take place on May 31 in Trenton (Mercer County), followed by the June 14 event in Monmouth County.
‘Encourage trust’
The Monmouth event will begin at 12:30 p.m. with a tour of the mosque of the Islamic Society of Monmouth County in Middletown, followed by visits to Monmouth Reform Temple in Tinton Falls and the United Methodist Church in Red Bank. Religious leaders from the three houses of worship will discuss their respective faiths and ways to promote charity, tolerance, and understanding.
The event will conclude with a multicultural exchange consisting of music, including gospel and klezmer presentations; dance; multi-ethnic food in accordance with Jewish and Muslim dietary laws; and guest speakers at 4:30 p.m. in Anacon Hall at Monmouth University in West Long Branch.
Scheduled speakers at the university are Holt, DuBois, and Gerald Krell, filmmaker of the documentary Three Faiths, One God. All of the day’s events are free and open to the general public, and attendees may participate in some or all of the scheduled activities.
The CRC sent letters about the event to 30 county synagogues, 60 churches and Christian organizations, two mosques, various schools, and elected officials.
“This event will bring together families from throughout Monmouth County who don’t have much opportunity to interact,” said CRC director Jill Briggles of Red Bank. “We believe that as we learn about each other’s cultural and religious traditions, people will recognize similarities and understand differences. We hope the day will encourage trust.”
Holt said it’s too soon to predict whether the three-faith events will take place on an annual basis.
“But I do want to see this continue and become ongoing in some fashion,” he said. “It’s clear that New Jersey residents have a great interest doing more to promote tolerance.”
Comment: comments@njjewishnews.com
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