Jewish studies, for Muslims only

"What does Maimonides say about divorce?" That is how Rabbi Shmuel Reiner, the head of Yeshivat Hakibbutz Hadati in Ma'ale Gilboa began a class on Judaism before a group of attentive students: religious clerics from several Galilee villages and settlements. The class, which took place at the Shorashim educational center in the Gush Segev region, focused on the laws of marital relations and family.

The clerics, imams and muezzins are now in their second consecutive year of studying Judaism, as part of a seminar organized by the Inter-religious Coordinating Council in Israel. Rabbi Mark Rosenstein, the director of the Galilee Association for Moral Education, and Ziad Halalila, a teacher from Sakhnin, took the initiative and brought the project into being.

"At first, we got help from the Religious Affairs Ministry to invite religious clerics to the meetings," says Rosenstein, "but very quickly it became clear that most of them had a great desire to continue, and they made sure on their own accord, to show up for the monthly class." Initially, the group consisted of 18 imams. Some have left and today around 12 clerics show up for the seminars each time, and each class is devoted to a different subject.

This week's class focused on the laws of marital relations and family. Among other things, the participants discussed the subject of divorce. It turned out that in these contexts, there are not only essential differences between Judaism and Islam, but also considerable similarities. Both religions try to prevent divorce as much as possible, and work to preserve family values and the couple's relationship.

"To our surprise, we found many things in common between Judaism and Islam in all matters relating to the rulings of halakha and sharia in family affairs, custody over children and divorce proceedings," says Sheikh Abd al-Manam Athma, the imam of the Anoor mosque in the village of Nahaf, adjacent to Karmiel. He adds: "I believe that getting acquainted can break down some of the barriers and get rid of prejudices, but in my assessment, it cannot break all the barriers, primarily the ones based on deep-rooted political and historical disputes."

"Specifically clerics should be the ones who reach out and seek compromise and not, as it seems in many case,s that religion is the divisive factor and inclined to radicalization," says another seminar participant, Sheikh Fathi Afan, a resident of Al Azir in the Lower Galilee and the imam of the Ilabun village mosque.

According to Afan, who also serves as the chairman of the association of imams and muezzins in Israel, all the members of the group started the seminar with prejudices, even the rabbis who gave the classes. "It's true that the concept is a class in which a rabbi teaches Judaism, but in many cases, the class turns into a dialogue in which each side explains its religions and its laws," he notes.

"I know that many times people use religion to fuel hatred, but that doesn't mean that the religious person hates those who are different," says Reiner, who led the group. According to him, "in many cases, hostility stems from ignorance and our role as men of religion is to cope with this hostility by knowing more about the other side."

And nevertheless, among the clerics who took part in the seminar, there are also some who disagree. "Undoubtedly, this is a welcome effort, but why do we have to listen to the other and the other doesn't listen to us?" asked Sheikh Ali Abu Riya of Sakhnin, who ended his participation in the seminar.

"Why don't they arrange this kind of seminar for Jewish rabbis, so that they can learn from Muslim clerics?"