EJP | News | Western Europe | Rabbi receives Muslim award

	Tuesday, February 09, 2010 25 Shevat, 5770

News

France

Germany

Western Europe

Eastern Europe

EU-Israel affairs

US 2008 ELECTION

Iran - Holocaust

Conflict in Gaza

Voices

Culture

In Depth

Mideast Crisis

World Cup

On Anglo Jewry

Week at a glance

France Election

EU and Annapolis Summit

News from outside of Europe

Holocaust Remembrance Day

Mumbai Terror

DURBAN II

WILLIAMSON

The Calendar

Links

Rabbi receives Muslim award

Updated: 12/Mar/2006 17:57

Rabbi Brandt and former head of the Central Council of Muslims in Germany Nadeem Elyas

Photo: Alliance for Democracy and Tolerance

Page tools

	Email to friend
	Print this page
	Bookmark this page
	Add your view

Augsburg Rabbi Henry Brandt is the first Jew to receive the prestigious Muhammad-Nafi-Tschelebi Prize for his commitment to interfaith dialogue – in particular for his rapprochement efforts with Islamic communities in Germany.

The Central Institute Islam–Archive honoured the rabbi with the 2,500 euro award “for the way in which he brought about understanding between Muslims and Jews”, according to the institute’s chairman, Salim Abdullah.

Abdullah called Brandt, “a pioneer”.

“Such dialogue among Muslim communities can not be taken for granted,” writes Chaim Guski of the Jewish monthly Juedische Zeitung (JZ), unlike the 60-year tradition of dialogue between Christians and Jews.

JZ said the challenges faced by Jews and Muslims today were very similar. As far as these two minority groups are concerned, they often share the same problems that arise from religious precepts that are astoundingly similar - from analogous dietary regulations to comparable languages and timetables of prayer.

Lack of knowledge

Guski implied that Rabbi Brandt paved the way to remove religious hatred and other prejudices, including advanced anti-Semitism, from society through “enlightenment, talk, dialogue and alliances”.

“Triologue” is the name JZ gave to Brandt’s special form of cooperation.

JZ laments that the biggest hurdle that Jews and Muslims face today is their respective lack of knowledge about each other’s religions – a challenge that Brandt has actively made every effort to overcome.

Guski wrote “it is imperative that potential dialogue partners come together with theological knowledge that is free of prejudice. Brandt’s prize is exactly that: the recognition to the Jewish contribution towards Jewish-Muslim dialogue”.

Rabbi Brandt, who currently heads the German steering committee of the Society for Christian-Jewish Cooperation, was primarily recognised for his efforts in bringing the ideas of “Round Table of Religions in Germany” to the public’s attention.

Conflict resolution

Established in 1998, the round table brings together Jewish, Muslim, Orthodox, Catholic, Protestant, B’hai and Buddhist representatives to discuss ways of promoting conflict resolution and keeping religions from being used for political purposes.

Brandt was born in Munich in 1927. He and his family escaped persecution by immigrating to Palestine in 1939. Brandt, who studied in Great Britain, returned to Germany in 1998 to take up a rabbinical posting.

The Central Institute Islam-Archive is a central depository for documentation from Muslim communities dating back to 1737.

Established in 1927, it is the oldest Islamic organisation based in German-speaking countries.

Daily quote

Ninety-seven saint days a year wouldn’t affect the theater, but two Yom Kippurs would ruin it

Brendan Behan, Irish author, who was born on 9 February 1923

Day in history

1994: Yugoslavia

Peace plan for Bosnia and Herzegovina announced (so called Vance-Owen peace plan)