JEWISH/HINDU DIALOGUE

[Frien...@gmail.com]

JEWISH/HINDU DIALOGUE

-

WORLD'S JEWISH AND HINDU LEADERS
GATHER IN NEW DELHI

Rabbi David Rosen, AJC's international director of interreligious
affairs, and
president of the International Jewish Committee on Interreligious
Consultations
(IJCIC), met with and addressed world Hindu leaders at the historic
first
Hindu-Jewish Leadership Summit in New Delhi.

In a joint declaration, the religious leaders affirmed their shared
values,
condemned violence, and pledged to address the challenges of poverty
and
illness.

As special representative of the Israeli Chief Rabbinate's Permanent
Commission
for Interreligious Dialogue, Rabbi Rosen also met with Buddhist and
Muslim
leaders of India as well.

See the full text of the declaration below:

Declaration of Mutual Understanding and Cooperation from the First
Jewish- Hindu Leadership Summit Delhi 17-18 Shvat, 5767; February 5-6,
2007

The first Hindu-Jewish leadership summit took place in Delhi 17-18
Shvat, 5767;
corresponding to February 5-6, 2007;at which the delegation of the
Chief Rabbinate of Israel convened with major religious leaders of
Hindu dharma.

It is planned that this historic gathering will lead to ongoing
bilateral meetings on shared values and common concerns, many of which
were
highlighted at this summit.

The participants affirmed that:

1. Their respective Traditions teach that there is One Supreme Being
who is the Ultimate Reality, who has created this world in its blessed
diversity and who
has communicated Divine ways of action for humanity, for different
peoples in
different times and places.

2. The religious identities of both Jewish and Hindu communities are
related to
components of Faith, Scripture, Peoplehood, Culture, Land and
Language.

3. Hindus and Jews seek to maintain their respective heritage and pass
it on to the succeeding generations, while living in respectful
relations with other
communities.

4. Neither seeks to proselytize, nor undermine or replace in any way
the
religious identities of other faith communities. They expect other
communities
to respect their religious identities and commitments, and condemn all
activities that go against the sanctity of this mutual respect.

5. Both the Hindu and Jewish Traditions affirm the sanctity of life
and aspire for a society in which all live in peace and harmony with
one another.

Accordingly they condemn all acts of violence in the name of any
religion or
against any religion.

6. The Jewish and Hindu communities are committed to the ancient
traditions of Judaism and Hindu dharma respectively, and have both, in
their own ways, gone
through the painful experiences of persecution, oppression and
destruction.
Therefore, they realize the need to educate the present and succeeding
generations about their past, in order that they will make right
efforts to
promote religious harmony.

7. The representatives of the two faith communities recognize the need
for understanding one another in terms of lifestyles, philosophy,
religious symbols,
culture, etc.
They also recognize that they have to make themselves understood by
other faith communities. They hope that through their bilateral
initiatives, these needs would be met.

8. Because both traditions affirm the central importance of social
responsibility for their societies and for the collective good of
humanity, the participants pledged themselves to work together to help
address the challenges
of poverty, sickness and inequitable distribution of resources.

9. The representatives of the two faith communities also agree to
constitute a Standing Committee on Hindu-Jewish Relations.

Rabbi Yona Metzger, Swami Dayanand Saraswati.

-

Ari M. Gordon Assistant Director Department of Interreligious Affairs
American
Jewish Committee 165 E56th St. New York, NY 10022

www.ajc.org
www.engagingamerica.org

=======