WEBVTT 00:00.560 --> 00:02.640 My name is Rabbi David Seth Kirshner. 00:02.640 --> 00:04.600 I have the great honor of being the rabbi 00:04.600 --> 00:06.600 of this temple, Temple Emmanuel, 00:06.600 --> 00:08.280 enclosed to New Jersey. 00:08.280 --> 00:11.720 I also am the immediate past president 00:11.720 --> 00:13.240 of the New York Board of Rabbis 00:13.240 --> 00:14.920 and the current vice president 00:14.920 --> 00:17.040 of the North Jersey Board of Rabbis. 00:17.040 --> 00:19.400 And I've been involved in all types of programs 00:19.400 --> 00:22.680 that reach out arms to people of different faiths 00:22.680 --> 00:24.520 and backgrounds, including the Muslim religion, 00:24.520 --> 00:27.280 and very involved at the Hartman Institute in Israel, 00:27.280 --> 00:28.680 which is engaged in MLI, 00:28.680 --> 00:30.800 which is the Muslim Leadership Initiative, 00:30.800 --> 00:33.300 to strengthen the ties between our two faiths 00:33.300 --> 00:35.320 and our two backgrounds. 00:35.320 --> 00:37.500 I think the role of religion in politics 00:37.500 --> 00:41.400 is one where it has to be used properly, 00:41.400 --> 00:43.580 like religion in any environment. 00:43.580 --> 00:48.580 If we misuse religion, it can be turned into a weapon. 00:48.580 --> 00:52.760 But if used properly, it can be a blessing and a gift. 00:52.760 --> 00:54.660 So I think the role of every politician, 00:54.660 --> 00:56.060 and I think in particular the role 00:56.060 --> 00:58.500 of the president of the United States, 00:58.500 --> 01:01.620 is to share and allow people to express their faith 01:01.620 --> 01:03.120 in the way that's native to them. 01:03.120 --> 01:05.620 If they're Muslim, if they're Christian, 01:05.620 --> 01:07.880 if they're Jewish, if they're Orthodox, 01:07.880 --> 01:10.120 if they're not Orthodox, even if they don't believe, 01:10.120 --> 01:13.960 to find a place for them where they can use their religion 01:13.960 --> 01:16.120 and feel comfortable and safe in that place. 01:16.120 --> 01:19.320 I think that's the beauty of what religion and politics 01:19.320 --> 01:20.140 has to offer. 01:20.140 --> 01:22.760 And I think when we look at the common values 01:22.760 --> 01:27.260 that Christianity has with Islam, with Judaism, 01:27.260 --> 01:29.520 there's a love of life, there's a love of humanity, 01:29.520 --> 01:31.020 there's helping the other. 01:31.020 --> 01:33.260 All of those things are common and core. 01:33.260 --> 01:37.260 And those are where I think politics can really come together 01:37.260 --> 01:39.260 and share in those common values. 01:39.260 --> 01:42.380 We've always had terrorism and radicalism. 01:42.380 --> 01:45.380 It's existed in many different forms. 01:45.380 --> 01:48.640 We've had it since the time of the Bible and the Koran 01:48.640 --> 01:50.380 all the way till today. 01:50.380 --> 01:54.380 The way to combat it, I think, is twofold. 01:54.380 --> 01:58.540 One is we need to take any of the deterrents possible, 02:00.040 --> 02:01.760 whether it's with physical force 02:01.760 --> 02:04.620 or whether it's through stopping the spread 02:04.620 --> 02:08.620 of this radicalization through the means of the internet 02:09.180 --> 02:10.960 and to curtail it where and when we can. 02:10.960 --> 02:12.080 That's number one. 02:12.080 --> 02:14.160 We need to let the terrorists know they can't win. 02:14.160 --> 02:15.620 That's number one. 02:15.620 --> 02:17.040 The second thing we need to do 02:17.040 --> 02:19.220 that I think is critically important 02:19.220 --> 02:23.800 is that when radicalism happens in the name of Islam, 02:23.800 --> 02:27.260 those who love Islam and know what I know about Islam 02:27.260 --> 02:28.300 and what you know about Islam, 02:28.300 --> 02:31.860 that it's a religion of love and support and kindness 02:31.860 --> 02:33.840 and understanding and goodness. 02:33.840 --> 02:37.160 And in no way does it support or promote these ideas 02:37.160 --> 02:38.920 of killing and hatred. 02:38.920 --> 02:42.760 Those people who understand that value need to speak out 02:42.760 --> 02:45.400 in condemning it louder than anyone else. 02:45.400 --> 02:47.460 They need to say more than anyone else, 02:47.460 --> 02:48.800 I don't believe in this. 02:48.800 --> 02:49.740 I don't stand for this. 02:49.740 --> 02:51.780 This isn't the value I believe in. 02:51.780 --> 02:54.320 And when radicalism happens in Judaism, 02:54.320 --> 02:57.280 it's me, the rabbi, who has to stand up and say, 02:57.280 --> 02:58.440 absolutely not. 02:58.440 --> 03:01.520 This is not what we believe and not what we stand for. 03:01.520 --> 03:03.480 And when radicals stand up in Christianity, 03:03.480 --> 03:05.080 we had this a few years ago, 03:05.080 --> 03:06.820 where radicals were shooting doctors 03:06.820 --> 03:08.360 who performed abortions. 03:08.360 --> 03:10.740 They were killing in order to stop killing. 03:10.740 --> 03:12.980 It's the Christian leaders that have to stand up 03:12.980 --> 03:14.720 and say, absolutely not. 03:14.720 --> 03:16.240 This is not what we stand for. 03:16.240 --> 03:17.780 This is not our values. 03:17.780 --> 03:21.820 So I think that two-pronged approach of being strong in our defense, 03:21.820 --> 03:24.540 but also being vocal in our leadership to remind the world 03:24.540 --> 03:27.520 where we stand and to say, this isn't us. 03:27.520 --> 03:28.680 Well, I agree with you. 03:28.680 --> 03:31.020 We are part of the Abrahamic tradition. 03:31.020 --> 03:35.040 And if we all come from Abraham, that means that you're my brother, 03:35.040 --> 03:36.900 literally and figuratively. 03:36.900 --> 03:40.660 That means that Abraham was the father of both Isaac and Ishmael, 03:40.660 --> 03:44.840 the continuers of what is Judaism and Islam. 03:44.840 --> 03:49.140 And there's a sad poetry that happens in the Jewish tradition of the Bible. 03:49.140 --> 03:52.100 And that is when Abraham has Isaac and Ishmael, 03:52.100 --> 03:55.600 they later split up and they come back together once. 03:55.600 --> 03:58.200 And that is to bury their father. 03:58.200 --> 04:01.800 And I only think in my mind, what would happen if they came together 04:01.800 --> 04:03.760 while their father was still alive? 04:03.760 --> 04:07.020 If he could see the beauty of his two children playing together, 04:07.020 --> 04:12.100 working together, celebrating together, hugging together, not just to bury. 04:12.100 --> 04:15.060 We have so much in common in our religion. 04:15.060 --> 04:18.560 We have words that are in common, values that are in common, 04:18.560 --> 04:20.200 teachings that are in common. 04:20.200 --> 04:23.900 The core components of the Koran are the core components of the Torah. 04:23.900 --> 04:26.800 The stories are a little different, but the values are the same. 04:26.800 --> 04:28.960 The way we treat people are the same. 04:28.960 --> 04:30.560 It's exactly right. 04:30.560 --> 04:35.360 So like anything in life, it's easy to focus on the things that don't work. 04:35.360 --> 04:37.960 It's easy to focus on the parts that are broken. 04:37.960 --> 04:44.060 It's simple to say, I don't like this, or I don't like that, or this doesn't work. 04:44.060 --> 04:49.460 But there are so many components of your life, of my life, of my neighbors in the Palestinian 04:49.460 --> 04:53.600 authorities' life, in the West Bank and Gaza, that are so similar. 04:53.600 --> 04:58.400 And if we spent a little bit more time, as trite and simple as it sounds, to focus on those 04:58.400 --> 05:02.000 commonalities and to make it work, it'd be a good place. 05:02.000 --> 05:05.700 I have people who come in this very office as a rabbi and they talk to me about issues 05:05.700 --> 05:09.800 they have in relationships with their brother or their sister or their spouse. 05:09.800 --> 05:15.000 And I say to them, I know you have this issue with your spouse that you don't like A or B or X or Y or Z. 05:15.000 --> 05:16.800 But let's talk about all the things you do like. 05:16.800 --> 05:20.500 I want you to look your spouse in the eye and tell me three things you love about your spouse 05:20.500 --> 05:24.000 and five reasons why you're so proud that that person's your spouse. 05:24.000 --> 05:29.400 And when you start to change the way you think, not in what's broken, but in what works, 05:29.400 --> 05:31.300 it changes our disposition. 05:31.300 --> 05:33.500 So I think there is a lot of commonality. 05:33.500 --> 05:37.000 I think it's important for us to focus on those common pieces. 05:37.000 --> 05:42.200 There are still obstacles to get around, but nothing has a sense of perfection to it. 05:42.200 --> 05:45.800 And I'm sorry to be so long-winded in this answer, but in Judaism, 05:45.800 --> 05:50.400 the religion in which I practice, there is no absolute experience. 05:50.400 --> 05:53.800 So during the Passover Seder, which is a happy festive meal, 05:53.800 --> 05:57.400 we pour a little bit of wine out for our cup so our heart should bleed 05:57.400 --> 06:02.600 and we should not have a full cup to remember the pain that the Egyptians had gone through with the plagues. 06:02.600 --> 06:05.800 When we have a Jewish wedding, the happiest moment in our lives, 06:05.800 --> 06:10.400 the Jewish wedding, we break a glass to remember the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem. 06:10.400 --> 06:13.200 When we celebrate the very reflective day of Yom Kippur, 06:13.200 --> 06:17.600 we say L'shana Haba B'yoshalayim next year in Jerusalem, which is hopeful. 06:17.600 --> 06:22.200 That means we know inherently in Judaism, nothing is perfect. 06:22.200 --> 06:25.200 There's always going to be some brokenness in what we do. 06:25.200 --> 06:29.000 So if I can look at you and say, our relationship won't be perfect, 06:29.000 --> 06:33.000 but it will be very good, that's something to be very happy and proud of. 06:33.000 --> 06:36.000 And if I can look at my relationship with my Palestinian brothers and sisters, 06:36.000 --> 06:41.200 my Christian brothers and sisters say, we pray differently and we pray in different places, 06:41.200 --> 06:43.200 but our hearts and values are similar. 06:43.200 --> 06:45.200 What we care about matters. 06:45.200 --> 06:48.400 The values we want to pass on to our children and grandchildren matter. 06:48.400 --> 06:50.400 The world we want them to inherit matters. 06:50.400 --> 06:53.800 That's much more in common than what divides us and let's focus on that 06:53.800 --> 06:57.000 and use that as a foundation for us to build upon. 06:57.000 --> 07:01.200 I define Muslims the way I define every person. 07:01.200 --> 07:05.800 And that is, I look at every person for the benefit, for the good. 07:05.800 --> 07:07.800 There is good in every human being. 07:07.800 --> 07:10.200 Our tradition and my Jewish tradition tells me, 07:10.200 --> 07:13.600 give everyone the benefit of the doubt, give them merit. 07:13.600 --> 07:18.200 I don't judge a people based on one person or a group of people's behavior. 07:18.200 --> 07:22.200 I don't want you to judge me based on radical behavior in the Jewish faith, 07:22.200 --> 07:25.200 of either how they dress or how they behave or how they treat one another. 07:25.200 --> 07:30.000 And I wouldn't judge anyone in the Muslim faith based on the small contingent of radicalization 07:30.000 --> 07:34.400 that happens through forms of ISIS or other jihadi behaviors, 07:34.400 --> 07:37.800 because that is not representative of what Islam is about, 07:37.800 --> 07:41.600 what the Quran is about, what the Muslim faith and people are about. 07:41.600 --> 07:46.200 As someone who has visited both Egypt and Turkey and other places in the Middle East, 07:46.200 --> 07:53.600 I know that Muslim people are at their core good people, people who value life, 07:53.600 --> 07:56.800 who want to give their children a better tomorrow. 07:56.800 --> 07:58.800 That's what I want for my kids too. 07:58.800 --> 08:00.800 So I judge each of them individually. 08:00.800 --> 08:03.800 Now, sometimes I interact with my common Jew, 08:03.800 --> 08:07.000 and sometimes there's a good person in front of me and a not good person in front of me. 08:07.000 --> 08:10.200 And sometimes in the other world, in other faiths that happens as well. 08:10.200 --> 08:15.400 But I always see when I look at Muslim as a whole, the world of Islam as a whole, 08:15.400 --> 08:20.600 I see a religion that is based on the same foundations as Judaism and Christianity 08:20.600 --> 08:25.600 that are indeed Abrahamic at its core, whose values are the same as our values. 08:25.600 --> 08:32.600 And yes, there are turbulence, ripples, challenges that happen sometimes in your faith 08:32.600 --> 08:34.600 and in my faith and the Christian faith. 08:34.600 --> 08:40.600 But it's up to us, faith leaders, people who have the ear of those doing the sacred work that you're doing, 08:40.600 --> 08:44.600 to get the word out and say this is what we believe in, this is what we stand for. 08:44.600 --> 08:48.800 And love is more powerful, and we share love, and that is our core teaching. 08:48.800 --> 08:52.400 The more people do what you're doing and what your television station's doing 08:52.400 --> 08:54.800 and what this good doctor is doing in these books, 08:54.800 --> 08:58.800 that is what's sharing with everyone what the potential is. 08:58.800 --> 09:07.800 I think the notion of hope, which is what that is about, the messianic component, is core to who we are. 09:07.800 --> 09:11.800 And we saw this in the election in the United States in a fascinating way, 09:11.800 --> 09:16.000 that so many people latch on to the notion of hope. 09:16.000 --> 09:20.000 And I think that's core to your religion, I think it's core to my religion. 09:20.000 --> 09:26.800 It's no accident that the theme, that the anthem of the State of Israel is called the hope. 09:26.800 --> 09:30.800 Because for so many years it was our hope, and even today it's still part of our hope. 09:30.800 --> 09:35.800 So I think this notion of hope and coming to help us and redeem us shows our responsibility 09:35.800 --> 09:41.800 to bring that idea of the Messiah and our belief in a hope of a better tomorrow. 09:41.800 --> 09:44.800 If we didn't believe in hope, we wouldn't try to be better people. 09:44.800 --> 09:46.800 We wouldn't care about spreading the word. 09:46.800 --> 09:48.800 And that's what matters most. 09:48.800 --> 09:49.800 Thank you. 09:50.800 --> 09:51.800 Thank you. 09:51.800 --> 09:52.800 Thank you very much.