Our mission at the Center for Muslim-Jewish Engagement is to promote dialogue, understanding and grassroots, congregational and academic partnerships among the oldest and the newest of the Abrahamic faiths while generating a contemporary understanding in this understudied area and creating new tools for interfaith communities locally, nationally and beyond.
About the Center
The Center for Muslim-Jewish Engagement (CMJE) is made possible by the generosity of the Righteous Persons Foundation and the collaboration of the Omar Ibn Al Khattab Foundation, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, and USC’s Center for Religion and Civic Culture at the College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences.
CMJE provides resources, experience and expertise to enhance the understanding of Muslims and Jews about each other’s faiths, as well as increase their ability to engage with each on issues of mutual importance. The very structure of the Center, a Jewish Seminary, a Muslim Foundation and a research center housed at a secular university (USC), provides a powerful example of the benefits and possibilities of joining together for common cause.
The Center for Muslim-Jewish Engagement is a community resource for training in inter-religious outreach, an online resource center for materials on Jewish-Muslim relations, and an academic think-tank. The Center addresses all three of these areas in an organized and comprehensive manner through training, outreach and resource development.
Our hope is for the Center to serve as a model for respect and partnership world-wide, while advancing our understanding of the shared history of these two peoples. A common vision is possible and the Center for Muslim-Jewish Engagement works to ensure that mutual understanding becomes the norm today.
CMJE provides:
- Muslim and Jewish community leaders with the motivation and skills to make interreligious dialogue successful;
- Community programs that build the capacity of existing Muslim and Jewish institutions to do dialogue;
- A web-based resource center for program materials, technical assistance, events calendars, experts directories, etc.;
- An academic think-tank that creates knowledge and new learning on Jewish and Muslim relations.
CMJE is housed and administered at the University of Southern California’s Center for Religion & Civic Culture.
The Vision of CMJE
The Goal
The goal for the ‘Centre for Muslim-Jewish Engagement’ is to combine the newest of Abrahamic faiths with the oldest of the faiths. They hope to make better the understanding of and need for dialogue, religious following, academic partnerships and of the average everyday person. To do this they hope to create new tools and bring everything up to date for the communities that have different religious beliefs locally, nationally and internationally.
Muslims and Jews share common interests and values. They are both steeped in tradition, heritage, history and culture. They have strong social ties and hold celebrations for religious festivals.
The Vision
CMJE research centre is in a secular university (USC) where there is a Jewish Seminary and a Muslim Foundation. Here the benefits of joining together for a common cause are a powerful example of how the centres resources have increased the ability for Jews and Muslims to share each other’s faiths.
The Centre for Muslim-Jewish Engagement has a group of academics that put together material for an on-line resource centre to deal with Jewish-Muslim relations. Through training, outreach and resource development, the centre addresses all the issues surrounding their community.
There is vision and hope for the centre to lead the way in world-wide understanding, respect and partnership. And to ensure shared history between Muslim and Jewish communities will advance to a mutual understanding of the two religions.
The Foundations and Institutes that support CMJE
Thanks to the generosity of the Righteous Persons Foundation and the USC’s Centre for Religion and Civic Culture at the College of Letters, Sciences and Arts. Also thanks for the cooperation from the Omar Ibn Al Khattab Foundation and the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. All of whom have made it possible for the Centre for Muslim-Jewish Engagement to exist.
The centres achievements
Muslim and Jewish leaders are provided with the skills and given the motivation to successfully teach inter-religious conversation.
The capacity for community programs to encourage Muslim and Jewish institutions to create discussions and build on each other’s knowledge. An accessible web-based resource centre for information on CMJE programs, technical assistance, calendars of events, directories and many other helpful topics.
A highly trained group of people will identify with the relationship between Jewish and Muslim people and use the knowledge that they gain to teach a new understanding to the wider community. The University of Southern California’s Centre for Religion & Civic Culture is home to the CMJE.