“So what is the Hashlamah Project,” you ask?
The Hashlamah Project aims to draw Jews and Muslims together in co-worship, TOGETHER, under ONE roof, and to then use that as a pivot to add a momentum to peace that cannot be impeded by even by the most rhetorical political venom currently holding sway over the minds, hearts and even the very lives of innocents on both sides of the illusionary divide.
You might say “Perhaps some day, but this is new territory. Something this bold has NEVER been done before; we’re just not there yet.” Nothing could be further from the truth, and this, indeed, is part of the reason why the Hashlamah Project MUST exist: to educate Jews and Muslims about the CENTURIES of Jewish and Muslim interaction and co-worship. Far from anecdotal examples and fringe, alienated groups, this activity involved some of the biggest names in Judaism, including Rabbeinu Bachya ibn Paqudah (whose originally Judeo-Arabic, “Duties of the Hearts” is still studied in Orthodox Yeshivot today), to the Maimonidean dynasty of Nagidim. The Cairo Genizah cache of Jewish letters and documents have elucidated just how wide-spread and far-reaching this activity was, over the course of CENTURIES, rather than decades.
If this is news to you, that is precisely why the work of the Hashlamah Project is so necessary. Peace is possible. We know it is possible, because we have seen it work before, and we have the blueprints for how to revive these successful modes of dialog, discussion and respectful co-worship.
