The Jewish community in Pakistan is almost non-existent and often lives in secrecy out of fear of anti-Semitic violence. But last month, an audience in Lahore packed into a room to hear a talk from Rabbi Reuven Firestone, Professor of Medieval Islam and Judaism at Hebrew Union College. The topic was the scriptural commonalities between Islam and Judaism, a discussion almost unheard of at a public gathering in Pakistan, let alone with a rabbi present.
Firestone was in Pakistan as part of the American delegation of the US-Pakistan Interreligious Consortium, a yearly initiative by the interfaith organization, Intersections International, to strengthen peaceful relations between the United States and Pakistan through religious dialogue.
Dr. Reuven Firestone
Rabbi Firestone, who reads Arabic, quoted verses from Jewish scripture alongside the Throne Verse of the Qur'an
This was his last talk before heading back to the United States. The venue, which preferred to remain anonymous, is a small hub for students and enthusiasts of the traditional arts and Islamic philosophy. Upon joining the audience, who were seated on colorful, flat cushions spread across the carpeted floor, Firestone immediately broke the ice by making linguistic connections between Islamic and Hebrew terminology. It was time for maghrib prayer, which he noted was the Arabic equivalent of the Hebrew, maghriv, meaning “west”.
His presentation concerned the similar ways in which Islam and Judaism express their reverence for God. Firestone, who reads Arabic, demonstrated this by juxtaposing verses from Jewish scripture with lines from the Throne Verse of the Qur’an (Surah 2:255), considered the paramount exaltation of God found in Islamic scripture.
Zionism is a political ideology, while Judaism is a religion
He pointed out how the line, “God’s Kingdom is forever,” taken from the Throne Verse, is similar to words spoken in daily Jewish prayer, “He will always reign over us forever and ever”.
“We cannot find him in slumber or sleep” was likened to a part of a psalm, “He who keeps Israel, he neither slumbers nor sleeps.” At least one member of the audience would respond “beautiful” after hearing the Jewish verses.
Psalms, he noted, were meant to be sung. He cautioned the audience that he was not a good singer, but his renditions nevertheless evoked a “wah” of approval.
Firestone also made a point to discuss the histories and traditions surrounding the words in Jewish scripture that gave them meaning.
He explained that the melody in which he chose to sing the psalms was rooted in his Central European heritage, and that there is no one sound of Jewish music.
After receiving some questions about why Jews do not refer to God by a personal name but by Adonoy, “my Lord”, or Elohaynu, “our Lord”, he unraveled the history of how ancient Israelite practices carried into the Jewish tradition of referring to God only through his attributes and his dominance in relation to humanity. He explained that this is true in Islam as well, as Allah is not a personal name but a reference to God, literally translating as “the God”.
The Jewish graveyard in Karachi - little is left of a small but once thriving community
Although Jews are rare in Pakistan today, they were not absent from its history. It is estimated that there were over two thousand Jews in Karachi at the time of Partition. Most left for Israel after its creation in 1948. During the British era, prominent members of Karachi’s Jewish community served in local government, designed major architectural works and built schools.
Anti-Semitic violence rose in Pakistan as the Israeli occupation of Gaza and the West Bank became seen by many as a cause for Muslim solidarity against a Jewish invasion. In 1988, a Karachi synagogue built nearly a hundred years earlier was demolished to build a shopping center. Pakistan is also known internationally for the death of American journalist Daniel Pearl in 2002, when he was kidnapped and beheaded by Islamic extremists after they discovered he was Jewish. Last year, a Pakistani Jewish activist was beaten by a mob in Karachi while trying to have a dialogue on the possibility of electing a non-Muslim president.
Firestone is troubled by anti-Semitism in the Muslim world, but he sees interfaith dialogue that emphasises common humanity as the corrective. He has authored numerous books to help Jews and Muslims understand and respect each other, and he co-founded Center for Muslim-Jewish Engagement. He feels this work is his religious duty.
“My humanistic interest is not based on just humanism, it’s based on a divine imperative that I feel as a religious Jew,” he told The Friday Times.
His presentation eventually shifted from scripture to address questions concerning basic tenets of Judaism. The audience wanted to know whether one can convert to Judaism, if Jews are concerned about the salvation of non-Jews, whether Jewish scripture is considered the word of God and what makes someone a rabbi among other curiosities.
Firestone answered all their questions but also cleared some misconceptions. For example, people in the audience thought conversion to Judaism was only through inheritance. He said that in fact anyone can convert, but it is a lengthy process that requires a strong commitment.
He also explained some of the disagreements within the Jewish community on religious matters. He said that not all Jews agree on where divine revelation ends in the Torah, nor do they share the same religious priorities. There is a tension, he said, between the need to focus on one’s own survival and the moral obligation to help others. But he remarked that disagreement on religious issues is a longstanding tradition that Jews look at with pride.
The conversation eventually reached the topic of Israel, prompted by the question of how Zionism and Judaism differ.
An easy way to think about that, Firestone said, is to think of the Pakistan Movement. The same way the Muslims of India wanted to belong to a nation, so too did the Jews of Europe during the era of nationalist fervor in the 19th century. Zionism is that political ideology, while Judaism is the religion.
Then he had a confession to make.
“Ladies and gentlemen, I may surprise you, I may shock and horrify you, but I will tell you I am a Zionist. But does that mean I hate Muslims? I hate Arabs? I don’t think there should be a Palestinian state? I want to kill people? It doesn’t mean that at all. All it means is that I believe that the Jewish people have a right to a political identity,” he said.
Speaking after the event, Firestone said he was very surprised at how open minded the audience was to that statement.
“There were no gasps,” he said.
At the talk, he added that he believes peace is possible between Israel and Palestine. But he thinks that increasing religious fervor and the failure on both sides to recognize each other’s nationalities is making that difficult to achieve.
He also addressed anti-Muslim sentiment in the West, which has emboldened since the rise of the Islamic State and attacks in Paris and San Bernardino by radicalized Muslims that killed scores of people. Islamophobia, in his view, has been deeply embedded in Western culture since the demonization of Muslims in The Song of Roland, an epic poem written in the 12th century that is considered to be among the foundational works of European literature.
This centuries-old fear of Islam, he said, helps explain why Muslims today are often subjected to the notion of “not all Muslims are terrorists, but all terrorists are Muslims” while other groups, despite having individuals who commit violence in the name of religion or ideology, are never regarded as such.
Firestone believes this situation can change because historically, interfaith relations have not been static. He pointed out to The Friday Times that during the Middle Ages, Jews living in the Middle East wrote more favorably of Muslims than Jews living in Europe did of Christians. Now, he says, Jews generally think more highly of Christians than Muslims.
He also acknowledges that there are fundamental differences between Judaism and Islam that are irreconcilable, such as the fact the prophet-hood of Mohammed (pbuh) is not accepted in Jewish tradition. But he doesn’t think it is his place to convince anyone that their religion is wrong. What he does not accept for himself, he concedes he does not fully understand to judge. Rather, his work is about building stronger relations between Jews and Muslims despite these differences. He contends that simply getting to know one another and find a common identity as God’s creation is the first step to building a counter-narrative to religious hostility.
This is why he was so encouraged by the warm response he received at the event.
During his talk, he explained to the audience the lingering fear among Jews that something like the Holocaust could happen again. This, he said, informed a tradition of morbid humor within the Jewish community. After giving this background, he felt that they were ready for an inside joke.
“What is the essential meaning of every Jewish holiday? They tried to kill us, God wouldn’t let them, let’s eat!”
The audience burst into laughter.
Shehryar Nabi is a freelance writer and communications assistant at the Consortium for Development Policy Research
