Dear Friends,
Happy new year to one and all! Or at least happy new year by the historically Christian Gregorian calendar. Many New Yorkers are still looking ahead to the Asian lunar new year on January 28, to the Persian new year on March 21, to the Hindu new year (or rather, one of them) on March 28, or to the Jewish and Islamic new years, which both fall on September 21 this time around. But I digress . . . on behalf of ICNY’s entire staff and board, I’d like to wish all of our friends and colleagues a happy, healthy, peaceful year in 2017.
I’m afraid, however, that it’s going to be a tough year for New Yorkers and others who care about religious diversity and inclusion. Here at ICNY, we will do our best to protect the city we love from Donald Trump’s xenophobic policy agenda. I hope you’ll save the date of Wednesday, April 5th, for the 33rd meeting of the Rabbi Marshall T. Meyer Retreat for Social Justice, which will bring together religious and civic leaders to explore the theme of Hospitality in a Time of Hate: Religious Leadership for an Inclusive City under the Trump Administration. More details about this important conversation coming soon.
While we are obliged to respond to our political moment, we remain committed to ICNY’s long-running programs, and to our ongoing work with local religious and civic leaders. In the short run, for example, ICNY is working with Imam Souleimane Konaté and members of the Micah Institute to support the family of Mohamed Bah, who was killed by NYPD officers in 2012. For more information about this case and our efforts, please contact ICNY’s Director of Community Partnerships, Iman Boukadoum, at iman@interfaithcenter.org. And on a brighter note, ICNY is delighted to co-sponsor what I’m sure will be a rich conversation about Rumi’s Secret, a new biography of the renowned thirteenth century Persian poet and Sufi mystic, at the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine on Tuesday, January 31st. See our newsletter for details – we hope to see you there!
Looking ahead to the rest of the year, we invite K-12 teachers in New York and elsewhere to apply for the July 2017 Religious Worlds of New York summer institute – a three week program, with a generous stipend, that will help them teach about religious diversity. See our January newsletter or click here for details. And we hope New York’s social service and mental health care providers will save the date of Wednesday, May 10th, for the next Social Work and Religious Diversity conference, which will explore the complex ties between religion, spirituality, and family life. More details and registration coming soon.
With your support, ICNY will continue our work with local religious and civic leaders, social workers, teachers, and others. Together we will build a more inclusive city in 2017 and far beyond – regardless of how the political winds (or bigoted hot air) may blow. This is our promise to you, and to all New Yorkers. Our new year’s resolution, this year and every year.
The January, 2017 newsletter is available here.
Best Wishes,
Dr. Henry Goldschmidt
Interim Executive Director
Director of Programs
The Interfaith Center of New York