TENAFLY — Religious leaders and community members attended an interfaith forum on Sunday to discuss women’s role in religion.
The program at the Church of Atonement in Tenafly was the first such event the Interfaith Women’s Initiative has organized in Bergen County. The New York-based group plans to hold similar events in the future.
The goal for the meeting was to bring people of Abrahamic faiths together to learn about each other, interfaith member Shakeen Ahmed said.
“We are here to address women’s issues, to see how our faiths have different limitations and how much they’re willing to compromise,” Ahmed said.
The Interfaith Women’s Initiative organized the discussion that featured a Jewish, Christian and Muslim women seeks to answer the question: What is the role of women in my religion? Each of the three panel members addressed the role of women in their religion.
“Traditionally, under Jewish law, women have something of a second-class status,” said panelist Rabbi Rebecca W. Sirbu, who spoke about women in the Judaic religion. Sirbu is the director of Rabbis Without Borders, as well the MetroWest Jewish Health and Healing Center and the Center for Jewish Life in West Orange. The movement for women’s right in society caused Jewish women to want more leadership roles in religion, and women have continued to gain more roles until the present.
Panelist Kathleen Gallagher interpreted Christianity texts to draw conclusions about women in her religion.
She discussed the figure of Mary, who represents both “the model of motherhood and archetype of women.” She is a Ph.D. candidate at Drew University in New Testament and early Christianity, and teaches classes at Rutgers University.
Panelist Sarah Sayeed, who is active at the Interfaith Center of New York as a social justice and human rights volunteer, took a different approach to the question, explaining the relationship between Islam, oppression and diversity, instead of the particular roles of women.
“The best way to seek change is through education and appealing to Islamic ethics,” said Sayeed. “God says that no gender or religion is better than another.”
To many of the attendees, this forum acted as a way to gain more knowledge about other religions.
“I can take what I can learn to pass it on to my children and grandchildren,” said Sara VanHourne, of Tenafly.
She attended the panel with her daughter, Beth Nelson, who echoed her mother’s remarks. “It’s ignorance that breeds fear. It doesn’t matter how we view our God; every God wants us to love.”
Ahmed agreed that God acted as a “point of commonality” at this forum. But, added the interfaith initiative is powerful because it is a group formed by women, “Women bond better than men,” she said, laughing.
The interfaith initiative hopes to continue its efforts in Bergen County, increasing understanding and bringing together those of varying faiths.
This article was published on NorthJersey.com at http://www.northjersey.com/news/203531041_At_Tenafly_church__interfaith_panel_discuss_women_s_role_in_religion.html?page=all
