Dr. Reuven Firestone to Address Interfaith Conference in Qatar

Dr. Reuven Firestone, Professor of Medieval Jewish and Islamic Studies, HUC-JIR/Los Angeles, senior fellow of the Center for Religion and Civic Culture at the University of Southern California, and co-director of the Center for Muslim-Jewish Engagement, a joint project of HUC-JIR, USC, and the Omar Ibn Al-Khattab Foundation (www.usc.edu/cmje), will present a talk in Doha, Qatar on October 21st at the Seventh Doha Conference on Interfaith Dialogue. His talk, entitled "Solidarity and Economic Interdependence: A Religious Response to the Financial Crisis," will be presented to a forum of Muslim, Christian, and Jewish scholars and religious leaders from around the world. The program for the conference can be found at: http://www.qatar-conferences.org/dialogue2009/english/program.php

Founded in 1875, Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion is the nation’s oldest institution of higher Jewish education and the academic, spiritual, and professional leadership development center of Reform Judaism. HUC-JIR educates men and women for service to American and world Jewry as rabbis, cantors, educators, and nonprofit management professionals, and offers graduate programs to scholars and clergy of all faiths. With centers of learning in Cincinnati, Jerusalem, Los Angeles, and New York, HUC-JIR’s scholarly resources comprise the renowned Klau Library, The Jacob Rader Marcus Center of the American Jewish Archives, research institutes and centers, and academic publications. In partnership with the Union for Reform Judaism and the Central Conference of American Rabbis, HUC-JIR sustains the Reform Movement’s congregations and professional and lay leaders. HUC-JIR’s campuses invite the community to cultural and educational programs illuminating Jewish history, identity, art, and archaeology, and fostering interfaith and multiethnic understanding.