Abraham and Ibrahim:
The Intersection of Judaism and Islam After 9/11
Third Annual Eastern Region Associates' Yom Iyum/Day of Learning

Recent acts of terrorism in Israel and the United States have highlighted the contemporary struggle between Jews and Muslims. However, these two significant faith communities existed as partners for hundreds of years in communities throughout the world. The ancient teachings of Judaism and Islam will provide the backdrop for their day of learning. Abraham and Ibrahim: The Intersection of Judaism and Islam After 9/11 will help us understand what unites and what separates Jews and Muslims.

This event is an opportunity for Reform lay and religious leaders from the Eastern Region (Florida to Maine) to experience a day of study and worship with HUC-JIR faculty and students, and to learn from well-known experts on the Middle East and Terrorism: Dr. Ziba Mir-Hosseini, filmmaker, independent consultant, researcher and writer on Middle Eastern issues and Warren Bass, Director of Special Projects for the Council on Foreign Relation's Terrorism Program.

Ziba Mir-Hosseini is an independent consultant, researcher and writer on Middle Eastern issues, specializing in gender, family relations, Islam and law. She obtained her PhD in Social Anthropology in 1980 at the University of Cambridge. Dr. Mir-Hosseini is currently Visiting Professor of Global Law at New York University School of Law and Research Associate at the Center for Near and Middle Eastern Studies, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. She is the author of Marriage on Trial: A Study of Islamic Family Law in Iran and Morocco; Islam and Gender: The Religious Debate in Contemporary Iran; and most recently Feminism and the Islamic Republic: Dialogues with the Ulema. She has also produced, with Kim Longinotto, two feature-length documentaries on contemporary issues in Iran: Divorce Iranian Style and Runaway.

Warren Bass is the Director of Special Projects for the Council on Foreign Relation's Terrorism Program. Before that he was an editor for Foreign Affairs. He was educated at Queen's University in Ontario, Canada and Columbia University in New York and holds several awards for his research in Middle Eastern affairs. Mr. Bass is currently completing a book entitled Support any Friend: Kennedy, Nasser, and the Origins of the U.S.- Israel Alliance. His other publications include The American Encounter: The United States and the Making of the Modern World, and Triumph Without Victory: The History of the Persian Gulf War.

Members of the College-Institute's distinguished faculty who will teach at Abraham and Ibrahim include Rabbi Aaron Panken, Dean of HUC-JIR's New York School; Dr. Mark Kligman, Associate Professor of Jewish Musicology and Dr. Alyssa Gray, Assistant Professor in Codes and Responsa Literature. Join discussions and share opinions with experts in Talmud and later Jewish law, as well as Jewish history and music. Program participants will also have the opportunity for a private, guided tour of the College-Institute's critically acclaimed Museum.