AL-HIKMAT - THE WISDOM WEBSITE Serving the Muslim and Non-Muslim Community for the past 28 years, through the distribution of publications, DVD's, CD's, radio & TV shows, lectures, seminars, dialogues etc.,establishing tolerance and better understanding among different faiths and cultures. AL QUR'AAN Ch: 16 V: 125 “Invite To the Way of Thy Lord With Hikmat” (Wisdom).

Submitted by: Rabbi Jeffrey



Hi! I would like to introduce myself. I am Rabbi Jeff Kurtz-Lendner of Temple Solel in Hollywood. I recently arrived in South Florida after having served for twelve years as a rabbi in the New Orleans area. For so many people in twenty first century America religion seems to be irrelevant, boring or an occasional recreational activity. My primary professional purpose is to make religion alive for people to give them opportunities to reconnect with their heritage so that they see that religion is supremely meaningful and can bring purpose back to their lives.

Among my specific initiatives I believe in building bridges to communities, and in particular, Muslim-Jewish relations has been extremely important to me. In my first rabbinic position I helped to establish a Muslim-Jewish discussion and program initiatives while I served the students at Tulane University. In a subsequent position, when I was a rabbi at a New Orleans suburban congregation I established the first Muslim-Jewish dialogue that ever took place in the county in which my congregation was located. After arriving here in Hollywood I had the pleasure to meet Shaykh Shafayat and was flattered to be able to celebrate in your Eid Ibrahim this past December. I believe that we have much to learn from each other and share with each other and the personal relationships we can establish can help change the image of the relationships between our communities among members of each of our communities as well as in society at large. When we learn about each other, appreciate each other and value the relationships we have we can affect our world to help improve the relationships between people everywhere and together address the matters that lead to conflict. If we accept that conflict is inevitable then it is. If we never dream for peace then certainly we will never achieve it.

I look forward to sharing reflections with you again in the future, having our communities learn about each other, and most importantly, establish those personal relationships that make a difference in bringing peace to our entire world.