Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori spoke at the JCPA Plenum about the prospects for peace in the middle east.
In his first public appearance since joining the U.S. peace process team, David Makovsky spoke at the JCPA Plenum last weekabout the need for a two-state solution and the prospects for peace. The Plenum is the annual conference for Jewish community leaders and representatives from 125 Jewish Community Relations councils and 16 national Jewish agencies to gather, learn, debate, and vote on consensus policy. In addition to Makovsky, the Plenum delegates were joined by Presiding Bishop Katherine Jefferts Schori, the head of the Episcopal Church; Abraham Foxman, National Director of the Anti-Defamation League, who gave his first remarks since announcing his retirement; Jewish Federations of North America CEO Jerry Silverman; and many others….
…Two states for two peoples will require a sense of shared security, said Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Katherine Jefferts Schori in an interfaith conversation with JCPA President Rabbi Steve Gutow, who praised her work in focusing on investment with Palestinians, not divestment from Israel. Recently returned from a trip to Jordan, Bishop Schori laid out a vision of peace based on the belief that one’s security depends on the security of all people.
The interfaith discussion focused, as well, on points of commonality between the two communities and the need to, as Bishop Schori said, keep diverse communities communicating. A mutual understanding of each other’s religious traditions reveals shared commitments to repairing our immigration system and ending hunger – an issue both agreed was a major civil rights issue of the day – as well as equality for gays, lesbians, and transgender individuals.
On LGBT issues, Rabbi Gutow noted that Bishop Schori was an early leader. “I begin with the understanding from Genesis that it is not good for the human being to be alone,” she said. But she also emphasized consensus as essential to ensuring a good life for all, saying “Truth is more fully known in a diverse community than in an individual.” Rabbi Gutow, as well, emphasized consensus, referencing last year’s Plenum discussion on gay marriage and the JCPA’s leadership in combating discrimination.