Entrepreneurs learn about fellow feelings
IT IS shortly after midday and more than 1,000 Muslims are gathered for
— the Friday prayer held weekly at the London Central Mosque in Regent’s Park.
But, as the call to prayer echoes over theloud-speaker,theworshipperscatch sight of an unfamiliar figure picking his way through the prayer mats.
Rabbi Dr Shmuly Yanklowitz is at the mosque as part of a innovative project bringing together Muslim and Jewish entrepreneurs involved in running or developing social-action projects.
It is fair to say that he is experiencing an initial nervousness. “Everyone was aware that I was wearing a kippah; they were all noticing it,” he says. “That was Shmuly Yanklowitz the largest group of Muslim men that I have ever seen. I felt both the excitement and energy of the experience and a little bit of fear, as a religious Jew, being in a room with a thousand Muslim men.” The 35-year-old rabbi and social activist, from Chicago, is one of 25 Jewish and Muslim entrepreneurs, from the US and Europe selected to take part in the Ariane de Rothschild Fellowship at Cambridge University. The group are on their fifth day of a 12-day visit to the UK, designed to strengthen their business skills and promote cross-cultural dialogue to encourage ties between their communities. It is not his first visit to a mosque, but he reflects: “I live with constant videos reminding me of threats that the [Muslim] community pose to me. “B u t t h e n I’m also aware most Muslims mean me no harm, but you can’t help feel an element of fear when you’re around a big group like that.”
As the imam delivers his sermon on the importance of “promoting peace and respecting the sanctity of human life”, Rabbi Yanklowitz listens intently.
“I even recited a few Hebrew words myself and it felt very comfortable,” he says. “It felt like a house of God. There is the rocking and moving and the focus is on individual thought and prayer, much like a shul.
“It was a highly positive experience, but I do wonder if that is a really typical message or were they aware there was quite a large group visiting.”
Attending the intensive two-week programme at Cambridge, the rabbi and his peers learn how to develop their organisations and strengthen the impact of their projects.
Rabbi Yanklowitz, who is the founder of Uri L’Tzedek, an Orthodox social justice movement, explains that, “for me, it is less about understanding each other’s theologies and more about workingouthowwecanworkonthings together.”
By taking part in the project, the rabbi has been able to meet Umar Hakim, a black Muslim who grew up in Compton, a deprived and gang-ridden innercity area of Los Angeles.
MrHakimbeatover500applicantsto be part of the programme, which, since its creation in 2009, has developed 158 leaders across the world.
HefoundedHumanitarianDayinLos Angeles — an initiative similar to MitzvahDayintheUK—inwhich,duringthe monthof Ramadan,Muslimsvolunteer to feed the homeless.
Mr Hakim explains: “I’m here to develop a way my organisation can keep running on the business side and still make a difference, but then I’ve also been able to speak to Rabbi Yanklowitz about race.
“We have talked about how, I as an African black man, have experienced racism. How often do you get to have that conversation between a Muslim and a Jew?”
The 44-year-old, who converted to Islam in 1998, says the Rothschild programme has helped “build a safe space to share values and exchange ideas”.
He adds: “We now have a network we can rely on to help build our expertise. If each of us represents say, 10 people, and you multiply that by how many of us there are, you have a whole bunch of people who are going to feel the impact of this project.”
The Fellowship was founded by Ariane de Rothschild and Firoz Ladak, respectively president and executive director of the Edmond de Rothschild Foundations, which provide the funding for the scheme.
According to Reima Yosif, the programme’s global co-ordinator, the founders “wanted to come up with a
I felt the excitement and energy but also a little fear