MSI Press Blog

  Islam and Judaism are often seen as close cousins among the world’s faiths. Both worship one God, both trace their lineage to Abraham, and both live by sacred law. Yet their paths diverge in how they understand revelation, prophecy, and the relationship between God and humanity. 1. The Shared Foundation Before exploring differences, it helps to see the common ground. Both faiths: Are strictly monotheistic — God is one, indivisible, and beyond human form. Value law, ethics, and community as expressions of faith. Emphasize daily practice — prayer, charity, fasting, and moral conduct. Reject the idea of divine incarnation. Their differences arise not from the nature of God, but from how God’s will is revealed and lived. 2. Revelation and Scripture Judaism holds that God revealed the Torah to Moses at Sinai — a covenant binding Israel forever. Islam teaches that God revealed the Qur’an to Muhammad through the angel Gabriel — the final, perfect revelation completing earlier scr...

  Today's book excerpt comes from  An Afternoon's Dictation  by  Steven Greenebaum . This book has been in the Amazon top 100 among interfaith and ecumenical books on many occasions. PART ONE: THE CALL TO INTERFAITH CHAPTER FOUR   The call of Interfaith in no way rejects religion. It is a call to realize that our spiritual traditions are living, breathing entities that change over time, as does all of life. Still, “Seek truth in the commonality of religions, which are but the languages of speaking to Me. Worship not the grammar” took some living with. I began to imagine a sacred mountain for humanity. At the mountaintop dwelt the call of the sacred, the commonality that would hold the truths to living a meaningful life to which all of our sacred traditions seek to point us. Our differing spiritual traditions would be diverse paths up this sacred mountain that our differing eras and cultures had found helpful. The “grammar,” then, is the particular ritual and...

  Today's book excerpt comes from  An Afternoon's Dictation  by  Steven Greenebaum . This book has been in the Amazon top 100 among interfaith and ecumenical books on many occasions. PART ONE: THE CALL TO INTERFAITH CHAPTER THREE   Scripture has long fascinated me. Growing up Jewish, my first experience with scripture was, of course, Hebrew scripture. Most particularly, I was introduced to and schooled in the first five books of Hebrew scripture, what we call Torah. Torah is considered particularly sacred and important. And the study of Torah is considered a life-long task. As Rabbi Tarfon put it some 2,000 years ago, we can never finish our study, but that does not mean we can or should avoid it (“Pirke Avot” 2:16). That approach to scripture calls to me. Consider what it means that we are not called to memorize our sacred writings. Nor are we called to read scripture once or twice, or even three times and then put it away. We are called to study it. And as we ...