Fear, Hope, Meaning, and the Moral Languages of NYC
Building Bridges in a Fractured Moment: A Jewish-Muslim Dialogue in New York
“Given the moment we are living in, this feels both urgent and deeply important,” one rabbi said as Jewish leaders gathered recently in New York City with His Excellency Sheikh Dr. Mohammed Al-Issa, Secretary General of the Muslim World League (MWL), for a substantive dialogue grounded in a shared commitment to stand together against antisemitism, extremism, and hatred in all its forms.
I was honored to participate in this small delegation of Jewish interfaith leaders. The private conversation reflected a rare but necessary effort: Jews and Muslims meeting not only to address the tensions of the present moment but to model a different kind of engagement.
Sheikh Al-Issa spoke movingly about his groundbreaking trip to Auschwitz in January 2020, where he led one of the most senior Muslim delegations ever to visit the Auschwitz-Birkenau Holocaust memorial in Poland. Standing at the site where nearly one million Jewish men, women, and children were systematically murdered by the Nazis, many gassed to death and their bodies burned in ovens, he described remembrance of the Holocaust as a “sacred duty” and forcefully condemned hatred in all its forms.
He discussed his continuing efforts to combat antisemitism in the Muslim world and to bring Muslims and Jews closer together for the benefit of peace in the Middle East and around the globe. Sheikh Al-Issa affirmed the Jewish people’s right to live in their ancient homeland alongside a Palestinian state, supporting a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict. He denounced Hamas and the Oct. 7 massacre in Israel, while also criticizing Israel’s response in Gaza. He noted that the MWL had condemned the December massacre of Jews in Australia carried out by Muslim terrorists.
The Jewish delegation, made up of leading interfaith practitioners, emphasized the historical commonalities Jews and Muslims share and the importance of promoting such encounters publicly as a model for others to replicate.
Sheikh Al-Issa has emerged as one of the most visible Muslim advocates for interfaith dialogue and cooperation today. Beyond serving as Secretary-General of the Muslim World League, a major international Islamic organization headquartered in Mecca, he also leads affiliated initiatives focused on combating hate, extremism, and fostering peaceful global engagement. Under his leadership, MWL has sought to promote a more moderate vision of Islam while countering extremism both within Muslim communities and in the wider world.
His engagement with Jewish communities has included high-profile interfaith events in the United States and Europe, as well as cooperation agreements with major Jewish organizations aimed at protecting places of worship and advancing shared values. He has spoken out against antisemitism and Holocaust denial — positions still relatively uncommon among senior Muslim clerics — while emphasizing that Jews and Muslims have lived peacefully together for much of history.
These efforts reflect a broader shift among some Muslim leaders and institutions toward deeper interfaith engagement, not only between Muslims and Jews but also with Christians and other faith communities. In a time marked by polarization and fear, such encounters offer a glimpse of what bridge-building can look like when leaders are willing to meet honestly, confront painful realities, and search for common ground.
Rabbi Eric J. Greenberg, DHL is Director of Interfaith Initiatives, FAITH: Foundation to Advance Interfaith Trust and Harmony
Editor’s Note: At a time when Jewish-Muslim relations are often framed through conflict, this New York meeting offered a different kind of moment — quieter, more deliberate, and rooted in shared moral language. Rabbi Greenberg’s account places readers inside a rare private dialogue between senior Jewish leaders and Sheikh Dr. Mohammed Al-Issa of the Muslim World League, a figure whose outreach has stirred both hope and debate. What follows is less a diplomatic communiqué than a firsthand reflection on how interfaith leadership is being tested — and reshaped — in a fragile global climate.
Latest Updates on NYC Jews
NYC Mayor Mamdani’s First Moves: Rolling Back Protections for Jews
The newly elected NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s early actions have heightened fears that protections against antisemitism are being weakened as hostility toward Jews escalates. New York City is home to the largest Jewish population outside of Israel.
Early Actions Signal a Shift Away from Combating Antisemitism
In his first days in office, Mamdani reversed key policies to protect Jewish communities from antisemitism. He revoked executive orders that adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance working definition of antisemitism, restricted city engagement with the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Movement against Israel and provided guidance to the NYPD on handling protests near houses of worship. The new mayor’s actions struck down clear standards and safeguards at a moment of rising anti-Jewish hostility.
Mamdani’s team also deleted social media posts on combating antisemitism – posted by the previous mayor – from the official NYC Mayor’s account, erasing public commitments to confronting anti-Jewish hate and raising questions about legality and transparency.
Mamdani also appointed a new chief counsel who previously coached hardline anti-Israel protesters and defended an Al Qaeda terrorist in court. At least 20% of the mayor’s appointees have ties to anti-Zionist groups.
PURIM is Evening March 2 to Evening March 3. Explore the Book of Esther
Discover a unique exhibition at The Jewish Museum that brings to life the Book of Esther through the eyes of Rembrandt and his contemporaries, showcasing Jewish ceremonial art from 17th-century Amsterdam.
PASSOVER April 1-9 with Chat GPT Haggadah Supplement
The Exodus Story as Driving Directions from My Jewish Father-in-law
Timeline of Golem in NYC
SERIES: BEING JEWISH IN A CITY ON EDGE
Introduction to series
On a Friday evening in Manhattan, the synagogue doors are open—but guarded.
The metal and concrete barricades are new. So are the police officers stationed across the street. Inside, the service proceeds as it always has: familiar prayers, familiar melodies, a congregation trying to hold normal life in place.
Outside, the city feels different.
The city is listening. And, in its own way, searching.
EDITOR'S NOTE
Being Jewish in a City on Edge is a reporting series from A Journey through NYC Religions that examines how antisemitism, public fear, and global conflict are shaping Jewish life in New York today.
New reports on the rise of antisemitism in America are alarming to Jews.
The American Jewish Committee reports in their annual State of Antisemitism in America report that an overwhelming 91% of American Jews say that a series of violent antisemitic attacks last year made them feel less safe as a Jewish person in this country. More than half (55%) report changing their behavior in the past year out of fear of antisemitism. And , 17% say that they have considered leaving the U.S. altogether because of the increase in intimidation, and verbal and physical assaults.
The Journey series does not argue a single political or theological position. Instead, it documents how Jews—and their neighbors—are experiencing pressure in public life, and how religious and secular traditions interpret the same events through different moral languages: faith, history, justice, power, and belonging.
New York is home to the world’s largest Jewish population outside Israel and a fast-growing evangelical Christian group, as well as being one of the most religiously and philosophically diverse cities on earth. When Jewish communities feel threatened, the implications extend beyond any one group. They raise questions about religious identity, democracy, minority protection, civic responsibility, and the moral health of the city itself.
Our aim is to report carefully, listen widely, and make space for disagreement without flattening difference. We believe understanding begins not with answers, but with attention to the questions now returning to New York’s shared life.
Learn about programs aimed at educating the public on the dangers of anti-Semitism and fostering understanding.
