West Bloomfield, USA - A rabbi appears on the television screen and says, "Islamophobia and anti-Semitism are both products of fear. We should oppose them."
In turn, as the public service announcement continues, imams and rabbis repeat the call.
It is not always that Muslims and Jews relinquish what separates them. But, especially in reflective moments, it is clear that while so much divides, they have much in common spiritually, including expressions of morality and values, and stories in the Torah and the Qur'an about Adam, Abraham and Moses, upon which they base their beliefs.
Jews and Muslims are gathering as part of a national effort to breach the barriers of division. The first "Weekend of Twinning" event was held Friday at Temple Kol Ami with another scheduled for Sunday night at the American Muslim Center in Dearborn. The nationwide effort, sponsored by The Foundation for Ethnic Understanding, the Islamic Society of North America, the World Jewish Congress and the Muslim Public Affairs Council, includes events this weekend at 50 mosques and 50 synagogues in 20 states and Ontario.
"Certainly, there is recognition that there is much on which we disagree," said Rabbi Norman T. Roman, of Temple Kol Ami. "But we have common goals and a common history and recognize that we all need to do more work on the ideas of respect and understanding -- and there is too much anti-Semitism, too much Islamophobia and too much hate and distrust."
"What we are doing is important because you fear what you don't know," said Imam Mohamad Mardini, of the American Islamic Center. "We are all brothers and sisters in humanity, created by God. We are all children of Adam, and we live in this world together."
While events like the 2006 war in Lebanon, disputes between Israel and the Palestinians and the dissemination in September of the movie "Obsession" -- which provoked outrage in the local Muslim community and expressions of criticism from some Jews, but nods of approval from others for its description of terrorists -- often provoke disputes in the local communities, it also is true that much interfaith work is undertaken in Metro Detroit.
Owing to holidays and cramming for finals and late-in-the-semester papers, the University of Michigan Hillel and Muslim Students' Association activities have been postponed to January, to allow for end-of-semester studies.
"We can argue back and forth about Israel and Palestine, but if you take all of the religions in the world and look at Islam and Judaism, you find the most similarities between those two," said Saad Ansari, of the Muslim Students' Association. "And, meanwhile, we are both minorities in America and we face common themes and common challenges in this country."