Source: www.njjewishnews.com
USA, July 2, 2009: Recent studies have found that, on average, Jews and Hindus are the most educated religious groups in the United States, with similar economic structures and the highest retention rate of believers. Both are ancient civilizations, both are diaspora religions and both emphasize the importance of scripture and ritual. On June 14, these two faith groups became better acquainted at a Hindu-Jewish interfaith meeting sponsored by the World Council of Religious Leaders and hosted by the American Jewish Committee, the Hindu American Foundation, and the Hindu Dharma Acharya Sabha.
The first Jewish-Hindu Summit was held in February, 2007, in Delhi, India, with both sides affirming that their “respective traditions teach that there is One Supreme Being… who has communicated Divine ways of action for humanity, for different peoples in different times and places.” The second took place in Jerusalem in February 2008, when the Jewish delegation accepted that Hindus accept One Supreme Being and do not regard the representations used in worship as idols.
At the 2009 meeting, the Hindu religious leaders–representing a variety of paths– shared their concerns about unethical Christian proselytizing, receiving support from the Jewish leaders.
The Hindu representatives spoke of the imminent arrival to the United States of 60,000 Hindu refugees from Bhutan and wanted to learn from the Jews how to build community as a diaspora minority and set up an immigrant aid society. They also expressed the need to fight anti-Hinduism and change the derogatory descriptions of Hinduism in textbooks.
Rabbi David Rosen mentioned the rapid growth of political, economic, and military connections between Israel and India and emphasized the need for religious encounters.
Unanimous applause greeted one speaker’s statement that in 2000 years there has been no indigenous anti-Semitism in India.