Cordoba House Remarks

Text of Rabbi Richard Jacobs' Remarks at the Jewish Rally in Support of the Cordoba
House Islamic Center, 45 Park Place, Manhattan, New York
August 5, 2010

I am the rabbi of Westchester Reform Temple in Scarsdale, New York, the largest Jewish house
of worship in Westchester County. Hundreds of my congregants worked in or around the World
Trade Center, and yes, some died on that dark day. Islam did not attack our country on 9-11 but
rather a mutant, militant and perverse strand of Islam is responsible for those horrific attacks.

I stand here in support of the creation at this site of an Islamic Community Center known as
Cordoba House. Imam Feisal Rauf, the visionary founder of this Islamic Center, envisions a
vibrant institution dedicated to tolerance, mutual respect and healing.

Last year, I participated in the Brookings Institution's World Islamic Forum. Following 9-11,
Brookings and the Qatar government created this opportunity for conversation between the west
and the Muslim world. Diplomats, scholars, journalists, cultural and faith leaders were invited to
sit together in structured conversations on some of the toughest issues facing our world. Of the
200 participants, some came from Egypt, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Libya,
Syria, the UK, the US and other places. I sat with mainstream Muslim leaders trying to imagine
how bridges of understanding could be built between the Islamic world and the United States.
One Muslim scholar gave me a copy of Feisal Rauf's book, What's Right with Islam: a New
Vision for Muslims and the West.

Reading this remarkable book, it was clear to me that Feisal Rauf has the vision, the courage and
the ability to build such a bridge of understanding. We are standing at the site of what will one
day be a place of meeting and dialogue between New Yorkers of many faiths and this tolerant
Muslim community. We need this new Islamic Center to preach love and respect in contrast to
those that preach hate and destruction.

I look forward to the day when I can bring my students to this place to learn about Islam. Every
day, I tell my students that Judaism teaches that every single human being is created B'Tzelem
Elohim-in the divine image-no exceptions. This fundamental belief demands that every one of
God's children must be treated with respect, kindness, justice and love-no exceptions.

One day my students will meet Muslim students from this Islamic Center who believe and
practice the Islamic faith which teaches those very same core values.

I pray that the funding of this noble institution will come from individuals, institutions and
countries that share the inspiring mission of the Cordoba Initiative.

Here in this place just a few yards from the site of horrific pain and loss, let this Islamic Center
be a beacon of light and hope to our aching world.
As this week's Torah portion from Deuteronomy teaches, we have a choice every day:

"See, this day I set before you blessing and curse." (Deuteronomy 11:26) Those same choices
are before us today. Let us choose blessing, the blessing of trust, courage and faith. We leaders
of the Jewish community support this visionary center and pray that speedily and soon, it will
open its doors, and in so doing will shape the world that Adonai and Allah want us to build
together.