8/11/2019 Abraham's Table - The Status of Women in Abrahamic Traditions

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Peace Islands Institute | Event Report

Issue 06 | Mar 29, 201

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ABRA

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Hijab, usually seen bythe West as anoppressing item,actually applies toboth women andmen, calling formodest dress.

Mary Magdalene, hasa vital role inChristianity, it signifiesthe Church

Jewish Ketubaguarentees thebrides rights inmarriage

The Status of WomenIn Abrahamic Traditions

Abrahams table is a forum series organized by the center forinterfaith affairs of Peace Islands Institute. It aims to establish acommon ground among Abrahamic traditions. This months topicwas the status of women in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

Womens roles in religion today tend to be seen as oppressive and

degrading, as we are often met with stories of women being portrayedas second-class citizens in religious life. However, our three panelistsfrom each of the Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islamspoke about how women in their sacred texts actually took on leadershiproles and the abundance of rights that they are guaranteed.

Sarah Sayeed, Ph.D Lucinda A. Mosher, Th.D Rabbi Carol Levithan

8/11/2019 Abraham's Table - The Status of Women in Abrahamic Traditions

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Peace Islands Institute | Event Report

Issue 06 | Mar 29, 201

Peaceislands.org

Rabbi Carol LevithanCurrently the Rabbinic Director and Senior Directorof Adult Programs at the Jewish Community CenterManhattan, Rabbi Carol Levithan was our firstspeaker of the night. Rabbi Levithan spoke of thewide array of important roles for women in Judaism

and noted specific women, such as Prophet Huldaand Deborah. Also noted was the Jewish Ketuba,which guarantees the brides rights in marriage.Although Rabbi Levithan noted that there were stillsome limitations in Judaism, there have beenprogressive efforts, especially in the conservativestream of Judaism for women, including womenbecoming Rabbi like Rabbi Levithan herself.

Lucinda Allen Mosher, Th.D.Dr. Lucinda Allen Mosher is currently the Faculty Associate in InterfaithStudies at Hartford Seminary. Our second speaker of the night, Dr. Mosheralso spoke on the wide range of traditions that women have in Christianity.A large portion of her speech emphasized the importance of Mary the

Mother of Jesus Christ, who Christians and Muslims believe conceived herson miraculously. Dr. Mosher pointed out that Mary the Mother of Jesus,because of her vital role in Christianity, signifies the church. Later on, Dr.Mosher gave examples of women leadership in Christianity, both in ancientand present-day times.

Sarah Sayeed, Ph.DDr. Sarah Sayeed is the current Board President of Women in Islam, Inc.Although our media portrays women in Islam as oppressed, Dr. Sayeedpoints out that according to the Quran, women and men are spiritualequals and that there is no difference between them in the eyes of God. InHadith 24, the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) forbids oppression. Hijab,usually seen by the West as an oppressing item, actually applies to bothwomen and men, calling for modest dress. Throughout her dialogue, shealso noted specific women leaders in Islam, including Khadijah and Aisha,as well as ones in the present day.

BIOGRAPHIESSarah Sayeedis currently the board President ofWomen in Islam, Inc., a social justice and humanrights education and advocacy organization. Shealso works as a Program Associate at theInterfaith Center of New York, where she runs theRabbi Marshall T. Meyer Retreats for SocialJustice and manages a program focused onCatholic-Muslim partnerships in social services.She has been involved in interfaith activities in New

York City for more than a decade, includingthrough previous work with New York DisasterInterfaith Services and the American Jewish WorldService. Prior to joining ICNY, Dr. Sayeed served asAssistant Professor at Baruch Colleges School ofPublic Affairs, where she taught publiccommunication and health communication. Sarahearned a Bachelors degree in Sociology and NearEast Studies from Princeton University and an MAand PhD in Communication from the AnnenbergSchool for Communication, University ofPennsylvania. Dr. Sayeed regularly deliverspresentations and facilitated discussions aboutMuslims and Islam to a wide range of audiences.

She has authored articles relating to women, Islamand public health and some of her recent writingsare featured in the Huffington Posts Religion Blog.

Rabbi Carol Levithanwas ordained as aConservative rabbi by The Jewish TheologicalSeminary in May 1995 with a concentration inBible. Prior to attending rabbinical school sheearned an MA in teaching from ColumbiaUniversity and an MA in political science from TheNew School for Social Research where shecompleted all doctoral course work and exams butnot the dissertation! She has worked at the JewishCommunity Center in Manhattan since 1995 andis currently Rabbinic Director and Senior Directorof Adult Programs where her responsibilitiesinclude Jewish learning programs, teaching,supervision of the adult program staff, specialprojects and counseling, particularly for those whoare interested in conversion to Judaism. She is themother of three and the grandmother of three.

Dr Lucinda Allen Mosheris Faculty Associate inInterfaith Studies at Hartford Seminary, where sheis developing the Graduate Certificate Program inChaplaincy for Multifaith Contexts and teaches onChristian-Muslim relations. She is also the foundinginstructor for the annual Worldviews Seminar atThe University of Michigan-Dearborn, and works asa consultant on interreligious matters. The authorof Faith in the Neighborhooda book series onAmericas religious diversity, Dr. Mosher haspublished a number of articles on multifaith i ssuesgenerally and Christian-Muslim concernsspecifically. She was a participant in the 2011Building Bridges Seminaran annual international

Christian-Muslim dialogue convened by theArchbishop of Canterbury. Her current project is abook on the Episcopal Church and interreligiousrelations. Dr. Mosher is an Episcopal ChurchFellow with degrees from Boston University, theUniversity of Massachusetts (Lowell), HartfordSeminary, and the General Theological Seminary(NYC). She maintains offices in Hartford (CT), New

York City, and northeast Florida.