As Jews in metro
Atlanta and around the world begin their holiest season
of the year, one Atlanta congregation will be hosting an
unusual guest speaker: a Muslim sheik. Sheik Abu Saleh el
Refai, a Sufi Muslim and spiritual leader of Arabs living
on the West Bank, will be the guest speaker this evening
at services sponsored by the nondenominational Shema
Yisrael, the Open Synagogue [snip] Two years ago,
after a profound religious experience, the sheik opened
the doors of his mosque in the Palestinian village of
D'Ir Qadis to Jews. "The invitation to address a Jewish
congregation in Atlanta is a reciprocal gesture," said
Jane Davis, a lay leader in Shema Yisrael and founder of
HOPE-HOWSE International, a nonprofit [peace] and
human rights organization.
"He's a walking man of
peace," said Davis of the sheik, who participated in the
United Nations as part of the Millennium Peace Conference
of Religious and Spiritual leaders. The sheik called the
opportunity to speak to a Jewish congregation on Rosh
Hashana "a big gift from God."