A Couple of First Thoughts from North Africa

I was in North Africa for a week for a three-day dialog with imams from the country. The "American Delegation" as we were called was made up of 7 people, most of whom have been doing this for six years now.
       There were 16 imams in attendance - they are mostly from Algiers.
       The last evening of the dialog we had a feast together. That's the photo to the right. It was a wonderful evening. I sat next to a young imam, Youcef, and we shared deeply about our lives.
       A few initial reflections come specifically from this meal together:
* First, this gathering was probably the most important of all the meetings we had. It was also the least formal. When we were in the formal dialog and there were other people observing, it felt like a chess match. Over dinner it felt like friendships.
* Second, there are striking similarities and agreement between Judaism, Islam, and Christianity. AND there are equally great, great differences which divide us. There is little middle ground here.
* Third, most of us in the West have images and impressions of Muslims and Islamic clerics which are only partially true. Or at the very least it is unfair to make sweeping generalizations about "all imams" or "all Muslims." I think we do that sometimes to justify our prejudice against a group of people.
       I have a lot more to process, and as I am able I will do so on this blog. I cannot process everything because some things are confidential. But many things in the dialogs were very public in Algeria and so can be public elsewhere.