Dr. Reuven Firestone Interviewed by Muslim Turkish Movement “Hizmet”


Date posted: May 30, 2014

 

Rabbi Reuven Firestone, Ph.D., Professor of Medieval Judaism and Islam at the Jack H. Skirball Campus of HUC-JIR in Los Angeles, was interviewed by a Muslim Turkish Movement called Hizmet, which means “service.” Hizmet is active in interfaith dialogue in Turkey and many other countries, and has built private and charter schools in many countries, including the US.

Dr. Firestone has worked with Hizmet chapters in Los Angeles, Denver, Houston, Cleveland, Atlanta, Berlin, and Turkey for about 15 years, and has endorsed their work which is very much in accordance with our Jewish view of tikkun olam. The Movement is inspired by the writings of Fethullah Gülen, who is a living Muslim religious leader profoundly influenced by Islamic notions of universal understanding and respect for all of God’s creations.

 

Rabbi Reuven Firestone, Ph.D., has served on the faculty of HUC-JIR since 1993. Dr. Firestone founded the Center for Muslim-Jewish Engagement (CMJE), a joint program of HUC-JIR, the Omar Ibn Al-Khattab Foundation, and the Center for Religion and Civic Culture at the University of Southern California.

Dr. Firestone was born in Northern California and educated at Antioch College; Hebrew University in Jerusalem; HUC-JIR, where he received his M.A. in Hebrew Literature in 1980 and rabbinical ordination in 1982; and New York University where he received his Ph.D. in Arabic and Islamic Studies in 1988. From 1987 to 1992, Dr. Firestone taught Hebrew Literature and directed the Hebrew and Arabic Language programs at Boston University. In 1992, he was awarded the Yad Hanadiv Research Fellowship at the Hebrew University to conduct research on holy war in Islamic tradition.  In 2000, he was awarded the fellowship for independent research from the National Endowment for the Humanities for his research on holy war in Judaism. Chosen to be a fellow of the Institute for Advanced Jewish Studies at the University of Pennsylvania.  In 2002, Dr. Firestone received the Fulbright CASA III Fellowship for study and research at the American University in Cairo in 2006. In 2012-2013, he was appointed DAAD Visiting Professor in Jewish and Islamic Studies at Universität Potsdam/Geiger Kolleg in Berlin-Brandenburg.

Dr. Firestone serves on numerous committees and commissions on interfaith relations, serves on the editorial boards of numerous scholarly publications and is vice-president of the Association of Jewish Studies. Professor Firestone has lived in Israel, Egypt, and Germany, and regularly lectures in universities throughout the United States, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. His publications have been translated into German, French, Hebrew, Turkish, Arabic, Albanian, Serbo-Croatian, Macedonian, Indonesian, and Urdu.


Founded in 1875, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion is North America’s first institution of higher Jewish education and the academic, spiritual, and professional leadership development center of Reform Judaism. HUC-JIR educates men and women for service to North American and world Jewry as rabbis, cantors, educators, and nonprofit management professionals, and offers graduate programs to scholars and clergy of all faiths. With centers of learning in Cincinnati, Jerusalem, Los Angeles, and New York, HUC-JIR’s scholarly resources comprise the renowned Klau Library, the American Jewish Archives, research institutes and centers, and academic publications. In partnership with the Union for Reform Judaism and the Central Conference of American Rabbis, HUC-JIR sustains the Reform Movement’s congregations and professional and lay leaders. HUC-JIR’s campuses invite the community to cultural and educational programs illuminating Jewish heritage and fostering interfaith and multiethnic understanding. www.huc.edu

Source: huc.edu , May 28, 2014


Related News

Fethullah Gülen: President Erdogan is suffering from power poisoning

Mr. Erdogan’s witch-hunt in Turkey accelerated with the globalization of the Hizmet movement. When he closed the doors to activities such as language and culture festivals, other countries welcomed them. When Mr. Erdogan urged Turkish ambassadors to lobby their respective foreign governments to help close down schools started by Hizmet participants, those governments refused to go along.

Erdogan’s endless legitimacy crisis

Erdogan, who is avoiding dealing with the corruption charges, cannot preserve his government on the dead-end street he has entered.

Al-Azhar has examined and approved all the works of Mr. Gulen

Egypt’s Al-Azhar University, one of the most respected Islamic Sciences centers in the world, and the Islamic Research Association, has examined the works of Gulen found no contradiction to the school of Sunni Islam. Beyond these works, in some universities, especially Al Azhar, many master’s and doctoral theses on the subject of Hizmet and Mr. Gulen have been published.

CHP: Anti-Hizmet ops were part of agreement between Erdoğan, military

Main opposition Republican People’s Democratic Party (CHP) İstanbul deputy Barış Yarkadaş has said the release of suspects in the historic Ergenekon trial and the government-initiated operations against the Hizmet movement were part of an agreement between President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the Turkish military.

Hizmet Movement Declares Core Values with Unified Voice

The Alliance for Shared Values (AfSV), a U.S.-based non-profit representing regional Hizmet organizations, together with many other Hizmet-affiliated nonprofits around the world, published a landmark document that helps define and guide the civil society movement’s activities for years to come.

Germany investigates possible anti-Gulen spies

German police have raided apartments of four men suspected of carrying out espionage on behalf of the Turkish government. The men, said to be clerics, are accused of spying on supporters of cleric Fethullah Gulen.

Latest News

Fethullah Gulen – man of education, peace and dialogue – passes away

Fethullah Gülen’s Condolence Message for South African Human Rights Defender Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Hizmet Movement Declares Core Values with Unified Voice

Ankara systematically tortures supporters of Gülen movement, Kurds, Turkey Tribunal rapporteurs say

Erdogan possessed by Pharaoh, Herod, Hitler spirits?

Devious Use of International Organizations to Persecute Dissidents Abroad: The Erdogan Case

A “Controlled Coup”: Erdogan’s Contribution to the Autocrats’ Playbook

Why is Turkey’s Erdogan persecuting the Gulen movement?

Purge-victim man sent back to prison over Gulen links despite stage 4 cancer diagnosis

In Case You Missed It

Top union: Closing prep schools to leave 60,000 jobless

Take protests seriously, work to solve problems, Fethullah Gülen urges

In Greece, Turks tell of lives full of fear in Recep Erdogan’s Turkey

More evidence Erdogan behind coup

Turkey’s president orders closure of 1,000 private schools linked to Gülen

Hopefully the Gulen movement will help change the American values

Bank Asya fights back against Erdogan attack

Copyright 2025 Hizmet News