Interfaith trip to Israel aimed at building bonds across Westchester communities of faith
NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. - A diverse group of more than a dozen religious leaders in Westchester County is just back from a trip to Israel after building bridges during a time of divisiveness.
CBS2's Tony Aiello reports on the effort to deepen relationships across lines of race and religion.
"When we stand up against hate, we all reaffirm our humanity," said NAACP chapter president Minister Mark McLean.
McLean and Rabbi David Schuck are two of the Westchester faith leaders who recently spent a week together in Israel.
"You create an intensity of an experience that allows for some of the walls to come down and for deep, deep relationships to be built in a short amount of time," Schuck said.
Christians and Jews in the Holy Land spent long hours in conversation and fellowship. They shared an emotional visit to the Yad Vashem World Holocaust Remembrance Center, and prayed together for the ten killed in Buffalo, allegedly by a man who hated Blacks and Jews.
"The Holocaust is something that is in the past, but we realize evil is still with us. Hate is still with us, and so it gave us an opportunity to connect as human beings, as people of God," McLean said.
Back now in New Rochelle, the challenge is to lead diverse congregations along a path of mutual respect and understanding.
"I don't think the Jewish community in New Rochelle has really dealt with, and learned about, the challenges to the communities of color in New Rochelle, and I don't think the communities of color in New Rochelle think of the Jewish community as people who feel themselves vulnerable," Shuck said.
"The experience in the Holy Land has forged a true bond and a commitment to coming back to Westchester and making a difference for our communities," McLean said.
They took a trip together, and now are on a journey.
The trip was sponsored by the UJA Federation of New York and the Westchester Jewish Council. The leaders who attended have already scheduled meetings to continue their interfaith work.