Mosque's opening a milestone to be celebrated
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I WAS pleased to see the coverage of the opening of the new mosque and Muslim cultural center in Roxbury last weekend, but disappointed that so much of the coverage seems to still focus on those opposed to the building of the mosque. I was only one of a number of rabbis and other members of the Jewish community who attended the events on June 26, and we were warmly welcomed as part of a wonderfully diverse, multifaith community that had come together to celebrate this milestone in Boston’s history.
I want your readers to know that while one vocal but unrepresentative faction of the local Jewish community has dampened official Jewish engagement with this project, there are many across the Jewish community who are actively engaged in a variety of activities in concert with the local Muslim community, including the Islamic Society of Boston.
I was embarrassed and disheartened by the presence of mosque opponent Charles Jacobs and a few of his compatriots outside the Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center, but I also knew that Jacobs does not speak for me, nor, I believe, for the majority of Jews in the Boston area.
Rabbi Toba Spitzer
Congregation Dorshei Tzedek
West Newton
