VOA Indonesia: Rabbi Brad Hirschfield at "Building Collaborative Communities" Conference, Jakarta

January 27, 2010

"…far more important than what I could or couldn’t eat, was who could’ve imagined…a rabbi from America to travel thousands of miles as a guest of his own government and government of Indonesia to sit…with a bunch of wonderful young people and answer all their questions about what was a Jew, what was kosher, and how we could talk more than we ever expected. For me that…is far more nourishing…than whether or not they made me lunch...."

Listen to the edited interview which was voiced over in Indonesian...

From Voice Of America Indonesian Service

The synopsis of VOA of Indonesia’s Jimmy Manan’s interview is as follows:

I interviewed Rabbi Brad Hirschfield, President of the National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership (CLAL). He is attending "Building Collaborative Communities" at Borobudur Hotel in Jakarta.

The most meaningful encounters, according to Brad was not the formal sessions, but the informal ones. For example, kosher precluded him from enjoying the meals provided by his host, and he assured the embarrassed conference staffers that it was OK.

"I explained to them that far more important than what I could or couldn’t eat, was who could’ve imagined that it was possible for a rabbi from America to travel thousands of miles as a guest of his own government and government of Indonesia to sit at a table with a bunch of wonderful young people and answer all their questions about what was a Jew, what was kosher, and how we could talk more than we ever expected. For me that conversation is far more nourishing and far more promising than whether or not they made me lunch."

As for his hopes coming out of this conference is that Indonesian will commit to more encounters and continue this conversation, because it is both interesting since it admits to our similarities, and honest, since it admits there are differences. The willingness to talk together and grow together will be good for all of us.

The meeting was held from 25—27 January 2010, sponsored by Indonesian Foreign Ministry, US State Department, and the White House office on Faith Initiatives.