Bahrain Biz News
March 5, 2018
Prominent US rabbi Marc Schneier hopes to see more and more Jewish delegations visiting Bahrain after he led the first-ever congregational mission to Bahrain last week, at the invitation of King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa.
His delegation, a group of 18 members of the Hampton Synagogue – located in Westhampton Beach, New York – was the first Jewish congregation to visit an Arab country in the Gulf.
Schneier, the president of the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding, is deeply involved in cultivating Jewish-Muslim relations and has been visiting the Gulf state since 2011. He went on this particular trip with a specific objective: To visit the small Jewish community there, and for his community to see the king’s commitment to religious and interfaith dialogue.
“My hope is that it will inspire other Jewish congregations around them to follow suit – I am a great believer in the importance of Muslim-Jewish engagement, which is not only for the benefit of both communities but could also help bring Israel and the Gulf nations closer together,” Schneier told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday, the day after he flew to Israel from Bahrain.
One of the reasons he chose Bahrain out of the six Gulf states is because it has a historic Jewish community of 37 people with whom he has been in contact for a while.
Prominent US rabbi Marc Schneier hopes to see more and more Jewish delegations visiting Bahrain after he led the first-ever congregational mission to Bahrain last week, at the invitation of King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa.
His delegation, a group of 18 members of the Hampton Synagogue – located in Westhampton Beach, New York – was the first Jewish congregation to visit an Arab country in the Gulf.
Schneier, the president of the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding, is deeply involved in cultivating Jewish-Muslim relations and has been visiting the Gulf state since 2011. He went on this particular trip with a specific objective: To visit the small Jewish community there, and for his community to see the king’s commitment to religious and interfaith dialogue.
“My hope is that it will inspire other Jewish congregations around them to follow suit – I am a great believer in the importance of Muslim-Jewish engagement, which is not only for the benefit of both communities but could also help bring Israel and the Gulf nations closer together,” Schneier told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday, the day after he flew to Israel from Bahrain.
One of the reasons he chose Bahrain out of the six Gulf states is because it has a historic Jewish community of 37 people with whom he has been in contact for a while.