Jewish Reconstructionist Federation

Rabbi Amy Small with Dr. Sayyid Syeed, National Director of the Islamic Society of North AmericaIn December 2008, Jewish, Christian and Muslim religious leaders, including heads of more than 25 national organizations issued a consensus statement, "A Window of Hope for the Peace of Jerusalem," calling for urgent U.S. leadership for peace in the Middle East. The statement and a letter to President-Elect Obama were drafted by the National Interreligious Leadership Initiative for Peace in the Middle East (NILI).

Among the endorsers of the consensus statement were Dr. Carl A. Sheingold, JRF Executive Vice President, Rabbi Toba Spitzer, President, Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association, Rabbi Brant Rosen, Immediate Past President, Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association, and Rabbi Amy Small, Past President, Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association. These Reconstructionist leaders signed on to this initiative personally, not as officially representing their organizations.

In the letter to President-Elect Obama, the religious leaders urged him to make Arab-Israeli-Palestinian peace an urgent priority of U.S. policy from the start of his Presidency. They assured him that substantial majorities in synagogues, churches and mosques across the country would support active U.S. leadership for peace.