There is similarity in many
ways between two ancient religions i.e. Hinduism and Judaism. If these
two religions come close together then a great inspirational force will
generate to establish the world peace. With this intention, the second
congregation of Hindu and Jewish leaders was organised by the chief
Rabbinate (Jewish religious parliament) of Israel in cooperation with
‘World Council of Religious Leaders’ and American Jews Committee.
In this congregation, HH
Shree Parmatmanand Saraswatiji (leader of Hindu Dharm Acharya, Arsh
Vidya Mandir, Rajkot), Sadguru Shastri Shree Madhavpriyadasji Swami
(Shree Swaminarayan Gurukul), Mahamandleshwar Shree Avdheshanandji (Juna
Akhada, Ambala, Hariyana), Mahamandleshwar Shree Visheshwaranandji (Sanyas
Ashram, Haridwar & Mumbai), Mahamandleshwar Shree Samvidanandji (Kailashdham,
Nasik), Swami Shree Chidanandaji – Muniji (Parmarth Niketan, Rushikesh),
Mr. Bava Jain (Secretary, World Council of Religious leaders) and other
eminent spiritual personalities from various states of India had taken
part.
Chief Rabbi David Rosen
(Chairman, International Jews Committee) gave a warm welcome to
representatives of Hindu Dharm Acharya Sabha. Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar
and Chief Rabbi Yonah Metzger attended the various programmes and made
these gatherings very memorable. Mr. Oded Wiener (Director General,
Chief Rabbinate) had also taken very active part in this congregation.
In this gathering, various
topics such as traditions, festivals, philosophy, similarities of both
the religions were discussed.
Mainly, the shadows of doubt
related to Hindu religion were eradicated by appealing conversations.
The open talks were conducted which was related to sign of Swastik and
idol worship.
Discussions related to
traditions, almanac, fiestas and future challenges were held in detail
and ways to cultivate the values of life in new generation were
discussed.
On this occasion the foreign
state minister Mr. M.K. Mazali, Mr. Ishaq, the minister of tourism and
Prime Minister had done the meeting of goodwill at Parliament House of
Israel. In this Parliament the Hindu representatives were cordially
welcomed.
The president of Israel Mr.
Shimon Peers had welcomed the Hindu representatives in the House of
President and he expressed his pleasure while remembering the bonds of
friendship between India and Israel. He also expressed his wish of
strengthening the relation between the citizens of these two great
countries.
This religious congregation
was held at Jerusalem and also at various places such as Carmel, Haifa
etc. The Mayors as well as the representatives of Arabians, Christians,
Druses, Muslim, Bahai etc had extended their cordial welcome to the
Acharyas of Hindu religion. They expressed their wish for both countries
for coming closer for perfect amity and conversed informally in a
healthy atmosphere.
The secretary of Hindu
Dharma Acharya sabha, Swami Parmatmanand Sarswatiji elucidated the topic
of Swastik and idol worship. He emphasised that Hindus also believe in
one God. The Almighty God is one only but He manifests in various forms.
The difference between Hitler’s Swastik and Hindu’s Swastik is as good
as the distinction between Sky and Earth. Hindus have adopted the sign
of Swastik as a pious emblem since time immemorial and in this the
feeling of the welfare of world is the main objective. Hitler had done
the misuse of Swastik. Rather the shape of his Swastik is also
different. The theory of Aryans and Dravidians was created evilly to
divide the country.
In this gathering Pujya
Madhavpriyadasji Swami told that, both the religions of Judaism and
Hinduism are ancient and the relations with Jews are very amicable and
cordial in India. When King Solomon built the House of worship the gold
was imported from India. Therefore, the commercial relation of India and
Israel is very cordial and friendly since the old time. The heart melts
when we hear the tortures borne by the Jews. However, the wonderful
flowers of love, patriotism and valor bloomed in the painful forest of
agony. The great challenge in front of us is of ‘fostering the
traditional and cultural values in our citizens’. For that we have to
increase the numbers of those schools to whom we call GURUKUL for the
value based education.
The Mahamandleshwar Shree
Avdheshanandji expressed his wish to create the atmosphere of peace and
harmony for the citizens of these two countries.
The Chief Rabbi Yonah
Metzger and Shlomo Amar said that our misunderstanding about Hindu
religion has been wiped out from the minds because of our healthy
conversations. When Jews were tortured from all quarters of the glob
then they got love and cooperation from India only.
At the last, the
representatives of Hindu religion emphasised that wherever there is the
misinterpretation for the Hindu religion and Hindu culture at that place
the problems have been cropped up among the religions. Therefore,
whatever the literature about Hinduism is going to be written it should
be centrally approved by the apex body of Acharyas of Hindu religion
only. The Rabbinate of Jewish religion had accepted this resolution.
The erudite scholars of
Hindu religion belonging to Hindu Dharm Acharya Sabha presented their
articles with essential evidences that held everyone spellbound.
All these arrangements of
congregation were materialised by the efforts and blessings of Chief of
Hindu Dharm Acharya Sabha Swami Shree Dayanand Sarswatiji, in-charge of
International Jewish committee Chief Rabbi David Rosen, director general
of Rabbinate Mr. Oded Wiener and secretary of World Council of Religion
Mr. Bawa Jain.
Some of the affirmations
which were reached during this congregation are…..
1) In the interest of
promoting the correct understanding of Judaism, Hinduism and their
histories, it was agreed that textbooks and reference material might be
prepared in consultation with the scholars’ group under the aegis of
this Summit.
2) Central to the Jewish
and Hindu worldview is the concept of the sanctity of life, above all
the human person.
3) It is recognised that
the One Supreme Being GOD, has been worshipped by Hindus over the
millennia. This does not mean that Hindus worship many ‘Gods and idols’.
The Hindu relates to only the One Supreme Being when he/she prays to a
particular manifestation.
4) Mutual understanding
and information about the real meanings behind the various religious
festivals of both the communities
5) As the two oldest
religious traditions of the world Hindu and Jewish, may consider jointly
appealing religions in the worlds to recognise that all religions are
sacred and valid for their respective people.
6) Ayans/Hindus are the
indigenous/natives of India. There is no conclusive evidence to support
the theory of migration of Hindus into India, and on the contrary there
is compelling evidence to refute it a call for a serious reconsideration
of this theory and a revision of all educational materials
7) And many more …..
