Zoroastrian matchmaking and marriage

From Faith Communities Council of Victoria and Australia's ABC

Zoroastrianism was the official religion of Persia, its birthplace, for more than a millennium, but today the community is a fraction of its former size, and that's raising serious concerns about the future of the faith.

Ms Havewala is a Zoroastrian — or 'Parsi' (meaning 'Persian') as they're known in India — a member of an ancient monotheistic faith that pre-dates Islam and Christianity.

Zarin Havewala doesn't call herself a professional matchmaker, but her track record suggests otherwise.

Unofficially, she manages an international database of Zoroastrian bachelors and bachelorettes — an extensive list of names and numbers, careers and qualifications, ages and email addresses — that's shared with singles who are looking for love.

To read more, please go here

What is Zoroastrianism?

Video here

The Not-So Holy Comedy Debate : Arranged marriage is better than dating

The Third Jewish - Muslim Comedy Debate is being held at 7:00pm on Mon 19 March in Swanston Hall.  The very cheeky Father Bob as Moderator again and we have a great, very funny panel, featuring Michael Shafar, Justine Sless, Jacob Sacher, Rana Hussain, Louise Baring and Hamsa Farah! 

The topic is ‘Arranged marriage is better than dating!’ – It will be a very funny night!!

Yes, Jews and Muslims can get together and have fun!  In fact, a lot of fun!

Book now at https://jmcd2018.eventbrite.com.au

Please find the flyer with details attached.

Special thanks to the State Government and Melbourne City Council for their support.

Best regards,

David Marlow

Executive Director I Jewish Community Council of Victoria

80 Years as the Voice of Victorian Jewry

306 Hawthorn Road, Caulfield South, Vic 3162

p. 03-9272 5579 I f. 03-9272 5560 I m. 0407 389 919

e. david@jccv.org.au I www.jccv.org.au I @davidhmarlow

You can follow us on:   

Amal Awad, Ali's Wedding, and Australia's first Muslim "rom com".

Amal Awad blogs at three quarters full

_______________________________________________

Amal Awad shared Ali's Wedding's photo.

18 July at 17:40 · 

Very pleased to be a part of this very exciting project for the new film Ali's Wedding. It's Australia's first 'Muslim rom com' - lots of fun, touching and beautifully written. Lots of wonderful stories are featured in this series - enjoy. #AlisWedding

Ali's Wedding with Frida Deguise and 5 others.

17 July at 16:23 · 

The Ali's Wedding team is excited to launch our special project, a portrait series of 11 Muslim Australians sharing personal stories of love and marriage. Directed by Fadia Abboud, and photographed by Hoda Afshar, ‘11 True Love Stories’ will also be exhibited in Melbourne and Sydney – venues to be announced soon! 

#11truelovestories #diverseaustralia #AlisWedding

Interfaith marriages between Christians and Muslims - a UK discussion and approach

A talk given at the St Philip’s Centre, Leicester

26 November 2013 (part of our Inter Faith Week and SERIC programme)

Introduction

My colleague Heather al-Yousuf, who will be leading us later, mentioned the subject of inter faith marriage when she joined the Christian Muslim Forum five years ago. This is how I introduced Heather to colleagues:

‘She is married to a Shi’a Muslim and is one of the organisers of the Christian-Muslim marriage support group. She produced the Inter Faith Marriage Resource Pack (with Rosalind Birtwistle) which we have made available at a number of Forum events, though none of us are actually promoting inter faith marriage …’

This began to open up a whole new conversation for us. Should we, in order to preserve good Christian-Muslim relations, stay away from this issue? Looking back on those five years I am a little surprised to see that my response to this question fits exactly with where we have ended up and is consistent with our thinking throughout:

‘I think the main issue is helping our religious leaders to continue providing pastoral care and supporting people in their decisions. This could lead to couples feeling less isolated and families/communities less threatened. It raises many of the difficult questions that conversion poses. This is not to say that the Forum will set up any inter faith marriage initiatives, but it is a particularly sensitive area where, God willing, the Forum can be helpful to a range of people, potentially whatever their stance and involvement.

Looking back over the last year, I can say that Christian-Muslim marriage is not the most controversial issue that we have explored, but that’s another story!

The Guidelines

These are some of the issues that we sought to address in our guidelines:

• Numbers of mixed relationships are increasing in the UK across all communities and will continue to do so {statistics}.  The law (of the land) allows them to do so and they are increasingly normalised in society.
• Within both faith communities there is ‘a spectrum of concern’ about inter faith marriages. These range from outright taboo/prohibition to cautious toleration. Differences in perspective may reflect different faith rules and historical contexts but also different traditions of relationship formation.
• Family crisis: where seen as forbidden, inter faith relationships may precipitate difficult emotions of shame or fear with some associated risks of family breakdown, violence, mental ill-health. 
• A (religiously) legitimate marriage ceremony is often key to resolving the initial family and personal crisis over inter faith marriage.  However, this can mean decisions over conversion and identification of children is made in a context of pressure/crisis and competition between identities which couples find difficult and divisive. 
• Treating marriage as an ‘internal’ issue for family/faith community tends to prioritise one partner’s faith rules over the other partner’s autonomy and authenticity. It sets up competition between the two paerertners’ faiths/identities, or causes dissembling about religion in order to tick the box.  
• Inter faith-sensitive leaders, who can respond to nuanced and complex situations are desperately needed.
• Evidence from inter faith couples seems to suggest that authenticity, reciprocity and real acceptance of difference are typical core values of successful long term marriages. 
• Less successful IF marriages may be driven by community polarisation – faith becomes a point of conflict, there can be mutual fear of annexation and mutual hostility, or where they feel victimised and excluded by a faith community they may treat faith with ambivalence or avoidance (‘a curse on both your houses’).
• Increasing number of IFMs mean increasing numbers of people of mixed and marginal identities who may identify with and draw meaning from one or more faith traditions, even those feeling excluded from the main community of faith.
• IFMs are an area in which practical and sustained intimacy between the lived experience of faith traditions is disseminated through society.  At best such relationships are crucibles of practical theology and working solutions for the issues of ‘coexistence’ that society faces.  They create real bonds and unite people of both faiths in one family.

Thus the guidelines focus on:

• ethical pastoral support
• no forced conversion (including nominal conversions)
• prioritising of the welfare of children
• and being welcoming.

The last is a particular favourite of mine in our work, and of other inter faith activists, a welcoming attitude goes a long way. 

There is more to this article.

Please go here.

Video sharing of the Wisdom of Marriage

You may recall the posts on this blog about the Wisdom of Marriage event at the East Melbourne synagogue.  The editor of this blog, Brigid O'Carroll Walsh, was mentioned in these blogposts as speaking at this event.  At the last minute, an addition to the speakers list because someone couldn't make it was Ballarat Interfaith Network's President, Elham Jamali.  So B.I.N. had two speakers at this significant event.  Editor's comment: Punching above our weight?

Below are two videos of the event by Chiluka Desai of WIN Foundation.

Sharing the wisdom of marriage - a COMMON event sharing also the experience of Sukkot, the Feast of Tabernacles

Not too sure how this picture can be made.
Please go to this site for more readability.

As readers of this blog will know, we are in the middle of what are known as the High Holy Days within the Jewish tradition.  Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur have passed and now we move into Sukkot known as the Feast of Booths or the Feast of Tabernacles which serves to remind people of their time in the desert after leaving Egypt thousands of years ago.  (Scroll back a little and you will find posts about Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur)

Brigid O'Carroll Walsh - who is Secretary of the Ballarat Interfaith Network - will be one of the speakers at this event next Saturday.  Please come along and support her and say hello.

Celebrate the Festival of Booths and the Wisdom of Marriage on the International Day of Peace at the East Melbourne Synagogue

The above event - The Wisdom of Marriage - is free.
It will be held on International Peace day - 21 September - 6pm to 9pm
at the East Melbourne Synagogue, 488 Albert Street, East Melbourne
(Parliament Station is close by)
This event is organised by COMMON

PLEASE RSVP TO: 
Jessiee Kaur Singh
SMS, Call or email
Mobile: 0411 300 655  Homo: (03) 9547 8958
jessieeks@hotmail.com

Please note:
It is also Sukkot - The Feast of Tabernacles or The Feast of Booths

The Secretary of the Ballarat Interfaith Network, 
Brigid O'Carroll Walsh,
will be speaking at this event.