Diet or Buy it? Faith, Food, and Resource Consumption

Breaking the Daily Fast of Ramadan
Tuesday, September 15, 2009, James Chapel
6:30 p.m. to 8:45 p.m. (Fast Break is at 7:02 p.m.)

The ninth annual Interfaith IFTAR Fast Break at Union Theological Seminary brings together diverse men and women to deepen relationships and understandings across faith traditions. Ramadan offers a significant opportunity to discuss the urgent issue of sustainability, scarcity, materialism and food justice. As we consume our delicious dinner together we will share our reflections about what we can do as diverse people of faith both globally and locally.

The evening will include prayers, qur’anic recitation, and a delicious dinner with a panel and community discussion.

IFTAR Panel

Imam Muhammad Hatim is an Elder and Non-Governmental/United Nations (NGO/UN) Representative with the Admiral Family Circle Islamic Community (Admiral Family) located in New York City where he is Director of the Justice Ministry. He has over 20 years experience in the informal resolution of equal employment opportunity (EEO) issues. He also has many years experience as a volunteer spiritual counselor with the New York City Department of Corrections, functioned as a Disaster Chaplain for the Red Cross after the World Trade Center tragedy in NYC. He is trained in facilitating resolution of sexual harassment issues and discrimination cases for a federal agency and is a Certified Alcohol and Drug Counselor (CADC) in New Jersey. He holds a Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from the Polytechnic University and a Doctor of Ministry (D.Min) from the Graduate Theological Foundation (GTF), May 2006. During the academic year 2009-2010, he is a visiting professor in African American Muslim Studies at the GTF.

Naresh Jain represents the Jain community at national and international levels. He chairs the Finance and Administration committee of the Parliament of the World’s Religions in Chicago; chairs the Public Relations Committee for the 2009 Melbo urne Parliament to be held in Australia; and co-chairs the Interfaith Committee of the Federation of Jain Associations in North America (JAINA). He also serves as a member or advisor on the Boards of JAINA, Parliament of World’s Religions, International Jain Sangh, Educare Foundation, and the Monmouth Center of World Religions and Ethical Thought. He is a member of the Taskforce for Humanity Coalition in New Jersey. Recently, he served as a Consultant to the World’s Religions Conferences held in202006 in Montreal, Canada; 2007 in Monterrey, Mexico; and 2009 in New Delhi, India.

Liore Milgrom-Elcott is Associate Director of Special Projects at Hazon – an organization committed to creating a healthier and more sustainable Jewish community and a healthier and more sustainable world for all. Prior to Hazon she was the Project Manager at the Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life where she led national campaigns to engage the Jewish community on environmental action. Liore’s environmental passions took root and grew as she spent summers camping in the backcountry of America's National Parks, leading to a BS in Natural Resources and an MPS in Environmental Economics, both from Cornell University. She also spent five months in Kanchipuram, India through the American Jewish World Service teaching Women’s Self Help Groups and supporting its tsunami relief efforts. She has also worked in the Dominican Republic and Mexico on environmental and social justice projects.

Professor Hal Taussig has taught at Union Theological Seminary for the past ten years as Visiting Professor of New Testament Studies. Dr. Taussig has been bi-vocational for his entire adult life, being both a professor of biblical literature and an active pastor for the past three decades. Professor Hal Taussig received the A.B. in Religion from Antioch College in 1965, the M.Div. from Methodist Theological School in Ohio in 1973, and the Ph.D. from Union Institute in 1975. Learn more.

ibrahim abdul-matin (moderator), a New York City native, currently serves as the Livable Streets Manager for Transportation Alternatives, an 8,000 member pro-pedestrian bicycling and public transit NYC Good Government group. As a linebacker at the University of Rhode Island and political science major, ibrahim was a finalist for the prestigious NCAA Scholar and Athlete award in 1999. Since college, he has continued to intersect sports and politics on his blog, Brooklyn Bedouin. He has also been published in ColorLines, WireTap Magazine, and Left Turn. ibrahim has worked with Green for All, the Movement Strategy Center, and created Future5000.com an online database of youth organizing. As a 2008 National Urban Fellow, through which he is a graduate of CUNY’s Baruch College, School of Public Affairs ibrahim earned a Masters in Public Administration. In 2009 he was the Lead researcher for a groundbreaking study of Muslims in New York City for the Inner-City Muslim Action Network, based out of Chicago doing advocacy, organizing, service and arts programming, as they looked to see the feasibility of their work in other urban centers. He is also the sports voice of The Takeaway, the national news program launched out of WNYC, and a partnership between NPR, the NY Times, and Public Radio International. He is currently writing a book called "Green Deen: How American Muslims Go Green" due out in July 2010 through Berrett-Koehler Publishers. ibrahim proudly lives in Brooklyn NY.