Interfaith Encounters

by Steven C. King

Joseph, a young Jewish man in Tel Aviv, meets Layla, a pretty Jordanian Muslim woman at an American Express conference in Cairo. Attracted to each other, they use e-mail to get better acquainted. He engineers a job transfer for her to Tel Aviv, where they fall in love and marry. They carefully explore their shared religious beliefs, particularly women’s rights and prohibition of Muslim women marrying outside Islam. They join interfaith groups and become involved in issues underlying the violence between the Israelis and the Palestinians. Learning more about religious and cultural differences that go back 5000 years helps them and their friends develop the basis for pushing clerics and politicians to resolve the Middle East conflicts. Joseph and Layla study how to raise their two children in an interfaith family and society. Surprisingly, their prayers for a Messiah to come and bring peace among the world’s religions are answered.

236 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005