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Community Conversation: Political Diversity
November 19, 2017, 6:30 PM – 8:30 PM
FreeWe welcome Rabbi Daniel Nevins and Pious Ali to discuss the value of political diversity and its limits in both the Jewish and civic traditions.
Pious Ali is a Youth and Community Engagement Specialist at the University of Southern Maine’s Muskie School of Public Service and has spent the better part of his life focused on community engagement. A native of Ghana, he migrated to the United States in 2000. He is the first African-born Muslim American to be elected to public office in Maine, becoming a member of the city’s Board of Public Education in 2013 and an at-large city councilor in 2016. He founded the Maine Interfaith Youth Alliance and is a co-founder of King Fellows, a Portland-based youth group dedicated to creating meaningful opportunities for youth through leadership and civic engagement, based on the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Mr. Ali serves on the board of Rippleffect, a Maine-based outdoor and adventure youth development and leadership program. He has volunteered at Long Creek Youth Development Center and served on the boards of the YMCA of Southern Maine, the Maine African Film Festival, and the Schair Memorial Lectures. In 2015 he was named Lift360’s Most Distinguished Alumnus. He has worked as a photojournalist for a range of print publications in Ghana. He lives in Portland, Maine with his two children.
Rabbi Daniel Nevins is the Pearl Resnick Dean of the Jewish Theological Seminary’s Division of Religious Leadership, which includes the rabbinical and cantorial schools, as well as the Center for Pastoral Education and the Block-Kolker Center for Spiritual Arts. He has served as dean since 2007 and ordained over 200 rabbis since then. A scholar of contemporary Jewish law, Rabbi Nevins writes position papers, or responsa, on topics of contemporary concern such as technology and religious life, gender and sexuality, and bioethics. Prior to his work as dean, Rabbi Nevins was a congregational rabbi for 13 years at Adat Shalom Synagogue in suburban Detroit. He lives with his family in New York City.
Location: Beth Israel Congregation, 291 Main Street, Waterville.
Contact: Rabbi Rachel Isaacs, 859-4271, risaacs@colby.edu.