A Common Word Between Us and You A Common Word Between Us and You A Common Word between Us and You is an open letter, dated 13 October 2007, from leaders of the Islamic religion to leaders of the Christian religion. It calls for peace between Muslims and Christians and tries to work for common ground and understanding between both religions, in line with the Qur'anic command: "Say: 'O People of the Scripture! come to a common word as between us and you: that we worship none but God" and the Biblical commandment to love God, and one's neighbour. In 2008 the initiative was awarded the "Eugen
Herem (censure) Herem (censure) Herem (, also Romanized "chērem, ḥērem") is the highest ecclesiastical censure in the Jewish community. It is the total exclusion of a person from the Jewish community. It is a form of shunning and is similar to "vitandus" "excommunication" in the Catholic Church. Cognate terms in other Semitic languages include the Arabic terms "ḥarām" "forbidden, taboo, off-limits, or immoral" and haram "set apart, sanctuary", and the Ge'ez word "ʿirm" "accursed". Arguably the most famous case of a herem is that of Baruch Spinoza, the seventeenth century philosopher. Other famous subjects of a herem were early Russian communists Leon