Jain Catholic Dialogue 20150524

Author(s): Jain Society of Metropolitan Washington
Publisher: Jain Society of Metropolitan Washington

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Arvind Vora Having been blessed with a good education, multiple talents, and a desire to always be meaningfully busy and active to help others, he has compiled an unparalleled experience in the field of community work, religion, government, etc. RELIGION: Arvind Vora belongs to an extremely small (numerically) but a very ancient religion called JAIN. He helped establish local, regional and national Jain organizations in North America. The White House requested him to lead a delegation of 15 people for the bill (Religious Freedom Restoration Act) signing ceremony by President Clinton in the Rose Garden of the White House. In 2005, he was invited to the President's Palace in New Delhi for a multi-faith dialogue with the then-President of India, Hon. Abdul Kalam, who is a renowned scientist and a Muslim in a majority Hindu nation. Arvind Vora was one of the ten invited (and the only Jain) to meet/greet Pope Benedict on his first visit to the USA in April 2008. He met privately to Dalai Lama before he won the Nobel Peace Prize and afterwards led the Jain delegation at his request to his "Thank You" trip on 50th Anniversary of his settlement in India. On 1/1/2010, he offered prayers on behalf of LIMFF at the inauguration of newly elected Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano, as was done four years ago for Thomas Suozzi. He was invited to join the US delegation of 20 people to attend Indonesia-USA Interfaith Cooperation Conference at Jakarta from January 25-27, 2010, undertaken at the behest of the White House/State Department as a result of the policy speech delivered by President Obama in Cairo, Egypt on improving US relations with the Muslim world. One of the 40 task force members of GIFHD (Global Initiative on Faith, Health, and Development) convened at the White House (July-December 2010).
Arvind Vora helped to found the Jain Society of Long Island. He worked very hard for three critical years at Jain Center of America in New York City, which hosted the very first JAINA convention in New York. He was instrumental in the formative years of JAINA as the first Secretary to lay a solid foundation of JAINA. He worked on special projects such as Gurudev Chitrabhanu's 25th Anniversary of arrival in U.S.A./75th Birthday Celebration in 1996-1997); 2600th Birth Anniversary Celebration of Mahaveera Swami at UN Chapel in 2002, etc. In addition to many honors and recognitions, he received the highest honor of JAINA RATNA for his multifaceted religious activities in 2003.
In the early 1990s, sensing a need to ease problems caused in our increasingly multi-religious society, mainstream institutions, Auburn Theological Seminary, and the Long Island Council of Churches helped to establish Long Island Multi-Faith Forum (LIMFF) in 1994. Arvind Vora has been Chairman since its inception and devotes a tremendous amount of time and energy to make LIMFF the best possible institute. LIMFF became instrumental in having a key Cardinal visit from Rome to deliver an important message and Buddhist Leader (equivalent of Dalai Lama from Taiwan. For the first time in the history of St. Agnes Cathedral the newly-installed Bishop faced the "9-11 Crisis." LIMFF played a key role in bringing both County Executives Diocese covers Nassau and Suffolk) and leaders of twelve faiths (they are all based on Long Island) at the St. Agnes Cathedral for a joint and unique 9-11 prayer services in the presence of past and current Bishops. LIMFF has received local, regional, and national acclaims for its path-breaking activities. Arvind Vora is a retired engineer, and lives in Kings Park, New York with his wife ILA. They have two grown children, daughter Anjali and son Aditya.