One of the great gems of contemporary American Jewish life is The Forward. This weekly newspaper is the current iteration of Forverts, the Yiddish Daily Forward, which itself was one of the gems of American Jewish life a century ago. And one of the gems of the current Forward this year is a series of articles by the writer Abigail Pogebrin. Pogebrin has taken it upon herself to celebrate each of the 18 Jewish holidays throughout the year in order to see what meaning they hold for a modern American Jew. You can read her explanation of this project here.
As a rabbi, I already observe the Jewish holidays. I can, and do, find something different in them every year, but I found myself wanting to try a different kind of religious observance. So I have decided that on Sundays and Christian holidays when I do not have Temple or other commitments, I will visit houses of worship in Franklin to experience a diversity of worship services. I hope to add non-Christian houses of worship to this agenda at some point in the near future.
Why am I doing this? From my time as a rabbinical student, and even before, I have had a strong commitment to interfaith dialogue. When I was at the Hebrew Union College in New York, I commuted back to Boston to Eileen and the children each weekend, which left me little time to get involved in many of the activities that other rabbinical students pursued. I had time for one extracurricular pursuit, and I decided that this would be interfaith dialogue. I took part in two dialogue programs each year. I knew going in, and I learned more deeply while I was doing this, that each faith tradition has its own wisdom to impart, and that my Judaism is stronger and richer from having learned what others have to share.
I now participate in the Franklin Interfaith Council, which provides a wonderful opportunity to continue this growth here. Visiting churches just takes that to a new level. So far, I have been to Sunday services at St. John’s Episcopal Church and at the First Universalist Society of Franklin, and I attended the Christmas Eve service at the Franklin Federated Church. Each faith tradition has its own special style and beauty. I am again reminded that we need to avoid two common mistakes: treating all religions as being essentially the same and treating all religions as beings essentially different from each other. Each tradition speaks words of universal truth in its own voice and with its own accent. It is a great gift to be able to listen to them.
– Rabbi Tom Alpert