So what, in fact, did happen when a rabbi, a priest, and an imam walked into Volunteers Hall on Tuesday, Oct. 24? First, they were met with a large audience of people of different ages, “a breakthrough for Arm in Arm,” committee member Linda Davis said later. Second, they were welcomed by another committee member, Suriaya Suliman, and by the moderator, Rev. Jill Cowie of the Harvard Unitarian Universalist Church, who summarized their impressive credentials and experience. Third, each spoke for 15 minutes with warmth, sincerity, joy, and humor; then they exchanged ideas in those same tones. Fourth, they answered questions from the audience with honesty and respect. Fifth, they received an exuberant standing ovation from the audience, in a roomful of joyous good will. And lastly, they sent their listeners home with new knowledge, deeper understandings, and inspiration for action.
To open the program, five children representing Judaism, Christianity, and Islam each spoke a word of greeting; named their place of worship, holy book, and symbols; and ended by joining together to say, “Don’t let the differences divide us. We all have the same God.” The goal of the evening was that the audience would come to understand this more fully.
Cowie, who kept everything on track throughout the evening, began by asking each of the speakers to start his or her remarks by addressing a question: What about your religion most brings you joy?
Rabbi Emeritus Lewis Mintz recounted a story of his 2-year-old grandson, just learning to talk, who, when his grandfather pointed and asked, “What is that?” responded clearly, “Torah.” “Imagine my joy,” said Mintz—a joy only somewhat diminished when later the same name was conferred on a stuffed toy. Mintz said how important this sense of continuity is, this passing down to a new generation the traditions and values. While there is a lot of diversity within Judaism, he said, all have a strong sense of continuing on, of perpetuating a sense of identity with its history and the hardships of its people.
From left: Sister Hoda Eisharkawligi and Rabbi Louis Mintz listen as Father Dennis O’Brien talks about the Eucharist in the Roman Catholic tradition. (Courtesy photo)
A shared ethic
To define the ethics of Judaism, Mintz told the story of two rabbis in Israel who encountered a Roman soldier who issued a challenge: “Teach me your religion while I stand on one foot, and I will convert.” Shammai began to speak on and on about the history, and the soldier quickly dropped his leg. Hillel, in turn, said, “That which you would not want to be done to you, do not do. All the rest is commentary. Now, go and learn.”
In speaking of the Torah, Mintz said it is a matter of interpreting and layering and learning. According to Genesis, God created man and woman in his image, and this means we each have a bit of the divine within us, Mintz said, and we all share a common descent. “We are God’s partners in creation and we must tend the garden.” Mintz defined rituals as ways to act on ethics.
Father Dennis O’Brien also began with a story. A young boy and girl were being disciplined at school. The boy went into the office first to be questioned by a nun. “Where is God?” she asked him. He remained quiet. She asked again, this time with raised voice. Silence. “Answer me,” she said, pointing her finger at him. “Where is God?” The boy got up and ran from the room, saying to his friend as he passed, “Don’t say anything. They can’t find God, and they’re trying to pin it on us.” To loud laughter, O’Brien said, “God is here. Jesus is the human face of God.”
Rummaging in a paper bag, he brought out “a few things”: a bottle of wine, a round of pita bread, a bowl, and a small towel—important items of the Last Supper. He described the Eucharist as the greatest joy, to which all are welcome. In partaking of the bread and wine, he said, “we must become what we eat,” and we find God.
O’Brien cited the parable of the Good Samaritan as the crux of Christian ethics. A man of a different ethnicity helped the crippled beggar. Two important messages are Jesus’ words: “Love your neighbor as yourself,” and like the Samaritan, “Go thou and do likewise.”
A common heritage
Supporting the idea that we are all one, O’Brien talked about Abraham and Sarah, and he cited the doctrine of Pope John XXIII: “There is some truth in all the religions of the world.”
The Koran teaches us that we are all created from one man and one woman; all the tribes are all brothers and sisters, said Sister Hoda Eisharkawligi. She cautioned about believing one story of a religion; instead, she said, there are as many stories as there are individuals.
Sister Hoda said that in Islam one gains peace and joy through submission to God. Allah is an entity to lean on; he is close; he is one and cannot be divided; he is love. “And what does he want from us? He wants us to find him, to spend time looking, and then to willingly choose to live in servitude to him,” she said.
The two worlds of Islam
In Islam, there are two worlds: the seen world and the afterlife. This world is temporary, said Eisharkawligi; “We must build the afterworld.” To prepare for the afterworld, one seeks to live a good life by following the five pillars of Islam: faith; prayer five times a day; charity; fasting to discipline the physical body to be subservient to the mind; and pilgrimage to Mecca, once in a lifetime.
During the conversation that followed the individual presentations, Mintz swept his arm over O’Brien’s “things” and said, “A Passover Seder,” calling attention to its overlap with the Eucharist. Both are renewals of life, he said. He suggested that in Catholicism, it is the individual who is seeking salvation; in Judaism, it is the community. Eisharkawligi emphasized that for Muslims there is no compulsion regarding religion. In trying to come to terms with violence in the name of religion, she said she thinks ignorance, political oppression, and poverty are the causes. O’Brien noted that praying five times a day must surely bring people closer to God.
Arm in Arm event organizers share a meal with local clergy prior to the evening talk.
(Courtesy photo)
Cowie took questions from the audience, by text message and at the microphone. In response to the question of how the different religions treat transgender people, answers seemed a bit unclear, but all speakers said their faiths are working toward offering supportive rather than judgmental positions. Attitudes toward abortion were much clearer. In Islam abortion is allowed up to the time a fetus is four months, because the soul is not yet in the body. Judaism is flexible, but should it come to a forced choice, the mother’s life would be saved rather than that of the fetus. O’Brien said Catholicism believes a life is sacred from the time of conception. On evolution, Mintz talked again about interpretation and layering, figurative versus literal meanings. O’Brien quoted Pope Benedict XVI: “Each of us is the result of a thought of God: willed, loved, necessary.”
What is the value of religion?
Following these more “concrete” questions, a young man asked, “What is the value of religion in today’s world?” O’Brien answered that belief in the divine is part of the nature of man; it gives a person strength. Religion is a framework for values to work, regarding family or grief, said Mintz. Religion opens doors, gives us a way to view, said Eisharkawligi. She told a poignant story of her experience after 9/11. Not wanting to hide but wanting to instead affirm that she belonged in this country, she walked her children to the park. On the way, someone threw something at her and another spat at her. At the park a woman glared at her. Summoning her courage, Eisharkawligi went toward the woman and began to talk to her about her faith. The two women ended up hugging and crying together.
“Can an atheist make it to the afterlife?” another young man asked. Everyone can go, said Eisharkawligi, but one should spend time in this life looking for God. “There are different levels for entrance,” said Mintz, commenting that recently there has been less focus on the afterlife and more attention on following the commandments of this world. “Yes!” said O’Brien, raising a fist for emphasis.
Other members of Arm in Arm’s Education of Cultures Committee are Susan Ostberg, Sarah Saleh, and Raiya Suliman.
