One Year Later
October 8th, 2023: I was in shock, trying to absorb the experience of the previous day and the news of the previous night because it was only at night that we learned the full extent of the massacre that had taken place.
Three days earlier, on October 5th, we had prayed together. Some 40 Christians, Muslims and Jews had come to the succah at my Synagogue for the monthly gathering of Praying Together in Jerusalem. Another 40 joined us on Zoom from around the world. Praying Together in Jerusalem was founded in October, 2015 by people who believe that praying is a form of activism. We learn from each other and we pray side-by-side. Not only do we have the symbolism of different faiths coming together but we join our voices to appeal to the same Divine power. Prayer changes and motivates the pray-er; praying together changes the world.
It was the festival of Sukkot, called the “Season of Joy”, so we had teachings about “Joy” from Jewish, Christian and Muslim scholars. Then we prayed, each in our own way. Finally, we had time in silence together to feel our common humanity, to seek to share each other’s joy and to fuse our separate prayers into a united sense of gratitude to the Almighty.
The final words of the gathering were to wish the Jewish participants well over the upcoming holiday of Simchat Torah, the Rejoicing of the Law. We left feeling joyous.
On October 7th, I returned to that Synagogue. On the way there, I had heard the first sirens in Jerusalem and had found myself unprotected in the streets. That day will forever be etched into my memory as the day when we rejoiced and cried out for salvation at the same time, when we danced our way into shelters and prayed that if we feigned celebration, we could transform reality.
On October 8th, my colleague, Rabbi Alon Goshen-Gottstein, and I talked. How could we, activists for interreligious understanding, respond? Three days previously, we had been so confident that our prayers were being answered and that we were on our way to mutual respect, friendship and even love. We had been a community of learners and worshippers, offering mutual support. If that community was real, we had to activate it to pray again for peace and to search together for answers.
We agreed immediately that we needed to come together for prayers not in one month’s time but immediately – that same week. We wanted a framework and a program of intense prayer that would have the maximum impact on participants and shake the heavens!
The underlying principle in interfaith dialogue and when promoting mutual understanding is the dignity of each human person: each person is created in the Divine image and has inherent dignity. We chose the by-line: “Upholding the Dignity of the Human Person in Times of Conflict.”
Over the weeks following, we heard from religious leaders and scholars from Judaism, Christianity, Islam, the Religions of India, Buddhism and Bahai. Without exception, they held that it is a religious duty to treat all human beings with dignity. They reminded us that when we are at war, not only is the dignity of our enemy at risk but that we ourselves may diminish our own dignity as we negate the Divine in our enemies.
We prayed with intensity. “Praying Together” does not mean praying the same way. We heard and responded respectfully to prayers in multiples languages and with different nuances and also provided the opportunity for each person to pray in the way in which we are accustomed. We prayed for our own dignity and for the dignity of others. Muslims prayed for the hostages; Jews, including Israelis, prayed for Gazans; Christians and Hindus prayed for all of us.
We prayed for wisdom and the ability to maintain our own dignity as we face daily tests. We prayed for the innocent victims of war, for the children, for healing and for restoration of all that is being lost. We prayed for peace.
On a personal level, the weekly gatherings were refuges for me from the negativity and sadness all around, and from the sense of insecurity we have all had for this past year. The community of teachers, learners and pray-ers has strengthened. Over the past year, I have received many personal letters of support from around the globe, including invitations for safe haven, should I need it!
When we first decided to meet weekly, rather than the previous schedule of once a month, we could not have imagined that one year later, we would still be at war. We knew that October 7th had shaken everything – our sense of security, our confidence in our mission, our trust in authority, our sense that redemption was close – but surely our disillusion would be short-lived and we soon would return to the optimistic feelings our interfaith community provided.
But now a year has passed and the conflict has spread. There is no end in sight – except in our prayers. We want to mark the anniversary of the massacre and to find a way to look forward to a time of redemption.
Last night, it was significant that prayer took an important place in both the “people’s” and the “official” commemoration events. Even though both were secular events, prayer is part of our culture, whether we be Jewish, Christian or Muslim, and when we pray together, it creates a sense of connection to each other and underscores our shared hopes for the future.
We have captured on video some of the most beautiful moments from our months of praying and learning together. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WC0KX1jUrzc. This Thursday evening 10th October, we will be using the video as a springboard and inspiration for praying together, as an international, interfaith community, committed to greater understanding and appreciation of the Divine spark in each of us.
The Elijah Interfaith Institute invites you to join us – either at St Andrew’s Scottish Church or on Zoom.