on Monday, 21 March 2016.
A MESSAGE FROM RABBI MICAH STREIFFER
Why was only one human being created at the outset of the world? So that no person might say to another, ‘My ancestors are greater than yours.’ (Babylonian Talmud, Sanhedrin 37b)
As 21st century Canadians, we live in perhaps the most diverse society in the history of the world. We are privileged to have friends, neighbours, and coworkers of many religious and ethnic backgrounds, and to live together in relative harmony. I’m aware of it every time my kids talk about their public school friends, since their names reflect that mosaic!
In the history of our world, differences between people have far too often been a source of discord and hatred. We don’t have to look very far to see people making war over religion, language, or ethnic boundaries. But Judaism teaches us that we can honour the differences between us, and learn from one another.
One of our highest Jewish obligations, reflected in the daily morning services is Hava’at Shalom –
making peace between people. We do this by learning – by building bridges of understanding with others whose practices are different from ours, and by opening ourselves up to learn about them as well.
shalom salaam peaceAt Kol Ami, we honour this value with our annual “Open Doors, Open Minds” program. Over the years, we have invited speakers of many different religions – Christianity, Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, Hinduism – to teach us from our own bima about their beliefs and practices. The very name of the lecture program reflects a core belief: that if our doors are open to others, our minds will be open to them as well.
This year, we are taking “Open Doors, Open Minds” to a new level. In addition to inviting Samira Kanji, President of the Noor (Islamic) Cultural Centre to speak at our service, we will be inviting members of the Noor Centre to join us for Shabbat dinner as well. After all, there are two things Jews do best: pray and eat, and we are excited to share both our prayers and our meal with members of the Noor community.
The “Open Doors, Open Minds” program is Friday, April 1. Dinner will be at 6:30 pm (RSVP to jaykowal@gmail.com), and services are at 7:30 (No RSVP necessary). I hope you can join us!
