MEANINGFUL SPACES OF DIVERSITY

I find that many of us are just shaking our heads more and more and asking ourselves how we got to this point. What would our grandparents and great-grandparents and those who came before them say – who risked everything to come to a place where there was freedom for all, justice that is honest and has integrity and where hard work and subscribing to fundamental values of rightful living would await them and be the backdrop of their future generations’ lives. And here we are! It makes many of us too sad, depressed and dejected.

Then, I have the privilege and honor of being in so many different spaces of diversity, respect and honor that reflect those very values that are at our root as people of faith and as Americans who should know better. Jack Bly, whom I quote from time to time, explains in his important book The Sibling Society that the problem today can be articulated in part by looking at our fairy tales. In generations past, he explains, Jack went up that beanstalk to rid his world of the danger of the giant, whereas today kids want to go up the beanstalk, kill the giant and then become the new giant. No wonder this is a problem – we just need to look around us and see that too many of our leaders and those in “high and public” places are going against the Biblical injunction expressed in Isaiah, “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness.”

In so many special spaces, those of us who do not in any way want to be the giant but rather want to restore justice and kindness and empathy for all those in our world come together. We are people of faith – all faiths and all degrees of observance ranging from the more ritualistically identified to the most liberally defined. We all agree that we are all God’s children, carry the sense of humility that comes with holding oneself accountable to a Higher Being/Divine Source and are able to celebrate what we share while respecting and honoring our differences, never asking each other to compromise our beliefs and foundational truths but to bring them graciously and openly to the table of discourse. I will say here and now that I never feel questioned or compromised as an Orthodox Jew, who subscribes to the commandments of Torah in which I believe. If anything, I feel heartened by how many bridges we can build together while tearing down walls and fences, in learning more about and appreciating each other. It makes me feel even closer to God as I learn more and more about all of God’s children.

We meet for coffee and share our thoughts about how we continue to find strength in our faith and what we believe to be true even though too much in the world around us may challenge that. We participate in shared text study sessions. We plan conferences for others to come and learn how to live this life we share on this planet and in the communities of which we are part constructively - as we believe God would want us to, no matter what name we use to invoke our Divine Source or the form in which we believe that Being exists. We come together as Jews, Christians of various iterations, Catholics, Buddhists, Hindus, Sikhs, Muslims, Zoroastrians and so many others to put the pieces of the puzzle of our existence in a way that honors who we each are and celebrates our coming together in these shared spaces. These spaces are invigorating, uplifting and reaffirming. I urge all of us to find and facilitate and create more and more of these spaces so that others can feel the power and amazing light these connections bring.

Yesterday, I was at a program in a Presbyterian Christian space where one of the topics was our children and grandchildren and why so many of them are turning away from religion per se. It strikes me that while more than a quarter of Americans claim that they do not subscribe to any religious structure or specific regimen, as much as 92% of our fellow citizens do believe in something – they believe in a Higher Being, search for spiritual meaning in their lives and so on. I am certain that this aversion to established systems is parallel to the oft-named “hopelessness, helplessness and alienation” many of our rising adult generations feel at this point. We need to be there for them – we need to remind them that the goal of our lives is not to become the giant but to care for and be empathic for each other. To no one’s surprise, we find in these shared spaces that our challenges are similar, our hopes are shared, and we are all struggling to figure out our place in the world and then help those who look to us for guidance to do the same.

I urge all of us to stand up and be counted – to bring our whole selves to these meaningful spaces of diversity and show that together we stand strong. Find conferences and opportunities in your communities and be part of these wonderful spaces. For those of you who live in the Delaware Valley area, note the wonderful work of organizations like American Jewish Committee, POWER, EMGAGE, our Multi-Faith Councils and others. Specifically, contact me at shulisrose@aol.com if you want more information about some of these programs, including important Multi-Faith sharing experiences on Sunday, March 15, 2020 at the Masdijullah and on Saturday, March 21, 2020 at Chestnut Hill College.

A quick postscript. I often write about the important of interfaith and intrafaith work. It is just as important and I am just as involved (if the individual who critiqued me for the interfaith and multi-faith work I do is reading this) in building bridges within my larger Jewish faith community. I often joke (somewhat sadly) that I spend way too much time dispelling myths of what it means to be religiously observant to those who have caricatured ideas of what that means and similarly I have to dispel stereotypes of those who not quite as ritualistically observant to those who do not understand them. Folks, can we please come out of our suffocating silos and just TALK WITH EACH OTHER! You will be pleasantly amazed, I promise!