Hello world! It’s been a while since I’ve blogged here. I had a fantastic summer and this year has been off to a great yet busy start, but more on that in a future post.
In this post, though, I thought I would share a speech that I gave a couple weeks ago. For September 11th I was asked, as the Interfaith Coordinator for Jewish Life (that’s right, loyal followers, my title has changed), to speak at Emanuel Presbyterian Church in Tacoma about my experiences with/relating to September 11th. Another Interfaith Coordinator, Rosemary Dinkins, also gave a great speech at the service.
The congregation/community were super welcoming and really open to having a non-christian at their pulpit, which was really cool. I loved meeting everybody there. The pastor there, Dave, is also the coolest, most energetic guy I know. I might go to church some time just to hear his sermons…
Anyway, this is the text of my speech. I’ll have a more update-on-normal-life post up some time soon.
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Last week I started watching a video series (called StoryCorps) where they try to document at least one story about every victim of 9/11. There was one video that I thought was pretty impactful, though. It was about a man and a woman who met when they were teenagers, fell in love, got married, had kids and then got divorced. An unfortunately common one, but a sad story already. The man, however, worked on the 101st floor of the North Tower. As the plane hit his tower he called his ex-wife to say that he loved her and their kids and to say that no matter what happens, they will “always be a family.”
“Always a family.”
My family has always been pretty close. One thing that (I like to think) contributed to that was our weekly Shabbat dinners. No exceptions, every Friday night you were always at the dining room table at 6:30 sharp. We would have challah bread, light candles, do prayers, the whole schpiel. And sometimes we would have guests over.
Really quick, here’s some back story. My Dad, for about 14 years now, has been involved in a program called the Middle East Project. It (very briefly) brings together Jordanians, Palestinians, Israelis, Egyptians, Serians, etc. through the use of a universal educational curriculum as well as annual conferences, both in the US and in the region. Every year, a group of Middle Easterners would come to my Dad’s school, Hamline University in St. Paul, MN, for their US conference.
So one Friday night I walk downstairs to see a table full of twenty something men and women from all over the Middle East of all races and religions.
That night was incredible. My family, along with the other Jews, did our ritual Sabbath prayers over the bread and the wine, while the non-Jews sat and absorbed everything that they could. Some even tried to participate, which was pretty interesting.
Throughout the evening they talked politics and religion, ate together and sang songs together.
And at one point a man from Jordan stopped and said, very genuinely, “this would never be possible at home. I am so blessed to be able to share in your traditions and your faiths tonight.”
Not everyone is bad. Not everyone is a bigot. Not everyone is closed off to others’ life views. And to those who are closed off, you have every right to be, but what often happens is you learn about yourself in the process. One of my favorite Jewish philosophers, Moses Mendelssohn, put it well when he said, “None of us thinks and feels exactly like his fellow man: why do we wish to deceive each other with delusive words?”
So when someone asks me what gives me hope about the world after 9/11, I look at the 97% of the world who are open to dialogue and who welcome differences.
If there’s one thing that I’d like you to take away from my little schpiel here, it’s that we, as people of Tacoma, people of America and people of the world are all, were all, and always will be, a family. And even if we separate from each other, have differences or even start fighting, we will always be a family. And we should treat one another with that same respect.
I’m not the most religious person, but I still think that the Torah has wisdom in it. I’d like to end by reading from Leviticus, 19:33-34. “And if a man from another country is living in your land with you, do not make life hard for him; Let him be to you as one of your countrymen and have love for him as for yourself; for you were living in a strange land, in the land of Egypt.”
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I hope your year is starting off well, reader of this blog!
Be well.
