In my early
months as Vicar of All Saints, Friern Barnet, I was approached by our
neighbours at the Sha’arei Tsedek Synagogue to take part in Mitzvah Day, along
with friends from the Muslim Community and Education Centre (MCEC) in Palmer’s
Green. Mitzvah Day (Hebrew for command)
is a Jewish day of social action and outreach, but it has branched out, seeking
to build friendships between other faith traditions with ‘Mitzvah Interfaith
Day.’
Our task,
which was agreed mutually, was to work together to collect donations of food
from the public outside Waitrose in the High Road, Whetstone for Homeless Action in Barnet, and also to
collect donations of clothes from our three communities. The clothes would be
given to Homeless Action in Barnet
and the North London Hospice.
It fell on
Sunday, 17th November this year, and our three
communities worked well together. The planning, though, began months before,
and relationships were built through meetings and discussion. A visit by
members of All Saints’ Church and Sha’arei Tsedek Synagogue to the MCEC on the
evening of 10th November, the week before, cemented
these new bonds. It was a hugely enjoyable tour, during which we offered
generous hospitality; we also spent the evening planning the tasks of the
following week, with the great assistance of Daniela Pears of the Mitzvah Day
Foundation.
Our Mitzvah
Interfaith Day itself attracted a good number of volunteers from all three
communities: from teenagers, to children, and older adults: Waitrose customers
and passers-by-commented on how surprised and delighted they were to see young
people and adults from the three Abrahamic faith communities united for the
common good, and for the benefit of the least well-off in our society. As the
shop collection carried on, other teams from the three communities were sorting
clothes and packing them at All Saints’ Church Hall, so that they could be
transported to the various charities.
We were
overwhelmed with the generosity of donations. I think I speak for all three
faith communities, too, when I say how much we have all gained from working
closely together, united not by dialogue about difference, but in common
purpose for God’s poorest ones in our locality.
It is a
great way of building local links with other faiths, as you plan and work
together. There were practical frustrations and problems, all of which were
overcome, and through which stronger relationships emerged. It is highly likely
that we will unite again, perhaps on Mitzvah Interfaith Day next year, perhaps
sooner.
Further
possibilities of connection and contact have also emerged. There is something
unique about working together logistically and practically; it offers
opportunities that cannot be found in the (extremely valuable) work of dialogue
and theological discussion. In the end, working practically for the common good
as one, there is a feeling that one is
able to fulfil God’s will for the poor in a tangible and immediate way.
Posts
