Abraham Festival in Peterborough
Beth Israel Synagogue Updates
Abraham Festival, 2010
A Success
By all reports Abefest 2010 was a success. At the synagogue, over 60 people, with good representation from all the participating faith communities, attended the Friday night services led by Rabbi Shalom Schachter and Dr. Dan Houpt. Following the service, Shalom answered questions from those present on a wide range of topics related to the service and Jewish practices. After the Q&A session, those attending partook of a kiddish in the synagogue and members of Beth Israel repaired to the Gillman-Reid household for a community potluck dinner. By all accounts the Sunday panel discussion and pot luck was also well attended and generated interesting dialogue.
Heartfelt thanks to all who helped to organize and coordinate this successful event, particularly Rabbi Schacter, Joe Teichman, Heather Pollock, Dan Houpt and to Jenn Reid who hosted everyone at her house.
What is it?
The Abraham Festival celebrates its 7th year in 2010. It’s principal objective is to bring together members in our community of the three Abrahamic faiths, Judaism, Christianity and Islam, to learn about each other and to get to know each other as communities and as individual people. Throughout our time together, we have explored the themes of ritual, prayer, music, film, clothing, youth, sexuality, text, and always, food and fellowship.
We hope to create a network of Peterborough Jews, Christians and Muslims who will work locally together for these goals:
- To grow relationships that bind together those who have been strangers
- To listen and learn from each other’s traditions;
- To open our hearts to each other’s perspectives;
- To support each other as extended family.
According to the tradition, Abraham kept his tent open in all four directions, the more easily to share his food and water with all travelers. In that spirit, we welcome all those who desire justice, peace and dignity. One of the guidelines of the Abraham Festival is that we explore, but we do not debate. We talk about what we share and where we are different. We listen, laugh and celebrate. We currently avoid political discussion, but someday we may be ready to do this as well. We are members of the families of Abraham; Jews, Christians and Muslims. Our traditions teach us to have compassion, to seek justice, and to pursue peace for all. We bear deep concern for the people of this planet and the challenges of climate change. We are inspired to look after the natural world. Our whole world embodies the divine. Human actions are now threatening the systems on which all life depends, causing climate change and the worldwide destruction of forest, fisheries and wildlife. You can learn more about past Abraham events at our web site which will shortly be updated to include the information above.
When is it?
This year the Abraham Festival events will take place from April 16 to April 19. As in past years, there will be a series of Worship services to enable people to visit one another’s places of worship. This year, the schedule of services will be a little more informal, but nonetheless, important, and your participation is strongly encouraged at any and all of the venues that you can make it to. In addition, on Sunday, there will be panel discussion on the theme of this year’s festival, “How does our faith expect us to care for the earth?” Schedule details are below. On Monday a series of workshops is scheduled at Trent University, directed at High School student groups. General participation in these workshops is encouraged and welcomed. See if you can make it to some of them.
The workshop titles include the following:
- 1) Water is Life
- 2) Food, Sustainable Sustenance
- 3) Enhancing Green Space and Restoring the Earth
- 4) Waste Not; Want Not; The Story of Stuff
- 5) Climate Change: Energy and Active Transportation (this workshop will take place in the sustainable building owned by Camp Kawartha on the Trent campus).
- Friday April 16, 2010 – Islam Friday Afternoon Prayers, (location and time details in next newsletter), led by Trent University Muslim Association
- Friday April 16, 2010 – Judaism Friday Evening Services, Beth Israel Synagogue, Weller St., 6:00 pm, led by Rabbi Shalom Schachter
- Sunday, April 18, 2010 – Christianity Sunday Morning Services, St. Andrew’s Church, 11:00 am, led by Reverend Joanna McQuarrie
- Sunday, April 18, 2010 – Theme Panel Discussion and Pot Luck Supper
- 12:30 am gathering at George St. United Church
- 1:00 pm Opening and Introductions
- 1:15 pm Keynote Speaker “ Ted Reeve, Executive Co-ordinator, Greening Sacred Spaces "Soul, Community, and Creation"
- 2:00 pm Panel Discussion, “How does our faith expect us to care for the earth?” Panelists:
- Rabbi Shalom Schachter (Judaism);
- Dr. Stephen Scharper (Christianity);
- Shaikh Habeeb Ali (Islam).
- 2:45 pm Responses of speakers to each other (5 min each)
- 3:00 pm Responses from the floor. Questions and comments from the audience
- 4:00 pm Concluding Remarks
- 4:15 pm Greening Sacred Spaces – Provincial Awards
- 4:30 pm Music and socializing
- 5:00 pm Vegetarian pot luck dinner
- Monday, April 19, 2010 – Student Workshops – The workshops will be held from 09:00 to 10:00 at Lady Eaton College, Trent University. There will be about ten students in each workshop. The organizers would be delighted if you could join them.
Abraham Festival, 2009
- Friday, April 24 at Beth Israel Synagogue (775 Weller St) and Al-Salaam Mosque (784 Parkhill Road West)
- 6:00 p.m. Shabbat service at the shul followed by Kiddish
- 7:00 p.m. Travel to the Masjid Al-Salaam Mosque
- 7:30 p.m. Join others for the Maghrib (evening) prayers at the Mosque
- Saturday, April 25, Beth Israel Synagogue
- 10:30 a.m. Informal torah study session with Rabbi Shalom Schachter and his wife, Marci Gilbert Parsha Information: Tazria - Metzora (Leviticus 12:1-15:33)
- 12:00 p.m. Kiddish and light lunch. PLEASE RSVP to Heather Pollock at heather.clearlake@gmail.com so that she can estimate numbers.
- 7:30 p.m. Abraham Festival Mincha and Havdallah Services at the shul
- Sunday, April 26, St. Andrews United Church, 441 Rubidge Street
- 11:00 a.m. Abraham Festival Sunday morning services.
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Sunday, May 3rd, St. Alphonsus Roman Catholic Church, 1066 Western Avenue
- 1:00 p.m. Workshops. Attendees can particpate in 2 of the following workshops:
- Sacred Sexuality;
- Women's Role;
- Youth Issues;
- Holy Writings;
- Film and Faith.
- At 5:30 p.m., there will be a free vegetarian supper in the Church hall. This is always a very nice event. It is conducted as a potluck and vegetarian dishes are welcomed. For more information call or email Heather Pollock at heather.clearlake@gmail.com
Watch this space for more details.
Abraham Festival, 2008
- Friday February 29th: Service at Beth Israel Synagogue at 6:00 p.m.
- Sunday March 2nd: Service at George Street United Church at 10:00 a.m.
- Sunday March 2nd: Abraham workshops, vegetarian pot luck and Keynote Speaker: Dr. Khaleel Mohammed http://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/~khaleel/ (Registration required) At St. Alphonsus Church on Clonsilla Ave
- Friday March 2nd: Service at the Masjid al Salaam Mosque at 6:00 p.m.
- Sunday March 9th: Closing Service at St. Alphonsus at 11:30 a.m.
- Sunday March 9th: Closing Celebration at Millenium Park at 1:15 p.m.
Watch this space for more details.
Abraham Festival, 2006-7
!! Thanks to ALL who particpated in the Abraham Festival 2007 !!
Especially thanks ... to Heather Pollock, Rabbi Jordan Cohen and all those members of the Jewish community who were active in the organization of the Abraham festival events. It was an intense and interesting week and a very significant exercise in learning about our own and other faiths and in building bridges between our communities.
... to Marcy and Rabbi Shalom Schachter for once again leading our congregation through a weekend of religious, spiritual and cultural growth. And to Karen Fisher for all her organizational work in preparing for the weekend's events.
... to Jocelyn and Gerry Cooper for touring a group of St. Pete's High School Students through the synagogue earlier this week.
... to Jenn Reid and Larry Gillman for opening their home to another delicious Kaballat Shabbat pot luck.
Watch this space for the next event.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Faith Through the Arts (Abraham Festival 2007):
- Sunday, April 22, 2007 - Variety Show, St Alphonsus Church
- Tuesday, April 24, 2007 - Muslim screening of "Le Grand Voyage"
- Wednesday, April 25, 2007 - Jewish screening "The Outside Chance of Maximillian Glick ide Glick"
- Thursday, April 26, 2007 - Christian screening "Jo Joshua"
- Friday, April 27, 2007 - Service at Masjid al Salaam Mosque
- Saturday, April 28, 2007 - Service at Beth Israel Synagogue
- Sunday, April 29, 2007 - Service at George St. United Church
- Celebration/Concluding Ceremony at Millenium Trail
Past Events:
Link to Beth Israel Calendar. Click HERE.
Abraham Festival Luncheon: Oct 25, 2006
On Wednesday evening, Oct. 25, 2006, the Peterborough community had a preview of next spring's Abraham festival. We met at the George St. United Church. Each of the 3 faiths prepared a table of artifacts and literature.
A representative of the Muslims, Christians and Jews each spoke. Rabbi Jordan Cohen represented the Jewish community very ably, and he also did a power point presentation highlighting our past festivals.
A question and answer period followed, and then there was time to mingle and chat.
Our next festival in April of 2007 will have as its theme "Faith Through the Arts".
(Thanks Jocelyn Cooper for this article.)
Abraham Festival Lunch: August 29, 2006
The Abraham Festival Feeds 120.
On August 29, three people represented Beth Israel Synagogue at St. John’s Church for a four-hour, organized, chaotic session to prepare lunch for 120 Peterborough people. Miriam Stucky, Hayla Evans and Heather Pollock made sandwiches, served, and cleaned. Other volunteers included familiar faces from the Mosque, St. Alphonsus Church and the Abraham Festival Board.
Every Tuesday and Thursday, women at St. John’s Church provide a hot, nourishing meal to over one hundred people in our community who are in financial difficulty. The lunch organizers love to have extra hands and food to share the load. The menu at the time of the Abraham visit included sandwiches using 18 loaves of bread, three kinds of salads, two soups, lasagne, ice cream, cookies and squares. Each guest also leaves with some fresh fruit, water and rolls.
This was a wonderful way to contribute to our community. The organizers are thorough, patient and kind. The people eating lunch are extremely grateful for the meal. One guest told us that he was so thrilled with the lunch and our kindness, he was going to write us a song, “An Omar Song”, because he had met three young teens named Omar.
Because many of us work and can’t support this project every week, we discussed other options with the organizers. Our Synagogue could occasionally support these lunches with the preparation of soup or dessert. If any of our members had even an hour on a Tuesday or Thursday morning or early afternoon, our hands could be kept very busy.
(Thanks Heather Pollock for this article.)
- 1:00 p.m. Workshops. Attendees can particpate in 2 of the following workshops: