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Faith shared
The Understanding the Need for Interfaith/Intercultural Togetherness and Education organization (UNIITE) recently put together a Jewish dialogue series that will inform St. Cloud residents about Jewish teachings and beliefs.
"St. Cloud has been accused of anti-Semitic behavior in milder ways for a long time," said Professor Malcolm Nazareth, executive director of UNIITE. "Our way of setting up dialogue is to respond immediately to problems as they approach, to tackle the roots of ignorance and prejudice."
Nazareth has been a part of UNIITE for several years and has witnessed over 325 programs aimed at bringing various religions and cultures together. During the past four years, Nazareth said UNIITE has stumbled upon at least 17 different religions in the St. Cloud area. He said this fact surprises many people because of their preconception of St. Cloud as a strictly Christian community.
"People have this phrase 'White Cloud,' but who would believe there are 17 religions out of which Christianity is only one," Nazareth said. "We need to expose ourselves to the deep spiritual treasures that lie in various religions right here in St. Cloud."
UNIITE chooses which religion to feature based on what issues are brought up in the community and which groups are persecuted. After the attacks of 9/11, Nazareth said Islamic groups were receiving negative attention and vandalism. He said the root of the problem was ignorance so UNIITE set up dialogues to give the community a chance to meet Muslims and get a chance to know who they really are. UNIITE felt it would be a good opportunity to set up dialogues because anti-Semitic behavior has cropped up in St. Cloud lately.
For the dialogues, Nazareth wanted to find someone knowledgeable in the Jewish faith to participate in the series. Professor Joseph Edelheit is the interim director for Jewish Studies on campus and Nazareth thought he would be perfect for the job.
"We were lucky that we had Dr. Edelheit," Nazareth said. "Since he has recently come here we took advantage of the fact that we have an expert in Judaism and a person who has many decades of experience on Jewish-Christian dialogue."
Edelheit said he chose to participate in the events because it is part of his role on campus to provide communal outreach opportunities. He wants to link the campus to the community at large.
"This is clearly one of the most important things people can do in building community - come to understand how different faith communities are all essential in creating a healthy single community."
Each session starts with a short segment of a Jewish-Christian video series, followed by an opening prayer. From there, Edelheit presents the Jewish aspect of a particular subject for that night. Nazareth said it was important to also have someone represent the Christian side to help the community understand Jewish dialogue from a Christian perspective. Professor John Merkle of St. John's University gives a professional response that attendants can relate to. The two speakers then participate in a question and answer session followed by Jewish chanting.
Tuesday night was the first session of the series and involved basic words and ideas that describe Jews and Judaism. Edelheit said he was amazed at the 80-plus people that showed up for the event at First United Methodist Church. He also said the session went well.
"I thought there were many wonderful, vigorous questions and good dialogue between Dr. Merkle and myself."
Edelheit used to be the senior rabbi at the Temple of Israel in Minneapolis and said he spent a considerable amount of time creating interfaith dialogue between churches and synagogues in the area. He said most of the questions he gets are not about Judaism alone, but how Judaism and Christianity are related and how Jews respond to various issues dealing with the two religions.
One of the dialogue sessions will deal with what Jews believe and understand about Jesus and the Messiah. Another discusses how the Hebrew and Christian scriptures relate. Other Christian members will join Edelheit and Merkle for the fifth session, and a panel of Jewish community members will join the sixth session to discuss what it means to be a minority in a Christian community. The sixth session, the last night of interfaith dialogues, will offer a Kosher-style meal.
Edelheit said that Kosher is the dietary laws that come from the Bible that Jews follow. He said Jews do not eat meat if it comes from an animal that does not have a cloven hoof and chews its own cud. The meal will not serve any of the foods prohibited by Jews.
"I can only say what the meal won't have," Edelheit said. "It won't have pork and it won't have shellfish."
Edelheit and Nazareth look forward to the remaining dialogues and are anxious to see how successful they will be. They believe the dialogues provide a way to tackle Jewish stereotypes in an efficient manner.
"I hope (the series) provides an opportunity for people to talk to each other in a way that they can feel confident about being themselves and sharing how they are different," Edelheit said.
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