10,000ish Interfaith Friends in Toronto

Hello, friends.

So it turns out, all those folks who said rabbinical school was busy--they were right! Go figure. That, plus some chronic and so-far undiagnosed bad health issues (they are boring and basically make me overly tired always so that I only have energy for school and work...#netflix)--means that life has been beautiful and busy! This means that my very interfaith life has had a teensy bit of a more Jewish focus these past few months, but I guess that is to be expected.

However, I would go crazy if I was not hanging out with folks of different faiths, and I was particularly fortunate the first week of November to attend the Parliament of the World's Religions. This international gathering actually began more than 100 years ago but after a few decades' pause in the 20th century, returned in the '90s and has been taking place every few years since in a variety of international cities. The last one was in Salt Lake City a few years back and apparently drew around 10,000 people. And the 2018 edition took place in Toronto! I was honored to have someone offer to send me for the entire week, and so I headed up to Toronto from November 1-7 for this important conference/meeting/hangout/thing. Please forgive the long post: it was a full week.

The Parliament is a fascinating mix of people who, at least theoretically, recognize that we can come together despite our differences to learn, live, and celebrate. The huge huge huge meeting involved formal sessions, prayer gatherings, shared meals, a huge exhibit hall.....it was truly a feat for whichever event planner(s) pulled it off. 

It was different from what I was expecting. I thought the sessions would be the highlight for me, but I actually had limited time and so could only make a few--and even then, I was not completely overwhelmed with the selections on the schedule, and there were just too many so the sessions seemed sparsely attended. Instead, though, it was those small encounters--laughing on a street corner with an old acquaintance, having strangers ask about my own faith background, learning about others--that really brought me the most meaning from that week. It almost made it worth being behind in all my Hebrew classes for the rest of the semester...;)

While I had a number of meaningful experiences during that cold, rainy week up in Toronto, one particularly stood out and which I want to share in more detail: the Women's Ceremony. This gathering was slated to take place in the big, main hall (I think the biggest event space for the conference), and my interpretation of the intent was to celebrate women and interfaith in the space. For each of a number of faiths, there were two representatives--an elder and a youth. I was asked to participate as the young Jew (or, as I preferred to call myself, the "baby Jew"). The ceremony was very long and I was only involved in the very opening part (and then had to excuse myself because, as per above, my body has extremely limited energy with this unknown health problem), but what I was in was great.

I made this awkwardly big so you could read the quotes from the different traditions.

Essentially, we walked onto this big stage in our pairs--elder and younger--in alphabetical order by the faiths/other traditions represented. We were in traditional or symbolic clothes as we all interpreted them, so my lovely partner and I each wore our tallises (how meaningful to wear the tallis that was my father's, which he gave to me at my Bat Mitzvah when I was 12). The elders each placed a stone on a table (symbolizing them being the foundation of our communities) and then each of us younger women placed a rose in a vase (maybe symbolizing life/the future). Later, the young women moved forward in a line: from Baha'i to Zoroastrian, eleven of us young women in colorful, traditional garb, standing in a line.

Can you find me? :D

We then passed a microphone down and each read a line from our traditional texts about women. Then, we all joined hands and held them in the air. The image was so powerful that the next day I decided to tweet it at J.K. Rowling, who actually responded! Many of my friends confirmed that having J.K. Rowling respond to my interfaith tweet was basically the highest achievement I could ever reach in life. 

This is just one snapshot of what was a set of neat experiences over the course of the week. There was perhaps less quality networking than I was expecting, and I felt that there were way too many sessions offered in each time slot so that there was poor attendance at many, but it was nonetheless a meaningful thing to be there. The meeting also seemed to trend away from only Judaism-Christianity-Islam, which is very interesting, with many spiritual traditions represented with which I have little experience. I am always up for new things! But it did feel definitely more skewed toward smaller spiritual traditions and belief systems. 

That said, here, in no particular order, are some of my highlights, followed by some photos:

1. I was on a panel related to ACWAY, which is an international, interfaith/intercultural network of which I am a part (it stands for "A Common Word Among the Youth"). On it, four of us spoke about our work as part of the network. I first became involved in ACWAY at the inaugural conference in December 2015, and I do not exaggerate when I say that being part of this changed my worldview for the better. It was thus very rewarding to have the opportunity to present as part of the network.
2. As part of the alumni network for the Russell Berrie Fellowship in Intereligious Studies (aka when I lived in Rome for a year after college and studied with priests), I was asked to staff our booth every day in the exhibit hall. The exhibit hall was a massive room filled with booths from all different traditions--I met a Scientologist briefly for the first time, learned more about Wicca from two witches, had an older gentleman sing to me a moving song he had written for his grandson's bar mitzvah, had a kind Sikh man wrap my head in a turban, and more. The hall was an interesting meeting place for all types of people.
3. A group of us went to a Reform synagogue Friday night, as it was the week after the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting and it felt important to do so. A mixed group of Jews and others joined me for the Friday night services, which was extremely touching.
4. After services, I had been invited to a more observant Shabbat dinner at the house of my lovely chevruta (study partner) from when I studied at Pardes in Jerusalem! Her family lives in Toronto, and I had not seen her in over a year. It was so heartwarming to find a Shabbat meal while in Toronto!
5. A number of interfaith networks of which I am a part were represented at the meeting. So in addition to ACWAY and Russell Berrie, I am also an alum of IFYC (the Interfaith Youth Core--large organization that brings interfaith dialogue to college campuses), involved in Interfaith Philadelphia (an amazing interfaith center here in Philly with which I have been quick to get involved), and probably some others. A lot of them used the Parliament as an opportunity for gathering their groups, so I was fortunate to attend a number of meals with these different groups over the week.

The next few months should hold a few more lovely interfaith things, and so I am excited for what is to come! Happy 2019 to you all.

Now go out and love one another.

<3,
Allyson