Asad Bajwa, director of public affairs for the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in Holliswood, said members of his community are looking forward to participating in the interfaith observance at Temple Tikvah after participating several years ago.
Source/Credit: The Island Now
By Richard Tedesco | November 21, 2013
Temple Tikvah in New Hyde Park will honor an historical tradition next Sunday when it conducts an interfaith Thanksgiving service including Jews, Christians, Muslims and Hindus.
As Temple Emanuel, the temple had held a joint Thanksgiving service with nearby Hillside United Methodist Church for more than 50 years, according to Temple Tikvah Rabbi Randy Sheinberg.
Through her work with a loosely-organized interfaith group over the last several years, Sheinberg has given new energy to the tradition by inviting more religious groups invited to participate.
“Previously it had only been Jewish and Christian. When I came here, I wanted to bring it back and make it broader as a result of my work with the interfaith group,” Sheinberg said.
So when the interfaith service starts in the Temple Tikvah sanctuary at 3315 Hillside Ave. in New Hyde Park, members of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community and the Hindu Arsha Vedanta Center, both based in Queens, will be joining members of Hillside United Methodist and other Christian churches in the observance.
Temple Tikvah was formed through a merger of Temple Emanuel and Jamaica-based Temple Israel in 2008.
“We live in a world that is multi-faith. That is true for the world at large that we are more interconnected,” Sheinberg said. “And it is certainly true for our own neighborhood. You can’t really say it’s binary, Jewish and Christian.”
Sheinberg said she thinks a Thanksgiving observance is an appropriate occasion for the disparate faiths to come together.
“It’s community-building, to realize that our faith traditions differ. We should celebrate what we have in common. The fact that it’s an American holiday, it reminds us of the diversity of our country,” Sheinberg said.
Sheinberg said Temple Tikvah Cantor Guy Bonne will sing Hebrew songs with the choir and perform a Gospel song this year. She said the service will conclude with the singing of “America the Beautiful”.
“There’s also a moment in the service for each service to contribute how they express gratitude,” Sheinberg said, adding that will include chanting from the Koran. “They put it in context. We’re both experiencing and learning about it.”
Asad Bajwa, director of public affairs for the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in Holliswood, said members of his community are looking forward to participating in the interfaith observance at Temple Tikvah after participating several years ago.
“We see the value of being able to unite on a common holiday where all the faiths share a common gratitude,” Bajwa said. “We get to meet and renew friendships of those we’ve met in the past.”
He said Muslims participating will recite verse from the Koran as part of the introduction to the service.
Read original post here: USA: Temple Tikvah to hold interfaith service
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