Amalek and the Amygdala: Words of Torah for Saturday February 7

Each week, we plan to share a sermon or words of  Torah  (d’var torah) that grows out of the author’s encounter with another tradition. These teachings may reflect engagement with other faiths or with the world of science.   This week, we are proud to offer a d’var torah by  Rabbi Brant Rosen, Jewish Reconstructionist Congregation of Evanston, Il,  on this coming week’s Torah portion, “Amalek and the Amygdala.” If you have given sermons or talks that you would be willing to share, please let us know.

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Interfaith Prayer Service for the New President

The day after the inauguration, the National Cathedral in Washington,D.C. hosted an interfaith prayer service, a tradition begun with George Washington. To see the service click here.

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RRC Student Featured in NY Times

IN a circle of adolescents and adults, two heads lean toward each other in discussion. One of them, Rachel Weiss, an adult rabbinical student, wears a yarmulke; the other, Halima Bakillah, a high school student, wears a hijab, or head scarf.

They are part of a larger group meeting on a recent Sunday afternoon in a second-floor classroom at the White Rock Baptist Church. Behind them, tacked up on a wall, is a poster praising Jesus. In a nearby circle sits the Rev. Jay Gardner, the African-American youth minister of the church, engaged in similarly earnest but cordial conversation with another group of teenagers — Jews, Christians, Muslims, someone of the Bahai faith.

The group — composed of 19 youngsters and 13 adults — is black, white, rich, poor; products of the city and the distant suburbs. And here, in one room, they are all talking, laughing even, without any apparent rancor or discomfort.

Cynics might dismiss this as another “Kumbaya” moment: a well-intentioned but brief intermission in the saga of hatred and suspicion among religions. But the young have a way of bringing down the curtain on tired, old dramas. These youngsters seem determined to write a new script, at least for the city known for brotherly love.

They are members of Walking the Walk, a program that brings together high school students of different faiths to foster better understanding of one another and to encourage cooperation on community service projects. Organized by the Interfaith Center of Greater Philadelphia, a nonprofit group that promotes interfaith dialogue, the name Walking the Walk refers to the fact that the students are living their values, “not just talking about them,” said Abby Stamelman Hocky, the center’s executive director.

To read more about Walking the Walk and RRC Student Rachel Weiss who leads the group, see The New York Times.

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