We start on a Thursday with a dinner gathering with the
teachers of the temple -they teach children Hebrew, Talmud, Torah and
everything they need to know for their Bar Mitzvah and Bat Mitzvah- and the
Catholic School teachers and the Catechists.
The teachers are sit by grades and after joint prayer and dinner we have
a presentation and they work a lesson plan for the children of each respective
community to learn more about the faith of the neighboring community.
On Friday the Catholic community is invited to attend the
Shabbat service. Monsignor McGraw, our
pastor, the school Principal Caroline Roberts, the Asst. Principal Lani Hiponia
and I sit with the Rabbis and Cantors in the bimah, that is the
stage where the service is lead. It was an interesting night, Yoly came with
me. We had not attended a Shabbat before.
On Sunday we
close the weekend with the Jewish Community joining us at mass and a reception
follows for fellowship. In the Mass Rabbi Levin, the principal rabbi of the
Temple joins our pastor in the ‘shared homily’. It was nice to hear the story.
Thirty years ago, when it was unthinkable for Jewish and Catholics to even have
a civil conversation and the Jewish community arriving to Boca Raton was not
very welcome in the area, while the Temple was under construction they were
looking for a place to instruct the children in the Torah and Talmud. They
asked around in several places and were turned away. Then in desperation, they
crossed the street and decided to ask the Catholic church of St. Joan of Arc
for space. They expected another rejection, but the pastor of the time welcomed
them with open arms and allowed them to use any and all space they needed… thus
started a tradition of dialogue and friendship, and the rest, as they say, is
history.
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