Monthly Archives: April 2020

Mitzvah Day launches interfaith volunteering scheme for small acts of communal kindness

‘Every Mitzvah Matters’ begins with eight leaders from different faiths cooking together online as a way of caring for other people

Eight leaders from different religions came together to care for other people, through cooking via Zoom, and launch the new Every Mitzvah Matters interfaith volunteering scheme.

Created by the charity Mitzvah Day, the scheme will see regular online get-togethers by people from all faiths and none, where they will take part in various social action projects designed to help their neighbours and the most vulnerable in their local communities. It is intended to highlight and encourage the small every day acts of heroism that people are doing for each other during this coronavirus crisis.

The cooking event saw the faith leaders unite online from their own kitchens and chat about the dishes they were cooking, the significance of food in their religions and who the final meals would be going to. In most cases these were taken to nearby vulnerable or elderly people who would appreciate this personal touch.

The interfaith cooking was hosted by Mitzvah Day’s founder and chair Laura Marks OBE. She said: “The little of acts of kindness we are seeing every day in this crisis are bringing our local communities together in a way I’ve never witnessed before. Our aim is to encourage even more people to take part, and show just how easy it is to be part of Britain’s new army of carers as, truly, Every Mitzvah Matters.”

Laura, who made a ratatouille using anything in her fridge, was joined by:

  • Rabbi Jeff Berger, representing the Jewish faith and cooking his own hybrid British/American creation called ‘mac and cauliflower and cheese’. Rabbi Jeff is an interfaith adviser.
  • Siriol Davies, representing the Christian faith and cooking a roasted butternut squash curry. Siriol is the presence and engagement national coordinator for the Church of England.
  • Hifsa Haroon-Iqbal MBE, representing the Muslim faith and cooking samosas for the breaking of the daily fast of Ramadan. Hifsa is chair of the Jewish Muslim women’s network Nisa-Nashim.
  • Ravinder Kaur Nijjar representing the Sikh faith and cooking a potato and pea curry. Ravinder is a prominent Scottish interfaith consultant and educationalist
  • Bhante Pannavamsa representing the Buddhist faith and cooking wild mushroom tortellini and gnocchi. Bhante is a Buddhist monk and chef.
  • Ashwin Mehta representing the Jain faith and cooking an udon noodle stir fry with sweetcorn soup. Ashwin is a trustee of the SMRD Jain spiritual centre.
  • Armin Dastoor representing the Zoroastrian faith and cooking a sweet vermicelli dish usually cooked for special occasions. Armin runs a catering business serving the Zoroastrian community and all interested in Indian food.

Further Every Mitzvah Matters events are planned and will include a range of online sessions including family friendly activities. Anyone wishing to take part should contact info@mitzvahday.org.uk.

Passover – Literally!
(1 of 3)

At this challenging time, as the Abrahamic faith communities approach a most sacred season in their annual calendars – Passover, Easter and Ramadan – lock down is depriving all of us of the opportunity to congregate in person. In that the virus at the centre of this global pandemic is not differentiating between religious affiliation, gender, race, or nationality, we see this as an opportunity to stand in solidarity with each other. 

On this important occasion, we’ve asked two of our Mitzvah Day supporters to share with us the struggles their communities will face in celebrating Holy Week and observing Ramadan in the weeks ahead. We hope you find comfort in knowing that all of humanity are fighting the same cause and that religious leaders firmly believe that our prayers and support of each other will lead us forward with hope and inspiration.

*****

In view of the UK ‘lock down’ brought on by the rapid spread of COVID-19, families must remain isolated during the Passover festival. Here is a reflection on the meaning of Passover, which we are feeling much more literally this year than ever before.

The phrase ‘Passover is coming!’ used to elicit groans around the Jewish world from women of my mother’s generation – mainly because the responsibility for cleaning and cooking fell heavily upon their shoulders. As a child I remember three days before the festival, my mother, aunts and grandmother joined together to clean the kitchen and prepare food for the festival. Family recipes were passed from generation to generation during those special occasions. And on Seder night, the dining room was filled with energetic conversation and laughter from grandparents, uncles, aunts and cousins … and we always had enough food!

In a sign of the changing social norms, my generation adopted a more equitable sharing of the workload. Husbands take more responsibility for shopping, cleaning, cooking and for organizing the house. One man we know bakes his own matzah. Of recent, the sighs being heard came simultaneously from both partners.

But, this year we will see a different response entirely. Those who might have travelled abroad and attended a communal or hotel-arranged Seder will be at home. Large families who used to gather together are forced into isolation. Already great efforts are being made to provide DIY materials for anyone who has seldom organized their own Seder. For the elderly, especially, innovative ideas are being suggested for linking them to children and grandchildren whose physical presence they are deeply missing. This year’s sighs are the sighs of loneliness and fear.

I confess to being more than a little bit frightened. My fears include hearing about friends who’ve become ill, being concerned for the wellbeing of family, friends and colleagues around the world, and even for personal survival. I’m anxious about the economic upheaval caused by this coronavirus, and the speed of change that has taken us from being able to travel far and wide, into socially distanced queues outside grocery shops and to being locked down in our homes.

As a rabbi, in stressful times my training leads back to the Torah – and on this occasion a closer look at the Biblical experience of Passover.

After 210 years of enslavement, the Israelites suffering under Egyptian bondage, were commanded to take a lamb and seclude themselves in their homes. On the 14th day of Nisan as night began to fall, they used its blood to mark the doorposts of their homes.

Later that night, families, confined to their self-isolation, were to roast the meat and eat it with matzah and bitter herbs while dressed to leave – shoes, staff and cloak close to hand. No one could go out, nor did each household know what was happening at their neighbors’.

This night, called Leil Shimurim (Night of Watchfulness) when God watched over our ancestors, became a part of our calendar to be told and retold throughout the millennia.

The Torah doesn’t describe how each Israelite family felt that night. But we can imagine that as they heard wailing outside, they may have experienced some trepidation, just as we may currently be feeling.

What makes this experience profound is that the following morning, at dawn the entire slave population were redeemed. The Israelites were set free leaving Egypt as a newly emerging nation.

This Passover will be an exceptional year and will be surely one that is remembered by our children and for decades to come.

In each and every generation, we are obliged to view ourselves as having been redeemed from Egypt. This year we have a unique opportunity to do so.

Undoubtedly we will emerge from this pandemic. The question to begin thinking about now is, how, in the weeks or months ahead, will we celebrate our redemption.

May you have a meaningful Passover and keep well.

(Click here for Part 2)

Darkness and Light
By Revd Dr Ayla Lepine
(2 of 3)

At this challenging time, as the Abrahamic faith communities approach a most sacred season in their annual calendars – Passover, Easter and Ramadan – lock down is depriving all of us of the opportunity to congregate in person. In that the virus at the centre of this global pandemic is not differentiating between religious affiliation, gender, race, or nationality, we see this as an opportunity to stand in solidarity with each other. 

On this important occasion, we’ve asked two of our Mitzvah Day supporters to share with us the struggles their communities will face in celebrating Holy Week and observing Ramadan in the weeks ahead. We hope you find comfort in knowing that all of humanity are fighting the same cause and that religious leaders firmly believe that our prayers and support of each other will lead us forward with hope and inspiration.

Lent, Holy Week and Easter in the Time of Covid-19

By Revd Dr Ayla Lepine

There is a hymn often sung in churches called ‘There’s a wideness in God’s mercy’. God’s love, as one Christian prayer puts it, is ‘more than we can ask or imagine.’ Accessing that love and mercy is more important than ever, and feels quite difficult now.

The timing of the Covid-19 pandemic is a crisis for all, and for those whose faith traditions bring them into profound seasons of rituals and religious experiences in which being together has been essential, the timing creates unique anguish.

Lent is a 40-day season of fasting, repentance, study, and prayer, mirroring Jesus’ own 40 days in the wilderness expressing the truth of God’s love even though the challenges were profound. People tend to give things up or take things on. It begins with Ash Wednesday, during which people come to church to hear Psalm 51 (often sung to the beautiful setting by Allegri), receive the Eucharist, and also receive ashes on their foreheads in a cross shape.

The ash is made by burning palm crosses, given to the congregation and blessed on Palm Sunday, at the beginning of Holy Week. It reminds us that ‘you are dust and to dust you shall return; turn away from sin, and be faithful to Christ.’ We are only human. God is with us always.

Who could have imagined that within weeks we would have to be physically distant, close our churches, and worship online, to save lives, and love our neighbour as ourselves! The closures and the impossibility of gathering together in these holy places has caused heart breaking anguish.

We’ve suddenly become tech experts, in desperation, while traumatised, and at high speed. We cannot share the Eucharist either. Bread and wine cannot be offered together in our foundational way of gathering as a community.

On Palm Sunday, 5 April, congregations would normally be given blessed palm crosses, to symbolise the branches people laid down for Jesus when he arrived in Jerusalem on a donkey, knowing the time for his death and, eventually, his resurrection was drawing near.

This year we will make crosses on our palms and send photographs for an online Facebook Live service. When people hold up their palms, I will bless them remotely. Next year, I wonder what will be burnt instead, as a sign of this wilderness time. There is more creative thinking to be done!

The week that follows, Holy Week, is the most precious and sacred in the Church year. On Thursday, to remember the Last Supper, we will wash each other’s feet as a sign of Jesus’ humility, strip the altars of their sacred cloths, and pray through the night. On Good Friday, we meditate on the Crucifixion, drawing near to Jesus’ death. On Holy Saturday, there is a vigil late at night, in which a candle is lit from a fire and a prayer called the Exultet (‘Rejoice’ in Latin) is sung. In this ritual, light returns to a dark world, and life conquers death. Easter Sunday is always a time for joy.

Somehow, there will be joy this year too. We will have services online, we will meet for Zoom social and prayerful time, and we will help people in our community however we can. We are working with our neighbours of all faiths in Camden to support food banks, reach out to those who need practical and social support, and make new connections.

There is much good that will come from this situation, and lasting relationships too. But we will not gather to worship. No choirs, no handshakes, no hugs, no bread, no wine. There are no words for these immense losses.

But there is a ‘wideness in God’s mercy’. We cling to that now.

About the Author: Rev Dr Ayla Lepine is a curate priest ordained in 2019 working for Hampstead Parish Church. This reflection is in an Anglican context and in a personal capacity. She can be reached at: @heartchitecture  / ayla@hampsteadparishchurch.org.uk

(Click here for Part 3)

Ramadan in Self-Isolation
By Liz Arif-Fear
(3 of 3)

At this challenging time, as the Abrahamic faith communities approach a most sacred season in their annual calendars – Passover, Easter and Ramadan – lock down is depriving all of us of the opportunity to congregate in person. In that the virus at the centre of this global pandemic is not differentiating between religious affiliation, gender, race, or nationality, we see this as an opportunity to stand in solidarity with each other. 

On this important occasion, we’ve asked two of our Mitzvah Day supporters to share with us the struggles their communities will face in celebrating Holy Week and observing Ramadan in the weeks ahead. We hope you find comfort in knowing that all of humanity are fighting the same cause and that religious leaders firmly believe that our prayers and support of each other will lead us forward with hope and inspiration.

Four Ways to Embody the Fasting Spirit whatever your Faith

By Liz Arif-Fear

It’s been a strange few weeks into self-isolation at home amidst the Coronavirus pandemic. I for one am still receiving emails about cancelled events.

Yes… Welcome to lockdown!

Of course, for Jews, Christians and Muslims alike, things are going to get even stranger. With the current pandemic, Pesach (Passover), Easter and Ramadan are all going to be spent at home. We’re already into April and it’s now less than a month until Ramadan starts.

For Muslims across the globe, Ramadan is a special month when we fast from dawn to sunset, abstaining from food and water during daylight hours. Prescribed in the Qur’an, it’s a time to practice self-discipline, (re-)connect with our faith and to remember those less fortunate than ourselves.

This, of course, means it’s an important period for giving and doing charitable deeds.

As people look to help others and also connect with those around them, it’s also a very social period. Families, friends, neighbours and communities often get together for a communal Iftar – the name we give to the evening meal when we break our fast.

Image caption: Enjoying a lovely interfaith iftar at Alyth Synagogue with Jewish and Muslim sisters (Nisa-Nashim, 2019).

In a multifaith county such as the UK, Ramadan has become the perfect opportunity to engage in social action and for people of all faiths and none to come together.

Interfaith social action has become a big part of Ramadan and I love the increase in interfaith iftars every year! However, this year with the coronavirus pandemic, many of us will be asking:

What are our religious festivals going to look like? How will we make the most of Ramadan? And how can we reach out to others?

Whilst the idea of missing the daily commute whilst fasting sounds great… My beloved interfaith iftars at first seemed like a distant dream. Likewise, I’m sure many of you are wondering about what Ramadan in self-isolation will look like.

For non-Muslims too, with mosques, synagogues, churches and community centres closed and no interfaith iftars on the ground, you may also be unsure of how to enjoin in the Ramadan spirit.  Well, don’t panic. All is not lost!

We can still have a wonderful Ramadan. Here’s how…

1.  Worship at Home

Ramadan is a time for spiritual reflection. Of course, whilst physically, collective worship is now limited to the members of your household, having a small group is still a positive.

So join in together! Pray together, read together and share this special time.

To solidify the bonds of interfaith friendship, why not also reach out to members of other faith communities?

You could for example set up an email or video-based (see more below) interfaith scriptural reasoning study club. Share reflections, traditions and learn about each other’s faiths.

If you live alone, you can also embrace this time of self-isolation to pause, focus on your spiritual needs and self-reflect. Why not write a diary and incorporate it into an interfaith blog for this holy Abrahamic period?

Yes, we may be physically alone, but we’ve still got God and each other. Plus a mountain of books, online articles and materials available for use!

2.  Get E-social

Ramadan is a time to connect with others. Iftars with friends, family, colleagues and other faith communities offer an important opportunity to come together.  And here’s the good news, despite the pandemic: we can still connect.

With Skype, Zoom and WhatsApp video calling, it’s now super-easy to stay in touch.

When I was working away from home, iftar calls connected with other Muslims. Likewise, I recently enjoyed an online interfaith Seder (Passover meal) with my lovely Jewish and Muslim sisters at Nisa-Nashim.

Nisa Nashim@nisanashim

A picture from our online Interfaith Seder! It was just epic ❤️

View image on Twitter
See Nisa Nashim’s other Tweets

We’re now thinking about following up with online interfaith iftars this Ramadan. So, why not set up or join one too?

You can discover a host of faith groups via the Interfaith Network. If you’re looking to join, take a look at Eventbrite for online events and keep up-to-date through faith-based groups and pages via social media.

Remember: you can still socialise – it’ll just have to be at the tap of a keyboard!

3.Savour the Joy of Sadaqah

Ramadan is a month of fasting, self-discipline and reflection. And whatever our faith, we all know how important charity and recognising the needs of those less fortunate is. In Islam, the equivalent of a mitzvah (good deed) is called sadaqahAnd this is a fundamental part of Ramadan.

Being at home thankfully doesn’t need to be an obstacle. In fact, during this current crisis, it’s more important than ever to look after each other. So, let’s come together and get in the spirit of interfaith social action.

You could help out by:

  • Becoming an interfaith volunteer: Contact an organisation from another faith group such as Nishkam SWAT or the Jewish Volunteering Network to see what activities are possible
  • Sending gifts: Surprise friends, neighbours and colleagues with a little pick-me-up
  • Registering for the NHS’ volunteer service: Help vulnerable people by delivering food and medicines or calling up someone who’s feeling lonely

There’s plenty of opportunities to partake in sadaqah. So, share the Ramadan spirit!

4.  Give Thanks and Have Patience

Ultimately, whilst the current circumstances may not be ideal, we need to look at the larger picture. For many of us at home, we’re safe, happy and healthy – plus we have food on the table to open and break our fasts, enjoin in an Easter meal and hold our own Seders.

In times like these which test our patience, let’s remember our blessings.

For those affected financially by the crisis, who are socially isolated and of course may be ill and/or otherwise affected by the virus, times are incredibly hard. So let’s be thankful for our health and think about those around us – here at home and all over the world – who remain vulnerable.

There’s still plenty to be positive about and Ramadan isn’t going anywhere.

Ramadan Mubarak, Chag Pesach Sameach and Happy Easter!

Have a blessed Ramadan, a meaningful Passover and fantastic Easter!

About the author

Liz Arif-Fear is a British Muslim and writer and campaigner passionate about human rights and interfaith issues, in particular Jewish-Muslim relations. She is Founder and Director of Voice of Salam and tweets at @Voice_of_Salam.