Tikkun Olam - Repair of the Worldby Josie Lacey OAM
Felix Adler
Felix Adler, was a Hebrew Professor and social reformer who started the first kindergartens for the poor in America. His definition of spirituality mirrors the writing of the great Jewish philosopher Martin Buber who speaks of the “I” and “Thou”, defining the human spirit in terms of relationship, with one’s fellow beings and with the Almighty.
Coming as I did to Australia as a small child with my immediate family as a refugee from Central Europe. Coming from a persecuted minority religion, Judaism, and having twenty nine members of my family killed in the Holocaust because of their religion, I fully understand the importance of demystifying all our religions.
I believe that inter-religious communication is absolutely vital in a culturally diverse and multi-faith society like ours.
I don’t propose to explore the limits between the “Best Practice” and social dialogue. I am simply going to describe some aspects of my own experience of interfaith activity, mainly , The Women's Interfaith Network, WIN, and look at the value and outcomes of that activity in Australian life .
In August 1999 The Catholic Bishops Jubilee Interfaith Conference was held in Sydney. It was a meeting with leaders of major religious groups which took the form of a one day forum, with speeches, workshops and reports from those groups. Two of the representatives of every faith group had to be women.
I was one of the Jewish representatives at this forum. What a great opportunity! I gathered the representing women's names, was promised a room at Polding House by Sr Trish Madigan, to hold meetings , and an exciting journey began.
It's now twelve years since these women from various faiths began meeting to explore ways in which they could help bring about a greater appreciation of, and respect for, the faith structures of other people in Australia. This has subsequently developed into what is now known as the Women’s Interfaith Network (not to be confused with a very new group in Melbourne, who call themselves WIN Foundation, which is fundraising).
Our continuing original core group has about 20 members. We have two from each religion, so that if you count denominations separately we represent some 9 religions. In the 12 years since we began, we have seen the formation of another 4 regional groups. Our members do not represent organisations, and no organisation is a member of WIN . We function without funds and we operate by consensus.
For the past 12 years, we have meets every month, at first in Polding House, the at the Uniting Church and for the past 8 years at Parliament House.
We set topics– subjects like Our Spiritual Journey, The nature of prayer, Rites of passage, favourite readings, mysticism, and so on – and usually in turn. Each of us describes the approach of our own particular religion.
Our general rule is that nobody presumes to describe the content of another’s religion, or to denigrate the beliefs or attitudes of the other. It goes without saying that proselytisation – direct or indirect – is completely out, as is political discussion, particularly about areas of physical conflict.
The results of such discussions include the acquisition of knowledge, often as much about one’s own religion as that of the other, an increased understanding of the culture and beliefs of the other, and the growth of real personal friendships, which go well beyond our regular meetings. We also find that since most of our members are active in their communities, then the goodwill which is generated filters through to those communities. We visit each other's places of worship, socialise and even family celebrations.
As a Jewish woman I like to share my religion's emphasis on the home as a place of ritual and observance, which has always placed the woman at the heart of the spiritual beauty which emanates from that family ritual. For me the release from the mundane to the spiritual which begins as the Sabbath is welcomed by me my family, my husband and children and grandchildren, on every Friday night, and is a very special part of my being.
From the lighting of the Shabbat candles with my beautiful grandchildren, the reciting of the Sanctification by my husband, assisted again by our grandchildren I am drawn into a realm of wonder, as the sacred beauty of the Sabbath enters my home and my ancestral past meets my present and my continuity.
In the turmoil of today’s world the search for the spiritual in order to heal our planet is intensifying. In Hebrew we call it “Tikun Olam”, the repair of the world, and I have every confidence that we will succeed, if we continue to meet together, to learn from each other, and to understand and respect our differences.