By Leyna Krow, Assistant Editor, JTNews
For the past seven years, Rabbi Ted Falcon of Bet Alef Meditative Synagogue, Reverend Don Mackenzie of the University Congregational United Church of Christ and Muslim Sufi Minister Jamal Rahman of the Interfaith Community Church have worked together to find common ground between their respective spiritual communities.
“The three of us have been working since 9/11 to expand people’s appreciation of the wisdom of each tradition and to explore together the places we get into difficulty and what we can do about this,” Falcon said of his partnership with Mackenzie and Rahman.
Their efforts include co-hosting a weekly radio show on KKNW 1150 AM called “Interfaith Talk Radio,” putting on interfaith conferences and retreats and teaching classes at each other’s congregations. On Sunday, April 20, these three spiritual leaders will combine their efforts to lead a Passover seder at the University Congregational United Church of Christ.
The aim of the seder, according to Falcon, is to share the story of Passover in a way that speaks to multiple religious traditions, rather than just Judaism.
“In my background, we almost always had non-Jews invited to our seder table, not just to be witnesses, but to identify with [the] main themes and speak to it out of their own personal histories. That’s a custom that many people do,” Falcon said.
Falcon, Mackenzie and Rahman will each contribute to the seder in their own way. Falcon will lead participants through the Haggadah. At designated points in the story, he will turn the table over to Mackenzie, who will speak on the topic of enslavement and freedom from a Christian point of view, and then to Rahman, who will talk about praise.
Mackenzie said that although he expects the majority of the seder’s participants to be Bet Alef members, he was pleased to see that, as of a week before the event, a sizable number of reservations had been made by his own congregants.
“It’s the realization that there are these universal themes under all our particular spiritual paths,” Mackenzie said. “I think it’s important for Christians to understand that the spiritual heart of our holy week is the Jewish event of Passover.”
Rahman seconded Mackenzie’s enthusiasm for the seder, saying he feels that it’s important for people of various faiths to share in one another’s rituals and holidays.
“The key to all of these difficulties is we have to get to know the other, to get to know our cousins,” Rahman said.
Sunday’s seder is just one part of a weekend-long interfaith conference. Along with the Passover celebration at University Congregational, members of all three congregations, as well as community members, are invited to attend the Shabbat services led by Rabbi Falcon at Unity of Bellevue on the evening of Friday, April 18, a live broadcast of “Interfaith Talk Radio” on Saturday, April 19, and services at the Interfaith Community Church on Sunday, April 20.
In addition to the interfaith messages provided by Mackenzie and Rahman, Falcon noted that his Passover celebration will differ from traditional seders in a few other ways as well. The Haggadah Falcon will use is one that he wrote himself. He says it takes the traditional text and utilizes it in a more universal, spiritual context.
“We also encourage conversations that are part of seder that take place at the tables,” Falcon said. “We do our best to involve people in an appreciation for how the ancient story applies to them and how they can use it to energize their own personal and communal spiritual journey.”
Falcon is not aware of any other synagogues that conduct seders similar to Bet Alef’s, although he said he wouldn’t be surprised to learn of other interfaith Passover events.
He said he hopes that those in attendance on Sunday will come away with a better understanding of the elements that bind Judaism, Christianity and Islam, and the ways in which members of all three faiths can work together toward common spiritual goals.
“Our goal is that people will leave with a renewed sense of hope that together we can support a peaceful resolution [to]the many areas in which religion seems to support anger, hatred and violence in our world,” Falcon said. “We all pray for peace, so we might as well go for it.”