Sharing faith experiences

One of East Meadow’s unique Thanksgiving traditions is its annual interfaith service, where spiritual leaders of different faiths across East Meadow unite for an evening of prayer and togetherness.

As a diverse community of 38,000, East Meadow is home to many houses of worship. And while each faith differs in theology, observances and rituals, for one night spiritual leaders encourage residents to put aside those differences and unify as a community.

The interfaith service, held last Sunday at the United Methodist Church on East Meadow Avenue, was created 31 years ago by the Rev. Dave Parker, the church’s pastor until his retirement 19 years ago. The service has continued every year, while cycling through the various religious communities. When held at a synagogue, a member of the Christian clergy delivers the homily or sermon. Conversely, when in a church, a rabbi will serve as the homilist.

It is the responsibility of the host facility to prepare the service, and designate roles to other spiritual leaders. This year, Rabbi Daniel Bar-Nahum, of Temple Emanu-El, delivered the homily.

The Rev. Judith Stevens, who became pastor of the church three years ago, was hosting the service for the first time. Still, she said she understands its significance in the community. “We are one group of people who worship the same God in our own ways that are meaningful to us,” Stevens said.

Approximately 150 people attended this year’s service, a number so great that the church ran out of programs, Stevens said.

Bar-Nahum, who became rabbi at Temple Emanu-El last year, is no stranger to interfaith relations. He was previously a rabbinical intern in Teaneck, NJ, where he was once invited by the area’s Muslim community to deliver a prayer during a breakfast. “We pray in different languages and we use different words,” Bar-Nahum said. “But we’re all attempting to find the answers to life’s big questions. And to find a place to share our joy with people, and a place to find comfort in times of sadness.”

This year, Thanksgiving coincides with Chanukah, which began on Wednesday, and Bar-Nahum said he planned to incorporate Chanukah’s message of rededication into his homily, by urging residents to rededicate themselves to thankfulness. “A lot of us today skip over those moments of gratitude too often,” he said. “We expect things and take things for granted … thankfulness one day a year is not enough, I don’t think.”

Rabbi Ronald Androphy, who joined the East Meadow Jewish Center in 1983 — one year after the interfaith service began — said that the annual observance is an “important part of the fabric of East Meadow.” The service was originally held the night before Thanksgiving, he said, but because residents were occupied with holiday preparations, officials moved it to the Sunday before Thanksgiving, and participation increased. “It gives us an opportunity to share our faith experiences with each other,” said Androphy.

Parker, who will turn 90 in December, has yet to miss a service, even after retirement. He now lives in Shelton, Conn., and each year he reads the President’s Thanksgiving Proclamation. During his years in East Meadow, said Stevens, he was well known for riding his bicycle around local streets. “He was a well loved pastor of this church,” she said. “People just loved to see him riding his bicycle.”

This year’s service extended beyond East Meadow, as members of the Merrick United Methodist Church also took part. Other local participants included St. Raphael’s Roman Catholic Church, St. Francis Polish National Catholic Church, and the Community Reform Temple in Westbury. “We can be too insular at times,” said Rabbi Judith Cohen-Rosenberg, who has led the Community Reform Temple for 21 years. “We don’t necessarily see our neighbors as often as we might like. So this is a time where we really do get together, and able to share something with people we have so much in common with.”

Cohen-Rosenberg said she switched the Community Reform Temple from the Westbury Clergy Association to the East Meadow Clergy Association a few years ago, since most of its members belong to the East Meadow School District. In her short time participating in the service, she said, she’s witnessed its importance. “One of the major blessings we have [in East Meadow],” she said, “is the mutual support of the faith community.”

Coming together after vandalism
  
East Meadow’s strong interfaith relations were put on full display earlier this month, when, on Nov. 11, United Methodist Church officials discovered vandalism on its church grounds. According to Rev. Stevens, the letters on the church sign were rearranged to read “Hitler,” and their American flag was ripped.
   
While Stevens said she felt “violated, offended, anpod embarrassed,” by the incident, she also said she was humbled that local rabbis immediately reached out to offer comfort, including both Rabbis Bar-Nahum and Cohen-Rosenberg. “My first instinct was to … bring our community closer together as a response to this,” Bar-Nahum said. “With vandalism of this nature, sometimes the goal is to spread fear and cause confusion, when in reality, it ends up doing the opposite and bringing us together.”
   
When working in New Jersey prior to East Meadow, Bar-Nahum said a string of vandalism incidents occurred in synagogues throughout Bergen County. “It reminds us that there is still a lot of work to do,” he said. “To help everyone in our community … understand the effect and the impact that words and defacing of property can have.”
   
Cohen-Rosenberg said that while the incident is an aberration for East Meadow, it is “one that we’re certainly not going to tolerate.”

In the aftermath of the incident, Stevens said she planned to donate the Offering — the funds collected during Sunday’s interfaith service — to the Holocaust Memorial & Tolerance Center of Nassau County, an organization that aims to educate about the dangers of anti-Semitism.

And to add a symbolic close to the incident, she rededicated the church’s sign the morning before Sunday’s service. “Let all people who have found a home in the East Meadow community move forward,” Stevens said, “with a deeper commitment to do our part to build a place where all people are respected, supported, encouraged, and loved.”