Celebrating Interfaith Buddhist and Judaism
- Zemirah Jazwierska
On Sunday, June 26, a group of Mile Hier’s, some of which are pictured here, gathered to hear a wonderful introductory Dharma talk by Rev. Noritaka Imada at the Tri-State/Denver Buddhist Temple in Sakura Square. He shared that when we put our hands together in prayer mudra, in the Buddhist tradition, this signifies the union of our human and spiritual or Buddha, nature. Rev. Noritaka also answered our questions about the intricate symbols found in the altars, told us stories, and made us laugh! What a blessing to be together at the Cherry Blossom Festival and to gather in community to experience other faith traditions.
Our second interfaith field trip, on Sunday, July 10, was an immersion in the Jewish community through a visit to the Kabbalah Experience and then on to the Hebrew Educational Alliance. Melanie Gruenwald, Executive Director of the Kabbalah Experience, presented a wonderful introduction to Kabbalah sharing that it is a “study of parallels” between God’s world and the human experience. She also explained the word Kabbalah comes from the Hebrew root “KBL,” which evolved to mean “to receive.”
From there, we traveled on to the Hebrew Educational Alliance for a presentation from their CEO, Laura Intfen. Laura provided an in-depth enlightening overview of the Torah, Sects of Judaism: Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform; spiritual practices, sacred texts, holidays, and services. We went on a tour that included a presentation of Torah scrolls that had been smuggled out of Germany during the Holocaust. The Ark of Torah scrolls was opened and introduced to us and we heard a beautiful sample of songs from their Kantor, Eitan.
Truly a wonderful day of exploration, learning, and spiritual inspiration!
