May / June 2005

Featured Story

God's October Surprise: Ramadan, Yom Kippur and a National Fast on October 13

By Arthur Waskow

At just the moment of history when religious conflicts have reemerged with lethal consequences for each other and our planet, God has given our spiritual and religious traditions a gift of time.

During October 2005, a confluence of sacred moments in many different traditions invites us to pray with or alongside each other and to work together for peace, justice, human rights, and the healing of our wounded earth. There is much that we could do during these sacred times to heal the world.

As the crowning moment of our prayer and meditation, our learning, our listening to each other, and our action—from sunrise to sunset on the day that for Muslims is one of the fast days of Ramadan and for Jews is the fast day of Yom Kippur—on October 13—we call for all Americans to observe a Nationwide Fast for Reflection, Repentance, and Renewal. We encourage those who join in this fast to take visible steps in the world to “End the War, Feed the Poor.”

During the entire month, there are other moments that can become a focus for learning from the past, celebrating the present, and transforming the future:

- The sacred Muslim lunar month of Ramadan and the sacred Jewish lunar month of Tishrei, which includes the High Holy Days, both begin October 3-4;

- October 4 is the Saint’s Day of St. Francis of Assisi;

- October 2 is Mahatma Gandhi’s birthday;

- October 2 is also Worldwide (Protestant) Communion Sunday.

- October 4 to 12 are for Hindus Navarathri (nine nights of spiritual struggle), followed on October 13 by Vijayadashami, the tenth day of spiritual victory.

- And for Buddhists, Vassa (rainy season of spiritual reflection) ends on Oct. 18 with the full moon day, Pavarana.

Besides taking part in the October 13 Nationwide Fast, there are a number of ways we can share these sacred moments with each other:

- Perhaps in groups of congregations—a church, a synagogue, a mosque, a temple—each congregation could host one meal for members of the others, after nightfall on any of the evenings of Ramadan.

- Jews could invite Muslims, Christians, Buddhists, and Hindus into the sukkah, a leafy hut that is open to the earth. Traditionally, “sacred guests” are invited in and the Rabbis taught that during Sukkot, blessings are invoked upon “the seventy nations” of the world. Traditional prayers implore God to “spread the sukkah of shalom” over us. These are perfect rubrics for peacemaking among the children of humanity and with the earth.

- Muslims could invite other communities to join in celebrating some aspects of Eid al-Fitr (the feast at the end of Ramadan), and Jews and Christians could (as in Morocco) bring food to the celebration of the end of Ramadan’s fasting. It marks and underlines the month-long commitment to fast so as to offer food and life-abundance to God as a sacrifice, and to focus on devotion to God instead of devotion to material success.

- Churches could invite Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, and Hindus to join in learning about and celebrating the teachings of Francis of Assisi. (He was one of the few Christian saints who learned in a serious way from Muslim teachers, and he was deeply dedicated to kinship with the earth and all living creatures.)

- Synagogues could invite Muslim scholars and spiritual leaders to teach on Rosh Hashanah when Jews are reading the Torah passages on the story of Abraham, Hagar, Ishmael, Sarah, and Isaac, how it is that Muslims understand that story. Then there could be open discussion of the differences, the similarities, the wisdom held in each of the versions of the story.

- Synagogues could set aside a time during Yom Kippur or Shabbat Shuvah or another special time to read and discuss the Torah’s story of the joining of Isaac and Ishmael to bury their father Abraham, and then to achieve reconciliation at the Well of the Living One Who Sees Me. They could invite Muslims who are observing the Ramadan fast that day and others who have joined in the National Fast to join in some part of the day or in the break-fast (by Muslims called iftar) at the end of the day.

- In light of the fact that we are standing on the precipice of religious war and repression, rabbis, cantors, priests, nuns, ministers, and imams—perhaps with their congregants—could together take some action during the Ramadan/Tishrei month to change public policy in favor of protecting human rights, healing the earth, and achieving peace in the whole region where Abraham, Hagar, and Sarah sojourned.

We urge those of all our traditions to begin now, in our own cities and neighborhoods as well as nationally and internationally, to plan with each other how to use God’s October Surprise of these sacred dates to carry out God’s will that we live in peace together. n

Rabbi Arthur Waskow, author of numerous books, directs The Shalom Center, Lincoln Drive, Philadelphia, PA 19119. Phone: 215-844-8494, E-mail: ShalomCtr@aol.com. Web: www.shalomctr.org.

The statement above was initiated by The Tent of Abraham, Hagar, and Sarah, together with The Shalom Center. It has been endorsed by the National Council of Churches and the Islamic Society of North America, and discussions are well along with several national Muslim and Jewish groups. Organizers welcome you as an individual, and/or your organization, to join in. For further information see www.tentofabraham.org.